Who Is This? Even the Wind and Sea Obey Him!
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As we approach a familiar passage of scripture today. I want to take a moment to suggest to you that there have many many songs and sermons written that completely miss Marks intention behind recording this event in scripture.
This passage of Scripture is not about men in a boat. It is not an allegory to teach us that Jesus will make everything better, i f we just have faith. I submit to you this morning, this passage of scripture is about the Christ displaying His Glory.
35 On that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.”
36 So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him.
37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped.
38 He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence! Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
40 Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”
Pray
Trans: The first thing I want you to notice this morning is found in Mark 4:35-36
35 On that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.”
36 So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him.
Q: Who led His disciples into the sea?
Q: Who led His disciples into the sea?
Sometimes elements of prosperity teaching creep into our way into our thinking. Because of this philosophy we often interpret scripture in a way that elevates the status of men and makes passages of great difficulty into allegory. In fact, a popular hymn we used to sing in the circles I grew up in went like this.
Every day with Jesus
Is sweeter than the day before
Every day with Jesus
I love Him more and more.
Jesus saves and keeps me
And He's the one I'm waiting for
Every day with Jesus
Is sweeter than the day before
Did following Jesus out onto the lake make their day better? No, We see worry, near death, and and utter terror.
Somehow I doubt that as the waves were filling the boats with water the disciples were whistling this tune as the bailed the water. Hey guys here comes another big one. This is just such a sweet time with Jesus. I just love him so much! That would be psychotic right?!
So if the point of this story is that everything is better with Jesus or Jesus is here to protect us from the storms of life. Then why would Jesus lead them into the middle of the sea in the first place?
Who created the storm?
So why is that we take stories like this and make them into these tame events about how Jesus gets us out of trouble.
You see when we ask the right questions we will see a bigger idea.
Trans: If we follow Jesus he will lead you into times of trouble. You see....
I. Jesus often leads His people into times of trouble and difficulty to display His glory to the benefit of those watching.
I. Jesus often leads His people into times of trouble and difficulty to display His glory to the benefit of those watching.
One detail that we often miss is that Jesus and his disciples didn’t exercise ministry in secret. In the Sunday school pictures we always only see a single boat out on the water. Yet, In fact Marks account gives us this interesting detail.
36 So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him.
Were the disciples and Jesus alone? No, there were other boats with them. You see Jesus often leads His people into times of trouble to display His glory to the benefit of those who are watching.
You see if we take this story and we apply it in such a way that suggest that its intended purpose is to demonstrate that Jesus will always calm the storms of life and not about his glory than we have a problem because God doesn’t always intervene.
What about those times when Jesus leads his people into hardships, trials and tribulation and he doesn’t intervene? Throughout scripture we see story after story where people were killed.
In this type of teaching, we make God to be inconsistent and whimsical. In teaching this way many walk away from God out of disillusionment and disappointment.
However the one consistent message that we see in every trial is God’s glory on display. Why does God allow bad things to happen? For his Glory? Why does God not always intervene? To display his glory through suffering.
But unless we think that in this suffering God is somehow calloused and uncaring look at look at verse
38 He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?”
When Jesus doesn’t intervene right away or he doesn’t intervene at all we often begin to ask the same question the disciples asked, “Do you not care?” We begin to doubt the goodness of God.
II. In times of trouble we recognize that Jesus is near, but we often fear He doesn’t care.
II. In times of trouble we recognize that Jesus is near, but we often fear He doesn’t care.
There have been times of trouble in my life where I felt like Jesus didn’t care. Intellectually I knew all of the verses about his love, but in my distress I felt like i was the exception.
So often when we experience extended trials or suffering we begin to doubt that Jesus really cares. This doubt becomes dominant when we forget that we are only part of the plan. We forget that God may be doing something bigger.
We forget that as his servants he allows hardship to enter into our lives to display His power and glory here on earth and to provide us with reward in His coming Kingdom.
So why does Jesus allow and often lead us into hardship?
To display His power and Glory to a lost world and to reward us for being used for his purposes.
So Does Jesus care? Yes He cares. So much so he tells us our suffering is not in vain.
Your suffering isn’t always about you and we see this was the case in this account. Jesus lead them to the storm!
Trans: But sometimes if we are honest that knowledge that should bring comfort just isn’t enough and here is why.
III. What we believe about Jesus Identity reveals itself in our response to His work.
III. What we believe about Jesus Identity reveals itself in our response to His work.
38 He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?”
Mark 4
The title “teacher” in this passage is a literary tool called a “Thematic Address” It show us what the person speaking believes about the one he is addressing.
What does he call Jesus? Teacher.
After seeing the power of Jesus rebuking the wind and the sea and immediately everthing is calm. What was the response to Jesus work?
40 Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 And they were terrified and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!”
Notice that the fear being mentioned in this section of the event is not fear toward the storm. The storm is gone. It is fear of Jesus.
When asking the question “Do you still have no faith? Jesus is not rebuking his disciples for being afraid during the storm. They were about to die.
He his rebuking them for not recognizing who He is. The disciples had a front row seat to hear all of Jesus teaching and see all of His miracles yet there reaction to his work shows they still weren’t sure of his Identity.
What we believe about Jesus Identity is often revealed in the way that we respond to His work.
If we are honest today, how many of us would have to admit that we see Jesus more as a teacher than Lord?
How often are we guilty of hearing the word, absorbing it, and agreeing and not obeying it.
a. When we see Jesus as a teacher and not as Lord, we often find ourselves actually afraid of His work and our involvement in it.
b. When we see Him as teacher and not Lord, we get angry and upset about the storms he leads us into.
How many people have walked away from their faith because they didn’t believe that God had the right to bring them into a trial?
C. When we see Jesus as teacher and not Lord we believe everything is about us and then we doubt his goodness and care.
What We believe about Jesus’s Identity reveals itself in our response to His Work.
46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and don’t do the things I say?
So my closing questions for you today is this
Does the way you live your life and respond to His work reveal that he is the Lord of your life or is he been just simply a teacher?
Do you only follow Jesus beccause you have been taught that he will make your life better or because he is the Lord of all creation and is worthy of your devotion.