WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.040 We're going to look at the miracle that Jesus performs here in Mark 4 this morning that 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:06.620 we just read about. 00:00:06.620 --> 00:00:08.099 It's a very short passage. 00:00:08.099 --> 00:00:10.160 It's a great passage. 00:00:10.160 --> 00:00:11.160 It's famous. 00:00:11.160 --> 00:00:12.519 It's one of the famous miracles. 00:00:12.519 --> 00:00:13.519 And it's very important. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:18.760 And one of the reasons it's very important is because this is where a very explicit question 00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:23.280 comes out that becomes the question of the whole gospel of Mark. 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:27.800 And it's at the very end, it's when the disciples look at each other at the end of this, and 00:00:27.800 --> 00:00:31.440 they're afraid because of what Jesus did. 00:00:31.440 --> 00:00:34.000 And they say, who then is this? 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:38.600 You know, as Matthew puts it, they say, what kind of a man is this? 00:00:38.600 --> 00:00:40.240 Who is this and what kind of a man is this? 00:00:40.240 --> 00:00:42.520 Now this is the question of the gospels. 00:00:42.520 --> 00:00:47.519 It's the most important question a human being can ask. 00:00:47.519 --> 00:00:53.760 And even if you come today really only interested in something like, why was Christianity so 00:00:53.760 --> 00:00:56.439 important for a place like Scotland over so many centuries? 00:00:56.439 --> 00:01:02.119 Well, in order to answer that question, to understand even what this nation has been historically, 00:01:02.119 --> 00:01:07.079 you have to ask this question, who is this man? 00:01:07.079 --> 00:01:09.840 And what kind of a man can do something like this? 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:11.640 And that's the question that comes to us right here. 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:18.560 Now the answer Mark gives in this passage is, it's the kind of man that sleeps in the midst 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:20.200 of a deadly storm. 00:01:20.200 --> 00:01:22.560 That's the kind of man he is. 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:24.159 And that says a lot about who he is. 00:01:24.159 --> 00:01:26.879 And let's think about that together. 00:01:26.879 --> 00:01:29.920 Let's do that by looking at three characters. 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:34.439 The three big characters in the story are first, the sea that rages. 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:37.640 And then secondly, the man who's sleeping. 00:01:37.640 --> 00:01:41.439 And then finally, we'll look at the Little Faith Club, which is exactly what Jesus calls 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:43.799 them in Matthew, the Little Faith Club. 00:01:43.799 --> 00:01:47.239 All right, first, the sea that rages. 00:01:47.239 --> 00:01:49.560 Let's look at the sea briefly. 00:01:49.560 --> 00:01:54.079 What I mean by that is let's look at the context and try to get our minds into the 00:01:54.079 --> 00:01:56.560 minds of the first century here. 00:01:56.560 --> 00:02:02.079 In verse 35, Jesus says at the end of the day, the evening comes, he says, let's go 00:02:02.079 --> 00:02:03.640 across to the other side. 00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:09.280 Now what he's talking about there is traveling across the Sea of Galilee. 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:12.479 The Sea of Galilee is a big lock, a huge lake. 00:02:12.479 --> 00:02:14.120 It's at the tip top of Israel. 00:02:14.120 --> 00:02:16.800 It's 13 miles from top to bottom. 00:02:16.800 --> 00:02:19.000 It's eight miles at its width. 00:02:19.000 --> 00:02:22.680 And they're crossing a large stretch of that width. 00:02:22.680 --> 00:02:25.840 They're moving here from Capernaum to the Decapolis. 00:02:25.840 --> 00:02:30.439 The Decapolis is a region of 10 cities on the eastern side. 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:33.680 And when you're on the western side, it's Jewish territory. 00:02:33.680 --> 00:02:35.480 It's part of ancient Israel. 00:02:35.480 --> 00:02:37.920 So it's a largely Jewish population. 00:02:37.920 --> 00:02:43.319 But when you get to the Decapolis side, it's a Greco-Roman hodgepodge. 00:02:43.319 --> 00:02:45.480 It's incredibly cosmopolitan. 00:02:45.480 --> 00:02:51.319 There's all sorts of people there, Greeks, Romans, Jews, Arameans, Samaritans, and many, 00:02:51.319 --> 00:02:54.359 many, many subgroups, all sorts of people groups. 00:02:54.359 --> 00:02:57.840 And the Sea of Galilee is a hotbed of trade. 00:02:57.840 --> 00:03:02.599 So every day people are fishing and then traveling across back and forth, trading all sorts of 00:03:02.599 --> 00:03:03.599 things. 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:09.759 And so this is a very diverse and pluralist area in the midst of Israel. 00:03:09.759 --> 00:03:15.280 Now verse 36, Mark tells us something that the other gospels, Matthew and Luke, don't 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:17.039 say about this story. 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:21.519 And that's that whenever Jesus and the disciples get into this boat to cross, they didn't go 00:03:21.519 --> 00:03:22.519 by themselves. 00:03:22.519 --> 00:03:28.039 And so you can see there in verse 36, it says that there were other boats with him. 00:03:28.039 --> 00:03:32.560 Okay, so a lot of times when we read stories like this, and this story in particular, we 00:03:32.560 --> 00:03:37.919 have an image where you've got Jesus and the 12 disciples in a boat all by themselves out 00:03:37.919 --> 00:03:40.239 on the ocean, out on the lake. 00:03:40.239 --> 00:03:41.759 But that's not the case at all, actually. 00:03:41.759 --> 00:03:43.959 It says that there were many boats. 00:03:43.959 --> 00:03:46.319 There was a whole fleet of boats that went with them. 