Mark Chapter 4. We continue working our way through the gospel of Mark with an eye to discipleship. Today, we step into the boat with the disciples with the great storm, Galilee. Maybe you’ll recall the wonderful painting by Rembrandt depicting this very picture of Jesus being woken up by terrified disciples as the boat is tossing and pitching in the great waves. As we look through the reading of God’s word, if you please join me in prayer. O gracious God, we do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from your mouth. We ask that you would make us hungry for this heavenly food this day, that it would nourish us in the ways of eternal life. And this we pray through Jesus Christ, the bread of heaven. Amen. Beginning in verse 35. On that day when evening had come, he said to them, Let us go across to the other side. ‘ And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was, and the other boats were with him, and a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already filling.
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? ‘ 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. He said to them, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? ‘ And they were filled with great fear, and said to one another, ‘Who then is this that he times when great and wonderful efforts of people have been stopped dead in their tracks by unforeseen events? ‘ Some caused by men and some caused by nature. Food and medical supplies stolen before they reach a disaster area. Food and medical supplies sunk in a flooded river, sent into a ravine by a landslide, or in times past, sickness and disease, wiping out the team that was bringing the medical relief. All of these things have occurred, and invariably, it’s in these hard moments for someone not to think or to say, Come on, Lord, give us a break. We’re trying to do something good here. Can’t you even at least help us out?
And because of this, we can forgive the disciples for thinking that because they were just doing what Jesus said, that they would have a nice evening breeze at their back as they went across the lake, an undisturbed trip. It was night. They too were tired. They too had had a long day. But no, they are almost drowned in sight of their own homes, and then Jesus rebukes them for their efforts. Now, of all the knucklehead things that disciples did, and there are a lot of them, this is one where we want to cut them some slack. Because it’s not unreasonable to have fear in fearful situations. But what we see Jesus rebuking them for is an excessive fear and panic. I appreciate how Matthew Henry, he put it this way. He said, Jesus does not chide them for disturbing him with their prayers, but for disturbing themselves with their fears. The Bible speaks to these excessive fears. In In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul is telling these young Christians not to have excessive grief over death. He says that you may not grieve as those who have no hope. We see throughout the Exes account in the Book of Numbers, the Israelis grumbling and complaining, and they were rebuked as God continued to provide for them time and again for their food and for their water, and each time wondering what was going to happen to them if God would come through once more.
Here Jesus rebukes them for excessive fear and panic when he, the Lord of glory, is right at their side. Because nothing happens to us outside of the control of the Lord, we are to put our faith and our trust in his presence in the midst of those very trials and circumstances. To recap what was going on in Mark, Jesus has been speaking about the presence the Kingdom of God in himself. This Kingdom has been hidden and is now being revealed to them. And a disciple is one who must come near to Jesus to hear this. As Jesus said earlier to them, to you has been given the secret of the Kingdom of God. The only ones so far who know this truth about Jesus are the Father and the demons. The disciples have not yet gotten there. They’re in route, but they’re not quite there yet. Well, a little background then as we look into this on the Sea of Galilee, some of you might know that it’s actually really not a sea, it’s a lake. Today, it’s called Lake Kinnarit in Israel. It’s about 17 by 8 miles wide and long. About a third of Flathead Lake in its area.
It’s the lowest freshwater lake in the world, 700 feet below sea level. Why that’s important is because in the north, the Golan Heights in Mount Hermon, it rises up to about 9,200 feet. The mountain winds can bring violent and unexpected squals to the lake because it’s in a basin. Not only that, the boats they were in were very low to the water. In 1986, they found a large fishing boat, actually from the first century. It was discovered during a drought when the Sea of Galilee was low, and they found it offshore. It’s called the Jesus boat. It was typical of what’s described here in the Gospels, holds about 15 people, 27 by 8, 4 feet deep, low again, low to the water, filled with people. And all of this sets the stage for the disciples’ great panic when the storm comes. And it also sets the stage for the Lord’s great protection when he delivers them. But beginning in verse 35, On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, Jesus, ‘Let us go across to the other side. ‘ Leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was, and the other boats were with them.
