Remember Jesus’ almighty power and rest in it

Let me read to you an excerpt from a book that was very popular some decades ago.

“I believe in God. But I do not believe the same things about Him that I did years ago, when I was growing up or when I was a theology student. I recognize His limitations. He is limited in what He can do by laws of nature and by the evolution of human nature and human moral freedom. I no longer hold God responsible for illnesses, accidents, and natural disasters, because I realize that I gain little and I lose so much when I blame God for these things. I can worship a God who hates suffering but cannot eliminate it more easily than I can worship a God who chooses to make children suffer and die, for whatever exalted reason”

That is from Rabbi Harold Kushner’s book, When Bad Things Happen to Good People, written in 1981. Kushner had experienced the death of his child and was trying to find a way to justify it with his belief in a good God. His conclusion was that God is still good, but He must not be powerful enough to stop bad things from happening.

In the book of Mark, Jesus has been demonstrating his authority or we could say his power in a variety of different realms. But despite how many times the disciples have seen his power exercised, they still don’t grasp how great it is and how far it extends. If you believe God doesn’t have enough power and authority to reign over every aspect of the universe, then you are not worshipping the God of the Bible and you have missed who Jesus is.

Main Point – Remember Jesus’ almighty power and rest in it

Text – Mark 4:35-41 , which can be found in your pew Bible on page 799

Prayer

I’d like to do something a little bit different this morning than I have in the past.

My sermon is going to have three points - don’t worry that’s not the different part. I’m aware that this is pretty predictable by now. But for each point, I’d like to connect it to another passage in Scripture that helps develop it.

We are 11 sermons into the book of Mark at this point and I’ve heard multiple people ask me, “Are we really going to preach through the entire book of Mark?” The direct answer to that is, “Yes. Yes we are.” Don’t worry we’ll take a couple breaks. We’ll take a big break over the summer and over Christmas, but we should finish early next spring. But here’s why I think it’s important to preach through the entirety of a book of the Bible. It’s because as Mark (or any author) writes their book, they are building up a case. The books are written for a purpose that they want to see accomplished in the reader. They’re not just for entertainment. They’re not just some unrelated stories recorded like a yearbook of “Hey remember that time…” They’re intentional. The things included and not included are intentional. The order that events are shared are intentional. God is the author of each book and he has a grand purpose in mind. If we skip around in passages it’s easy for us to miss what the author is trying to do and instead we talk about the stuff we like and bring in our own meaning.

What are some of the things we have learned from our slow walk through the first 4 chapters of Mark?

• Jesus came to preach repentance (1:15, 38)

• Jesus does miracles to demonstrate his authority (2:10-11)

• People come to Jesus because he calls them, not because they’re special (1:17-20; 2:14; 3:13)

It might not be immediately obvious, but these truths will help us as we try to evaluate today's passage. When we read the Bible, we need to pay attention to what the Bible is slowly accomplishing along the way and how it reveals new things based on old things it has already told us. Basically, we should think, “What do we already know up to this point, and how does that influence what we’re about to read?”

But not only should we consider what Mark has already said up to this point, but we should consider what God has revealed in all of the books of the Old Testament up to this point. So in order to teach us how to read the Bible well, this morning I’m going to bring in a previous passage from the Bible and use it to help shed light on today’s passage in each of our three points.

Point #1 – Recognize Jesus’ almighty power (Jonah 1:4-16)

If you’ll keep one finger in Mark 4, you can turn back to Jonah 1 if you’d like. It’s on page 734 in the pew Bible. The connection to this first passage is a softball. If I asked you all in the parking lot before service today to tell me a story from the Bible where this is a great storm at sea, but a man is sleeping in the bottom of the boat, half of you would have said Jesus before he calms the storm. The other half would say Jonah. The two stories are very similar and it’s not hard to see that the original audience of Mark’s gospel would have read this and thought about Jonah. It’s one of those connections that is as plain as the nose on our face, but most of the time we still miss it when we read. There’s a great windstorm. The sailors are afraid. There’s a man sleeping below. They go wake him and ask him to help so that they don’t die. And through his actions the storm is immediately calmed. The calm is so striking that those on the boat become afraid afterwards. Each of those things is true in both stories. The similarities are designed to make us put them next to each other.