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:48.759 And so people are following him. 00:03:48.759 --> 00:03:55.199 Now the archeologists tell us that an average fishing boat that was used on the Sea of Galilee 00:03:55.199 --> 00:04:00.840 in the first century was 30 feet long, typically, which meant you could comfortably fit 12, 13 00:04:00.840 --> 00:04:03.280 people in it, 10 to 13 people in it. 00:04:03.280 --> 00:04:08.639 And so it's probably the case that you've got, who knows how many, dozens of boats with 00:04:08.639 --> 00:04:14.759 10, 12, 13, 15, maybe they're packed in, 20 people, and they're all following Jesus as 00:04:14.759 --> 00:04:16.319 a fleet. 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:18.039 They're wanting to go wherever he goes. 00:04:18.039 --> 00:04:23.639 And there are very possibly hundreds of people on this little trip in the evening across 00:04:23.639 --> 00:04:25.560 the Sea of Galilee. 00:04:25.560 --> 00:04:29.319 And then here it comes, the storm. 00:04:29.319 --> 00:04:35.360 The storm comes and it rages down, a great windstorm, verse 37, and the waves were crashing 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:40.399 into the boat that Jesus was in, and the boat was filling up with water. 00:04:40.399 --> 00:04:45.639 And it gets to a point where the disciples come to him and say, Lord, we are dead. 00:04:45.639 --> 00:04:46.639 That's what they say. 00:04:46.639 --> 00:04:49.719 It's elegantly translated here as Lord, we're perishing. 00:04:49.719 --> 00:04:53.079 They just say, Lord, we're dead. 00:04:53.079 --> 00:04:54.079 They're dying. 00:04:54.079 --> 00:04:55.079 Why? 00:04:55.079 --> 00:04:59.599 Well, it's eight miles across and they've left at night and they're out. 00:04:59.599 --> 00:05:03.839 And when you're miles away from shore and you're in a 30-foot fishing boat and it's 00:05:03.839 --> 00:05:07.120 filling up with water, you're dead. 00:05:07.120 --> 00:05:08.120 There's no survival. 00:05:08.120 --> 00:05:09.120 You're not getting out of it. 00:05:09.120 --> 00:05:10.680 You can't reach the shoreline. 00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:12.519 And it's not just Jesus and the disciples. 00:05:12.519 --> 00:05:16.399 It's hundreds, probably, of people that are all experiencing this. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:19.840 Now, there's two things to learn here. 00:05:19.840 --> 00:05:26.079 One is that we are in the exact same situation as these people in the first century. 00:05:26.079 --> 00:05:31.920 You know, when you face a point in life where you're out in the middle of the sea and the 00:05:31.920 --> 00:05:36.879 boat is filling up with water, you know, when you face a crisis in your life, the storm 00:05:36.879 --> 00:05:44.920 comes and everything's going down, you're forced to do the exact same thing no matter 00:05:44.920 --> 00:05:47.199 if you're a modern person or a first-century person. 00:05:47.199 --> 00:05:48.480 You have to say it. 00:05:48.480 --> 00:05:51.600 You have to say, Lord, we're dead. 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:52.600 We're dying. 00:05:52.600 --> 00:05:53.600 We're vulnerable. 00:05:53.600 --> 00:05:54.600 We're mortal. 00:05:54.600 --> 00:05:58.759 You know, it doesn't matter what age you live in or whether you're a Greek, Roman, American, 00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:04.560 Scottish, English, Welsh, Northern Irish, Irish, Aramean, Jew, it doesn't matter. 00:06:04.560 --> 00:06:08.280 We all see there's a sameness about this. 00:06:08.280 --> 00:06:12.000 No matter how many different types of people we're crossing the sea that day, everybody 00:06:12.000 --> 00:06:17.639 faced the storm and everybody was dying. 00:06:17.639 --> 00:06:23.800 And what was exposed in the midst of this moment was the radicality of human vulnerability. 00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:28.959 And that's that death is certain that we will face it, that we have to pass through it and 00:06:28.959 --> 00:06:32.079 that when the storm comes and the boat starts to fill up with water, there's nothing we 00:06:32.079 --> 00:06:33.079 can say. 00:06:33.079 --> 00:06:34.879 There's no power, in other words. 00:06:34.879 --> 00:06:37.800 We're incredibly vulnerable people, human beings. 00:06:37.800 --> 00:06:41.519 Now, but at the same time, there's also difference. 00:06:41.519 --> 00:06:45.759 There's a sameness in the midst of the storm and that's vulnerability, but there's a difference 00:06:45.759 --> 00:06:47.519 in the midst of the storm. 00:06:47.519 --> 00:06:51.839 And that's that when you look across these hundreds of people in the boat, Jews, Greeks, 00:06:51.839 --> 00:07:00.199 Arameans, Samaritans, Greco-Romans, the difference is that they all asked the question, well, 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:02.039 what is really happening here? 00:07:02.040 --> 00:07:04.040 Why is it that we're facing the storm? 00:07:04.040 --> 00:07:07.040 What exactly are we facing and why? 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:10.760 And the difference you see in human beings is not that we face it, the difference is 00:07:10.760 --> 00:07:12.560 in religion. 00:07:12.560 --> 00:07:14.920 The difference is worldview. 00:07:14.920 --> 00:07:18.840 And so if every single one of these people groups that are crossing the sea that day have 00:07:18.840 --> 00:07:23.720 a moment just to step back and think for a minute, what is really happening in the midst 00:07:23.720 --> 00:07:25.120 of this storm? 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:27.200 They're all going to say something different. 00:07:27.200 --> 00:07:31.280 We see just a little glimpse of it when the disciples turn to Jesus and say, Lord, do 00:07:31.279 --> 00:07:33.239 you not care? 00:07:33.239 --> 00:07:35.919 And they're processing their theology. 00:07:35.919 --> 00:07:39.239 They're saying, what exactly is happening in the moment where I'm facing death? 00:07:39.239 --> 00:07:43.399 Why is this, in other words, they're saying, why is this happening to me and what does 00:07:43.399 --> 00:07:44.399 it mean? 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:48.959 And so if you're a Roman person or a Greek person in this situation, you're following 00:07:48.959 --> 00:07:51.119 Jesus's boat, what are you saying? 00:07:51.119 --> 00:07:54.959 You're saying, well, the gods are angry with us. 00:07:54.959 --> 00:07:59.639 Neptune and Poseidon are upset, the God of the sea, they're upset with us. 00:07:59.639 --> 00:08:01.479 We haven't done enough. 00:08:01.479 --> 00:08:03.719 We haven't sacrificed properly. 00:08:03.719 --> 00:08:05.199 We didn't offer the correct grain. 