Jesus deals with storms

 Jesus deals with storms

D.P. Weary, Sept. 2022

            Our world is in the midst of a great storm these days. Actually, there are many storms. There are storms in individuals' lives, our cities, states, nations, and the entire world. Jesus gave us in His Word some stories about how He deals with storms. Could these stories give us some directions on how to deal with our storms?

Jesus calms the storm

[Mar 4:1 ESV] Again he began to teach beside the sea. And a very large crowd gathered about him so that he got into a boat and sat in it on the sea, and the whole crowd was beside the sea on the land.

            We find Jesus and his disciples on the western side of the Sea of Galilee. He is speaking and ministering to a large crowd.

We could see this today as the church teaching and ministering to the world.

[Mar 4:35 ESV] On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, "Let us go across to the other side."

[Mar 4:36 ESV] And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him

As the day drew to an end, Jesus leads the disciple, and others, to the other side of the sea about 5 to 8 miles away.

Today we might see this as Jesus leading the church on a mission just as darkness is coming.

[Mar 4:37 ESV] And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.

            On the journey, a severe storm comes up that is so threatening that the boat was filling with water and sinking.

These current days, we find ourselves in a dark and great storm of trouble, evil, and injustice. Some days it feels like the storm is overcoming us and we are sinking.

[Mar 4:38 ESV] 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?"

            The storm is not bothering Jesus at all. He is sleeping. Fear has taken hold of the disciples and they are disturbed that Jesus does not seem to care about their plight.

    Today we see a world full of fear, even in the church. People are questioning, is God really in control? Does He not care about the evil all around us? Troubles in our personal lives, the lives of our friends and family, and indeed trouble in our nation and the world, in general, are causing anxieties, depression, hopelessness, and fear. It is we who are now asking, do you not care that we are perishing?  

[Mar 4:39 ESV] 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.

            Then, with three words, Jesus rebukes the wind and the sea and there was a great calm. By rebuking the wind and the sea, there is an implication that the storm was a demonic attack intended to keep Jesus and his disciples from the mission Jesus was leading them on.

In our world today, we are in the midst of a great demonic storm. Satan is moving in great wrath to keep the church from completing its mission.  But when and if we call upon Jesus, with just a few words, He can and will rebuke and calm the storms that we find ourselves in.

[Mar 4:40 ESV] He said to them, "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?"

            Jesus rebukes His disciples for being afraid and not trusting that He is always in full control and would not let any storm overtake them. Jesus rebuked His disciples because they did not trust that since He had directed them to go, they would get to where they were going no matter what obstacles they uncounted. They did not trust that He truly cared about them and would not let them perish before their time. They also did not trust that He was on a mission and no force on earth or in hell itself could deter His mission and plans.

            Today, we find much of the church in the same condition. In the midst of our storms, there is fear. Do we really believe that Jesus is still in full control of all things? Do we trust that He will speak to our storms and ensure that we will carry out our mission assignments? Do we see the big picture and trust that the storms in our world today are a part of a much larger plan that in the end will result in all of His disciples reaching their eternal destinies and the establishing of His Kingdom on this earth?                

[Mar 4:41 ESV] 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?"

            I wonder if this “fear” that overcame the disciples was not really “the fear of the Lord”, that awesome respect, awe, and reverent realization that this man Jesus was God in the flesh of a man.

            “But what is the fear of the Lord? It is that affectionate reverence by which the child of God bends himself humbly and carefully to his Father’s law.” (Bridges)

“A worshipping submission to the God of the covenant.” (Kidner)

“‘The fear of the Lord ultimately expresses reverential submission to the Lord’s will and thus characterizes a true worshiper.” (Ross)

“The fear of the Lord signifies that religious reverence which every intelligent being owes to his Creator.” (Clarke)

Where is “the fear of the Lord” in our world today?

 

Now our story comes to the mission.

[Mar 5:1 ESV] They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.

[Mar 5:2 ESV] And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.

            Jesus has led his disciples into a confrontation with the demonic. After Jesus calmed the storm, what followed was a spiritual warfare battle.

            We in our world today find ourselves in a great, dark, storm. Jesus is “in the boat” with us. He can just speak a word and the storms will be calmed. If He does, we should expect to be led into a spiritual battle with the demonic.

[Mar 5:7 ESV] And crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me."

[Mar 5:8 ESV] For he was saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!"

            The demons know who Jesus is and they fear Him. They are pleading with Jesus to not send them to the abyss before their time.

            Jesus has given all true believers in Him the right to use His name, His power, and authority. The demons know this, but does the church as a whole? The first thing demons will do in any encounter will be to test you and see if you know who you are as a believer and a child of God. If you know, they will be afraid!

