“WHO IS THIS MAN THAT WINDS & WAVES OBEY?”
Mark 4:35-41
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: HONESTY IS NOT ALWAYS THE BEST POLICY
1. Today is Shirley and Ben's 30th wedding anniversary. Shirley said to Ben, "Please tell me, how do you think I look after 30 years of marriage?"
2. Ben looked at Shirley for a minute, then replied, "You're A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K." "And what does all that mean?"
3. "It means," replied Ben speaking slowly, "that you're ... Adorable, Beautiful, Cute, Delightful, Elegant, Foxy, Gorgeous, and Hot."
4. Shirley's face lit up. "Wow! That's so romantic! But tell me, what about the I, J, K? What do they stand for?"
5. Ben replied, "I'm Just Kidding!" [Note: The swelling under his left eye is going down.]
B. TEXT
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. 40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” 41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!” Mk. 4:35-41.
C. THESIS
1. Jesus had told them, “Let us go over to the other side”. Mk. 4:35. To cross the lake was His will. This trip was also representative of the church, which WOULD pass through storms, but arrive at its destination, victoriously. The Church cannot fail! The Gates of Hell shall NOT prevail against the Church!
2. HUMOR. Charles Schulz, the cartoonist who made Peanuts, had Charlie Brown address confusion about adversity. Charlie Brown spent 3-4 hours building a beautiful sandcastle. Just then a tsunami-size wave came rolling in and washed it into a shapeless mass. Charlie Brown stood there shocked and said, "I know there’s a lesson in this, but I’m not sure what it is!" We feel it too!
3. OUR TRIAL DO HAVE PURPOSES: Some...
a. Test the metal we’re made of.
b. Give us the opportunity to rise up in faith.
c. Some drive us to God.
d. Others give us a new revelation of Jesus.
4. Title of this message is, “Who Is This Man, That Winds & Waves Obey?”
I. CHRIST - ASLEEP DURING THE STORM
A. DOES JESUS CARE? SOMETIMES IT SEEMS LIKE GOD IS ASLEEP (only place it said He slept)
1. Sometimes it seems like, when our trials hit, that Christ is asleep. We don’t hear His voice; we see little of His face; His eyes appear closed.
2. Mk. 4:38, “Master, don’t you care if we drown?” At times we doubt God’s love for us. But Jesus was in the boat.
3. ILLUS. In pioneer days, a father sent his son alone to school, though he had to walk through thick woods. The boy felt vulnerable & afraid. But over time fear left him. One day, a bear approached him. Suddenly a shot rang out. His dad stepped out of the brush. “I followed you every morning, and came back every evening. I’ve been with you the entire time.”
B. THEY CRIED TO THE SAVIOR
1. Mighty distress often leads to mighty prayers.
2. How slack, complacent, compromising the church has been until the Lord has allowed some persecution.
3. The Lord didn’t hear the sound of the storm, He heard their cry for help; ours too.
4. ILLUS. A man visited a sheep farm in Australia & asked a shepherd, “Have you ever seen anything noteworthy about sheep?” He replied, “Yes! Watch this”.
He took one little lamb from the weaning pen (where they are encouraged to get off milk) and took it to a pasture with thousands of sheep. The noise of all those sheep bleating and baahing was almost deafening. He placed the little lamb down and walked away.
The lamb remained still for a while, then it cried, and its cry was answered by its mother at the other end of the pasture. Instantly, the mother and the little lamb began approaching each other and met in the middle.
The lesson the man learned was, “Don’t think that you are beyond the reach of God. He sees and hears you as if you were His only child in the world”.
C. STORMS YOU MAY BE EXPERIENCING
1. Loneliness 4.Rocky Relationship
2. Loss of loved one 5. A hurting child
3. Financial battle 6. Confusion/ fear
YOU MAY FEEL THAT GOD IS FAR AWAY, THAT YOU’RE DESERTED, BUT TRUTH IS, “HE WAS THERE ALL THE TIME.”
II. POINTED TO HIGHER FAITH
A. WHAT THE DISCIPLES HAD TRIED
1. The disciples had surely:
a. Tried to hoist the sails
b. Tried to steer around waves
c. Pulled at the oars
d. and bailed water
2. The disciples were:
…toiling & struggling, when they had Jesus in the boat!
…afraid, when they had Jesus in the boat!
…being buffeted by the winds & waves when they had Jesus in the boat!
3. ARE WE DOING THE SAME THINGS? BUT JESUS DIDN’T WANT THEM TO “MANAGE THE STORM” BUT TO STOP THE STORM! TO TAKE AUTHORITY OVER THE STORM! US TOO!
B. CHRIST’S REBUKE
1. Christ did NOT at once stop the storm! First He rebuked the “little faith” of the disciples (Matt. 8:26). (“Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?”)
2. Lord Jesus was surprised when they didn’t use the power available to them. He often encouraged them to step out in faith:
a. Before He feed the 5,000, He challenged them, “You give them to eat” (Greek, Mk. 6:37).
b. He told Peter to walk on the water.
c. He told them to raise the dead & heal the sick.