00:08:05.199 --> 00:08:07.479 We didn't say the right incantation. 00:08:07.479 --> 00:08:09.000 We haven't been good enough. 00:08:09.000 --> 00:08:10.360 And so the gods are angry with us. 00:08:10.360 --> 00:08:14.959 We have to offer a sacrifice into the sea or we're going to die. 00:08:14.959 --> 00:08:19.120 If you're a Greek and you're philosophically minded, you're one of the Epicureans or the 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:22.319 Stoics at the time, you're crossing the ship and you're saying what? 00:08:22.319 --> 00:08:24.599 You're saying, look, this is fate. 00:08:24.599 --> 00:08:26.719 There's no way to get out from underneath the storm. 00:08:26.719 --> 00:08:28.839 It's our time to die. 00:08:28.839 --> 00:08:29.839 This is our card. 00:08:29.839 --> 00:08:30.839 We've been dealt. 00:08:30.839 --> 00:08:34.000 And so the only thing you can do is be calm. 00:08:34.000 --> 00:08:35.839 Don't get emotional. 00:08:35.839 --> 00:08:36.839 Everybody's got to die. 00:08:36.839 --> 00:08:38.159 Somebody's got to feed the grass. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:39.839 That's part of the cycle of nature. 00:08:39.839 --> 00:08:41.199 And it's got to be you at some point. 00:08:41.199 --> 00:08:42.759 And so don't be emotional. 00:08:42.759 --> 00:08:43.759 Stay calm. 00:08:43.759 --> 00:08:44.759 Be sober. 00:08:44.759 --> 00:08:46.600 This is just our lot. 00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:47.600 That's the Greeks. 00:08:47.600 --> 00:08:54.480 But the Jews, the Jewish believers understood something very different. 00:08:54.480 --> 00:08:58.399 Whenever you're a Jewish believer in the God of the Old Testament and you're crossing a 00:08:58.399 --> 00:09:03.600 body of water, you're thinking about so many different things, but you remember the Old 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:10.840 Testament and you remember that Israel crossed the Red Sea and Israel crossed the Jordan 00:09:10.840 --> 00:09:18.159 River twice and God sent the flood down the waters of Noah. 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:25.199 And every single time, it's because human rebellion brought the curse of the storm on 00:09:25.199 --> 00:09:26.439 the world. 00:09:26.440 --> 00:09:31.120 And then every single time, the only way that there was going to be any hope is if God chose 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:33.240 to deliver the people. 00:09:33.240 --> 00:09:34.240 That was the only way. 00:09:34.240 --> 00:09:38.680 And so if you're a Jewish believer that day crossing the Sea of Galilee and the storm 00:09:38.680 --> 00:09:42.800 comes down, the storm comes down, you're thinking, the only way we're going to get out of this 00:09:42.800 --> 00:09:46.800 is if we see the God of Psalm 89 come down. 00:09:46.800 --> 00:09:48.360 Psalm 89, do you remember Psalm 89? 00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:52.480 It's where we learn that the Lord God is the God of the storm. 00:09:52.480 --> 00:09:55.760 It says that He calms the seas. 00:09:55.759 --> 00:09:58.159 He splits the waters. 00:09:58.159 --> 00:09:59.960 He settles down the storm. 00:09:59.960 --> 00:10:00.960 He's the Lord. 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:01.960 He's the God of the storm. 00:10:01.960 --> 00:10:06.200 And the Jewish believers there understood that if there's any hope today, we need the 00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:07.200 God of the storm. 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:12.080 We need the God who brought Israel across the waters of the Red Sea, who carried Israel 00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:17.120 across the River Jordan, who brought Noah in the ark through the floodwaters at the 00:10:17.120 --> 00:10:18.120 beginning of history. 00:10:18.120 --> 00:10:21.120 Now, look, we're going to move on. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:27.240 Modern people, we're no different, we're no different, not at all. 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:34.399 We have the exact same vulnerability that first century people had, no matter how good 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:39.600 our hospitals get, no matter how many places we put toilets with running water that have 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:42.080 never had them. 00:10:42.080 --> 00:10:45.360 When the storm comes into your life, you've got to say, I'm a dead man. 00:10:45.360 --> 00:10:46.519 I'm a dead woman. 00:10:46.519 --> 00:10:51.480 This is what you came to church for today, to remember that, right? 00:10:51.480 --> 00:10:53.679 To know that you're radically vulnerable, you're human. 00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:56.600 You don't have power in the face of death. 00:10:56.600 --> 00:11:01.840 And at the same time, the question then becomes, what do you do with that problem? 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:06.720 And whether you're a Greek, Roman, Scottish, American, Jewish, whatever, that's the question. 00:11:06.720 --> 00:11:11.799 It's religion and worldview that brings you the answer of what is happening here and what 00:11:11.799 --> 00:11:13.319 am I going to do with it? 00:11:13.319 --> 00:11:15.600 What am I going to believe about this moment? 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:17.519 What is happening to me? 00:11:17.519 --> 00:11:22.519 Now today, secular humanism, the modern secular culture we live in, what does it do? 00:11:22.519 --> 00:11:23.519 There's nothing new under the sun. 00:11:23.519 --> 00:11:28.080 It says, look, you're going to face death, but you need to be calm about it. 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:30.480 You need to be stoic about it. 00:11:30.480 --> 00:11:32.560 Everybody's got to die. 00:11:32.560 --> 00:11:34.600 Nature is red in tooth and claw. 00:11:34.600 --> 00:11:36.080 This is the way of the world. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:38.480 If you don't die, nobody else can live. 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:40.720 And so death is just part of the natural process. 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:42.399 And so you need to be calm. 00:11:42.399 --> 00:11:43.399 You need to not be emotional. 00:11:43.399 --> 00:11:45.759 They were just like the Greeks. 