[Mar 5:9 ESV] And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Legion, for we are many."

            Here Jesus exposes the extent of demonic activity. For believers engaging in spiritual warfare, it is the Holy Spirit that gives us revelation into the extent and nature of the spiritual battle we find ourselves in.

[Mar 5:10 ESV] And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.

            Jesus knows that it is not the time for Him to destroy all demons. This will occur at His second coming. So, He allows the demons to enter a group of pigs. The result of this demonic infestation is that the pigs commit suicide. We as believers have been given the power and authority to drive out demons. But, it is best to let Jesus decide what to do with them after they are expelled. We also need to make sure that the void left by the expelling of the demonic is fully “cleaned” and filled with God’s presence least the demons return with seven more demons, even worse than it.

[Mat 12:43 NASB20] "Now when the unclean spirit comes out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find [it.]

[Mat 12:44 NASB20] "Then it says, 'I will return to my house from which I came'; and when it comes, it finds [it] unoccupied, swept, and put in order.

[Mat 12:45 NASB20] "Then it goes and brings along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they come in and live there; and the last [condition] of that person becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation."

[Mar 5:18 ESV] As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.

            The mission is over and Jesus is moving on to a new mission. The reaction of the man set free is what it always should be when someone is touched by Jesus. He just wanted to be with Him!

[Mar 5:19 ESV] And he did not permit him but said to him, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."

[Mar 5:20 ESV] And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

            But Jesus had set the man free not only from his compassion and mercy but for a reason. The man was sent to proclaim God’s love and mercy. The result was that many churches were established in the Decapolis. And the gospel was taken to the gentiles of this area.

 “The Decapolis was ten Greek cities on the eastern side of the sea of Galilee, including Damascus. It was to this gentile community that Jesus commanded this man to go and bear witness.” (Stedman)

 “Decapolis literally means The Ten Cities. Near to the Jordan and on its east side, there were ten cities mainly of rather a special character. They were essentially Greek. Their names were Scythopolis, which was the only one on the west side of the Jordan, Pella, Dion, Gerasa, Philadelphia, Gadara, Raphana, Kanatha, Hippos and Damascus.” (Barclay) 

            In our world today, if Jesus calms our current storms, it will be a time for all of us to proclaim His love and mercy and proclaim the gospel for a great last day’s ingathering.

 

Jesus takes His disciples out of the storm

            However, there is another story in the Bible about Jesus dealing with a storm. This story is quite different that the story of Jesus taking His disciples on a mission of spiritual warfare. What lessons can we learn from this other story about storms?

 

[Jhn 6:1 ESV] After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.

[Jhn 6:2 ESV] And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.

Morris gives the sense of the Greek verbs of John 6:2: “The multitude ‘kept following Jesus because they ‘continually saw the signs that He ‘habitually did’ on the sick.” (Morris)

[Jhn 6:3 ESV] Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.

            “The ‘high ground’ is the sharply rising terrain east of the lake, well known today as the Golan heights. From there one overlooks the level plain east of the river and the lake.” (Bruce)

            Bethsaida (John 1:44) was near where this miracle took place (Luke 9:10).

[Jhn 6:4 ESV] Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

[Jhn 6:10 ESV] Jesus said, "Have the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number.

[Jhn 6:11 ESV] Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.

            It is Passover and Jesus and His disciples are ministering to a large crowd on the shore of the Sea of Galilee across from Capernaum. It is significant that it is Passover. For the Jew, Passover is a time of remembrance of deliverance from the captivity of Egypt and God’s care for them during their wandering in the wilderness. Here Jesus feeds over five thousand people with only five loaves and two small fish.

 

We start our current story with a time of great signs and wonders.

[Jhn 6:14 ESV] When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, "This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!"

            The Jews associated Jesus’ Great miracle with the signs of a prophet who was to come and deliver Israel from its captivity. They followed Jesus because of the miracles, what He could do for them, and because they thought He could deliver them from their Roman oppressors.

