Are there any arguments with which we can try to convince the unbeliever that this actually took place just as it is recorded? Not a really convincing argument. But there is the fact that Matthew was present there that night and witnessed the whole event. So was Peter, who was the probable source of information for the Gospel of Mark. And keeping that in mind, there is a suggestion to the truth of it all in the disciple’s deprecation. A liar probably would have said, “And all the disciples said, ‘Wow, look at the power that our Master has. He commands the wind and the waves, and they obey Him. Surely He must be the Son of God.” But they don’t speak that way. They honestly put themselves down, not only acknowledging their surprise at His sovereign power. “And they feared exceedingly, and said one to another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” – Mark 8:41. And then they point out Jesus’ small rebuke of their small faith. Those will not convince the unbeliever who has his mind already firmly convinced, but it says something to me. This event took place exactly as the Bible describes it.
I am going to try to look at this miracle and its context in two different ways today. We have here a statement on the deity of Christ, which we will consider for a few minutes this morning. And hopefully this evening, I’d like to point out how these events should leave us an example that we should do as our Saviour has done – at least as far as our human abilities can take us.. Right now, I’d like us to consider Christ’s vulnerability, His imperturbability and tranquility, His deity and then finally His incredulity. Of course, I will be taking some liberties with the definitions of some of those words as they relate to the infinite Son of God.
Let’s start with our Lord’s VULNERABILITY.
Generally the word “vulnerable” is defined as “susceptible to physical, or some other sort of, injury.” On one level, Christ Jesus was in no way vulnerable to anything. As the Son of God – as God the Son – nothing could ever hurt or harm Him in any way. He could not be struck by lightning, because He is the governor of the universe. If the boat sank, He could not drown, because God cannot die. He is life – He sustains life – He gives life. He does not contain or have life in the way that you and I have life. If at the temptation of Satan, the Son of God had thrown Himself off the pinnacle of the temple, there could have been many ways that He would have escaped harm, including a legion of angels. God cannot die; God cannot be hurt; God cannot even be surprised.
But the matter is more complicated than that, because God became flesh. “When the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law.” God sent “his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin.” He “was made in the likeness of men” – God was “manifest in the flesh.” The God-man – the theanthropic person – brought together divinity and humanity in a way that none of us will ever fully understand. And there were definitely some ways in which that Christ in His humanity became vulnerable. For example, He was physically tired and fell asleep there in the shelter of that little fishing boat. Did the Lord ever get thirsty or hungry? He probably did. Such things are a couple physical effects of the curse of sin in the human body – a part of the curse which our Saviour bore on our behalf. There was no sin in Him – He was not cursed – but He was vulnerable to some effects of that curse.
This evening I will suggest that this storm was under the control of God for the purpose of some lessons. It could be argued that this storm was a part of the divine decree of God. But at the same time, perhaps we need to ask whether or not it was the Devil who brought up this wind. Satan already knew that he was in a battle for His very existence, particularly since the Son of God had entered his earthly dominion. He is the “Prince of the Power of the Air” and “the god of this world,” but he knew that his dominion over the blackened hearts of men was in jeopardy if the plan of God was brought to fruition. Is there any likelihood that Satan had raised this storm in an attempt to bring the life of Christ to an untimely end? Sure Satan knew that Jesus is the Son of God, but his knowledge was not as complete as it should have been. If it was then he would have been worshiping Christ along side the righteous angels. He knew that God has taken upon Him human flesh, and he may have been thinking or hoping that by putting Jesus to death in the flesh he could also kill God – or at the very least the plan of God. In this light in this storm we may we see an attack upon the vulnerability of Christ.
But we also see the IMPERTURBABILITY and TRANQUILITY of Christ.
“There arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow” – Mark 4. Are you “a light sleeper?” Are you one of these poor people who are awakened by the slightest noise or movement? We had a store at the mall, which had alarms going off in the middle of the night calling in the police. The problem was motion detectors, which took notice when the air conditioning came on during the night disturbing displays or paper signs. Are you that kind of sleeper? Or are you the God-blessed type of person who can sleep through thunder and lightning storms, dogs barking, your spouse snoring and even small earthquakes? Although not perfectly, I lean toward the second group, and I am quick to praise the Lord for this gift. But if I was in that fishing boat in the midst of that storm, I think that I would have awakened.
Christ Jesus was tired from all the activities that day and the Sabbath before that. He may have spent hours teaching in the synagogue, and perhaps hours preaching elsewhere. There were a great many people healed, and I assume that most were was handled individually. For weeks the days had been long and the nights had been short. He was tired, perhaps even exhausted as far as the flesh was concerned. Quickly he fell asleep after the disciples pushed away from the Capernaum shore or dock. And when the storm came up, He remained asleep, despite the crackling of lightning, the crashing of thunder and the crashing of waves. That little boat was like a cork bobbing up and down while running some rapids. But Jesus continued to sleep – like a baby?
How can this be? Is this a part of His deity, or does it continue to be a part of His exhausted humanity? Both? Keep in mind that three of the disciples, Peter, John and Andrew were fishermen. They were used to the peccadillos of that inland sea. I have no doubt that they had been in several severe and sudden storms. Whether or not they were confident in the average storm, they were not confident in this one. This will not be the last major storm that they will face on the Sea of Galilee, but it may have been the worst they had faced to this point. But in contrast to them, Jesus was asleep in the stern of the little craft. How can this be?