00:11:45.759 --> 00:11:48.799 The world is just like the Greeks. 00:11:48.799 --> 00:11:51.519 And the world religions come just like the history of old. 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:54.039 And they say, what's the problem with death? 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:57.759 The problem with death is that you've done something wrong before one of the gods. 00:11:57.759 --> 00:12:00.199 You've not pleased the gods. 00:12:00.199 --> 00:12:05.639 And whatever's happening to you in your life right now and what you're suffering is punishment. 00:12:05.639 --> 00:12:06.959 You've not sacrificed enough. 00:12:06.959 --> 00:12:08.460 You've not given enough. 00:12:08.460 --> 00:12:09.759 That's what the world religions tells us. 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:15.960 And then Christianity comes in the middle of history and says no to both of those things. 00:12:15.960 --> 00:12:20.799 And it says that the only way that you can have a satisfying answer to the storm, whatever 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:25.360 it may be, is that you need to look at the man who's sleeping. 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:26.360 So let's do that. 00:12:26.360 --> 00:12:28.919 Secondly, the man who's sleeping. 00:12:28.919 --> 00:12:33.480 Verse 38 is where Mark starts to add a little bit of comedy. 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:37.439 There's a couple of moments, I think, in here that are actually meant to be funny. 00:12:37.439 --> 00:12:39.159 Verse 38 is one of them. 00:12:39.159 --> 00:12:43.240 It says that in 37, the boat is filling up with water. 00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:46.480 They say, Lord, we are dead people. 00:12:46.480 --> 00:12:51.039 Verse 38, but he was in the stern asleep. 00:12:51.039 --> 00:12:53.959 And he adds the little phrase on the cushion. 00:12:53.959 --> 00:12:57.799 So Jesus, he's not only, the boat has water in it. 00:12:57.799 --> 00:13:03.720 He's probably soaking wet, but he's asleep and he's laying on the cushion. 00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:06.399 And that's the man who sleeps. 00:13:06.399 --> 00:13:08.639 That's the God of the storm here. 00:13:08.639 --> 00:13:10.080 The boat's filling with water. 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:11.080 Everybody's dying. 00:13:11.080 --> 00:13:13.279 He's the only one of hundreds that's asleep. 00:13:13.279 --> 00:13:17.159 Now that means that Mark wants us to focus on his sleeping. 00:13:17.159 --> 00:13:21.840 You can ask a question like, why is Jesus asleep during the storm? 00:13:21.840 --> 00:13:25.639 The first reason is that he's tired. 00:13:25.639 --> 00:13:30.399 We learned at the beginning of the passage that it was evening when they had left to 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:32.960 cross the Sea of Galilee. 00:13:32.960 --> 00:13:36.159 And if you read backwards just a little bit, you find out he had been teaching all day 00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:37.439 long. 00:13:37.440 --> 00:13:41.320 And he had actually, in order to teach, he had been going up mountainsides and teaching 00:13:41.320 --> 00:13:45.520 from high places and yelling, projecting his voice. 00:13:45.520 --> 00:13:51.200 And I can attest that if you teach a lot, if you teach all day, you get really tired. 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:55.440 And Jesus is sleeping here because he's really tired. 00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:57.200 He got in the boat, he wanted to leave. 00:13:57.200 --> 00:14:00.080 He was so tired he couldn't teach anymore. 00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:01.080 And that's why he's asleep. 00:14:01.080 --> 00:14:06.360 Now, in the 300s, the emperor of Rome called a great council of the church, the council 00:14:06.360 --> 00:14:13.120 of Nicaea, to try to say, what language are we going to use to talk about this man, Jesus 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:15.000 Christ, correctly? 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:18.680 What language should the church use when we read the gospels? 00:14:18.680 --> 00:14:21.560 And they looked at all sorts of passages. 00:14:21.560 --> 00:14:23.600 This was one of the ones they looked at. 00:14:23.600 --> 00:14:27.279 And when you come to a passage like this, it's not difficult to understand what Nicaea came 00:14:27.279 --> 00:14:28.279 up with. 00:14:28.279 --> 00:14:30.159 You know, the first thing they said about him? 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:34.560 They said, Jesus Christ is fully human. 00:14:34.560 --> 00:14:36.120 He's asleep in the boat. 00:14:36.120 --> 00:14:40.279 He won't wake up even in the midst of the storm because he's so sleepy. 00:14:40.279 --> 00:14:44.560 And that means that Jesus Christ is like you. 00:14:44.560 --> 00:14:46.879 You're tired this morning. 00:14:46.879 --> 00:14:49.639 And you know what it's like to be exhausted at the end of the day. 00:14:49.639 --> 00:14:51.320 And Jesus Christ does too. 00:14:51.320 --> 00:14:56.080 He knows now, as a human being, what it means to be tired. 00:14:56.080 --> 00:14:57.080 He knows. 00:14:57.080 --> 00:14:58.080 He remembers. 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:02.720 And that means that the Lord, your Lord, has such ability to have empathy and compassion 00:15:02.720 --> 00:15:05.759 with you because he knows what it's like to be you. 00:15:05.759 --> 00:15:07.879 He was incredibly vulnerable. 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:09.720 He could die. 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:12.759 He knows what it's like to be human because he is one. 00:15:12.759 --> 00:15:19.039 But the other reason that he's sleeping, on the one hand, Jesus is sleeping. 00:15:19.039 --> 00:15:22.159 And on the other hand, he's sleeping. 00:15:22.159 --> 00:15:23.159 What's the second thing? 00:15:23.159 --> 00:15:25.240 It's that the storm is raging. 00:15:25.240 --> 00:15:27.319 The boat is filling with water. 00:15:27.319 --> 00:15:30.439 And all of us know that there's no chance that if we were there, we would have been 00:15:30.439 --> 00:15:31.439 asleep. 00:15:31.439 --> 00:15:33.600 On the one hand, he's incredibly tired. 