Jesus' Authority over the Storm

The Sleeping Sovereign
(Mark 4:35-41, Preaching: Pastor Nathan Snyder, August 13, 2017)

[35] On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” [36] And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was.  And other boats were with him. [37] And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. [38] But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.  And they woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you care that we are perishing?” [39] 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?” [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?”

On that day Jesus had been teaching the people in parables about the kingdom of God, and explaining their meaning in private to his disciples.  To the disciples had been given the secret of the kingdom of God, but to others it was as yet hidden (verses 11, 33-34).  Jesus’ intent was that in time, these same disciples would proclaim with clarity the truths of the kingdom of God (verse 21-22).  In order to fully proclaim the kingdom, they would need to experience firsthand the power and authority of the King, who was Jesus himself.  It was toward this end that on that same day, when evening had come, Jesus told his disciples, “Let us go across to the other side.”  He was referring to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.  We shall learn in chapter 5 of Jesus’ visit to the Gentile region on the other side of the sea.  Even Gentiles would have the opportunity to learn of the saving power of God’s King.  Yet the disciples’ would first get to witness Jesus’ power over the wind and sea itself as they travelled to this Gentile region.  Their journey to the other side of the sea became an experience they would never forget.

With Jesus’ first disciples, we have the privilege of witnessing through Mark’s account aspects of his glory as King.  We see both his humanity and his divinity in this story.  Jesus’ humanity is shown in the simple fact that he fell asleep in the stern of the boat.  Jesus was exhausted from that day’s ministry efforts.  He must have been a sound sleeper, because when a violent windstorm came down upon the sea, he apparently did not wake up.  This also reveals that his soul was at perfect rest.  He knew all would happen according to his Father’s plan.  The peace of God in his soul enabled him to rest in the midst of the growing storm.  For the disciples, however, peace was the furthest thing from their minds.  They struggled to keep the boat from sinking as it began to fill with water.  The fact that Jesus slept while the rest of them struggled was maddening.  They woke him and asked him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”  Their question is rather accusatory.  Yet now they, and we, get to see the divine power of the Teacher.  The Teacher’s words not only tell us of the kingdom of God.  The Teacher’s words are the words of the King himself, and they carry the very power and authority of God.  Mark does not tell us a lot of details, but we can imagine Jesus standing up, squinting his eyes from the wind-driven spray.  He looked out across the billowing waves, and his stern voice pierced through the howling of the storm.  “Peace!  Be Still!”  Immediately, the wind and the waves obeyed.  What had been a great windstorm became a great calm.  Jesus then turned to his disciples.  “Why are you so afraid?  Have you still no faith?”  Yet the disciples were too dumbfounded to feel ashamed by this rebuke.  They looked at one another and said with great fear, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”  They had been afraid of the storm, but now they realize that they are in the presence of the One who has power over the storm.  This makes them even more afraid.  Who is this man they thought they had been getting to know?

In the Old Testament Scriptures, it is clear that God alone has power over the sea and the storm.  He created the forces of nature, and he controls them.  Even in the case of Job, when Satan employed a windstorm to bring a building down upon Job’s children, killing them all, God had granted Satan that permission.  Hear the LORD’s words to Job:

“Who shut in the sea with doors when it burst out from the womb, when I made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band, and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?” (Job 38:8-11)

“Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of waters may cover you?  Can you send forth lightnings, that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are?” (Job 38:34-35)

Or hear God’s words to the prophet Amos:

“For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth—the LORD, the God of hosts, is his name!”  (Amos 4:13).

Read also Psalm 107:23-32.  God alone is the Creator and Sovereign Ruler over the forces of nature.  In Mark 4, when Jesus commands the storm, it obeys his immediate authority, showing us that Jesus is God.

The disciples initially thought Jesus didn’t care whether they all perished in the storm.  They found out that Jesus had total control of the storm.  Indeed, it might just be the case that it was his very care for them that motivated Jesus to lead his disciples into this frightening situation.  He had been teaching them about God’s kingdom.  Now he wanted them to see a demonstration of his power and authority as God’s King.  Jesus showed that he had authority over the forces of nature.  Of course, his authority does not stop there.  In chapter 5 we will see that Jesus has power over the spiritual forces of evil, over sickness, and over death itself.  Jesus has power and authority over every possible storm his people might face.

Sometimes in our lives we face storms of various kinds.  The winds swirl around us and the rain drives into our face so that we can hardly think a coherent thought.  The waves churn beneath us and crash over us, tossing us every which way.  Our boat may be filling up with water among the waves of depression, marital troubles, financial crisis, the death of a loved one, addiction, or other troubles.  It may feel to us that Jesus is asleep in the boat while we are about to drown.  We may want to ask him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”  If we doubt him, he asks us, “Why are you so afraid?  Have you still no faith?”  Jesus has complete control over the storms we are facing.  We do need to be careful, however, how we attempt to apply this passage of Scripture.  The main point is that Jesus has power and authority over the storm.  That should be enough to cause us to trust him through the storms we face.  If we trust him, he will bring us safely through.  What we should not conclude from this story is that whenever we face a storm, if we call upon Jesus, he will always immediately calm that storm.  That is simply not true.  Jesus will not lose any of those whom the Father has given to him.  All who call upon him he will in no way cast out.  Those who believe in him will never perish but have eternal life.  Nevertheless, he certainly permits storms in our lives for his good, loving, and wise purposes.  Maybe he is giving us an opportunity to grow in our knowledge of him, and grow in trusting him.

Some of us may be reacting to the storms we are facing in an unbelieving way, much like the disciples did in this story.  We need to hear Jesus’ stern rebuke, and once again rest in his power.  God wants us to have the same peace Jesus himself had that enabled him to sleep in the stern of the boat in the midst of the storm.  Would not this bring greatest glory to Christ, if we could trust him not only after he has made the storm cease, but in the midst of the storm?  Should we cry out to Jesus in the storm?  Yes!  But let us do it with confident trust in him, not with fearful, unbelieving panic that accuses him of not caring.  Nobody cares more about us than does Jesus, and nobody else has authority over the storm.  Here is one final comforting thought.  God knew Jesus’ disciples would react to the storm in unbelief.  Yet he was patiently teaching them to trust him.  Likewise, God knows already when we will react in unbelief.  Yet he still loves us and is patiently teaching us to trust him.