Mark 4:35–41
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Well, I bring you greetings from your own daughter, your 10-month-old daughter, River City Baptist Church in Richmond, Virginia. She's doing well, by God's grace. And I don't just say that as a throwaway comment. I really mean that. Humanly speaking, we would not exist as a church in Richmond, Virginia, were it not for you. The story of RCBC cannot be told apart from you all, your prayers, your encouragement, your financial support, not just in leading up to us moving there, but ever since. I often hear from some of you who tune in to the podcast or have spoken with one of our church members that used to live in Louisville, and you just send encouragements that put wind in my sails and remind me afresh of how indebted we are to you all. So, you know, I've spoken at other churches before where it just really feels like I'm talking to strangers, but here it feels like I am returning
to my family. It's probably similar to how Justin Gilbert feels when he comes back from college. The only difference is I don't have a mustache. All right, please turn with me in your Bibles to Mark chapter 4. Mark chapter 4, I'll just briefly kind of bring you up to speed in terms of the context, Mark wastes no time telling us his purpose. In chapter 1, verse 1, he tells us that this is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He means to not only report history, but to declare to us on page after page that his central character, Jesus Christ, is not merely a man, but is the king of Israel, the king of the world, and the eternal Son of God. And in chapters 1, 2, and 3, Jesus has been engaging in a series of teachings, primarily through parables, where he
is revealing the secrets of the kingdom to some who have ears to hear, and he's concealing it from others on whom God's judgment rests. And our passage this morning in Mark chapter 4 marks a a shift as we're moving from a collection of parables to a collection of miracles. Now it's not the first miracle in Mark's gospel, but what we're going to see today is the first nature miracle that he records. Mark is inviting us here near the end of chapter 4 to join Jesus and his disciples on the Sea of Galilee. So let's do that together. Let's climb with them into the boat. And if you know the story, you know that we are in for a wild ride. I'm going to start reading Mark 4, starting in verse 35. On that day when evening had come, Jesus 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 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, don't you care that we're 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 even the wind and the sea obey him?
We're going to think about this brief passage in two simple points. First, Jesus sleeps. We'll see that in verses 38, 35 to 38. And then Jesus shouts. That's verses 39 to 41. Jesus sleeps and jesus shouts first jesus sleeps verse 35 again on that day when evening had come so if you're tracking up to this point in mark chapter 4 that phrase on that day means that mark is still describing a single day in the ministry of jesus he's been teaching the crowds and parables instructing his disciples privately, and he is exhausted. So Mark says, on that day when evening had come, Jesus said to them, let us go across to the other side. That is to the other side of the lake of Galilee. Verse 36, and leaving the crowd, the disciples took him with them in the
boat just as he was, and 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. This is no minor disturbance on the surface of the water. This was a torrential storm, a kind of seaquake. The word windstorm here is not tame. It's the same word used in the Septuagint. That's the Greek translation of the Old Testament for passages like our scripture reading earlier, Job 38. Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the whirlwind. Same word, the windstorm, the squall. The location of the Lake of Galilee, 600 feet below sea level in a basin surrounded by mountains, was susceptible to sudden downdrafts because it was kind of a pressure cooker, atmospheric environment. It was susceptible to these sudden violent storms. So the picture here is of this fishing boat bobbing like a bath
toy, waves crashing over the side, the boat becoming waterlogged. This thing is going to capsize at any moment. I mean, you know a storm is bad if veteran sailors, dudes who have lived for decades on this same water are freaking out. Just notice, by the way, who it is that leads them into this violent storm. It's not the devil. It's not the disciples. It's Jesus. He's the one who says in verse 35, let us go over to the other side. He doesn't say this because he's a poor meteorologist, that he hasn't checked in on the weather forecast.
