Strathalbyn Church of Christ

When Cheryl and I drive into Victor from our home in Encounter Bay we often like to drive along the sea front to look at the sea. Sometimes I’ll say to Cheryl, ‘it would be a good crossing today’ - meaning the sea is nice and calm if you were on the ferry from Cape Jervis to Penneshaw, Kangaroo Island. At other times, I’ll say ‘I wouldn’t like to be on the ferry today;’ meaning ‘its rough!’

Sometimes Encounter Bay can be nice and calm but later become rough, and it has been known for kayakers and boats to be caught unexpectedly. I understand that can happen on Lake Alexandrina too; and in today’s story from Mark’s gospel we hear that it happened on the Sea of Galilee as well.

The Sea of Galilee is about 13 miles by 8. It lies about 700 feet below sea level and there are deep ravines coming down towards the Sea through the Galilean hills. Up in the north there is Mount Hermon and chilly winds rush down into the Jordan Valley as the hot air rises. This combination stirs up the lake and it can suddenly become dangerous. Something like this appears to have happened in this story. We are told “a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat unto the boat, so that the boat was already filling.” Mark 4:37

Jesus had said to the disciples “Let us go across to the other side. And leaving the crowd, they took him with them, just as he was, in the boat.” Mk 4:35,36

And so, being a disciple or follower of Jesus doesn’t mean you won’t encounter storms. We aren’t promised that in sailing along the sea of life, it is always going to be ‘smooth sailing’ right through our Christian life.

However, the Lord was with these disciples in the boat. And we too don’t travel alone for Jesus is with us. Some of his last words to his disciples as he later sent them out to spread the good news of salvation were, “I am with you always….” Matthew 28:20.

And in the letter to the Hebrews we hear “I will never fail you nor forsake you”. Hebrews 13:5.

There may be times in our Christian lives when we feel we are up against it, the winds of life are blowing contrary to us, and we may feel over-whelmed, but Jesus is with us.

We read, “But Jesus was in the stern, asleep on the cushion”. Mk 5:38

Incidentally, that tells us two things about Jesus - he was tired, and he was trusting. You’ve got to be tired to sleep in a boat, in a storm! Yes, Jesus was really human.

But he was also trusting, full of faith in his Father.

What did the disciples do when the boat was filling with the beating waves and they saw Jesus was sleeping?

They woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?” Mk 4:38

In effect they rebuke or reproach Jesus. Sadly, at this stage their fear of perishing is greater than their confidence in the presence of Jesus; but they will grow in trust.

What happened next?

There is a second rebuke! - but this time by Jesus,

to the wind! “Peace! Be still!”

Jesus spoke sharply. Literally “Be muzzled!”

He spoke like you might speak to a dog jumping up at someone ‘stop jumping up at my disciples. Be quiet, get down!’

“And then the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

No wonder we read “And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, ‘who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?”

Or as the King James version puts it, “And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

And indeed that’s a good and vital question, isn’t it?

Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?

In Psalm 89 v 9 we hear of God in these words, “Thou dost rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, thou stillest them.”

And again in Psalm 107 we read about people in a boat in “a stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They mounted up to heaven, they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; they reeled and staggered like drunken men,and were at their wit’s end. Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress; he made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad because they had quiet…” Psalm l07:25-30

Coming back to the disciples in the boat with Jesus we read “and the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.”

Now the Lord Jesus can still give calm and peace in storms that we may experience in our life as a Christian. And he can tame stormy passions, change rough tempers, and speak peace to a troubled conscience and make it calm.

After speaking “Peace, be still !” Jesus then spoke to the disciples,

“Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?” The implication is that our faith in him can keep fear at bay.

Our Lord has died on a cross for us and that demonstrates his love and his Father’s love for us. And he has been raised from the dead. And so we today can look to Jesus for calm, peace, and courage, if life’s seas run rough; He still cares for us.

And now we hear from Matthew about another stilling of a storm; but there’s an additional element in it, namely Jesus walking on the sea.

Jesus told the disciples to go before him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. So they left Jesus and “he went up into the hills by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them.” Matthew 14:23,24

It has been estimated that the disciples had proceeded about 4-8 kms, and as the boat was ‘beaten’ or battered by the waves they weren’t making any appreciable headway for “the wind was against them.”