00:15:33.600 --> 00:15:37.200 On the other hand, Jesus Christ is sleeping through this. 00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:38.759 Why? 00:15:38.759 --> 00:15:40.279 And again, back to the Council of Nicaea. 00:15:40.279 --> 00:15:41.759 You know, they said it in the 300s. 00:15:41.759 --> 00:15:45.240 They said, he's fully human, but that's not it. 00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:46.240 That's not all. 00:15:46.240 --> 00:15:47.560 He's got two natures. 00:15:47.560 --> 00:15:49.639 He's fully human and he's fully God. 00:15:49.639 --> 00:15:53.320 And you know, the reason that he's sleeping is because he's fully human. 00:15:53.320 --> 00:15:57.360 And the reason that he's sleeping is because he's fully God. 00:15:57.360 --> 00:16:03.320 He can sleep through a deadly storm because he has the power to stand up in just a moment 00:16:03.320 --> 00:16:07.840 and say, peace, be still and command the waves. 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:09.960 And so he can sleep because he's both. 00:16:09.960 --> 00:16:10.960 He's fully human. 00:16:10.960 --> 00:16:11.960 He's fully God. 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:13.440 And you know, you see what that means. 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:19.080 What that means is that Jesus Christ knows what it's like to be you. 00:16:19.080 --> 00:16:23.600 He knows what it's like to be incredibly vulnerable and to be tired. 00:16:23.600 --> 00:16:27.920 He knows what it's like to face death even. 00:16:27.920 --> 00:16:31.840 He's got all the compassion that any human could possibly have because he is human. 00:16:31.840 --> 00:16:38.240 And yet at the same time, while he shares your vulnerability, he doesn't share your helplessness. 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:41.440 You see, he's unlike every other human. 00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:42.519 He's got vulnerability. 00:16:42.519 --> 00:16:45.960 He can die, but he's not helpless. 00:16:45.960 --> 00:16:52.040 When the storm comes into your life, you've got to say, I cannot defeat death. 00:16:52.040 --> 00:16:54.120 It's the conflict that I will never win. 00:16:54.120 --> 00:16:59.920 And yet Jesus Christ came into the world fully human, yet with the power to deal with it. 00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:01.919 He's vulnerable, but he's not helpless. 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:06.799 He has the power to know what it's like to be you and yet to deal with all of your fears 00:17:06.799 --> 00:17:08.680 at the same time. 00:17:08.680 --> 00:17:10.480 And that's what Mark wants to see about his sleeping. 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:15.200 Now, the real point, the real point is, I think, slightly hidden. 00:17:15.200 --> 00:17:19.680 And that's that when you read this story in Mark, Matthew, and Luke, you start to get 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:20.920 a picture and image. 00:17:20.920 --> 00:17:25.279 You read it in light of the chapters before it and after it, especially in Matthew, and 00:17:25.279 --> 00:17:26.680 it starts to come out. 00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:30.960 And that's that I think Mark here with the other gospel writers wants you to make a connection 00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:32.720 as we close and move to our final point. 00:17:32.720 --> 00:17:34.440 What's the connection he wants you to make? 00:17:34.440 --> 00:17:36.560 Do you remember a story like this from the Old Testament? 00:17:36.560 --> 00:17:41.000 If you're a Bible reader, if you've grown up in the church, maybe you do. 00:17:41.000 --> 00:17:45.480 Every commentator points out that what's happening here sounds an awful lot like the story of 00:17:45.480 --> 00:17:46.480 Jonah. 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:50.240 Do you remember in the story of Jonah, Jonah is in a boat. 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:51.759 He's crossing the sea. 00:17:51.759 --> 00:17:55.160 He's with all these people, many of whom are pagans. 00:17:55.160 --> 00:17:58.000 And a great storm arises on the sea. 00:17:58.000 --> 00:17:59.640 And what's Jonah doing? 00:17:59.640 --> 00:18:00.640 He's asleep. 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:03.560 Jonah is in the stern, it says, asleep. 00:18:03.560 --> 00:18:06.920 And what did the men on the boat come to Jonah and say? 00:18:06.920 --> 00:18:08.440 We are perishing. 00:18:08.440 --> 00:18:09.440 It's an exact quote. 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:13.160 Actually, the Greek translation of the Old Testament uses the same exact language as 00:18:13.160 --> 00:18:16.519 we get here in Mark chapter four. 00:18:16.519 --> 00:18:20.000 And Jonah gets up, he awakes like Jesus wakes up here. 00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:25.120 And Jonah says to the people, to the men on the ship, if you want to be saved, you're 00:18:25.119 --> 00:18:28.359 going to cast me down into the waters. 00:18:28.359 --> 00:18:29.359 Jonah says it five times. 00:18:29.359 --> 00:18:33.599 He says, I have to go down, down, down, down, down into the waters. 00:18:33.599 --> 00:18:40.319 I have to go all the way down into the water if the judgment is going to be quelled. 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:43.719 Now Mark, Luke, Matthew, they want you to think of that because they want you to ask 00:18:43.719 --> 00:18:45.439 a question. 00:18:45.439 --> 00:18:47.959 Is Jesus the new Jonah? 00:18:47.959 --> 00:18:52.279 And the answer that you've got to give is yes, but no. 00:18:52.279 --> 00:18:56.639 He's just like Jonah here, but there's something different, and what's different? 00:18:56.639 --> 00:19:01.160 Jesus Christ does not stand up and say, if we're going to be saved, you guys are going 00:19:01.160 --> 00:19:04.480 to have to throw me down into the bottom of the lake. 00:19:04.480 --> 00:19:08.559 You know, Jonah said, if you want to be saved, I've got to get out of this ship, but Jesus 00:19:08.559 --> 00:19:10.879 doesn't do that. 00:19:10.879 --> 00:19:13.519 Jesus stands up and he says something very different. 00:19:13.519 --> 00:19:15.319 Instead, he looks out at the sea. 00:19:15.319 --> 00:19:17.920 Did you see it in verse 39? 00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:21.519 And he says, peace, be still. 