Looking at Christ in His humanity, I think that He was unmoved by the storm because He was thoroughly confident in the wisdom and power of His Heavenly Father. There was never a moment in which He was not resting in the arms of the Lord. He knew there was a legion of angelic legions to protect Him, no matter what Satan might throw at Him. He had a peace – a human peace – which was predicated on the sovereignty of the omnipotent God. He knew that He had a work to do for the next couple of years which would culminate in Calvary. He had no fear of not ascending that hill with the cross on His back. He was in perfect control of His emotions because He knew that His Heavenly Father was in control of everything else. What storm? Oh, you mean this one?
But then there was the divine side to His nature. This doesn’t sound like a human kind of sleep – the disturbances were too severe. I think that He remained asleep because there were important lessons to teach His disciples – those disciples in the boat and those who read of it later. I will come back to this later tonight.
Now we come to Jesus’ DEITY.
Some of you might remember me saying that I hesitate calling Christ “Jesus.” I hear many calling our Saviour “Jesus” in an almost flippant way, as though they were buddies. So here I am going to the opposite extreme, shying away from Jesus’ Biblical name. And yet, since starting this study, you may have noticed me using the name “Jesus” more often. Usually, I do so in an effort to make a distinction between Christ’s humanity and His deity. “Jesus” is the name by which He was known to His family and neighbors back in Nazareth. Technically “Jesus” is God, but when I think of Him in His deity, I prefer to use His more dignified titles. This was Christ, the Son of God, the Creator of the Universe displaying His deity.
As to Christ actually stilling this storm, I’m not sure that I need to say very much. The scripture basically says it all. Mark 4 – “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” The nature of the language suggests that the calm came on them immediately. It wasn’t that the wind subsided and the waves gradually lessened – it was instantaneous. “And (the disciples) being afraid wondered, saying one to another, What manner of man is this! for he commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.” By the way, it is appropriate to mention that the disciples’ was not the only boat on the lake that night. “And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships” – Mark 4:36. These comments about the power of Christ, may have come from His disciples, but you can be sure that they were probably even asked more intensely by some of the others in the other boats.
“What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” There is not a Christian in this room who can’t answer that question. Christ is the God-man; He is the eternal Son of God, the Creator of the Universe. He spoke the world, the stars, the planets, and the laws of the physical universe into existence. He’s got the whole world in His hands, including the winds which stir up the waves. The Lord Jesus Christ is God – deity.
Fall down and worship this Christ – this God-man. Just as Christ Jesus condemned the wind and waves, He will condemn the wicked. Humble yourself before Him.
My final word for this morning is obviously misused – INCREDULITY.
I’m using it because I couldn’t find anything closer which would still rhyme with “deity,” “tranquility,” “imperturbability” and “vulnerability.” “And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” “And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?” How is it possible that someone might spend weeks with the Saviour, watching Him cure dozens, if not hundreds of people, and not believe that He has power over the wind as well? I think that Jesus already turned the water into wine as recorded in John 2. If He had that kind of miraculous power, isn’t it logical that He has this kind of power as well? Ah, but this more directly and personally touched the lives of these men. Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” Christ’s question was more for the disciples self-inspection than it was any surprise or incredulity on His part.
As to the question itself, I will return to it more fully this evening. Why ARE we so fearful? Friday, while Judy was sitting next to me in m y study I clicked on the Weather Channel on my computer. An ad on the side of the screen asked the question, “What 37 things should you have in your house for when the next disaster strikes.” There was a picture of toilet paper, but Judy wanted to know what the other 36 items were. Of course the video was 15 minutes long, but it seemed like 45 minutes, and it never told us the answer. It was an ad for a $203 set of books on surviving the upcoming holocaust. And the whole thing, while declaring itself to be “Christian,” was actually filled with fear-mongering. Why are we so fearful? Has our God somehow lost His power or His control? Why is our faith so small? Perhaps it is not so much the size of our faith, but its direction. So many Americans place their faith in governments, in the weather channel, in their sailing skills and their knowledge of the signs. And when these things fail, or the severity of our trial surpasses our experiences, no wonder our faith falls and our fear rises. Of course, this little snippet of Bible history takes the subject of faith in one direction – Christ, miracles, and deliverance from the storm. But in concluding this message today, I’d like to take it in the opposite direction – a calmed storm, many cured diseases and the source of them all was Christ the Saviour. The Christ who can calm a hurricane on a tiny lake, and who can “heal all that were sick” can do all the other things which He has promised to do.
For example, He has promised to forgive me of my sins, and to cleanse me from all my iniquity. The Word of God declares that His blood was shed on the cross to be a sacrifice of atonement – a propitiation offered to God for my sins against His holiness. When Christ stilled the storm, He proved that He can also still the wrath of God which is against me. This was no magician – no charlatan – no fraud trying to entrap a pack of religious fools. This was not about establishing a cult or a financial dynasty. This was the gracious work of the Son of God
Can I trust this Christ to deliver me from my sins? Yes I can. Can you trust Him to save you? Yes, you must. Believe on this Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.