But then once the two stories are side-by-side, we notice some interesting differences. In Jonah 1:6, they rebuke Jonah to wake him up, “What do you mean, you sleeper?” They tell him to get up. And Jonah’s response is in verse 12, “Pick me up and hurl me into the sea; then the sea will quiet down for you.” There is no doubt in anyone’s mind that God has sent this storm. And it is Jonah’s fault. He sinned by running from God. And God is the only one who can save them now. So they toss Jonah in the sea and it is clear that God calms the storm immediately. In vs 16, the sailors are exceedingly afraid because they have witnessed the power of God and they offer sacrifices to the God of Israel.

But in our story in Mark, things play out a bit differently. Things start off the same. There’s a great storm on the sea. Those in the boat are scared while a man sleeps down below. They wake him wondering how he can sleep at a time like this. When Jonah is awakened he realizes that the storm is his fault. And he must satisfy God’s demands, because God is the only one with the power to stop this storm. When Jesus is awakened, he is surprised that everyone is afraid, because he himself has the power to stop this storm.

What’s the difference between Jonah and Jesus? Jonah was a prophet. Lots of people today claim that Jesus was just a prophet. When Jonah faces the terror of the seas and the chaos of the storm, he is powerless against them. When Jesus faces the terror of the seas and the chaos of the storm, he stops them with a word. Jesus is different from Jonah because Jesus has the power of God. It made sense for Jonah to be afraid. It made sense for the sailors with him to be afraid. They were powerless. It doesn’t make sense for Jesus to be afraid. He has all the power.

Jesus is not at the mercy of the winds and the waves. Jesus controls the winds and the waves. Of all the different emotions Jesus experienced throughout his life, fear was never one of them. There were certainly things that he wasn’t looking forward to, like death on the cross, you might be able to describe him as dreading the cross. But he never experienced fear. The Pharisees wanted to arrest him, but he knows that his hour has not yet come. Later they try to stone him, but he just passes through them and walks away. Pilate specifically is fascinated by Jesus’ lack of fear and says things like “Don’t you know that I have the authority to crucify you?” And Jesus calmly responded by saying, “You have no authority except what God gives to you.”

The disciples are learning something about Jesus that is very similar to what the sailors learned about God. The sailors learned that the God of Jonah is quite different from their gods. The God of Jonah is not a local god that only has power in Israel. Or only has power in Syria. Or maybe he’s a god that’s pretty strong in the hills but powerless in the plains. Maybe he’s a god that is strong on the land, but powerless at sea. No. Jonah’s God is the God who created both land and sea and has power everywhere. Likewise the disciples are learning Jesus has power even in the sea.

When Jesus sleeps in the boat, it’s not an inappropriate response to horrifying circumstances. Rather it’s the very appropriate response to the lack of power that the storm actually has.

So it’s very clear that Jesus is unlike other God’s. He has all the power.  I don’t doubt that most of you already believe that. But does that fact actually make a difference in our lives? Let’s see how.

Point #2 – Remember Jesus’ almighty power (Mark 1:21-28)

The next previous passage we need to remember as we look at our text is just from earlier in Mark. When we read the Bible we need to train our ears to think, “Haven’t I heard this before somewhere?” Again, if you’ve heard it before then the author is most likely doing it intentionally. Especially if Mark starts to repeat himself it’s done intentionally.