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:28.599 Peace, the word, the verb that gets used to your peace, it's actually be quiet and put 00:19:28.599 --> 00:19:30.279 a muzzle on it. 00:19:30.279 --> 00:19:33.000 That's the language he uses. 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:36.839 Jesus is like Jonah, but he's not like Jonah because when he wakes up, he stands up and 00:19:36.839 --> 00:19:42.720 says to the waves into the storm, be quiet, put a muzzle over your mouth. 00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:44.079 That's the language. 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:48.759 Meaning that he treats the storm like it's his pet. 00:19:48.759 --> 00:19:52.599 He's talking to it like you would talk to an animal. 00:19:52.599 --> 00:19:57.920 And immediately, everybody's got to look and say, he's like Jonah, but there's a difference. 00:19:57.920 --> 00:20:06.119 And the difference is that this man has the power of the God of Genesis one who said, 00:20:06.119 --> 00:20:10.200 see, this is how far you're allowed to go and no further. 00:20:10.200 --> 00:20:11.279 The land will be here. 00:20:11.279 --> 00:20:12.839 The seas will be here. 00:20:12.839 --> 00:20:14.920 This is where you belong. 00:20:14.920 --> 00:20:23.080 He's like the God of Psalm 89 who said, this one has the power to calm the waves. 00:20:23.080 --> 00:20:27.120 And every single Jewish believer there and every single Greek and Roman and Aramean and 00:20:27.120 --> 00:20:31.840 Samaritan, and you are being asked to say, don't you realize this is the Lord of the 00:20:31.840 --> 00:20:32.840 storm? 00:20:32.840 --> 00:20:38.000 You know, he's not the God that causes the storm because he's angry at you. 00:20:38.000 --> 00:20:41.160 This is something more than that. 00:20:41.160 --> 00:20:44.320 This is the Lord of the storm. 00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:48.079 This is the commander and creator of the waters and the land. 00:20:48.079 --> 00:20:49.359 He's the one that's standing in the boat. 00:20:49.359 --> 00:20:51.879 He's like Jonah, but he's not like Jonah. 00:20:51.879 --> 00:20:54.720 He's vulnerable yet he's so powerful at the same time. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:21:00.039 He's got a power that's immeasurable, that's amidst, and that's what you're being asked 00:21:00.039 --> 00:21:03.200 to see here. 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:12.159 You say, if Jesus is like that, you tell me, I said to you earlier, Mark's saying to us, 00:21:12.159 --> 00:21:13.200 he's fully human. 00:21:13.200 --> 00:21:14.440 He knows what it is to be like you. 00:21:14.440 --> 00:21:17.559 He knows what it is to be desperately tired and to be vulnerable. 00:21:17.559 --> 00:21:21.759 He knows what it is to face death, but you say, but he could sleep. 00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:24.920 He could sleep through this. 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:27.600 He's the creator. 00:21:27.600 --> 00:21:28.600 He can command the waves. 00:21:28.600 --> 00:21:29.920 Of course, he's not afraid. 00:21:29.920 --> 00:21:34.680 How does he really know what it is to be like me? 00:21:34.680 --> 00:21:38.799 And that's when, if you're reading this story in one of the other passages, the very next 00:21:38.799 --> 00:21:43.080 chapter, Jesus gets asked one more time. 00:21:43.079 --> 00:21:47.480 He says, Lord, will you show us another sign? 00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:54.159 And he tells them, look for the sign of Jonah. 00:21:54.159 --> 00:22:01.240 You see, Jonah had to go down into the grave for three days in order to save the people. 00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:05.480 The storm wasn't going to stop unless Jonah died. 00:22:05.480 --> 00:22:10.559 And Jesus says, I'm like him, but not like him, but I'm also like him again. 00:22:10.559 --> 00:22:13.799 You see, I'm like Jonah, but I've got power that Jonah never had. 00:22:13.799 --> 00:22:17.359 But at the same time, well, he says, look for the sign of Jonah. 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:18.359 What is the sign of Jonah? 00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:19.359 Jesus explains it outright. 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:23.919 He says, Jonah went down into the grave into the belly of the fish for three days, and 00:22:23.919 --> 00:22:25.319 he came back up again. 00:22:25.319 --> 00:22:27.240 He says, look for that. 00:22:27.240 --> 00:22:32.279 If you want to sign, look for the Son of Man, go down into the grave, down into the deep, 00:22:32.279 --> 00:22:35.000 deep, deep waters, and take his life back again. 00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:36.960 That's the sign I want to give you. 00:22:36.960 --> 00:22:39.559 You want to know that I'm the God of the storm. 00:22:39.559 --> 00:22:40.879 I'm going to, you see the difference? 00:22:40.879 --> 00:22:42.519 What's the difference in him and Jonah? 00:22:42.519 --> 00:22:45.519 Jonah had to, Jesus chose to. 00:22:45.519 --> 00:22:47.799 Jonah had to go down, Jesus wanted to. 00:22:47.799 --> 00:22:49.119 Jesus in love for you. 00:22:49.119 --> 00:22:52.079 He wanted to go down to the bottom of the waters. 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:53.079 He wanted to do it. 00:22:53.079 --> 00:22:54.839 He chose to do it. 00:22:54.839 --> 00:23:01.379 He chose to give himself to the ultimate storm, the storm of God's judgment, because the wages 00:23:01.379 --> 00:23:03.480 of sin is death. 00:23:03.480 --> 00:23:06.279 And in him, the gift of God is eternal life, because he wanted to. 00:23:06.279 --> 00:23:07.440 He becomes better. 00:23:07.440 --> 00:23:10.759 He becomes something Jonah never could have been, and he does it in love for you. 00:23:10.759 --> 00:23:16.559 Now, what that means today is the Lord of the storm will not leave you in the midst of 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:21.000 your wounds, in the midst of your trials, in the midst of you facing the storm, in the 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:22.799 midst of you facing death. 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:26.440 Some of you today are lonely. 00:23:26.440 --> 00:23:31.840 And you need to remember that Jesus Christ said, my hometown doesn't even like me. 00:23:31.840 --> 00:23:33.240 He was incredibly lonely. 