            “A rabbi of a later date is credited with the observation that ‘as the first redeemer (Moses)  caused manna to descend… so will the last redeemer cause manna to descend’, and the general idea seems to have been current in the first century.” (Bruce)

             “Suddenly there was this unusual man Jesus. He had miraculous power. So they must have said something like this to themselves, ‘Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could get Him on our side and get Him to help us drive out the Romans?’” (Boice)

[Jhn 6:15 ESV] Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

            “He saw the crowds were in great excitement and were meaning to come and violently carry Him off and declare Him their king in opposition to the civil power; perhaps already He saw His disciples beginning to be caught in that wild enthusiasm.” (Trench)

 “He who is already King has come to open His kingdom to men; but in their blindness men try to force Him to be the kind of king they want; thus they fail to get the king they want, and also lose the Kingdom He offers.” (Morris)

                        In our day we face the same danger. If an era of great signs and wonders comes, will the people come to church to get blessed and/or deliverance from evil and oppressive leaders and governments? Many people will be saved, healed, and delivered and will want only to follow our Lord Jesus. But there will also be those that are only looking for personal blessings, and to be delivered from evil and oppressive governments and people. They only want their old “good life” returned. The result will be that the Lord Jesus will withdraw from these and things will not get better for them or the world.

            I also wonder, is this the point in time when people are so ready for a “messiah” to come and rescue them from a time of war and great troubles that they readily accept and support a false messiah? Could this be the time of the rise of the Antichrist?

[Jhn 6:16 ESV] When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,

[Jhn 6:17 ESV] got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

            Darkness is coming over the land. Jesus was not physically with His disciples. The disciples set out to go to Capernaum but probably a bit uncomfortably because Jesus was not with them. They were just tired and wanted to go home. Perhaps they were a bit discouraged because they like Jesus, realized that many of those who were fed were just following Jesus because of what he gave them, and for what they thought He could do about the evil and oppressive government leaders.

Matthew and Mark tell us that Jesus made His disciples get into the boat (Mark 6:45). They set off across the Sea of Galilee because Jesus told them to do it.

 “According to Mark 6:45, Jesus ‘compelled’ (anankazo) his disciples to embark and go back across the lake; perhaps he saw that they were being infected with the crowd’s excitement.” (Bruce)

            This is a danger that the true church would face after a time of great signs and wonders. Some people will come to Jesus and be saved. But many others will not and the darkness in the land will not only still be there. But it will also be getting darker and it will seem as though the Lord has withdrawn to “the mountain by Himself”.

[Jhn 6:18 ESV] The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.

            The disciples had no soon set out than a significant storm came up. In the first storm, Jesus was in the boat with them. This time Jesus is asking His disciples to trust His unseen care and concern for them.

             “The Sea of Galilee is six hundred feet below sea level, in a cuplike depression among the hills. When the sun sets, the air cools; and as the cooler air from the west rushes down over the hillside, the resultant wind churns the lake. Since the disciples were rowing toward Capernaum, they were heading into the wind; consequently, they made little progress.” (Tenney)

            In the first storm upon the Sea of Galilee the disciples were terrified (Matthew 8:25-26). In the beginning of the second storm they were more frustrated than afraid. Jesus told them to row across the lake and despite their hard work, they seemed to make little progress. (Guzik)

 Matthew 14:25 this this happened in the fourth watch of the night, sometime between three and six in the morning. So, they rowed hard for perhaps six to eight hours, and had only come a little more than halfway across the lake (three or four miles).

 They were in this place of frustration at the will of Jesus, doing exactly what He told them to do. Additionally, Mark 6:48 says that Jesus watched the disciples as they rowed across the lake. His eye was on them all the time. They were in the will of Jesus and watched by Jesus, yet working hard in frustration all the time. (Guzik)

            After this season of great signs and wonders, will the true church find itself frustrated and a bit concerned with the continued darkness and the storm that seems to be restraining them from getting “home”? These days will be challenging days for believers unless they know the end of the story and know that Jesus is coming to rescue them and get the “home” safely. This will be a time when believers will need to trust the Lord’s unseen care and concern for them.

[Jhn 6:19 ESV] When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened.              

[Jhn 6:20 ESV] But he said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."

            Mark 6:49-50 says the disciples were afraid because they thought Jesus, walking on the water, was a ghost or a spirit. His appearing suddenly and walking on the water takes them by surprise. Jesus tells them to not be afraid, He is coming to be with them and take care of them. Jesus comes to the disciples supernaturally. He physically manifests Himself to them in the midst of this storm. And this time He does not calm the storm, He takes them out of the storm.

            In our day, if this is the storm we are currently in, Jesus will manifest Himself to us supernaturally in the midst of the storm, telling us to not be afraid but to be glad.

[Jhn 6:21 ESV] Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

            When Jesus got into the goat with the disciples, the storm did not cease. Instead, the disciples immediately found themselves at their destination. They were “home”.

            For all true believers in our Lord Jesus, one day, in the midst of a great storm, He will come for us and take us “home”.

            [1Th 4:15 ESV] For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep.

[1Th 4:16 ESV] For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

[1Th 4:17 ESV] Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

[1Th 4:18 ESV] Therefore encourage one another with these words.