Of course, he knows the forecast better than they do. But he means to take them into this storm for a loving and wise purpose. See, sometimes Jesus spares us from storms. And when he does, we praise him for that. Sometimes he spares us from storms, but often he sends us right into the eye of them. but don't miss this detail, because just saying that isn't in itself very encouraging. I mean, because if I just left it at, well, sometimes he's going to spare you, sometimes he's going to send you. Don't miss this detail. He comes along. He doesn't just send us by ourselves. He never sends us into it alone, even when it feels like we are, even when it feels like he's sleeping while we're screaming. The other thing to notice here is how quickly the storm came. The storm didn't show up,
or the storm came suddenly, which if you've lived for any amount of time as a Christian, you know that's how trials tend to come into our lives. They don't show up on our calendar, on our phone. We don't get an alert. Ah, two weeks from today, trial. That's not how it happens. It's much more like this. We all know the experience. I mean, just think about what this day was like for the disciples. One moment, they're peacefully pondering parables, and the next, they're in a sudden violent storm that they did not see coming. Verse 38, but Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. Now, when you see the word cushion, you shouldn't be thinking of kind of a memory foam pillow. This was more like a sandbag used for ballast in the boat. But he is so tired, so depleted from healing and casting out demons and teaching needy crowds and doing good to those who don't deserve it, that he's slumbering like a baby while the boat wobbles and the disciples
scramble for a solution. And just by the way, Mark was not one of the 12 disciples. Mark, the author, was not on the boat, but Mark was very close friends with Peter, who not only was one of the 12 disciples, but was part of Jesus' inner circle of three, Peter, James, and John. And if you know anything about Mark's style of writing, you know that of all the gospel authors, Mark is the most sparing with details.
Mark does not spill needless ink. But in this passage, he does. He includes in this brief paragraph a lot of things that, frankly, are unnecessary to tell us. Which I think indicates that this is eyewitness testimony because it's the very kinds of things that an eyewitness would remember. That Peter would say, Mark, and get this. things like verse 35, the time of day. Verse 36, the statement that the disciples brought Jesus onto the boat just as he was. It's kind of an odd thing to include. Verse 36, again, the statement that other boats were with him. Thanks, Mark. Like, other boats were in the sea at the same time. Verse 38, the exact position of Jesus in the boat. Again in verse 38, the mention of the cushion. Again, these details are both accurate and unnecessary, which is another
suggestion that what we're reading is not myth or legend or fable, but actually recorded history. You know, it's interesting. Jesus, we have every reason to think Jesus slept like an ordinary person. Of course, there were some nights we know he stayed up communing with his father, but in his human nature, Jesus grew tired and he slept. And yet, did you know that the gospels never record him sleeping except for one time? And that's right here. And the only time the disciples record him actually sleeping is in the middle of a storm. And they woke him and said to him, teacher, don't you care that we're perishing? The disciples are totally out of options. They've come to the end of themselves. They're despairing of life itself, and so they run to the only one on the boat who might, just might have one more miracle up his sleeve. But notice their plea isn't exactly a study in humility. I mean, think about what it is they're saying to him as they
shake him awake. I mean, just, I was trying to think about what this would be like in my own life. Maybe you're more godly and sanctified than me, but this is the example that came to mind. If I'm lying dead asleep in bed, and all of a sudden one of my children comes and shakes me awake and says, Daddy, there's a fire in the house. I'm going to spring out of bed. I'm going to, I'm going to deal with the situation as best I can. But if the child comes and sort of slaps me awake and says, how dare you slumber while we're engulfed in smoke? They probably wouldn't use the word engulfed, but you get the point. You know, I'm going to spring out of bed, but I'm going to be low-key annoyed and offended that they just assumed I didn't care. Well, this is the same thing.
The disciples show up, and what they say to slumbering Jesus is, don't you care? This is an accusation masquerading as a question. But Jesus is unlike me in a lot of ways. Many of you already know that. You've lived with me for many years. But Jesus, unlike me, is quick to overlook offenses. He doesn't rebuke the question. Instead, He just rebukes the storm. That's point two.
Jesus shouts. Verse 39, and he awoke. Now, we would expect to read in an account of an ordinary person, even a great person, the greatest moral teacher of all time, we would still expect to read, and he awoke and joined them in their fear. But that's not what he does at all. Instead, he sets his sights on the object of their fear. He awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace, be still. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
Notice that, I mean, the storm we know came upon them suddenly, but it subsided even faster. This thing didn't calm down gradually over the course of 30 minutes or three minutes. No, Jesus spoke and immediately the clouds were thrown from the sky and the sea became smooth as a mirror. As if an omnipotent hand just brushed away the wind and the clouds and smoothed out the sea like glass.
Our scripture reading earlier, again, was Job 38, which is just a taste of the Old Testament's witness to the fact that there is only one being in charge of the sea, only one being in the universe who has complete and utter control of the waves. You don't have to turn to these verses, but I just want you to listen and hear the refrain. And I'll just limit myself to the book of Psalms, but this is the consistent witness of the whole Bible. Psalm 29, the voice of the Lord is over the waters. The God of glory thunders. The Lord thunders over the mighty waves. Psalm 65, you stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations.
