The story of Jesus and his disciples in a storm on the Sea of Galilee is short. But it has a huge amount to teach us.
I’d like to show you a little video clip of an actual storm on Lake Galilee so you can get an idea of what that storm might have been like. [Video clip.]
Jesus and his disciples experienced a physical storm on the Sea of Galilee. Some people today still experience life-threatening storms at sea. Deep-sea fishing is considered one of the most dangerous forms of work. But the biggest group who are at risk from storms at sea are the migrants crossing the Mediterranean to come to Europe. Thousands have died. Storms at sea are still a real danger.
But there are other kinds of storms. Marriages can hit the rocks. Money problems can sink us. A loved one passing away a person can leave us overwhelmed by grief. Persecution or oppression can feel like a storm.
Every kind of storm is dangerous and tough to deal with. What we see in Jesus and his disciples in this story has some important lessons for us in dealing with storms – storms out to sea or storms in life.
We might wonder, can we take this passage about Jesus in a storm at sea and apply it to the other kinds of storms we might face? I think we can. In the Bible God and Jesus act in physical storms. But they don’t ONLY act in physical storms.
Let me give some examples. In today’s passage, Jesus and the disciples are facing a DISASTER. It’s beyond the ability of his disciples to cope with. If we go on to Mark 5, there are three stories, one after another. Jesus meets a man with a DEMON. No one could restrain the man. But Jesus cast the demon out. He meets a woman with a DISEASE – with bleeding. No doctors could heal her. But Jesus did. He goes to the house where a little girl has DIED. No one can raise someone from the dead. But Jesus did. They aren’t called ‘storms’ but they were definitely life crises. None of the people involved were able to deal with them. But Jesus could. So although we’re only looking at one storm, we can remember that Jesus can help in every kind of storm. And the principles we see in the storm on the Sea of Galilee also apply to other storms.
I’m going to make three points.
First, Jesus wants us to be calm in storms.
Second, the storms of life can damage or destroy our relationship with Jesus.
Third, Jesus may deliberately take us through storms so that we learn the lesson: ‘I can’t. But Jesus can.’
JESUS WANTS US TO BE CALM IN STORMS.
Jesus is the Son of God. He’s perfect and he’s the person we should be modelling ourselves on.
How was Jesus on that boat on the Sea of Galilee? He was confident, calm, cool. In fact, he was asleep!
Perhaps you’re thinking, Jesus should NOT have been asleep at that time! But remember the two rules of business. Rule 1 is, ‘The boss is always right.’ Rule 2 is, ‘If the boss is wrong, see Rule 1.’
Jesus is the ultimate boss. If he was sleeping then it was right for him to be sleeping.
I’d like you to imagine a kind of scale that shows how people respond when problems come along.
On the left-hand end of the scale is complacency. There is a genuine problem and we do nothing. We mustn’t make that mistake. Jesus didn’t. He saw needs and responded to them.
On the right-hand end of the scale is getting in a complete tizz. We panic. As far as we’re concerned, life as we know it is going to end.
In the centre there’s a sweet spot. It isn’t complacency. It isn’t panic. It’s calm.
In the boat on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus’ disciples were over on the right. They thought their lives were about to end. Jesus, on the other hand, was in the sweet spot in the centre. He was calm. As we’ve noted, he was asleep.
Jesus gave his disciples an example, that it’s possible to be calm in a storm. And he clearly wanted his disciples to be like him. After he calms the storm, he asks them, ‘Why were you SO afraid?’ I like the ‘so.’ Perhaps it was OK to be a little bit afraid. But SO afraid? That wasn’t OK.
What Jesus was teaching his disciples applies to us. In a storm perhaps it’s OK to be a little afraid. But not terrified!
Why? Why shouldn’t Jesus disciples have been afraid? What we know – which Jesus’ disciples didn’t know – was that Jesus had authority over the storm. He could simply tell it to stop! If Jesus could do that, why should they be afraid!
So why shouldn’t WE be afraid? For exactly the same reason. We KNOW who Jesus is. We KNOW what authority he has. After Jesus rose from the dead, he told his disciples ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’ [Matthew 28:18]. There’s NOTHING which Jesus doesn’t have authority over. So why should we be afraid? If we tend to head off to the right-hand end of the scale then we need to move to the centre.
THE STORMS OF LIFE CAN DAMAGE OR DESTROY OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS.
Storms are miserable. Storms can sink us. But there’s something else a storm can do. We can see it in the storm Jesus and his disciples were in. Look at verse 38, the second half. Jesus’ disciples said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ Jesus’ disciples were thinking: ‘Jesus doesn’t care.’
Before the storm came along, I expect that Jesus’ disciples were certain that he loved them and cared for them. Then, along came the storm. No doubt if Jesus had been active, encouraging his disciples, they wouldn’t have doubted him. But he’s fast asleep! As a result, his disciples think he doesn’t care.
