Scripture: Mark 4:35-41 (cf. verse 41)
Title: Who Then Is This?
Theme: Trust/Faith - Identity of Christ
This sermon deals with verse 41 - WHO IS THIS? It is a question we all must ask ourselves in our relationship with Jesus - Who Is He? How we answer that question will help determine how we live out our life in Christ.
Mark 4:35-41 (ESV)
Jesus Calms a Storm
35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” 36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God our Father and from His Son Jesus Christ who came to take away the sins of the world.
I like it when a story ends well. I like it when things turn out right. I like when at the end the world is a better place. I don't like it when a movie or a book ends with things still in an upheaval or when things don't come to a conclusion. I don't like it when things turn our badly. I tend to think - "why in the world did they make a movie that didn't end well?" "Why spend all that time writing a book that ends badly?"
In some ways, our passage this morning has a rather odd ending. In fact, the whole story reads better if you leave verse 41 out of it entirely. Just reading the passage - verses 35 - 40 gives us an amazing story.
Mark tells us that Jesus is finished for the day. He has been teaching and healing people all day long and is exhausted. It's time to move on and Jesus wants to get to the other side of the Sea of Galilee before twilight. He wants to share the Kingdom of God with the people that live in that area. He wants to go from the area of Israel that was under the rule of Herod Antipas to the area controlled by his half- brother Philip the Tetrarch.
The easiest and fastest way to get there is of course, by boat. Where Jesus wanted to go was only about a 4 - 5 mile journey straight across the northern edge of the Sea of Galilee. To go over land would have taken at least a day or two and Jesus was in a hurry. If the wind is favorable you can be across the upper part of the Sea of Galilee in around an hour by boat. That means at most it should have taken about 90 minutes and that is if there was very little wind.
So, the plan was to get to the other side around 7 or 8 o'clock which would give Jesus and his team plenty of time to make camp at the shore or to make their way into a small town and find some lodging. Peter, James, John and Andrew had made this trip a hundred times or more so they knew how to navigate their boats across this part of the Sea of Galilee. Even though everyone was tired and it was getting late in the day they still set out to make the trip. Everyone knew that they had skilled sailors on board so there was nothing to worry about. In fact, as we see Jesus even took the time to get a quick nap.
However, as we read before they got too far out a violent storm brewed up. It's intensity was more than Peter, Andrew, James and John could handle. Before long they and everyone else on board were fighting for their lives. As we shall see the reason behind this violent and sudden storm was supernatural. Peter and the gang hadn't misread the weather. Mark lets us know that there was an supernatural evil force behind this quick and violent storm.
We don't know how far out they were from land, but as you read Mark's version of the story (which of course was Peter's account), swimming for shore was out of the question. More than likely they were at least a mile from shore and it is quite easy to assume that not all the disciples could swim or would be good enough swimmers to make that distance to shore.
The truth is, the Israelites were not sea loving people like their neighbors the Phoenicians. The Jews saw the sea as something mysterious, full of chaos and ever present death. They believed that the sea was a place where evil forces existed. The sea was a place that you couldn't stand up, a place you could lose everything you owned and a place you could even lose your own life. The sea was that place where the great prophet Daniel wrote that four evil monsters would one day come out of and terrorize the earth and the People of God.
By the time we get to verse 37 all of the people on these boats were terrified. Who wouldn't be terrified. I know if I had been there in the midst of all that rain, thunder, wind and the tossing of the boat I would have been scared to death. It is one thing to be in a storm and it is quite another thing to be in a small 27 foot boat, in a raging storm where the water is coming into the boat and it looks like you are getting ready to drown. The Sea of Galilee is some 141 feet deep so you can imagine how terrorized everyone became. Imminent death was not only a possibility, it was more like a certainty.
And on top of that, Jesus was is in the back of the boat, lying down on cushion fast asleep. Can you imagine that? His boat is getting filled with water, men are shouting to the top of their voices, they are trying their best to get control of the sail, the rudder and all the tackle and there he is sleeping like a baby. You would have thought that all the noise, the wind, the rain and the water sloshing over the side would have awaken him.
I mean, it is one thing to be tired but this tired? But when you think about it, he is after all, just a carpenter. Even if he had been wide awake what would Jesus know about handling a boat in a storm.
Still, the disciples don't find this at all amusing. If they have to be scared out of their wits, then shouldn't Jesus have to join them? They rouse him from sleep ( no doubt rather harshly) and ask him (probably more like yell at him) if he doesn't care that they are all getting ready to drown? After all, it was his idea that they start this trip in the first place.
I wonder what they expected Jesus to do anyway? What were they thinking? After all, they were the experienced fishermen. Did they think Jesus could somehow grab and oar or hold the rudder and help them steer the boat to shore? What about all the other little boats that were with them?