Psalm 77, the waters saw you, God. The waters saw you and writhed. The very depths were convulsed. Psalm 89, who is like you, Lord God Almighty? You rule over the surging sea. When its waves mount up, you still them. Psalm 107, he stilled the storm to a whisper. The waves of the sea were hushed. Mark 4, 39, Jesus got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, quiet, be still. Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
This is no ordinary rabbi. There is only one category big enough to describe someone who can speak to a storm and muzzle it as if it's a barking puppy. And that category is deity. Christians have always confessed this truth derived from the pages of God's Word, pages like this one, that Jesus is one person with two natures. We think about this especially at Christmas time and as we reflect on the incarnation. He's not two persons with one nature, two persons with two natures. He is one person with two distinct but inseparable natures. One of my favorite sentences in our church's statement of faith is this, quote, Jesus Christ unites in his person, not in his persons, in his person he unites the tenderest sympathies
with divine perfections, and as such is qualified in every way to be a suitable, compassionate, and all-sufficient Savior. Mark wants us, Mark wants you this morning to make eye contact with this reality, that Jesus is a man who does what only God can do. In his human nature, he needs sleep. In his divine nature, he shouts at storms and watches them behave. Notice Jesus doesn't perform this miracle through some kind of elaborate incantation or spell. No, he just does it through his authoritative word. The Son of God speaks and creation bows at the sound of his voice. And then amid the sudden silence, he turns his voice from the storm to the ones who have been spared. Verse 40, he said to his disciples,
why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? Now, on one level, I cannot relate with this question because I would have been terrified too. And I'd be like, what do you mean, Jesus? Maybe we're terrified because we almost died seven seconds ago. But Jesus is not playing dumb. He's not playing games with them. The accent here is on that second question. Have you still no faith? I think it's easy for us when we hear a question like that, when we think about faith, to imagine it as just kind of this abstract floating noun. Like faith is almost like a balloon that sometimes we grab a hold of, sometimes we lose the grip, but it's this elusive thing that we need to chase down.
But faith is not a floating balloon. Faith is simply trust in an object. Jesus is not here expecting them to catch something or to conjure up something. He's not just saying, come on guys, It's about time. Just gin up some more faith. No, he's asking them to trust him. He's saying, guys, after everything you've seen me do and heard me teach, did you really think I was going to come all this way and die on a boat without completing the mission that the Father gave me? Did you really think I was going to leave the splendor of heaven at the right hand of my Father only for the thing to end at night on a Galilean lake? As one old Puritan put it, he does not chide, that means he does not chastise or rebuke, he does not chide them for disturbing him with their
prayers, but for disturbing themselves with their fears. He's not rebuking them for their lack of knowledge. He's not chiding them for being human. He's rebuking them for acting as if he is merely human. But there's a deeper level to this, because it's not just that the disciples fail to reckon with his divine nature, because that's not the only question that arises from the story. It's not just, are you God? But even more fundamentally, it's, are you good? Do you not care? Do you not care that we're about to drown? Sinclair Ferguson writes, it was the cruelest question. It was the cruelest question they could have asked.
because the very reason he was in the boat, indeed in the world, was precisely because he cared for them. This story, friends, this story will remain underappreciated and underapplied in our lives if we only marvel at Christ's power but stop there. If we only marvel at his power but fail to also marvel at his love. Earlier we sang holy, holy, holy, and we declared the truth that he is both merciful and mighty, and this story is summoning us. It is calling us to behold both, not mercy at the expense of might, not might at the expense of mercy, as if these are like hats that Jesus puts on, and he can only wear one at a time. Hey, I'm mighty Jesus. I'm merciful Jesus.
No, the witness of Scripture is that he is always simultaneously and gloriously both. Well, how did the disciples respond? Verse 41, and they were filled with great fear and said to one another, who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him? Now, this is a better question, isn't it? I mean, they've improved from, don't you care if we drown? and that was the wrong question, to who are you? That's the right one. And what's so interesting is that they're still terrified. The storm is not going on right now. Things are utterly quiet and peaceful, and yet they're still afraid. In fact, their fear hasn't vanished when the storm did.