Now, Jesus had been teaching from the boat. The crowds were so great that they were pushing in on him, and it allowed them not only to be heard and to be seen, but they weren’t constantly around him so close and smashing him with their presence. No doubt, there have been those who have seen this account as a pure fable. But what’s interesting is the details that are given here are really unnecessary. If it was a legend, why all the little details? Matthew and Luke, they give us just the bare bones of what’s taking place. But Mark has a vivid detail of an eyewitness reminiscence. Tradition tells us that actually Peter was the one whom Mark got his information from, one who was there at the time. You see that in that awkward verse in verse 36. It gives the impression that Jesus didn’t go back to shore, but that he was speaking. And then while he was still in the boat, they took him across. We’re told of the other boats that are there, and nothing more is said about them. The water filling the boat and Jesus being asleep in the stern, pillow there for his head.
All of these are memories that suggest an eyewitness recollection. Someone’s remembering back and just trying to picture with this, Oh, yeah, this happened and this happened and these things were going on. They’re really superfluous to the story itself. They’re not needed. You would never make them up if you were just inventing the story. But it continues in verse 37, The great windstorm arose and the waves were breaking into the boat, so the boat was already filling. But he Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke him and they said to him, ‘Teacher, do you not care that we’re perishing? ‘ Now, we’re told by New Testament scholars that there is more than a little note of reproach in their words. It’s both blunt and filled with panic. Don’t you care? There’s three words in Greek. You may recall Martha and Mary’s words reproached to Jesus when he came seemingly too late to help their brother Lazarus. John 11, each of them had said, Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. Those words of reproach. Don’t you care? Now, isn’t that one of our rebukes towards the Lord when we are in doubt or struggling with really hard circumstances?
All that the disciples had heard and experienced about Jesus just got pitched overboard. In one moment of their own trial, they lost it. But what we see is this is no empty storm. It’s filled with the purposes of God. This is true of our trials, it’s true of theirs. God does not bring us into empty storms. They are filled with his purposes. It is here in the midst of the panic of perishing that they see firsthand the powerful protection of Jesus. In verse 39, he awoke, he rebuked the wind, and he said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still. ‘ Now, there are several ways to translate that, different translations. You may have, we’ll have something different. You could actually, one, translate as, ‘Be quiet, shut up. It’s pretty terse. Be quiet, be still, be muzzled, silence. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. The language Jesus uses to calm the storm is the same that he used to rebuke the demons. He rebuked the demons, he called them out. And the same word here, he rebuked the storm. And then he turns to the disciples and he said to them, Why are you so afraid?
Have you still no faith? And that word Jesus uses in verse 40, the disciples being afraid or fearful, it’s a different word than what’s used in verse 41. Verse 41, it says they were afraid. That fear speaks of reverence and awe. The one Jesus uses has the meaning of being cowardly. It’s a negative fear. You’re being cowardly. Why? Because these are the very ones to whom Jesus has been speaking the secrets of the kingdom, and they’re panicking. What they lack is faith, not more information. They have the information they need, but they’re not putting it into trust. They cannot respond with confidence in Jesus in a critical moment before them. None of these events are random. Jesus was sleeping, he was tired, he was wore out from ministering to the people. He’s with them in the boat. Quote, Nothing had happened that was out of his control. The Father, either allowed or brought this storm actively for their own good. None of it was outside of his reach. I appreciate Scottish pastor Thomas Boston from the 17th century. He put this beautifully. He’s speaking about the saints of God and how God guides them. And he says this, he says, Nothing do they meet with but what comes through their Lord’s fingers.
How he weighs their troubles as to the least grain that no more falls to their share than they need. What a beautiful image. But that’s not how we feel in a moment. It feels like God’s got a scoop shovel and he’s just throwing it, not measuring out little grains of affliction. It’s like, Come on, give me a break. When is this going to stop? The reality is God metering out exactly what is needed for our growth and grace, for his purposes in our life. It’s running through his fingers. Nothing is random. God not giving more to us than he sees necessary. But these trials and tribulation are given to us so that Jesus would reveal himself in the midst of them. And also it reveals our own heart. It reveals the wonder and the magnificence of Jesus and reveals hearts that struggle with every circumstance that comes along where we doubt him. What we also see here is many parallels with this count to the Book of Jona. So much so that some said, Well, the gospel writer is intentionally trying to make this parallel. But there’s parallels, there’s a difference. Like Jona, Jesus was asleep in the midst of the great storm, so was Jona.