00:23:33.240 --> 00:23:34.240 He was alone. 00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:39.160 He was the man who's been most alone in all of history when he hung on the cross for you. 00:23:39.160 --> 00:23:43.160 And some of you today are facing uncertainty of all sorts in your life, economic uncertainty, 00:23:43.160 --> 00:23:44.160 perhaps. 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:49.120 And you need to remember that Jesus said in the same chapter as this story in Matthew, 00:23:49.120 --> 00:23:52.920 foxes have holes to live in, birds have nests. 00:23:52.920 --> 00:23:54.680 I don't have a pillow. 00:23:54.680 --> 00:23:56.279 He was homeless. 00:23:56.279 --> 00:23:57.920 He was homeless. 00:23:57.920 --> 00:23:59.920 He knows what it's like to be lonely. 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:01.720 He knows what it's like to be poor. 00:24:01.720 --> 00:24:04.400 He knows what it's like to face death. 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:09.160 And he knows what it's like to face a death that you've never faced, the judgment of God. 00:24:09.160 --> 00:24:14.360 And that means that he's not going to leave you in the midst of the storms of life. 00:24:14.360 --> 00:24:20.319 Now let me close with this, the application, which is to lastly look at the third character 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:21.519 of the story. 00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:24.600 And that's the Little Faith Club. 00:24:24.600 --> 00:24:28.200 In Matthew's Gospel, that's what he calls this group. 00:24:28.200 --> 00:24:33.319 You know, here in Mark, he says to them in verse 40, why are you so afraid? 00:24:33.319 --> 00:24:35.720 They're still afraid after the storm. 00:24:35.720 --> 00:24:36.720 Why are you so afraid? 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:37.720 Have you still no faith? 00:24:37.720 --> 00:24:42.480 Well, in Matthew's Gospel, he says, you remember the way the King James does it? 00:24:42.480 --> 00:24:44.120 Oh ye of Little Faith? 00:24:44.120 --> 00:24:46.840 Well, it's just a few little words there. 00:24:46.840 --> 00:24:50.880 He actually says, oh, you Little Faith Lot. 00:24:50.880 --> 00:24:52.880 Oh, you Little Faith Gang. 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:54.640 Oh, you Little Faith Club. 00:24:54.640 --> 00:24:57.680 You are the Little Faith Club, he says to the disciples. 00:24:57.680 --> 00:24:58.680 Why are you still afraid? 00:24:58.680 --> 00:25:01.080 You see, they were afraid of the storm. 00:25:01.080 --> 00:25:06.360 They were afraid of the storm, but they're even more afraid afterwards. 00:25:06.360 --> 00:25:07.360 That's part of the comedy. 00:25:07.360 --> 00:25:08.360 They're still afraid. 00:25:08.360 --> 00:25:09.360 They don't know what to do with this man. 00:25:09.360 --> 00:25:11.160 They're desperately afraid of him. 00:25:11.160 --> 00:25:12.960 And he says to them, you're a Little Faith Club. 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:18.240 Now let me just give you a few things that we learn from the way he speaks to them and 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:20.480 the way they speak to him. 00:25:20.480 --> 00:25:27.120 The first thing is that they come to him during the storm and they say, Lord, do you not care? 00:25:27.119 --> 00:25:33.679 Now, no matter where you are in life right now, there's only one of three possibilities 00:25:33.679 --> 00:25:37.399 in terms of how you are currently relating to suffering. 00:25:37.399 --> 00:25:42.119 Either you're presently not suffering in any obvious, acute way. 00:25:42.119 --> 00:25:46.559 You have suffered immensely already, or you're going to. 00:25:46.559 --> 00:25:48.239 So those are one of the three positions. 00:25:48.239 --> 00:25:50.479 Either you are, you have, or you will. 00:25:50.479 --> 00:25:52.559 That's it. 00:25:52.559 --> 00:25:55.839 And this is the question of every sufferer. 00:25:55.839 --> 00:26:01.639 Every sufferer in life comes and says, Lord, do you not care? 00:26:01.639 --> 00:26:02.839 We're dying down here. 00:26:02.839 --> 00:26:03.839 We're dead. 00:26:03.839 --> 00:26:05.079 Where are you? 00:26:05.079 --> 00:26:06.839 Do you not care? 00:26:06.839 --> 00:26:08.039 And that's exactly what they bring. 00:26:08.039 --> 00:26:10.480 That's the question they bring to him. 00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:16.679 Now next Saturday is International Tolkien Reading Day. 00:26:16.679 --> 00:26:19.679 I don't know if you have that yet in your calendar, but you need to get it. 00:26:19.679 --> 00:26:22.759 Pull out your phones now and get that. 00:26:22.759 --> 00:26:25.359 Next week is International Tolkien Reading Day, March 25th. 00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:26.639 Why is it March 25th? 00:26:26.639 --> 00:26:32.199 Because March 25th is the day that Sauron was defeated in the Return of the King. 00:26:32.199 --> 00:26:38.759 In the first book of Tolkien's trilogy, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, 00:26:38.759 --> 00:26:45.039 he says, Frodo says to Gandalf exactly what the disciples say to Jesus. 00:26:45.039 --> 00:26:48.799 Frodo says, I wish the ring had never come to me. 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:51.839 I wish none of this had ever happened. 00:26:51.839 --> 00:26:57.720 You know, Frodo is carrying this great burden, this life, this long journey, trying to defeat 00:26:57.720 --> 00:27:02.359 evil, and he says, why did I have to live during this season of life? 00:27:02.359 --> 00:27:05.279 I wish this wouldn't have been given to me. 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:07.959 That's the question of every sufferer, the idea of every sufferer. 00:27:07.959 --> 00:27:10.480 Why, oh Lord, do you not care? 00:27:10.480 --> 00:27:11.480 I'm down here. 00:27:11.480 --> 00:27:12.480 I'm dying. 00:27:12.480 --> 00:27:13.480 We're suffering. 00:27:13.480 --> 00:27:14.480 What are you doing? 00:27:14.480 --> 00:27:15.480 Now, we can't spend any time on this. 00:27:15.480 --> 00:27:18.679 We could talk right now for a while about the problem of evil. 00:27:18.679 --> 00:27:19.679 We can't do that today. 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:23.360 But I just want to give you the answer that the Gospels give to this. 00:27:23.360 --> 00:27:24.519 The Gospels come to this. 00:27:24.519 --> 00:27:28.360 Lord, do you not care that we're down here and we're dying? 