it's only intensified because they're now staring at something more majestic and terrifying than even the storm. I want you to see this progression. Look back at verse 37. How does Mark describe this storm? What adjective does he use? Great. The word is, the Greek word is megale. It's a mega storm. Now look at the end of verse 39. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. Great calm. Same word. From mega storm to mega calm. And then finally verse 41. They were filled with great fear. Literally they feared with a mega fear. So the same word all three times. We go from great storm to great calm to great fear. And again, notice that the mega fear comes after the mega storm is over. Why is that? Why hasn't their fear subsided? Well, because the only thing scarier
than being in a little boat in a big storm is being in a little boat with a guy who shouts at big storms and succeeds. Now, you'll notice I have not yet made the application that is easy to rush immediately to. Jesus is with you in the storms of life. And I actually think that's a valid application. I think it's textually warranted from this passage, but it is downstream, downstream, downstream, from the most important application, this most important question, who is this? Answer, a God who is merciful and mighty. But that said, it is right for us to reflect on the fact that even though we are not on a Galilean lake with the physical Son of God
incarnate on a boat, he is with us through the presence of his spirit in the storms of life. That was the last thing he promised before he ascended to his father. I will be with you always to the very end of the age. And that's what I want you to see from this progression from verse 37 to 39 to 41. It's not just a cute little factoid, ah, three times a Greek word appears. No, it's like mega storm leads to mega calm leads to mega fear which means that jesus can take your greatest storm and turn it into the greatest calm and sometimes sometimes he does that by calming the storm again we praise him for that when it happens sometimes jesus gives us that calm in our lives by calming the storm, but so often, maybe more often, he lets the storm rage. And here's the
real miracle. Not that he calms the storm, but that he calms his child in the midst of it. I mean, Jesus never promised a life without storms, but he promises to be enough for us when they come. He promises to be enough for us when the winds and waves of life batter against us. Anxiety, loneliness, family strife, church conflict, struggling children, financial stress, the ravages of cancer, the certainty of death. You can add to this list, but when the winds and waves batter us and threaten to capsize our souls, Jesus says calmly, I'm there and I'm with you. I'm with you, and I'm enough for you. Because often the greatest miracle, as I just said, the greatest miracle is not the stilling of the storm. It's the sustaining of the saints in the storm.
I mean, to put it another way, it's not that God so much usually, His usual mode of operation is to deliver us from storms, usually He just delivers us through them. I mean, we all, let's be honest, we're in church, we don't have to act like we're too pious to be able to be honest about this. We all wish for sunny days. We don't wish for trials and suffering, nor should we. But we ought not be offended or insulted or surprised when they come because they are measured out in infinite wisdom and love, and they will not come to you unless they have first passed through the hands of omnipotent love. I mean, do you really look back on the cloudless, sunniest days of your life and say, that's when I became who I am today. I mean, that is when my kids were doing well, when I got
that raise, when we had perfect health. That molded me. That shaped me. That's where I experienced the sufficiency of Jesus like never before. No, no, none of us would ever say that. And God loves us too much to leave us where we are. He loves us too much to leave us in the sunshine of His favor without bringing us through the storms into the heart of His love. Listen to how Charles Spurgeon reflected on this truth. I bear my witness. And Spurgeon, if you know anything about his story, he was speaking from really dark and painful personal experience.
I bear my witness that the worst days I have ever had have turned out to be my best days. And when God has seemed most cruel to me, He has then been most kind. If there is anything in this world for which I would bless him more than for anything else, it is for pain and affliction. I am sure that in these things, the richest, tenderest love has been manifested to me. If you know Spurgeon, you know he's the king of metaphors, so buckle up.
Our Father's wagons rumble most heavily when they're bringing us the richest freight of his grace. Love letters from heaven are often sent in black-edged envelopes. The cloud that is black with horror is big with mercy. Fear not the storm. It brings healing in its wings, and when Jesus is with you in the vessel, the tempest only hastens the ship to its desired haven. Again, we're not promised a storm-free life, and the painful lesson of this story is that we shouldn't want one, because it's impossible. If you really know your Bible, if you really know your God, you know that it is impossible to know Jesus as the Lord of the storm from the safety of the shore.
You can only know the Lord of the storm when you're in it. And so much of God's love for you in this life can only be experienced when the sky is pitch black and you're roiling around in the darkness and on the waves. But you're not going to be bobbing around like a bath toy in the middle of the night. forever. How do I know that? Well, we can just look at the very next scene. Where did the disciples end up? Mark 5, verse 1. They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.