The crew on the boat with Jona were deeply afraid in panicking. But Jonas told them to throw him overboard, that they would live. Here, Jesus does not call on anyone at all. He just says it, and it happens. And that’s what’s remarkable about this account. Now, we know of another great shipwreck, a great storm at sea with the apostle Paul. And the miracle there was Nobody died. The ship sunk. Paul didn’t stand up and say something to the waves and the storm. He just said, take courage. The Lord said, none of you are going to die. But that’s not what Jesus did. He spoke. Going back to Jona, it says, the saviors picked him up and they hurled Jona into the sea and the sea ceased from its raging. Then the mere fear the Lord exceedingly. That’s what we see here as well with the disciples. Verse 41, they were filled with great fear, great fear, great awe. And they said to one another, Who then is this that even the wind and the seas obey him? Now, when things happen to people, we have a category for that. Like the rest of the world, we’ve heard of faith healers.
We’ve heard of exorcists. We’ve heard of miraculous things that happen to people. We may have prayed for somebody and God brought something in an incredible way, a miracle that occurred. We’ve heard of those sorts of things. But no one that I know have ever stood in front of a tornado, rebuked it, and it stopped. No one has gone in the midst of a hurricane, spoken, and everything just dissolves and ceases. That’s an extra category of greatness that we don’t have a category for. We struggle with that When God delivered Israel at the Crossing of the Red Sea, nobody was thinking, wow, Moses is amazing. They’re like, Look what God did. God is the one who brought about that deliverance. All through scripture, we are told consistently, it’s the Lord who calms the storms. Psalm 107, The sun went down to the sea in ships doing business on the great waters. They saw the deeds of the Lord, his wondrous works in the deep. For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted to heaven, they went down to the depths. Their courage melted away in their evil plight.
They reeled and staggered like drunken men, and were at their wits end. Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. He delivered them from their distress. He made the storm be still. The waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad that the waters were quiet and that the Lord brought them into their desired haven. Repeatedly, we hear that. Isaiah 43, the Lord said, When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. Through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. Job says of God, By his power, he stilled the sea. By his understanding, he shattered the serpent. Psalm 65, Oh God of our salvation, who still the roaring of the seas, the roaring of the waves, the tumult of the peoples. God does this. When Jesus calms the storm, this is more than a miracle. It’s an epiphany. Jesus was unveiled to his disciples. He does not call out to God. He just speaks a word of command, and his creation listens and obeys. Jesus does what only God can do. That’s This is what the gospel of Mark has consistently been telling us. This is the struggle that everyone has with Jesus.
He looks and behaves like an ordinary person, but then he does these things that only God can do. He makes claims about himself that are only claims that God can make. Colossians 1, Paul writes, Jesus is the image of the invisible God, whereby Jesus all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones and powers, dominions, or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. That’s an amazing statement to make about Jesus. And that question comes that we’re constantly bombarded with, or are we just here by some accidental cosmic storm that somehow threw all this together? Or are we here because of the one who formed all things out of chaos chaos by the word of his power. And what the disciples come to understand is that they only have the vaguest idea of who this Jesus is. He’s still a stranger, even to his own people. You take the resurrection before a lot of these things fell into place and the dots were connected. In the Book of Daniel, the great prophecy of the end and apocalyptic scene of the great and fierce monsters rising out of the churning sea, terrifying to behold what they are conquered by the one who looks like the Son of Man.
There, Daniel writes, There came one like the Son of Man, and he came to the ancient of days, was presented before him, and to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all people, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which not pass away. His kingdom will never be destroyed. That’s a glorious and amazing statement. You see the thrust of the Old Testament bringing it all together into the person and work of Jesus. One like the Son of Man. And this is good news for us. This is really good news because we can feel in by God. Don’t you care? Isn’t that what’s on our lips when circumstances are beyond our ability? We’re panicked. We’ve all felt like this at some point in our lives. We’re going under and it feels like God doesn’t care, asleep at the wheel, indifferent to our suffering, where we either say or think, If you love me, this wouldn’t be happening to me. Or to put it in Mary and Martha’s words, Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. Fill in that with whatever is going on in your life that you don’t want.