3. How would GOD deal with your problem? Whatever God has done for others, He’ll do for us!
C. THE MIRACLE
1. "'siopa pephimoso", “Be quiet! Be muzzled!” Mark 4:39. Immediately the sea became as smooth as glass.
2. Mark says, “The men feared greatly;” NIV “terrified”
Matt. 8:27 “marveled,” NIV “were amazed.” WHY?
3. When storms hit the Sea of Galilee, it’s not like an ordinary lake. It lies in a deep hollow, much below the level of the ocean, and the 800 ft. tall cliffs and hills which shut it in contain valleys which act as funnels, and channel blasts of cold air from the mountains which rush down upon the lake. It blows vessels down into the water, and then throws them up into the air. It produces towering waves.
4. When a storm subsides, the sea is usually turbulent for hours, if not for days. Even a chemical truck takes an hour to stop sloshing. This storm had been increasing up to the moment they woke Jesus.
5. When the winds suddenly stopped, and the water became as flat as glass, it was preternatural! The Awesomeness of the miracle indicated that this was no mere man! But something much more.
III. WHO IS THIS JESUS?
A. UNPARALLELED IN HUMAN HISTORY
1. “In infancy He startled a king; in childhood He puzzled the scholars; in manhood He commanded nature -- walking on waves as if on land, and hushing the sea to sleep. He healed the multitudes without medicine and fed huge crowds with a boy’s lunch.
2. He never wrote a book, yet all the libraries of the world couldn’t hold the books written about Him. He never founded a college, but all the world’s schools couldn’t hold his students. He never marshaled an army, but no army that ever marched could equal those who march with Him.
3. The names of the great men of the world of politics & science come and gone, but this man’s renown grows greater every year.
4. Herod could not destroy Him, the Romans couldn’t stop Him and the grave could not hold Him.
5. He stands forth as the most revered man in human history: proclaimed of God, acknowledged by angels, adored by saints, and feared by devils -- the living, resurrected, victorious Jesus Christ of Nazareth, our Lord and Savior.” Lalachan Abraham (adapted)
B. WHAT MANNER OF MAN IS THIS?
1. He’s so powerful He can command FORCES OF NATURE!
2. He has authority over the spiritual realm -- to commands evil spirits and they obey Him!
3. He can multiply a boy’s lunch to feed 7,000 people!
4. He’s so virtuous He can forgive sin!
5. He can call people back from the dead - 4 days later!
6. He heals sicknesses & diseases at will!
7. About Him the Father said, ‘This is My beloved Son!’
C. ILLUSTRATION
1. When the first missionaries went to Japan, a young Japanese who wanted to learn English was given the Gospel of John to translate into his native language.
2. In a short time he became restless and agitated. At last he burst out with the question, “Who is this man about whom I have been reading, this Jesus? You call Him a man, but He must be God”.
3. He was right. He is God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God, the Creator of all things, who holds all things in existence moment by moment!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Sundar Singh was born in 1889 into an important landowning Sikh family in Patiala state, North India. When his mother died, he was left with a deep void and a desperate longing for reality and peace. He became fanatical in his Hindu faith, but was bitterly disappointed that it couldn’t satisfy his deep inner cravings.
2. His father rebuked him when he saw him burning a Bible. Sundar counted it to be a meritorious act, yet a deep unrest took hold of him and he couldn’t eat or sleep for 3 days.
3. The third night, as he prayed for God to reveal Himself – before him stood a glorious figure shining with intense brightness, yet it didn’t hurt his eyes. He noticed it had a crown of thorns on its head and wounds in its hands, feet, and side. He was surprised, for he had never prayed to Christ.
4. The figure spoke, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. There is salvation only through Me. If you believe Me now, you will be saved. If you don’t believe Me you will be damned forever."
5. How could he now refuse the revelation of the Living God? Immediately he fell at the Feet of the Lord Jesus Christ and worshipped Him. A mighty power like the power of electricity flowed into him and a great peace came upon him. He was so full of joy that he ran to his old father, who was sleeping, and woke him up saying that he had seen Christ and that he had given himself to Him.
6. Sundar Singh became an evangelist in north India, Kashmir, Tibet, and Afghanistan. He was referred to as "the apostle with the bleeding feet" by the Christian communities of the north. He suffered arrest and stoning for his beliefs, and was accompanied by many miracles. He was last seen going back into Tibet to share Christ. (Joshua Daniel, Laymen Evangelical Fellowship; Wikipedia)
B. ALTAR CALL
1. Have you surrendered your life to Jesus Christ? He’s the only Door to Heaven! Trust in Him and you’ll be saved. How many of you need Him this morning?
2. How many of you are facing a storm? Trial? Do you need Jesus to stop the winds and the waves and bring peace to your life?
3. All who need Jesus come forward & join me at the front for prayer!