Again, as in the last story, one thing we can learn from this is that being disciples of Jesus doesn’t therefore, mean we are immune from the storms of life. In fact we may run into storms while doing what Jesus wants us to do. It was while the disciples were doing what Jesus had told them to do, namely, to get into the boat and go on ahead of him, that they ran into stormy weather.

There are Christians in the world today who are experiencing persecution or hardship because they are Christians. Jesus didn’t promise us freedom from these things.

“And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.” Matthew 14:25.

The first watch is from 6-9pm, the second from 9pm to midnight, the 3rd from midnight till 3am, and the fourth watch is from 3am to 6am.

And so the disciples had been up against it for 6-10 hours and they were still a considerable distance away from their destination. It was then that Jesus came to them.

Jesus came in the storm and walked on the storm!

There may be times in our Christian lives when we feel alone and are battling to get through a storm of some sort; but Jesus doesn’t leave us to battle on alone. He will come to us as Lord over the storm.

The thing that threatened to be over the head of the disciples, was under the feet of Jesus!

“But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “it’s a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately he spoke to them, saying, “Take heart, it is I. Have no fear.” Matt. 14:26,27._

They mistook Jesus for a ghost. Preacher Spurgeon once commented, ‘want of discernment blinds the soul to its richest consolations. Lord, be near, and let me know thee! Let me not have to say with Jacob, “Surely God was in this place; and I knew it not!”

But immediately he spoke to them, saying, “Take heart, it is I; have no fear.” 14:27. They can have courage because he was there. Jesus can come to us through our storms too and give us courage.

“And Peter answered him, ‘Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water.’

He said, ‘Come’ . So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.” Matt 14:28,29

And so Jesus walks on the storm and invites and enables the trusting disciple to share that victory with him. Peter recognised the power and victory of the Lord and wanted to share in it in his own experience. Jesus said to him “Come”.

As Peter in trust in Jesus, got out of the boat he found he could do something that he couldn’t do by himself.

If Jesus says to us “Come, do this,” whatever that may be, he will enable us to do it. In Peter’s case, he found that he could start walking on the stormy sea! However, we read “but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ “

To say “when he saw the wind, he was afraid,” doesn’t mean he suddenly noticed that a strong wind was blowing, for he had been rowing against the wind for most of the night and was aware of it. No, his attention went from Jesus upon whom he was depending, to the problem which he was up against.

Perhaps we can relate to that? Fear can come when we are faced with something stronger than we are that is threatening us. When Peter stepped out of the boat the power of the Lord Jesus was stronger to him than the wind and waves.

So what changed so that now the wind and waves seemed stronger to Peter than the Lord? Jesus hadn’t changed, but Peter’s focus had. Peter had shifted his focus from Jesus to the storm.

Christian fellowship and worship, prayer and bible meditation, will help us to keep our eye of faith focused on Jesus.

But when Peter felt himself beginning to sink, he called out to Jesus, and “Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him…” Peter had enough faith to cry out, “Lord, save me.”

If we feel we are “going down,” “going under”, let’s know that we too can cry out to Jesus, ‘Lord, save me,’ and he will reach out and catch us too.

Jesus said to Peter “O man of little faith, why did you doubt?” l4:31

Peter was of little faith at that point, but later on he was to grow much in faith!

And as we continue on with Jesus we too can grow in faith. What he did in and with Peter, he can do for us too.

After Jesus had taken Peter by the hand, Peter sank no further, but resumed his walk of faith. The Lord will help us too, to get up if we have sunk down, and will enable us to resume our walk of faith.

“O man of little faith, why did you doubt?” Didn’t Peter realise that if Jesus enabled him to start walking on the stormy sea, that he would hold him up all the way? You and I have started the walk of faith, and Jesus who has held us up so far can be trusted to continue to do so until we have finished our course.

“And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.”

The presence of Jesus brought calm and peace; his presence still does.

St. Francis of Sales noticed a farm servant going across a farm yard to draw water at the well. Before she lifted the brimming pail, she always put a piece of wood into it.

One day, he went to the girl and asked ‘Why do you do that?’

‘To keep the water from spilling -to keep it steady’

Writing to a friend later on, Francis told this story and added, ‘So when your heart is distressed and agitated, put the cross into the centre of your heart, to keep it steady.’

The presence of Jesus and the love of God which radiates from the cross, will bring peace and calm in times of storm.

“And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, ‘Truly, you are the Son of God.”

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Series: Mark , Matthew

Topics: #Mark , #Matthew