Lord, if you had been here, this wouldn’t have happened. And what we see repeatedly is the Lord allowed us, his people to go through the storms and the trials of life. He is there with us. We’re not left to the mercy of the storm, but we have no control over the storm, and we also have no control over the Lord of the Storm. That’s terrifying. When we like to do or say or think something that somehow makes us feel like we’re back in control, that somehow we can change the outcome of these circumstances. God puts us in that very place where there will be no coming out of this, safe from his hand. And that is a hard spot to be in. But the difference is that we know the Lord loves his people. He does not give to us one more grain of trial and affliction that he deems necessary. And man, that often is just a word of faith that we hold to because it doesn’t It’s seen like that. When you’re in the midst of that, it’s like, that seems like a lot more grains than I’m wanting to hold. What are those measurements?
Hundred pound blocks. And yet we know God says that we are his. We will not perish, ultimately. And so when we say, If you love me, I wouldn’t be perishing, the Lord responds, Because I love you, because I have purposes, you might not see and know. I am allowing this storm, but you are not in it alone. The disciples are rebuked for their excessive panic and thinking that Jesus does not love them or care for them. These men who have been walking with Jesus, who have heard his instruction of authoritative truth, who have experienced his personal love and care for them and for others, have doubted him at the very first sign of trouble. Later in Matthew’s Gospel in Luke, Jesus makes this comparison. He says, Behold, something greater than Jona is here. Not talking about just calming a storm. He’s talking about the end of sin and death. Jesus would go on and tell them, no sign will be given except the sign of the prophet Jona. For just as Jona was in three days and three days in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man, harking back to Daniel, will be three days and three nights in the heart of the Earth.
The creator has entered into his creation to our state of sin and misery. He allows himself to be hurled overboard that we would now have redemption in him. Brothers and sisters, God does not bring to us empty storms. They are filled with his purposes. He tells us, I am with you even to the end of the age. The struggle we have is that the aperture which we are looking at is just too small. It’s too small. We are not omniscient. We are not omniconpetent. We are not omnipotent. If I could have repeated that, omnipotent and omniscient, omniconpetent. None of those omnis belong to any one of us. They’re God. And We, in the midst of this little thing that we see, are going, I don’t know how this is going to work for my good. I don’t see a good event happening here. Lord, how are you going to pull a rabbit out of the hat in this one? It’s not beyond his ability. Our inability to know and understand does not stop his purposes. And to be able to rebuke him, Lord, if you’d only been there. Lord, if you only cared. Coming from our lips that we are not struck at that very moment is a part of the wonder and the mercy of God.
That Jesus, looking at them after all they had seen, said, Do you still have no faith? And he perseveres with them. He continues to take them along, that they will at at one point, have this revelation, understanding of Jesus after the resurrection. But we do know the reality that many of us continue to struggle with is that we have not the vaguest idea of who the Jesus is that we follow. We think we do. And then he does something we’re like, Oh, that’s way bigger than I thought. We think we have to put our hands around it. We can have words and words to describe it. And then he steps outside of that and it’s amazing. We have a lifetime in front of us. We have an eternity for us of coming to know who our God is. Don’t shrink back if you think, I just have a vague idea. That’s enough. Just keep pushing in. Stay in the boat. Stay with him in his presence. He’s not going anywhere. He’s going to get you where he wants you to be. At times, it’s going to go through affliction and hardship that it’s difficult to understand.
Why did this take place? I don’t know. He does. He firmly knows why. Not one more grain put into your scale than what is necessary for his purposes. There are times when you just says, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. I just don’t see that. You don’t have to. There’s only one Lord of glory. And he says, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. I am with you even to the end of the age. Brothers and sister, regardless of what you’re going through, there is no empty storm in your life. They are filled with his purposes. Pray with me. Father, as we come before you this day, all of us confess Lord has sinned. We have doubted you. We have spoken. Lord reproaches and rebukes to you for what’s happening in our lives. And Father, we ask that you would forgive us. We ask, Father, that you would continue to open our eyes to the magnificence and the wonder of our savior Jesus. Lord, he alone. He alone does what you can do. Father, Son, and spirit, one God forever. Lord, what a mystery that we do not comprehend. But we thank you.
We thank you for the revelation that you have given to us. And we pray, Lord, that you would continue to embolden us, that you would continue to increase our faith. That regardless of what you bring to us, Father, that we would call you good, we would praise your name even from the depths. And this we pray and ask through Jesus, our great Lord. Amen. Please stand, that lovely source of true delight.
Discaimer: This sermon text was generated by an automated transcription service.