Personally, I think they just wanted Jesus to join in all the mess. Misery loves company and they needed Jesus. They knew he couldn't save them but they couldn't stand the thought of him just sleeping through the whole ordeal. If they were going to die then they wanted him to be fully aware of it.
Mark tells us that Jesus got up and rather than assuring all of them, Jesus just rebukes the water, the storm and the waves. In a matter of minutes the whole ordeal is over. Jesus merely tells them to continue on their way to the other side.
If Mark's story just ended in verse 40 it would be a fantastic story. It would be this great rescue story. It would have a wonderful beginning and ending. It would be a story about a calm, a storm, a fear and once again a calm. It would be a great story that reminds us that no matter what storm we go through that if Jesus is in the boat then things will be well.
It could also be a story about another exorcism. After all, the words that Mark uses here in this passage are the same words that he uses over and over again when he talks about exorcisms. They are the same words that he uses to explain how Jesus casts out demons and other dark forces. So, on the surface, we are to clearly understand that Mark is once again sharing an exorcism story. Jesus rebukes the demonic force that cause the storm to arise, tells the wind to be silent and once again Mark tells us that Jesus is defeating evil.
However, we have to go back and pick up verse 41. The Holy Spirit puts this verse in for a reason. It's a rather sticky problem. It causes us to realize that there is more to this story than we first imagined. Jesus does more than a simple rescue mission. Jesus does much more than silence the dark powers. Jesus takes command of the very forces of nature. Now, various holy men thought out Israel's history were known to have the power to cast out demons and even bring healing in the lives of others. We see that happening in the lives of Moses, Elijah and Elisha. Mark later tells us that happened in the lives of Jesus' disciples.
But no mortal being in his own power had ever displayed the ability to silence the wind and the sea. That power - that terrifying and yet amazing power - that was something only the Good God of Creation could do. Only God, the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY had control over the winds and the waves.
Jesus stepped in and did something that caused his followers to reflect back to the very beginning of the Book of Genesis. In the beginning God brought order to the darkness, to the void and to all the chaos. God created order and brought forth new life. Now, Jesus was doing this very thing here in our passage. Jesus' words were heard and obeyed by the water under their feet and the wind that blew all around them. Jesus didn't ask them to throw him or some other person out of the boat like Jonah had many years earlier. Jesus didn't ask them to throw out everything and head for the shore like Paul would some years later. Jesus didn't ask them to do anything up to that point. He merely stood up and spoke to the sea and the wind as a parent would to a child.
I like the way that the Kingdom New Testament translates these verses:
"He got up, scolded the wind, and said to the sea, "Silence! Shut Up!"
Jesus didn't call fire down from heaven. He didn't take a bolt of lightning and throw it back against the elements. He merely spoke as one would to an unruly child. He immediately got the sea and wind's attention and put them into their place. The Creator of the Universe spoke and immediately creation obeyed. There was no fuss, no battle - when Jesus spoke creation responded quickly and obediently.
Jesus then looks at his disciples and asks them a question - "Why are you scared? Don't you believe yet?"
Even ending there would have been great. Jesus rebukes them a little. It wouldn't be the first or last time that happened. They must trust in him. They must put their faith in him. End of story.
But once again there is verse 41 - "Great fear stole over them. "Who is this?" they said to one another." Even the wind and the sea obey his voice!
It appears that they went from one fear to another fear. They went from fearing for their lives and being terrorized by the storm to wondering who in the world was in their boat.
You see, when they signed up to travel with Jesus they were not really sure who or what Jesus was. At first, they thought he was one of the many rabbis that traveled throughout Israel teaching the people and sharing the message of God's Kingdom. Jesus wasn't the only one who took up the office of rabbi in that day and had a following of disciples. There were many rabbis and teachers going around sharing the message of the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY in Israel.
Jesus wasn't the first person that was able to heal people. Throughout Israel's history God had used many people to heal others. He wasn't even the only one who had the power to cast out demons. Mark 9:38 tells us that there were others who were casting out demons. And on at least two occasions, Jesus sends out a group of people who can both heal and cast out demons (Mark 6:7-13 and Luke 10:1-12)
So, at first when these young men signed on to follow Jesus they thought they were following just another Jewish holy man. A holy man that would help them and others live a holy and upright life. To put all of this into our context it would be like an individual wanting to be an intern for someone like Billy Graham, Max Lucado or Beth Moore. They would sign up to follow a person who they who they wanted to emulate and who could help them lead a more holy and productive life.
But verse 41 caused them to see that everything had been taken up quite a few notches. What they had just witnessed was more than healing a broken bone or casting out a demon. It was more than taking care of a fever or helping someone find emotional and mental healing.
