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This is one of my favorite stories in the Gospels, for it frequently is a microcosm of our lives. As I write this, my wife's father is in the hospital with phenomena and will be there for a long time. A friend of our family is having some ongoing problems with a son, and another friend has had a brutal week at work. Many are going through the storms of life, so it's no accident we come to this story at this time, for in it each one of us can see ourselves somewhere. We find ourselves at this place at this time, not because we chose to take a week off recently, or we covered a little more ground last week than planned but because it's exactly where we need to be. Coincidence is not kosher.
Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." And they launched out. (Luke 8:22)
We start off simply enough, Jesus and the disciples just want to cross over to the other side of the lake. But Matthew's record of this event says "He gave a command to depart to the other side. (Mt 8:18). This was not a suggestion. And to their credit, Luke says "they launched out". There was no question of Jesus' authority here, they simply did what they were commanded to do.
That's the first problem we encounter - obeying the voice of God. Many times we don't want to follow where He commands us to go. Or we start arguing and debating with God, like we know better what to do. It is better to do what the disciples did, just follow His command. But just as He spoke to the disciples - "let us" - He says the same to us. Wherever He directs us, He goes with us. We don't have to fear going alone.
Did Jesus know what was about to happen? Did the disciples? (More on that as we go along...)
But as they sailed He fell asleep. (Luke 8:23a)
How many times do we feel like that? As we're sailing along in life, where is the Lord? Doesn't He care? Are you paying attention? As we pray for the sick, if they get better, we say "Praise God, He is mighty and powerful" - but if they get worse we wonder, is God asleep? Does He hear us?
Several possibilities arise here. First, this just illustrates Jesus' humanity. Yes He was fully God, but He was also limited by a human body. As such, He got tired. He got hungry. And sometimes He needed sleep. Or He went to sleep on purpose, as an object lesson for the disciples. Either way reveals something about His nature and purpose.
And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. (Matthew 8:24)
On that lake it would be hard to imagine such a bad storm, but the geography is such that such storms can come upon the lake quickly with waves up to 30 feet possible. This was no small storm - these guys were professionals who made their living on this lake and must have been in many storms.
And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?" (Mark 4:38b)
They didn't recall His first words - "Let us cross over". He did NOT say "let's go out into the middle of the lake, where a storm will rise up, and we will all drown". He said to cross over. In other words, you are going to arrive at the other side. Sometimes it's difficult to imagine getting there, but if Jesus says you are going to the other side, you can be sure you will get there. He did not promise smooth sailing the whole way (or even part of it), but the promise still stands. An example of this is (one of ) Paul's shipwreck in Acts 27. The Lord had told Paul he was to go to Rome, and Paul was on his way. But some interesting events happened along the way.
At first, the seas were favorable for their voyage (Acts 27:13). But soon a storm rose up, so serious they had to run cables underneath the ship to prevent it from being torn apart by the storm. They threw the cargo overboard (Acts 27:19). For professionals who made their living hauling cargo, throwing it overboard was not a way to endear yourself to future business customers. Finally, they completely gave up hope of being saved (20). I wonder what Paul was thinking at that point. We know Paul did get discouraged (2 Cor 1:8); did he think he was not going to make it? In any event, God appears to him and reminds him he must be brought before Caesar (24). God reaffirms His promise Paul would make it. But God never promised smooth sailing. They lost the ship and all cargo, but no lives were lost. Whenever you choose to follow God's command, be prepared for storms to follow.
But the disciples (back in Mark) wake up Jesus, and say don't you care we are perishing? Remember the disciples were familiar with this lake, and surely had seen many storms come upon it. They recognized this to be a particularly fierce storm. But isn't this our attitude when we get caught in life's storms? I'm perishing here, Lord, don't you care? Do you hear me? Did they forget He said they will go to the other side? Always remember when He gives a command, you can be sure He provides the means to perform it.
Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. (Mark 4:39)
Jesus of course knew they were in no real danger. How could they be with the creator of the universe in the boat with them? But we travel each day with the same advantage they had. And we forget it as easily as they did.
But it's curious the phrase Mark uses. Jesus rebuked the sea. Strange. You wouldn't rebuke something inanimate would you? But since this storm was particularly fierce, could it be that satan had his hand it some of this? Perhaps. If he did, how much effort did Jesus expend in eliminating satan's storm? Three words. How big is your God? Can He take care of all of your needs?
"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? (Jeremiah 32:27)
Finally, Jesus gets to the point of this story, with a rebuke of His disciples.
But He said to them, "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" (Mark 4:40)
We assume they lacked faith in His deity. But it that were true, why would they wake Him up? If you or I were in the boat sleeping, would they wake us up? No. Why? Because we don't have the ability to help the situation. By the act of waking Jesus up, it was an admission they knew He had the power to help them. The faith they lacked was faith in His plan. Earlier He said "let's go to the other side". They doubted His plan would be carried out.
Faith is important to God. In fact, it is impossible to please Him without it. (Hebrews 11:6). But like anything else, how do you acquire faith? By exercising your spiritual muscles. It's easy to talk about faith, but just like your physical body, faith diminishes without being exercised. It's not something you can acquire without using it, or just say "Today I'm going to have faith". And just like your muscles, when you exercise your faith, sometimes you get sore and tired. This storm was a way for the disciples to have the opportunity to grow - they were never in any real danger just as we are not.
