Message

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JESUS CALMS THE STORM

 

Mark 4:35-41

Key Verse:4:40 “He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

 

  Have you ever been at the beach and looked at the waves carefully? The waves are coming up unceasingly and continuously toward the beach, hitting rocks or disappearing on the sand. What did you think by looking at the waves? People say that life is confronting the unceasing wave one after another, whether they are big or small. The moment we think that the waves are over, another wave or storm is coming up as students confront one exam after another right after finishing their weekly quizzes.

  In today’s passage Jesus teaches his disciples how to confront storms by faith, not avoid them. Above all, through the storm training Jesus teaches them who he really is so that they may have eternal life and grow as future spiritual leaders for the whole world. I pray that all of us may meet Jesus and know him personally as the Lord and Savior. Amen.

1. Yahoo! A vacation (35-37)

Look at verse 35. “That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” In the previous lesson, as we studied, Jesus taught his disciples about the secret of the kingdom of God through several parables, which are the parable of the sower, the parable of the growing seed and the parable of the mustard seed. Jesus eagerly wanted his disciples to understand the secret of the kingdom of God so that they might possess the kingdom of God and grow as great spiritual leaders for the world. Despite Jesus’ wholehearted teaching, still Jesus’ disciples could not quite understand his teaching. They did not get it. They are like PE students who are listening to the complicated and sophisticated Shakespeare’s literature.  The disciples were tired and hungry. They needed a break. Jesus understood them well and suggested to go to the other side of the lake.

The disciples immediately knew what Jesus had meant. It was a short vacation, being free from the demanding and persistent crowd. They must have shouted with jubilee, “Yahoo, a vacation! Labor Day break!” Peter and Andrew immediately might have prepared boats for their trip. James and John also might have packed up a barbeque grill for beach party. Philip and Thomas might have bought meat, chicken, hotdog bun, and Hawaiian Punch with some corn chips. The disciples were full of vacation dream. They were happy when they thought about spending personal time with their master Jesus, leaving the crowd behind as my children really enjoy my family gathering. 

Look at verse 36, “Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.” Imagine how their boat trip was? The sun was setting down on the west horizon and the sea was tinted with vermillion and crimson. The sparkling waves fascinated the disciple’s eyes and the cool wind dried sweat on their forehead and refreshed their dull hearts. As the boat was sliding on the lake by the gentle breeze, suddenly Peter began to sing a canzonet “Santaruchia” like Luciano Paparotti.  Andrew, his brother, might have repeated, “Encore” in response to Peter’s abrupt entertainment.  Next to Peter, James was appointed to entertain others with his favorite song, “The Galilee waves.” Because of his poor performance due out of tune, everybody laughed but encouraged James to finish the song to the end. Thus, the disciples were happy with being together and enjoyed the vacation with Jesus. Probably, for the first time since they followed Jesus, they might have had such a wonderful vacation with their master Jesus. But, what happened when they were in the middle of the lake and in the middle of their hilarious mood?

2. A storm training (37,38)

Look at verse 37. “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.” An unexpected and sudden violent storm attacked them. Matthew calls it a furious storm without warning. (Mt 8:24). The Sea of Galilee also called ‘the Lake Genesarret’, which is known as the lowest freshwater lake on this earth, lies 680 feet, around 68 stories below sea level.  The lake is surrounded by hills, especially on the east side where they reach 2000 feet high. These heights are a source of cool, dry air. In contrast, directly around the sea, the climate is semi-tropical with warm, moist air. The large difference in height between surrounding land and the sea causes large temperature and pressure changes. This results in strong winds dropping to the sea, funneling through the hills.  The Sea of Galilee is relatively shallow, just 200 feet at its greatest depth. A shallow lake is "whipped up" by wind more rapidly than deep water. Small boats caught out on the sea are in immediate danger.

  Among the Twelve, Peter, Andrew, James and John were veteran fishermen. They must have encountered many big and small storms in their lives. But, this was not the same of those. It was a big one. The storm was out of their control despite their bone-crushing effort to handle their boat from the water. Their boat was sinking into the deep water. In a second the wave seemed to swallow them up and put them into deep water. The cold sweat got wet on their spine cord. The hilarious and jubilant vacation mood was gone with the wind. They were desperate in life and death situation.  

At that time, what was Jesus doing in the middle of the storm? Look at verse 38a. “Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion…” Jesus was sleeping in the middle of the deadly storm. He must have been very tired of healing the sick and teaching the word to the crowd all day long. He did not have even regular meal time with his disciples. He must have spent the time in a boat to compensate his lack of sleep. Draw a picture of the sleeping Jesus in your mind. The sleeping Jesus in the middle of storm is the Son of God. He is the king of peace and the Lord of comfort. Nothing on this earth, even the furious squall could not daunt and frighten the Son of God, who was sleeping in peace in the middle of the violent storm. No matter how violent and turbulent storm may come, there is true peace, real rest and absolute rescue in Jesus. Amen.

But, what did the disciples do and say to Jesus? Look at verse 38b. “The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” The disciples thought that Jesus was insensible and indifferent. They did not know that Jesus was the Almighty God and the Prince of Peace. (Isa 9:6) They were anxious and somewhat angry with Jesus who was just sleeping in such a critical and desperate situation. These days some may have the same question to Jesus, “God, don’t you care if I lose a job?” “Jesus, don’t you care when my wife lost her health? What did Jesus do and say to his disciples?

