Mark 4:35–41
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 not 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. 40 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?”
Jesus had been teaching all day, and now the sun was setting. The disciples were not aware of it yet, but Jesus had a divine appointment with a demon-possessed man on the opposite side of the Sea of Galilee the next day. A man had a desperate need, and Jesus was committed to meeting his need.
Several of the disciples were seasoned fishermen, and they had spent many nights out on the water, so Jesus’ request to take Him across the sea during the night wouldn’t have concerned them at all. This was what they did for a living, and they were more than capable of coping with the journey, or so they thought. Before the night was over though, they would learn much about themselves and about Jesus.
As Christians we understand that this world is not our home. We are pilgrims and travellers on this journey of life. At times our journey is smooth and enjoyable, and there are times when the journey is quite rough and uncertain. However, regardless of the conditions we encounter while travelling, we know we can trust the Lord to get us safely to the other side.
This passage of Scripture, along with the parallel accounts in Matthew 8 and Luke 8 tells us that the disciples obeyed the command of Jesus to set sail for the opposite side of the Sea of Galilee.
This is an important detail that we need to consider. Many often assume that storms and trials of life are always the result of disobedience or sin – either our own sin, the sin of someone else, but this isn’t necessarily true.
There are times when God allows storms in our lives for the purpose of deepening our faith in Him and our reliance on His grace, and ultimately, to bring glory to Himself.
The disciples that night ran into a raging storm while they were in the will of God. They did as they were commanded and still faced a frightening and uncertain encounter. We cannot automatically assume that a storm or trial in our lives, or in someone else’s life is always a sign of disobedience or sin.
In this case in Mark 4, Jesus did not send His disciples away with the expectation to meet Him on the other side. He accompanied them on their journey. But then, suddenly, and without warning, the storm hit. The Sea of Galilee, which is actually an inland lake, is really quite small. It is only 20 km from the northern shore to the south, and 12km from west to east at its widest point. It is surrounded by hills, and being more than 200m below sea level, it’s in a bit of a bowl. Even today, the weather patterns in the area can cause sudden and violent storms over the lake, and this is what happened that night.
For the disciples, this leisurely and enjoyable trip, which they had probably done hundreds of times before without a hitch, suddenly turned into a frightening experience. Although several of the disciples were accustomed to being on the water, they were now in serious trouble.
What began as a routine journey quickly became a serious situation for them.
The same is true in our everyday lives. We can be enjoying a calm and relaxing day, and in an instant, everything can change. We have no way of knowing what each day will bring or what we may be forced to deal with. Storms and trials often come at the most inopportune times, with little or no advance warning.
And so it is with much of the storms we face in life. We soon learn that we don’t have to go around looking for trouble. Trouble will find us, sooner or later.
It’s easy to picture the disciples hanging on for dear life, wondering what to do next, because in a very real way, we’ve all been there before.
Verse 38 says, He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
Jesus was fast asleep in the back of the boat. The disciples had considered the situation and realised there was nothing they could do. They were at the mercy of the storm. They feared they would not survive and cried out to the Lord in their moment of desperation. What a life lesson this is for us.
There is much in our lives that is beyond our control. We all face trials and difficulties that we are unable to handle. In those moments we can choose to just hold on for dear life, and try and ride out the storm, or we can do what the disciples did that night.
Their hope, and our hope, remains in Christ.
We’re all familiar with Psalm 23. David writes in verse 4, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
As Christians, we have the Spirit of God in all His fullness, living within us. God is with you, and you are never without Him. Just before His ascension, Jesus told His disciples, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) They didn’t understand what He meant at the time, but after Pentecost, and the coming of God’s Holy Spirit on the Church and on His people, that promise of Jesus now makes perfect sense. He is always with us, in and through the power of His Spirit.
Jesus was in the boat with the disciples. They didn’t realise it at first, but they were much safer with Jesus in the midst of the storm than they would have been standing on shore without Him. It is often hard to remember, especially in the midst of a raging storm, but we are always secure in Christ.
As the storm raged all around them, Jesus slept in the boat. Jesus was not concerned about the storm. He knew He was able to control it – after all, He is the Creator of the Universe.