Jesus had literally talked to the sea and to the wind. He had gotten up, steadied himself and spoke to the sea and the wind. And both the wind and the sea had responded in complete and utter obedience. Jesus spoke - they obeyed.
Now, because we have the read the Bible we know the story and it doesn't have the same effect on us today as it did on those in that boat. Remember, Mark tells us just a few verses earlier that the disciples had just had to deal with people thinking Jesus was crazy. Now, how crazy is it to stand up in the middle of a storm and tell the lightning, the wind and the waves to stop?
If you don't think that it would look crazy then the next time it starts to storm around your house do this. Go outside with some kind of megaphone. Tell all the neighbors to come outside. Once you get them all together, then all you have to do is to tell the water to stop falling from the sky, the lightning and thunder to stop and the winds to call down. See if you get a response. See what the neighbors think of you. Then, don't be surprised if you hear some sirens and a rather odd looking truck come looking for you to take you to this nice place where they will slip this odd looking jacket on you and will begin giving you some counseling and treatment.
I for one don't blame these disciples. It's one thing to be terrorized by the storm it is quite another to look around and see this man (or at least you thought he was a man) who speaks and the water and the wind obey his words. Who in the world is this man who has this much power and this much authority?
Honestly, I think that the disciples were more ready to embrace and accept their own death then they were to come to the reality that this man, this Jesus was in fact, God in flesh. That right in front of them was the one who had created everything. That right in front of them was a man who held the power of the universe in his hands. Whose mere words the heavens and the earth had to listen to and obey.
Mark leaves us with a question - WHO INDEED IS THIS?
Above the questions of fear and faith lies this most basic question -
WHO IS JESUS? WHAT IS HIS TRUE IDENTITY? AND WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR US AS INDIVIDUALS AND AS A COMMUNITY?
It was answered quite visibly to all those disciples in a matter of seconds. Jesus was much more than a carpenter turned rabbi. He was much more than a holy man. He was much more than a great teacher, an exorcist or even a healer.
Jesus was/is God in flesh. Jesus is the same God that used to walk around in the cool of the day with Adam and Eve. God in flesh was right now, right there with them. The same God who parted the Red Sea, stopped the sun for Joshua and took Elijah home in a fiery chariot was right there beside them. They could reach out and touch him.
+ What do they do now?
+ How do they look at Jesus now after seeing all of this power and authority?
+What do they do with Jesus now?
+How do they move on?
+How do they face the next day now knowing what they know?
+How does it change their relationship with Jesus?
+How does it change their faith?
+What does it do the fears that they still have?
Wouldn't it have been nice if Mark had left out verse 41. Great rescue story. Even a rather strange exorcism story. Never thought about demons troubling the seas and the waters, but, thanks Mark for that new insight. I will have to mull that one over for a while.
But verse 41 causes us to have to get into this story first hand. In adding verse 41, Mark invites us to enter into this story. He wants us to get into the boat with Jesus and the other disciples. He wants us to hear the wind, see the lightning, feel the water as it splashes into the boat and experience all the fear as the boat is being tossed back and forth. He wants our blood pressure to rise and our hearts to sink. He wants us to stare into the oncoming darkness and wonder if we are going to make it to shore. He wants us to wake Jesus up and try to get him to be of some help even though we know that all hope is lost. He wants us to be afraid for our very lives and the lives of those around us.
But that is not all. Mark wants us to then see and experience what Jesus can do and only what Jesus can do. Mark wants us to then answer this question in our own hearts and lives - "WHO THEN IS THIS?"
Who is this Jesus and what do we do with Him?
+Mark wants us to understand that God can do more just resting in a boat than we can do in all our activity and worry.
While everyone else was busy fighting against forces that were too great, Jesus was resting. He was able to rest because he knew who he was and what he could do. What could the storm, the sea and the wind do against the One who created them? Jesus knew he was okay. His Heavenly Father, Himself and the Holy Spirit had this one under control.
As long as the disciple's stayed in the boat with Jesus or in the boats around Jesus they were to understand that everything was going to turn out okay. It didn't mean that they could avoid every storm that came up but it did let them know that they were in God's hands and there is no better place for any of us to be than in God's Most Powerful and Capable Hands.
It takes great faith to rest in the midst of the storm and allow God to take over. Especially, when it appears that God is in stern of the boat sound asleep. Mark wants us to understand that we have to surrender ourselves over to Him and put our trust in Him no matter what is happening around us. Even if that happening is the biggest storm we could ever imagine.
+Mark wants us to understand that God can do more in a few words than we can with all our activity and bluster
Waiting on God to speak, to reveal His plan is not an easy thing. Especially, when the storms arise. We are more likely to look for a pail to dump out the water, grab an oar and do our best to fight the storm or simply jump ship.
