Our All Sufficient Savior
The Book of Mark
Mark 4:35-41
I. Introduction
A. We have all had those times in our lives when we get into situations that seem hopeless.
1. You have done everything in your power to straighten things out and still everything seems lost.
2. Those experiences are called by various names; trials, valleys, tribulations, testings, storms.
B. God allows trials or storms to come into our lives and for good reason.
1. James 1:2-3
2. It is important for us to realize that we cannot succeed in our own strength. 2Cor.12:7-10
3. This concept is so contrary to our “normal” way of looking at difficulties.
a) How can this be happening to me?
b) How can God allow this to happen?
C. Our text addresses just such a matter in an incident that occurred immediately after one of the longest days of Jesus’ ministry.
D. The disciples had seen many profound and exciting things since they started to be with the Master.
1. They had seen many miraculous healings.
2. They had heard profound statements.
3. They had been given divine insight into the teachings of the Master.
E. They had seen Christ demonstrate His divine power and authority in:
1. Academics
2. In His dealings with evil spirits.
3. In the physical realm
4. And His power to forgive sins.
F. Up to this point their trust in Him had not been tested.
1. Up to this point they have only been confronted by the religious leaders and Jesus had intervened.
2. In our passage today the disciples are tested as they have never been tested before.
3. Not a test of their intellect but their very lives.
G. The question then is were they and are we willing to totally trust God even in the most difficult circumstances.
H. Is God able to see us through even in the most difficult even life threatening situations?
I. I want to look at our text in three parts to answer that question.
1. The storm
2. The reaction of the disciples
3. Our all sufficient savior.
II. The storm.
A. The occasion vs.35-36.
1. As I said this was know as the busiest day in our Lord’s ministry in Galilee.
a) Jesus had dealt with blaspheme against the Holy Spirit.
b) He had spent time teaching in a house.
c) He had also spent time walking along the lakeshore talking to the people.
d) At the same time He healed a great number of people.
2. There was a need for rest and the only way to achieve that was to get away from the crowds vs.38.
3. A small flotilla of boats went along for the voyage vs.36.
B. The suddenness of the storm vs.37a.
1. The word used here describes a fierce storm or hurricane.
a) This type of storm is not uncommon on the Lake of Galilee which is located some 682 ft. below sea level and is surrounded by hills.
b) Macgregor: “On the Sea of Galilee the wind has a singular force and suddenness; and this is no doubt because that sea is so deep in the world that the sun rarefies the air in it enormously, and the wind speeding swiftly above a long and level plateau, gathers much force as it sweeps through flat deserts, until suddenly it meets this huge gap in the way, and it tumbles down here irresistible.”
c) Robertson suggests that the storm fell suddenly from Mount Hermon down into the Jordan Valley and hit the Sea of Galilee violently at its depth of 682 feet below the Mediterranean Sea. He explains that the hot air at this depth draws the storm down with sudden power.
2. The situation quickly becomes too much for the disciples to handle vs37b.
a) I am sure they had been working on the problem all along.
(1) Bailing
(2) Trimming the sail
(3) Lightening the boat as much as possible to keep it from floundering.
b) However they were only working on the symptoms so they were limited in what they could do.
c) The real problem was outside of their capability.
3. Let’s look at how they reacted when they had exhausted all of their resources.
III.The disciples’ reaction.
A. They became defeated and discouraged vs.38b.
1. They had expended all of their own effort and strength and had failed to resolve the problem.
2. They even felt betrayed by Jesus; “don’t you care?”
B. We often react the same way don’t we?
1. We come up against some seemingly insurmountable problem in our life and when we have exhausted all of our effort and can’t resolve it we become discouraged and defeated and often blame God for not helping us.
a) Some people get so discouraged that they stop praying.
b) Others walk away from church and from serving Him.
2. We consider ourselves failures and others may also.
C. What the disciples failed to understand and we also fail to understand sometimes is that failure in our eyes is not necessarily failure in God’s plan.
1. Remember vs.35 - Jesus told the disciples that they were going to cross over to the other side.
2. Ro.8:28-29 remember what Paul said in 2Cor.12.
3. Do you think Jesus didn’t know what was going to happen?
D. The disciples failed to see as we do sometimes that the problem was not the waves putting water into the boat but the wind that was pushing the waves.
1. They were dealing with the symptoms and failing to realize that the solution to the problem was in the boat with them.
2. Illustration:
a) The common cold.
(1) The runny nose etc. are only symptoms.
(2) You can deal with them all day long but you don’t really address the problem.
b) Red suckers lollypops
(1) I know they aren’t good for me – sugar etc.
(2) How do I deal with the problem?
(a) Get rid of all the red suckers?
(b) Put blinders on so I can’t see them?
(c) These might help but they don’t take care of the problem.
(d) The problem isn’t the red suckers – its me.
3. You might say, “Oh I have tired and tried but I don’t seem to be able to get rid of my problem, and you say with Paul “Oh wretched man that I am who can deliver me from the body of this death?”
4. What to do??
5. Go to the one who can solve the problem.
IV. Our all sufficient Savior.
A. He goes right to the root of the problem vs.39.
1. He didn’t start to help bail or shout orders to the disciples.
2. He rebuked the wind which was causing the problem in the first place.
a) The word rebuke means to forbid.
b) He forbid the wind to continue.
3. Peace, be still.
a) Peace means to be silent, still, calm.
b) Be still – to muzzle
(1) Used of muzzling an ox.
(2) Jesus used the same word in silencing the Pharisees.
4. Literally translated He said, “Be being calmed and be muzzled and stay that way.
5. The result vs.39b wind ceased and it became perfectly calm.
B. There is nothing that Jesus can’t handle.
1. We have seen this in the 1st 4 chapters of Mark.
2. His power over everything in creation has been well established.
a) Eph.1:20-23
b) Phil.4:13,19.
C. How do we appropriate His power?
1. By faith.
2. By believing that Christ can and has and will take care of your storms.
a) Gal. 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
b) Heb.11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
c) Hab.2:3 “Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.
V. Conclusion vs.41
A. This experience had a profound effect on these men.
B. In the process they saw something that we all need to see – that Christ is sufficient to enable us to meet the demands of our lives.
C. If you didn’t know that before you do now so now live your life in that truth.
D. If you are in the midst of a storm in your life right now
1. Go to the One who knows what the root of the problem is.
2. Our all sufficient savior knows all about what it is and He alone is able to calm the storm.