They made it. Jesus had said in verse 35, let's go across to the other side, and that's where they ended up. And believer, he who began a good work in you will be faithful to carry it unto completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Not just despite the storms, but because of the storms he leads you through. The day is coming, brother, sister, when he will arrive, when we will arrive with him at heaven's shore, and the storms of life will be behind us forevermore. Well, earlier I noted that after asking the wrong question in verse 38, don't you care if we perish?
The disciples ask the right question in verse 41. Who then is this? It's the first time that this particular question has been asked in Mark's gospel, but it's not the first time that a question like it has been asked. Look back at chapter 1, verse 27. After Jesus has cast out this unclean spirit, this demon, chapter 1, verse 27, we read, and the people were all amazed so that they questioned among themselves, saying, what is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him. But I find it interesting that a good question in chapter one has become a better question in chapter four because it's been personalized. Did you notice that? Chapter one, what is this?
Chapter four, who is this? Well, what answer back at the end of chapter four does Mark provide to that greatest of questions. Who is this? Chapter 4, verse 42, Mark's answer. Oh, wait. There is no verse 42. Mark leaves this most important question open-ended. His account simply ends with our gaze fixed on the man in the boat with the words, who is this, who is this, who is this, ringing in our ears and demanding an answer. But the question had become inescapably personal to the disciples, and it's personal to you too.
It's personal to you too. Every single person's eternal destiny will be decided based on the answer of their heart to that most important of questions. Who is this? I know that in a room this size, not everyone has bowed their knee to King Jesus, pledged allegiance to him and repentance and faith. Some of you appreciate the trappings of Christmas, maybe the lyrics to some of these carols. Maybe you even believe intellectually that God became a baby and everything that they say happened in Bethlehem really did, but you've never yet personally, you've not personalized that gospel. You've not turned yourself in repentance and trust to that king who became a baby, as Greg mentioned earlier. Well, 800 years before this storm on the Sea of Galilee,
another storm hit another sea in the Mediterranean. It's the story of Jonah. Two men, just think about the two stories, Jonah chapter 1, Mark chapter 4, two men each asleep in a boat, each awoken by sailors screaming, we're going to die in the storm. One is exhausted from evading ministry. The other is exhausted from doing ministry. One is sleeping. Jonah is sleeping in false peace. Jesus is sleeping in true peace. And just as in the story of Jonah, the Lord hurls the wind and the storm, here the Lord stands up and hushes it with a word. Two stories, Jonah asleep in a boat, Jesus asleep in a boat. They're almost identical, but there is one difference. During the storm, Jonah says to the sailors, throw me over, my life for yours, and they do. He says, if I die,
you'll live, and they finally do it, they throw Jonah overboard. But that doesn't happen here in Mark chapter 4. That doesn't happen to Jesus. He doesn't get thrown overboard into the sea. And in the ancient world, the sea represented the darkness and the chaos of evil. Jesus is not thrown over here, but his hour will come. the man who called himself one greater than Jonah, is not running from God's mission for him.
He's embracing it. And I find it ironic that the disciples rebuke Jesus for doing what? Sleeping at their scariest hour. Well, in Gethsemane, they're going to do the same thing to him. On the night, he'll be betrayed and arrested and brought to trial. See, this is why Jesus could not have died in the boat. He couldn't have died in this storm because he had come to face down a greater one. And after the betrayal and arrest and trial, he will be willingly pinned to a Roman cross. And on that cross, he will be plunged into the floodwaters of God's wrath, God's justice. See, Jonah was a prophet who was thrown overboard for his own sin.
Jesus is a prophet, the eternal Son of God, who was thrown overboard, not for his own sin, but for ours. See, we all deserve the floodwaters of God's justice, but God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son to dive in and perish instead, so that anyone who believes in him including you. If you believe in him, you can enjoy everlasting life and calm and peace with God. Romans 8, 32, he, that is God, who did not spare his own son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Friends, it's an argument from the greater to the lesser. If God paid for the most expensive gift in the universe, he's not going to skimp on the wrapping paper. If he took care of your greatest storm, the storm that was
owed to you because of your sin against a holy God, then you can trust him to be with you in all of the smaller storms along the way. Let's pray. Father in heaven, we praise you that even though it often feels like we are bobbing around like a bath toy in the pitch black of night in the middle of a storm, we don't understand your ways, we're tempted to doubt your wisdom and your goodness. Lord, we praise you that we can know a Savior who is both merciful and mighty. Lord, we pray that this Christmas season we would worship Him, the newborn King, as the merciful and mighty Lord of the universe, and that we would find rest and hope in Him. It's in the beautiful name of your Son we pray. Amen.