As the disciples cried out to Him in fear, Jesus responded to their need. The disciples discovered that Jesus was in their midst and cared about their need.
We might fail to realise it at times, but Jesus is always aware of our need and He is always near to us. He calls us to bring our burdens to Him, and to ask Him to help in our times of need. One of the reasons we don’t do this often enough, is because many (not all, but many) of our storms are the result of our own sin and bad choices, and we feel we have no right to call on God to help us, but that is not Biblical. When we call on Him, we soon learn that His presence has never left us.
The disciples were unable to control the storm, but Jesus revealed once again the mighty power He possessed. He spoke creation into existence, and here again He reveals His power with His Word. In an instant the storm ceased.
One of the greatest comforts we have as believers is to know we love and serve the eternal God – the One who possesses all power. There is nothing we face that He cannot handle. How He deals with the storms in our lives may confuse us, because He doesn’t always bring about the results we’d prefer, but we do know this: God remains in control. He has the ability to immediately handle whatever situation we encounter. At times we allow our fears and uncertainty to cloud our vision and undermine our faith, but Jesus has already conquered every enemy we could possibly face.
Are you in a storm right now? Look at the Cross. At Calvary, Jesus defeated sin, satan, death, and hell. He rose in triumph from the grave, and He promises victory and eternal life to all who believe in Him.
The wind stopped immediately, and in an instant, the sea was as flat as glass. In the blink of an eye, their fear and anxiety was turned into peace and assurance. The storm that threatened their lives had been calmed by the Master. There was nothing more to fear. He was in control and brought peace to them.
Jesus brought peace in the midst of their storm, and He continues to do the same for us. In His sovereign will, He may not immediately remove the storm, but He can provide the peace we need to endure it. One thing is certain, He will not leave us to face the storm alone. We will never perish standing in the presence of our Redeemer and Lord.
“Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” Jesus was not angry with them, but this was a gentle and grace-filled rebuke.
He questioned their lack of faith, because they should have known better. He was, after all, with them. They had already witnessed numerous miracles, and Jesus had never failed to meet their needs in the past and He wasn’t about to fail them now. He wanted them to live by faith, trusting Him with every aspect of their lives.
We’re no different from the disciples, really. Jesus has always proven faithful in our lives, and yet we find ourselves consumed with worry and doubt. But we have no reason to fear. God may not always remove the storm immediately, but He will always provide the grace and strength we need to endure it.
Finally, the disciples learned the greatest lesson of all. They discovered His pre-eminence, His eternal nature.
What did the disciples do when Jesus calmed the storm? Did they do a little jig of joy and shout, “Thanks Jesus, we knew you could do it!”
Far from it. Verse 41 says, “They were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” They’d been afraid of the storm, and now, interestingly enough, they were terrified. The KJV says they “feared exceedingly.”
These men learned a great lesson in faith and discovered more about Jesus as the Christ, as once again He revealed Himself as the Son of God in their midst.
That was the purpose of this storm in their lives. They needed to see Jesus in His power, and they needed a reminder of His deity.
I found a quotable quote on the storms of life which might help us to make sense when the storm just doesn’t seem to go away. “I’ve heard Bible teachers say, ‘With Christ in the boat, you can smile at the storm.’ Certainly, there is a sense in which that’s true. But I don’t want to give you an overly rosy picture. We need to face squarely the fact that sometimes Jesus doesn’t calm the storm. Sometimes the boat does sink, even if we’re trusting in Jesus. John the Baptist wasn’t delivered from prison, he lost his head. All but one of the disciples were executed for their faith. So what should we do if we trust in the Lord, but the boat sinks and the miracle doesn’t come? The answer is, we trust in the Lord Jesus as we go under. We go down singing the doxology.”
No-one enjoys facing storms and adversity, but in those storms we have opportunities to see Jesus for who He truly is and have our faith increased.
Of all the miracles of Jesus, this is probably the one we can relate to the easiest. We’re familiar with the storms of life. We know we can’t predict, avoid, or control them. Many times they come as we are walking in fellowship with God. But like the disciples, we need to learn to trust Jesus in our trials and discover more of Him through them. By His grace, and in His power, we can learn to see our trials as opportunities to grow and mature in the faith instead of focussing only on the struggle.