So, the storm was causing Jesus’ disciples to doubt him. The storms of life can make us doubt Jesus. Ultimately, a storm can make us lose our faith in Jesus completely. Perhaps someone loses a loved one unexpectedly. The person says to himself or herself, ‘God let the tragedy happen. He could have presented it. He clearly doesn’t love me. He doesn’t care for me.’ And they fall away from God.
So, the storms of life can destroy our relationship with Jesus. But the storms of life can also make our relationship with Jesus STRONGER. That brings me on to my third point.
JESUS MAY DELIBERATELY TAKE US THROUGH STORMS SO THAT WE LEARN THE LESSON: ‘I CAN’T. BUT JESUS CAN.’
Let me ask you a question.
Jesus is the Son of God, so he knows a lot. He’s also man, and there are some things he didn’t know. For example, he didn’t know when he would come again. He said, ‘But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only’ [Matthew 24:36].
What do you think … did Jesus know that a storm was coming?
Of course, we can’t answer that! But Jesus often had insight into things that were, humanly-speaking, unknowable. So I think he might well have known that a storm was coming.
Our story starts with Jesus telling his disciples, ‘Let us go across to the other side.’
Why would Jesus set out across the lake with his disciples if he knew a storm was coming? Sensible people avoid storms. I don’t like to go out when the weather is freezing – let alone go out in a storm!
If I’m right that Jesus knew a storm was coming, then he deliberately led his disciples into a storm. Why would he do that? Out on the lake, Jesus’ disciples learned something. They got into a situation which was way beyond their capacity to cope with. They said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?’ But in that situation, they found that Jesus COULD cope with it.
There are two parts to this lesson. One part was the disciples admitting that the situation was beyond them. The other was them recognizing that Jesus could handle it. We can paraphrase it as, ‘WE CAN’T. BUT YOU CAN.’
You may think to yourself, ‘That’s a tough way to teach a lesson!’ But I suspect it’s the only way for Jesus to teach it. You can’t get to ‘WE CAN’T’ unless you’re in a situation where you genuinely can’t cope.
This understanding is absolutely key to coping with the storms of life. As long as we think that WE have to handle them we’re going to get in a tizz. We’re thinking about our own resources – and they are very limited. We have to reach the point where we KNOW we can’t cope. THEN we really lean on Jesus. We find that he’s more than able to cope. And then, we can relax! Like Jesus! We can go to sleep!
It's a really valuable lesson – and I suspect it can only be learned by going through storms. So, I think it’s perfectly possible that Jesus saw that trip across the lake as a great teaching opportunity. Perhaps you don’t like Jesus’ teaching methods! But you’re also one of his disciples! If he says, ‘Let’s go across the lake’ – off you go.
So, Jesus calms storms but – if I’m right – he also takes us into them. Life with Jesus can be a bit of a roller-coaster. Scary at times, but fun. That has been my experience. Priscilla [my wife] and I have experienced many storms – and we have also been in a storm in a small rowing boat a couple of miles from land...
Have we learned the lesson of trusting in Jesus? Of saying, ‘We can’t – but you can’?
There is a couple who Priscilla and I have known for about 40 years. The husband has now passed away. They worked as missionaries in India for a number of years and got into many testing situations. Later, after they came back to England, they told us that even though God had provided for them many times, when another need came up, they still found themselves doubting if Jesus would take care of it.
I think that’s the reality. As we read the gospels, the disciples didn’t have one lightbulb moment. They came to faith gradually. I’m sure that’s the same for Priscilla and me. Faith is a journey.
Let me conclude.
My first point was that Jesus wants us to be calm in storms. If our tendency is to panic, to head off to the right-hand side of the scale, let’s try to get back into the centre. We don’t want Jesus asking US, in a not very complimentary way, ‘Why are you SO afraid?’
My second point is that the storms of life can damage or destroy our relationship with Jesus. We need to be aware of that danger. In particular, we may find that Jesus isn’t saying or doing very much. Let’s not interpret that to mean he isn’t with us or doesn’t care for us.
My third point was that Jesus may deliberately take us through storms so that we learn the lesson: ‘I can’t. But Jesus can.’ The storms of life can strengthen our relationship with him. So, let’s not be alarmed when the storms come. I’m not advocating being complacent. But I want to leave us with the image of Jesus, asleep in the storm, in our minds.
NOTE
We read a children’s version of the story of the storm titled ‘The Storm that Stopped’, by Alison Mitchell, earlier in the service. This is a great resource as the publisher provides free downloadable illustrations from the book so you can show them on Powerpoint while you read the story. They’re here: https://www.thegoodbook.co.uk/download-the-full-size-illustrations-the-storm-t.
Talk given at Rosebery Park Baptist Church, Bournemouth, UK, 12th March 2023, 10.30 a.m. family service