At times we have this mentality that we just have to do something. We just can't be still. We have to do something. We have to move. We have to get busy. After all, doing something has to be a whole lot better than doing nothing.
However, doing something in our own strength will do more damage than waiting on God. No matter how much prayer, confession, surrender and waiting it takes, it is better for us to wait on God speaking "two words" to us than for us to go and do things ourselves.
When things get out hand we have a tendency to just jump in and fix it ourselves; especially if we are geared that way. Some of us are by nature - fixers. When something goes wrong or seems out of place we immediately want to rush in and start cleaning up the mess. We despise inactivity. We despise just sitting around waiting when we know there has to be something we can do to fix the situation.
There are some storms in this life that we need not only to call on God first and foremost, but wait on God second most. There are some storms that only God can lead us through. And that requires for us to wait on God's timing. We must understand that God can do more in a micro-second than we can do in a life time.
It doesn't mean that we are lazy or sluggish. It doesn't mean that we are not concerned. No, we are to do the very thing that these disciples did. They cried out to Jesus. Even when they didn't have a clue what he could do they still went to Jesus. He had called them. He was their Lord and Master. Their best answer to the storm that they were facing was to go to Jesus. It is our best answer as well.
Before we get ourselves in even more trouble we need to center ourselves in prayer, in God's Word and in silence. We need to call upon the name of the LORD and allow Him to guide us through the storms we will face in our lives.
+Mark challenges us to obey God as quickly and decisively as the wind and waves did that evening
Did you notice all the fuss that the wind and the waves put up with Jesus? How they debated with Him? How they wanted to do things their way?
Of course you didn't. Creation is way smarter than we are. As soon as the words are out of Jesus' mouth the wind, the waves and any evil force that happened to be causing them to act that was obeyed immediately.
Wouldn't it be nice if we obeyed that quickly?
+Mark challenges us to allow God to be more in our lives than we can imagine
The disciples that day experienced an epiphany. Jesus was more than a carpenter from Nazareth. He was more than a rabbi, a teacher, a holy man and a healer. He was more than anyone or for that matter anything they could imagine.
Jesus was God come down. He is God in Flesh. He is the Alpha and the Omega. He is the Great I Am. He is the Rider on the White Horse in the book of Revelation. He is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings!
It is easy for us to forget who our Savior is and what power is in His hands. It is easy for us to forget that God is God. The more we understand that the better we can surrender ourselves over to the LORD.
+Mark challenges us to continue learning more and more about just how much our LORD cares for us and loves us
Did you notice some of the things that Jesus did not do during the storm?
- Jesus did not push them out of the boat.
- He did not call for the storm to increase - for the lightning to hit any of them or for the waves to break open their boat.
- He did not walk away from them.
-He did not send them away for their lack of faith.
The Bible tells us that Jesus had the ability to step outside of the boat and walk away. Not only could he command the sea and the wind the Bible tells us that Jesus could also walk on water. After all, He created it.
He could have left all the disciples on their own. He could have even pushed them out and laughed. He could have called for the storm to increase and destroy them. He could have told his disciples to go back home because he needed men of more faith and vision.
But Jesus does none of that. Instead, Jesus rescues them. Jesus teaches them and Jesus leads them to understand step by step who and what He is. The Gospels tell us that it would take them way past the Resurrection and even Pentecost for them to fully understand but God is patient and kind. God takes us where we are and leads us gently to the place where we can fully trust Him with all that we have.
Storms can not only be frightening they can also lead us to have more faith and vision. That is what this storm did for these disciples. They left their boats wondering who or what in the world was Jesus. But they also left their boats knowing that whatever was before them it was something that Jesus could handle. After all, if Jesus was able to command both the water and the waves then what else could he do? What or who could stand against him?
They knew that as long as they were following Jesus they would be okay. They may have to fight more storms and there may even come the day when they might have to give up their lives. But knowing that you are in the hands of the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY means that no matter what happens things will turn out okay. If not on this earth then on the New Heaven and New Earth.
This morning, how we answer that question - WHO, THEN IS THIS? will determine a great deal how we look at life, how we live our lives and for whom we believe we should follow and obey. How we answer who Jesus is in our lives will determine what our true priorities are in this life and what our goals are in this life.
This morning:
Is Jesus the real captain of our life ship?
Are we committed to set sail wherever He says to sail?
Will we trust him in the midst of any storm that comes in our lives?
As we close this morning let's sing:
Traditional - # 556 - 'Til the Storm Passes Over
Contemporary - Praise You In This Storm - Casting Crowns
Open Altar/Prayer/Blessing