3. Quiet! Be Still (39-41)

Look at verse 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.” Jesus immediately responded to the disciples’ request. He got up and rebuked the wind and waves. Then, the wind died down and it was completely calm. By saying a word, the situation was changed. It was like a violently barking dog which became very quiet and gentle after his master just said a word, “Quiet! Be still!” Jesus calmed down the violent and deadly threatening storm. What can we learn here about Jesus? First, Jesus is the Creator God who rules the nature and storms. Who dares to rebuke and control the storm but God alone? Jesus who rebuked and controlled the storm is the Creator God who created the heavens and the earth. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth including the wind by his word of command. When God said, “Let there be light!”, and there was light.” (Ge 1:3) When God said, “Let there be wind” And there was the east wind and west wind. We believe that the universe was created at God’s command. Hebrews 11:3a says, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command…” Psalm 33:9 says, “For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.” When Jesus spoke, the wind and the wave calmed down. Jesus who controlled the nature is not a mere man, but the Creator God.

 

Second, Jesus helped his disciples to overcome inner fear. Look at verse 40. “He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” After rebuking the wind, Jesus turned around and rebuked his disciples of their lack of faith. The disciples followed Jesus and witnessed many miraculous signs which Jesus had performed. They saw how Jesus drove out evil sprits out of a man. (Mk 1:21-28) They also witnessed how Jesus healed the leper, the paralytic, the man with a shriveled hand by the compassion of God. (Mk 1:40-45; 2:1-12, 3:1-6). Above all, they heard how Jesus taught about the kingdom of God through many parables so that they might have faith in him and grow as men of faith and spiritual leaders for their generation. But, they forgot all these things and were filled with fear when they were in the middle of the storm. They were gripped with fear and soon became a slave to fear of death.

 

The opposite word of faith is fear. Fear makes men paralyzed and powerless. Satan usually plants fear in men’s heart and makes them very fearful and helpless. Since people are gripped with fear, they cannot do anything, not even their homework. Jesus helped his disciples to overcome inner fear through this storm training.  Jesus helped his disciples to have faith in God and his absolute care and protection in such a deadly life-threatening storm. Jesus helped them to trust in God and believe in him when they were with him in the same boat. To help fearful disciples, rebuking is the best remedy. So Jesus rebuked his disciples to repent of their unbelief and to believe in Jesus as the Lord and Savior.

We encounter series of storms in our lives of a voyage. Satan plants fear in our hearts through various storms. Many people confront the storms and finish their lives in a tragic end. There was a well-known four stars admiral, who was respected as a loyal and valiant officer in US Navy. But, since his military achievement was suspected and his record of honor was investigated, he committed a suicide before the investigation started. Such a valiant general did not overcome his storm of life and ended his life in such a tragic way.  Even though it is an extreme case, some student jumped down from their dormitory, not overcoming pressure and stress from their tough school study. They were too weak to overcome such a storm. We are gripped with fear when we lose job or health. Students have fear for being flunked, and basically anxious about their uncertain future security. Children have fear of their parent’s separation, divorce and abuse. In many and various occasions, Satan brings fear with the storm to our lives. Then, what should we do?  We must live by faith from the beginning to the end. We must come to God and pray that God may rescue us from the storms of life. We must trust in God and hold his promise to the end until fear disappears from our hearts.

Last year around this time, my family met a storm. My wife Mary passed out during her work at hospital. She was paralyzed and hospitalized for several days. For a while I was gripped with fear of losing her and anxious about my family’s uncertain future security. But, at that time Jesus encouraged me with his word, “It is I; don’t be afraid.”  (Jn 6:20) Jesus helped me to fix my eyes on him and trust in him to the end with his absolute protection and provision. He also encouraged missionary Mary with the word, “The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still!” (Ex 14:14) When we trusted in Jesus and believed in his word, Jesus healed Mary and raised her up from her sickness. After taking necessary rest she went back to work as before. Through this storm of life, Jesus taught my family how to rely on Jesus in the storms of life and how to overcome it by faith.

  This country America encountered such an unexpected and sudden storm at September 11, 2001. We saw clearly with our own eyes how the evil destroyed the innocent lives in the Twin Towers and in the planes. I thanked God who appointed a God-fearing president for this country to deal with the storm. However, we must work harder than the president or other people in order to establish America a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. This country America is known as the land for opportunity. But, we must not seek only benefit from this country, but seek God’s will and his kingdom with a sense of mission. We must continue to preach the word and pray for America to become a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Amen.

Look at verse 41. “They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him.” Now, after being severely rebuked by Jesus, the disciples came back to their senses. They had a holy fear of God. They wondered who Jesus was since the wind and the waves obeyed him. Indeed, Jesus is the Creator God and ruler of nature. In him, there is true peace and absolute salvation. We believe that his word has absolute power and authority to control all the storms of our lives.

  In today’s passage, we learned that the disciples had a very suspenseful, thrillingly vacation through the unexpected storm. Their sweet and hilarious dream of vacation was totally shattered. But, they learned who Jesus really was. They also learned what they had to do in confronting storms of life. Like the disciples, we must overcome inner fear and put our absolute faith in Jesus and his word. May God make each of us more than a conqueror than an escape artist. Amen.

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• Jesus calms the storm.doc