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 not 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. 40 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?”
Jesus had been teaching all day, and now the sun was setting. The disciples were not aware of it yet, but Jesus had a divine appointment with a demon-possessed man on the opposite side of the Sea of Galilee the next day. A man had a desperate need, and Jesus was committed to meeting his need.
Several of the disciples were seasoned fishermen, and they had spent many nights out on the water, so Jesus’ request to take Him across the sea during the night wouldn’t have concerned them at all. This was what they did for a living, and they were more than capable of coping with the journey, or so they thought. Before the night was over though, they would learn much about themselves and about Jesus.
As Christians we understand that this world is not our home. We are pilgrims and travellers on this journey of life. At times our journey is smooth and enjoyable, and there are times when the journey is quite rough and uncertain. However, regardless of the conditions we encounter while travelling, we know we can trust the Lord to get us safely to the other side.
This passage of Scripture, along with the parallel accounts in Matthew 8 and Luke 8 tells us that the disciples obeyed the command of Jesus to set sail for the opposite side of the Sea of Galilee.
This is an important detail that we need to consider. Many often assume that storms and trials of life are always the result of disobedience or sin – either our own sin, the sin of someone else, but this isn’t necessarily true.
There are times when God allows storms in our lives for the purpose of deepening our faith in Him and our reliance on His grace, and ultimately, to bring glory to Himself.
The disciples that night ran into a raging storm while they were in the will of God. They did as they were commanded and still faced a frightening and uncertain encounter. We cannot automatically assume that a storm or trial in our lives, or in someone else’s life is always a sign of disobedience or sin.
In this case in Mark 4, Jesus did not send His disciples away with the expectation to meet Him on the other side. He accompanied them on their journey. But then, suddenly, and without warning, the storm hit. The Sea of Galilee, which is actually an inland lake, is really quite small. It is only 20 km from the northern shore to the south, and 12km from west to east at its widest point. It is surrounded by hills, and being more than 200m below sea level, it’s in a bit of a bowl. Even today, the weather patterns in the area can cause sudden and violent storms over the lake, and this is what happened that night.
For the disciples, this leisurely and enjoyable trip, which they had probably done hundreds of times before without a hitch, suddenly turned into a frightening experience. Although several of the disciples were accustomed to being on the water, they were now in serious trouble.
What began as a routine journey quickly became a serious situation for them.
The same is true in our everyday lives. We can be enjoying a calm and relaxing day, and in an instant, everything can change. We have no way of knowing what each day will bring or what we may be forced to deal with. Storms and trials often come at the most inopportune times, with little or no advance warning.
And so it is with much of the storms we face in life. We soon learn that we don’t have to go around looking for trouble. Trouble will find us, sooner or later.
It’s easy to picture the disciples hanging on for dear life, wondering what to do next, because in a very real way, we’ve all been there before.
Verse 38 says, He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?”
Jesus was fast asleep in the back of the boat. The disciples had considered the situation and realised there was nothing they could do. They were at the mercy of the storm. They feared they would not survive and cried out to the Lord in their moment of desperation. What a life lesson this is for us.
There is much in our lives that is beyond our control. We all face trials and difficulties that we are unable to handle. In those moments we can choose to just hold on for dear life, and try and ride out the storm, or we can do what the disciples did that night.
Their hope, and our hope, remains in Christ.
We’re all familiar with Psalm 23. David writes in verse 4, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”
As Christians, we have the Spirit of God in all His fullness, living within us. God is with you, and you are never without Him. Just before His ascension, Jesus told His disciples, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20) They didn’t understand what He meant at the time, but after Pentecost, and the coming of God’s Holy Spirit on the Church and on His people, that promise of Jesus now makes perfect sense. He is always with us, in and through the power of His Spirit.
Jesus was in the boat with the disciples. They didn’t realise it at first, but they were much safer with Jesus in the midst of the storm than they would have been standing on shore without Him. It is often hard to remember, especially in the midst of a raging storm, but we are always secure in Christ.
As the storm raged all around them, Jesus slept in the boat. Jesus was not concerned about the storm. He knew He was able to control it – after all, He is the Creator of the Universe.