Here’s another way to summarize what happens with Jesus in the boat. There’s a problem - the storm. Jesus rebukes it. He says “Be still” or “Be silent” and everyone watching is amazed because the storm obeys him. This exact scenario has played out once before in Mark. Put your thinking caps on and try to remember when. You can turn back. It was in the middle of chapter 1. A demon-possessed man charges into the synagogue and disrupts everyone. There’s a problem - a demoniac. Look in verse 25. Jesus rebukes him. He says “Be still” or “Be silent” (Those are both the same word in Greek. In fact these are the only two places in the whole book of Mark where this word is used. That gives us even more reason to believe that the parallel is intentional). Jesus says “Be still” or “Be silent” and then the people are amazed. In verse 27 They say “What is this?... He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him” This is the same way the disciples respond in the boat in 4:41 - “Who then is this, even the wind and the sea obey him?”

The reason that Mark is echoing himself is because he’s reminding his readers that this is not the first time Jesus has demonstrated his power. Jesus has been showing us he has authority over things all along. The healing of the demon-possessed man was the first demonstration Jesus made. He showed everyone clearly that he has power and authority over demons. Then he demonstrates he has authority over sickness. Then he demonstrates he has authority over impurity. He has authority over traditions. He has authority over the Sabbath. Over and over again Jesus has been demonstrating his authority over everything and then we get to this story of the storm at sea and Jesus’ question to the disciples makes a lot of sense. “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” or I like how some other translations phrase it: “Do you not yet have faith?”

It’s almost as if Jesus is asking, I’ve shown you over and over again that I have power over this. I have authority over that. I control these things. All of those things do precisely what I say. Are you not yet picking up on the pattern, disciples? When we’re in a storm do you think that we’ve finally found the one thing I’m not in authority over? How many other ways do I have to demonstrate to you my power before you trust in it? But the disciples have forgotten Jesus’ power.

It would be easy to sit back and mock the disciples and their forgetfulness if this wasn’t the exact thing we do daily. You probably had an expense come up just this last week and you thought - we can’t afford this. We’re doomed. And Jesus says, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” Have we so quickly and suddenly forgotten all of the other times Jesus delivered? Have we forgotten every other instance in which he was in control? Yes, these situations are in fact scary. It makes sense that we be afraid. But have we forgotten that Jesus is in the boat? This situation may seem new to you, but it’s never outside Jesus’ power and authority.

If you find yourself in a situation where something new has occurred: you are going through a job change. You’re buying/selling a house. Your family is growing or maybe you lost someone. Or maybe you’re a part of a church that is dealing with the loss of two staff members simultaneously. It’s probably a good time to start reviewing how God has demonstrated his power and his goodness in the past. What happened last time? Yes, it was hard, but did God abandon you? Or did he stick with you, continue to be faithful and ultimately grow you through the trial? If you face the hardship on your own, it will destroy you. You will perish. But if Christ is with you, he will keep you.

You can’t avoid the storms, but you don’t have to be afraid during them. The last thing we want is to be panicking disciples shouting, “Don’t you care that we’re perishing?” The last thing we want is for Christ to respond to us with, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”

But there’s one more thing we want to glean from Jesus’ demonstration of his power here. We’ve been reading Mark slowly and we’ve been reading Mark carefully. Jesus has been showing us his authority over all of creation for a purpose. He doesn’t simply want us to know that he’s stronger than storms and stronger than fevers and stronger than leprosy. He wants us to know he has power here so we will know he has greater power for something else. Here’s what we read in Mark 2:10.

“So that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins… rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” -Mark 2:10-11

The reason Jesus does miracles, the reason he healed the paralyzed man, the reason he healed the demoniac, and the reason he calmed the sea is so that we would know he has the power to forgive sins. There is another great storm coming. It’s greater than the storm the disciples faced on the sea. It’s greater than the storm Jonah faced on the sea. There is a storm of God’s wrath that is on the horizon. And the Bible repeatedly describes it as a very fearful thing. The Day of the Lord approaches and nothing in all of creation will withstand it. All sin and all sinners will be crushed under God’s absolute fury towards sin. The only ones who will escape are those on the boat with Jesus. When the hurricane arrives we can’t say, “I’ll survive because I’m a pretty good swimmer”. The only way to survive will be by turning to Jesus and saying, “I know that you care if we perish, and unless you save we will perish.