And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!" (Mark 4:41)
Their response to all this was a fear and amazement of just exactly who Jesus is. At some point we come to the realization of just how large the gap is between God and us. The result is amazement at who God is, and what He has done for us.
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? (Psalms 8:3-4)
This ends the story, but not the lessons for us. As we go through the storms of life, there are several key points to remember from this story. First, God has knowledge we don't. That's easy to understand intellectually, but when the waves come crashing down upon us we think we are all alone and God has abandoned us. Jesus knew the storm was coming; He had knowledge the disciples didn't. Just as in our life He has the knowledge of where the storms are, we don't.
"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways," says the LORD. "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
And His thoughts toward us are only good, not bad.
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
He promises us a future and a hope. But the promise is only as good as the person behind it. So the question is: how big is your God?
"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me? (Jeremiah 32:27)
So what do we do with all of this we don't understand?
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; (Proverbs 3:5)
"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? "Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matthew 6:25-26)
Maybe you've heard the saying "God helps those who help themselves". But it's not from the Bible. It's from the Koran (I'm told - I've never read the Koran). The God of the Bible defends people who have no hope or power in themselves to fix their situation. Daniel in the lions den. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the fiery furnace (Daniel 3). Moses and the Red Sea. Peter in Prison (Acts 12). In each case, the people involved had no hope in themselves, but God was able to rescue them from their difficulty. By ourselves we have no power and can do nothing (John 15:5, Mt 16:41). But with Christ's power in us, we can do anything (Phil 4:13). It's a strange idea the weaker we are, the stronger we are - but Paul explains in his letter to the Corinthians as he describes his thorn in the flesh, and God's response to his request that it be removed.
And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)
So do not become discouraged if we are weak. On the contrary, it's when we think we are strong and begin to rely on ourselves we encounter problems. Our strength increases during trials, for we trust in God alone. And if you can only remember one verse, remember the following.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28)
This verse is extremely powerful. First all things work together. Not some things, or most things, but God says ALL THINGS. But we can't take anything by itself. For all things work together. We don't always understand what is happening. And it's easy to think, how can good come of sickness or suffering? By itself, maybe not, but all things work together. But to what end? They work together for good. Not for bad. God is not sitting around waiting to smoke us as soon as we do something wrong. No. He only has the best in mind for us. But to who is this promise given, to everyone? No. Only to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. It doesn't apply to just anyone. Only the Christian can claim this promise and it's guarantee.
When we last saw the disciples after Jesus calmed the storm, they were wondering who Jesus was. Fast forwarding a little to Matthew chapter 10 we see Jesus sending the disciples out to preach the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. So between now and then they must learn a lot about Jesus' character. But what is between these two? A great sermon? No. Many parables? No. Only miracles. So these miracles must provide clues about the character of Jesus.
Mt 8:29 "Son of God" - This is knowledge that didn't exist on the earth before this.
"Torment us" - These demons have knowledge of who Jesus is, and end-times events. They know a time comes for their judgement, and Jesus is in control of it. They have a lot of knowledge about Jesus and theology. But are they saved? No. James reminds us head knowledge alone is insufficient for salvation (James 2:19). Salvation is of the heart, not head.
Mt 8:30 The demons must ask permission before they can do anything. They can only do what Jesus allows them to do. Recall Job 1 and the "hedge of protection" existing around him. But we must remember the hedge does not prevent bad things from happening (Job had a rough time), but think of it more as a "God filter" - nothing can happen in your life without the approval of God.
Mt 8:34 The people put the priority for pigs over people. Today we have the spotted owl. But either way, the priority for animals must never exceed people. Demons were exorcised, and all the people cared about was it was bad for business.
The hem is a symbol of authority. Remember David and Saul in the cave (1 Samuel 24). When David cut off the hem of Saul's garment, he was taking his symbol of authority.
Her theology wasn't exactly right - what would touching Jesus' garment do for her? Did it have some magical healing power? Not of itself. She misunderstood; this is comforting for us. We don't have to read 3,000 chapters in the Bible every day, or witness to 300 people, or use a special prayer voice to be heard by God. Just reach out and grab hold; it's His job to do the rest. If you have ever watched wrestling on TV, you may understand the following analogy. In tag team wrestling, whenever you get in trouble, you just have to tag your partner, and then he can jump in the ring to assist you. The same goes with us and Jesus. He stands by waiting for us to tag Him, then He jumps in and helps. We don't have to understand all theology, just reach out a hand and tag Him. That's what this woman did. She had spent all her money on doctors without any benefit, so she tagged Jesus, and was healed. Don't waste time on worldly resources, take it to the one who is in control of everything.
The healing of Jairus' daughter presents a different side of Jesus. The mourners did not believe Jesus had the ability to do anything, for they sent messengers to Jairus telling him his daughter was dead, and not to trouble the teacher anymore. If they really believed Jesus had the power to raise her, they would not have sent this message. Isn't this the way the world reacts? Don't trust in God, he doesn't exist. You've got to help yourself, no one else will. Just like Jairus' family, we must put the mockers out and not give in to their garbage.
This page is historical only and contains old content. Please see our main site for current content.