As the disciples cried out to Him in fear, Jesus responded to their need. The disciples discovered that Jesus was in their midst and cared about their need.
We might fail to realise it at times, but Jesus is always aware of our need and He is always near to us. He calls us to bring our burdens to Him, and to ask Him to help in our times of need. One of the reasons we don’t do this often enough, is because many (not all, but many) of our storms are the result of our own sin and bad choices, and we feel we have no right to call on God to help us, but that is not Biblical. When we call on Him, we soon learn that His presence has never left us.
The disciples were unable to control the storm, but Jesus revealed once again the mighty power He possessed. He spoke creation into existence, and here again He reveals His power with His Word. In an instant the storm ceased.
One of the greatest comforts we have as believers is to know we love and serve the eternal God – the One who possesses all power. There is nothing we face that He cannot handle. How He deals with the storms in our lives may confuse us, because He doesn’t always bring about the results we’d prefer, but we do know this: God remains in control. He has the ability to immediately handle whatever situation we encounter. At times we allow our fears and uncertainty to cloud our vision and undermine our faith, but Jesus has already conquered every enemy we could possibly face.
Are you in a storm right now? Look at the Cross. At Calvary, Jesus defeated sin, satan, death, and hell. He rose in triumph from the grave, and He promises victory and eternal life to all who believe in Him.
The wind stopped immediately, and in an instant, the sea was as flat as glass. In the blink of an eye, their fear and anxiety was turned into peace and assurance. The storm that threatened their lives had been calmed by the Master. There was nothing more to fear. He was in control and brought peace to them.
Jesus brought peace in the midst of their storm, and He continues to do the same for us. In His sovereign will, He may not immediately remove the storm, but He can provide the peace we need to endure it. One thing is certain, He will not leave us to face the storm alone. We will never perish standing in the presence of our Redeemer and Lord.
“Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” Jesus was not angry with them, but this was a gentle and grace-filled rebuke.
He questioned their lack of faith, because they should have known better. He was, after all, with them. They had already witnessed numerous miracles, and Jesus had never failed to meet their needs in the past and He wasn’t about to fail them now. He wanted them to live by faith, trusting Him with every aspect of their lives.
We’re no different from the disciples, really. Jesus has always proven faithful in our lives, and yet we find ourselves consumed with worry and doubt. But we have no reason to fear. God may not always remove the storm immediately, but He will always provide the grace and strength we need to endure it.
Finally, the disciples learned the greatest lesson of all. They discovered His pre-eminence, His eternal nature.
What did the disciples do when Jesus calmed the storm? Did they do a little jig of joy and shout, “Thanks Jesus, we knew you could do it!”
Far from it. Verse 41 says, “They were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” They’d been afraid of the storm, and now, interestingly enough, they were terrified. The KJV says they “feared exceedingly.”
These men learned a great lesson in faith and discovered more about Jesus as the Christ, as once again He revealed Himself as the Son of God in their midst.
That was the purpose of this storm in their lives. They needed to see Jesus in His power, and they needed a reminder of His deity.
I found a quotable quote on the storms of life which might help us to make sense when the storm just doesn’t seem to go away. “I’ve heard Bible teachers say, ‘With Christ in the boat, you can smile at the storm.’ Certainly, there is a sense in which that’s true. But I don’t want to give you an overly rosy picture. We need to face squarely the fact that sometimes Jesus doesn’t calm the storm. Sometimes the boat does sink, even if we’re trusting in Jesus. John the Baptist wasn’t delivered from prison, he lost his head. All but one of the disciples were executed for their faith. So what should we do if we trust in the Lord, but the boat sinks and the miracle doesn’t come? The answer is, we trust in the Lord Jesus as we go under. We go down singing the doxology.”
No-one enjoys facing storms and adversity, but in those storms we have opportunities to see Jesus for who He truly is and have our faith increased.
Of all the miracles of Jesus, this is probably the one we can relate to the easiest. We’re familiar with the storms of life. We know we can’t predict, avoid, or control them. Many times they come as we are walking in fellowship with God. But like the disciples, we need to learn to trust Jesus in our trials and discover more of Him through them. By His grace, and in His power, we can learn to see our trials as opportunities to grow and mature in the faith instead of focussing only on the struggle.