If you’ve seen the demonstration of Jesus’ power at work in your life, don’t be forgetful. Don’t get so focused on the next frightful thing in front of you that you lose sight of all the power Jesus has already displayed. He will continue to have authority. He will continue to have power. We are practicing our faith in him now, so that we will exercise that faith on the final day.

Jesus has God’s power. And Jesus has demonstrated that he has that power. We should respond by resting in that power.

Point #3 – Rest in Jesus’ almighty power (Psalm 107:23-32)

Again, we’re going to be looking at another passage in scripture that helps us understand our text. If you want to keep one finger in Mark 4 and turn the other one back to Psalm 107, that’s going to be on page 478 in the pew Bible.

I’m just going to read this passage for us and I want you to look and listen and see how this passage might have something to do with our text in Mark 4.

READ PSALM 107:23-32

Honestly, this reads like someone was watching Jesus and his disciples on the sea and wrote a poem about it. Who is it that the people in the boat cry out to? They cry out to the Lord because he is the only one who has power over the sea. He is the only one who can help them. What does the Lord do? Vs. 29 “He made the storm be still and the waves of the sea were hushed” and the people are glad and thank the Lord. But I want to make an observation in this Psalm that will help us understand Mark 4 better.

We know that in verse 29, the Lord calms the seas. But look back in verse 25.

READ PSALM 107:25

The Lord is the one who created the storm. These aren’t things that happened accidentally. It isn’t as if the world keeps falling apart in different areas and God zooms over and fixes it. “Uh oh, another storm is brewing in the Mediterranean Sea. I guess I’ll have to get down there and do something about it.” God doesn’t simply respond to whatever nature and the world does. He is the source behind all of what it does. If our boat is floating, it’s because God is allowing it to float. If our boat is sunk, it’s because God sank it. One commentator on this psalm wrote, “The hurricane shakes us into seeing that in a world of gigantic forces we live by permission, not by good management.” The boat in this Psalm and the boat with the disciples in Mark is only afloat because God is keeping it there. At the same time, the boat is going through a storm because God is allowing the storm. The boat and the waves and the wind and the disciples are all precisely where God wants them to be.

But why? If God can control the weather, if Jesus is in this boat and he can control the weather, why does he allow a storm to come at all? Why not give them a simple and safe passage across the sea without hindrance? If Jesus is in control of all things, why did he allow the man to be possessed by the demoniac to begin with? Why did he allow Peter’s mother-in-law to get sick? Why did he allow a man to have leprosy or a man to be paralyzed? Why allow any of these evil things? Because he’s training the people. He’s training his disciples. He’s teaching them to call out to him and to rely on him. He’s going to be their only hope for salvation and they must learn to call on him. And ultimately they should learn to have the type of faith that can rest through the storm too.

But what about when this becomes personal? Maybe you’ve been on the sea when a storm comes up and you’ve been at God’s mercy in a similar way to the disciples. But that’s probably not the trial God has sent your way. You likely are asking yourself a different set of questions. If Jesus is in control of all things, why did he allow me to lose my job? Why did he allow my health to decline? Why did he allow my child to turn their back on the church? Why did he allow my husband to run away from our marriage? Why did he allow my closest friend to die? It’s because he’s training us. He’s training us to call on him. He wants us to rely on the only one who never changes and is always good. He doesn’t want us to be tossed about by our circumstances, always crashing from high to low at the mercy of whatever comes our way. He wants us to have faith in him.  He wants us to have faith in him that can finally cause us to rest. “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”

Do you recognize the power that Jesus possesses? Do you recognize that every aspect of this universe is his to command? Do you remember the beautiful way he has used that power to demonstrate his love for you? Have you seen him work for your good in so many ways all throughout your life? If you find yourself calling out to him “Teacher, do you not care that we are dying?” The answer will always be.

“I care so much that I died in your place.” I saved you in the face of your greatest need. I will save you on that future Day of the Lord. Why would you think that I won’t also save you now?”

Prayer