00:27:28.360 --> 00:27:30.560 And there's two things the Gospel says to this. 00:27:30.560 --> 00:27:36.960 One, this passage tells you that if Jesus Christ really is the Lord of the Storm, you 00:27:36.960 --> 00:27:42.600 know, if he really is that powerful, if he is the Lord of the Storm to such an extent 00:27:42.600 --> 00:27:48.400 that he can lay down his life and take it back up again, then we've got to get ourselves 00:27:48.400 --> 00:27:55.040 in a place where we can say, I'm okay with not knowing all that God might be doing in 00:27:55.040 --> 00:27:56.040 my suffering. 00:27:56.040 --> 00:28:02.840 You know, if Jesus Christ really is this powerful, then I've got to be willing to admit that 00:28:02.840 --> 00:28:10.000 God can have reasons for my suffering that I can't yet understand. 00:28:10.000 --> 00:28:13.920 That he really can be that big and that great to do something like that. 00:28:13.920 --> 00:28:19.039 And then the second thing that the Gospels tell you is this, while the world religions, 00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:23.759 while the Greeks, while the Romans, they want to work out a philosophy, really all the Gospels 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:27.080 want to do is say, in the midst of, Lord, do you care? 00:28:27.080 --> 00:28:29.800 And God says, look at the God of the Storm. 00:28:29.800 --> 00:28:30.800 Look at the Lord of the Storm. 00:28:30.800 --> 00:28:31.800 Look at this man. 00:28:31.800 --> 00:28:35.920 You see, the Gospels give you a person, not a philosophy. 00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:37.279 They say, look at the person. 00:28:37.279 --> 00:28:39.240 Look at what he's come to do for you. 00:28:39.240 --> 00:28:43.500 Look at this man hanging on the cross and the ultimate storm for you. 00:28:43.500 --> 00:28:46.559 This is the solution to the problem of all evil. 00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:47.559 It's not a philosophy. 00:28:47.559 --> 00:28:48.559 It's a person. 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:49.559 It's God. 00:28:49.559 --> 00:28:53.240 It's one that is both fully human and fully God at the same time. 00:28:53.240 --> 00:28:55.279 Come to die for you. 00:28:55.279 --> 00:29:00.160 Now, second of three applications here. 00:29:00.160 --> 00:29:04.000 Then second of three, Jesus comes at the end of the passage and we realize that the disciples 00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:05.000 can't yet see that. 00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:06.759 They can't see what God's doing. 00:29:06.759 --> 00:29:07.759 They don't understand it. 00:29:07.759 --> 00:29:10.079 They don't understand this man. 00:29:10.079 --> 00:29:13.720 And they're afraid at the end and he comes to them and says, you're just a bunch of little 00:29:13.720 --> 00:29:15.960 faith people. 00:29:15.960 --> 00:29:17.599 Did you see what happened? 00:29:17.599 --> 00:29:25.119 He says, the diagnosis, he says, you human being, no matter where you are in the Christian 00:29:25.119 --> 00:29:27.480 life, you're part of the little faith club. 00:29:27.480 --> 00:29:32.879 If you're a Christian today, Jesus says, you guys have no faith. 00:29:32.879 --> 00:29:34.439 Your faith is just a tiny spark. 00:29:34.439 --> 00:29:36.039 It's very weak. 00:29:36.039 --> 00:29:37.639 It's immature. 00:29:37.639 --> 00:29:39.599 It's not very grown up. 00:29:39.599 --> 00:29:44.359 He knows that about them and yet he turns and he says, now peace be still to the storm. 00:29:44.359 --> 00:29:45.359 You see? 00:29:45.359 --> 00:29:49.119 He says, you have little faith in me. 00:29:49.119 --> 00:29:54.759 You don't believe all the things I've told you and now I'm going to save you. 00:29:54.759 --> 00:29:59.839 And it's been said many times before, but faith does not save you. 00:29:59.839 --> 00:30:02.559 Jesus Christ saves you. 00:30:02.559 --> 00:30:05.240 Your faith is all over the place. 00:30:05.240 --> 00:30:11.319 Today, right now, it's probably a little better than it'll be tomorrow, but you're not saved 00:30:11.319 --> 00:30:13.240 by the power and quality of your faith. 00:30:13.240 --> 00:30:16.920 You're saved only by its object, Jesus Christ. 00:30:16.920 --> 00:30:19.640 And that's why in the midst of the storm, he can turn out to people and say, you're a 00:30:19.640 --> 00:30:24.160 bunch of little faith people and peace be still. 00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:31.279 He can let people who say, who shout from the crowd, crucify him and he says, and I'm coming 00:30:31.279 --> 00:30:33.359 to save you. 00:30:33.359 --> 00:30:34.759 You know, where the little faith? 00:30:34.759 --> 00:30:36.079 Do you have faith? 00:30:36.079 --> 00:30:42.879 We receive this salvation by faith as an instrument and the question is only, do you have any? 00:30:42.879 --> 00:30:44.279 Because it's not the faith that saves you. 00:30:44.279 --> 00:30:45.720 It's him that saves you. 00:30:45.720 --> 00:30:46.720 It's the object. 00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:48.079 Do you have a spark? 00:30:48.079 --> 00:30:52.240 And if you do, then you can be sure that he is the Lord of the storm for you. 00:30:52.240 --> 00:30:56.640 Now, thirdly, finally, I'll close with this. 00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:00.400 I just want to end with a little warning and maybe a warning against the temptation. 00:31:00.400 --> 00:31:03.519 There's a temptation here in this passage. 00:31:03.519 --> 00:31:04.839 And we have to be careful. 00:31:04.839 --> 00:31:09.119 And it's because in this passage, I think there's a real temptation after hearing on 00:31:09.119 --> 00:31:15.160 this to say, Jesus has come into my life to be useful. 00:31:15.160 --> 00:31:20.119 And I think Mark's trying to tell us finally that Jesus Christ did not come into the world 00:31:20.119 --> 00:31:24.759 to be useful, but to be something much more than that. 00:31:24.759 --> 00:31:31.599 You see, so far in Mark, we've seen Jesus take blind men and make them see. 00:31:31.599 --> 00:31:32.960 We've seen him heal lepers. 00:31:32.960 --> 00:31:34.880 We've seen him cast out evil spirits. 00:31:34.880 --> 00:31:36.559 We've seen him stop storms. 00:31:36.559 --> 00:31:38.960 We're going to see him raise the dead. 00:31:38.960 --> 00:31:40.360 We're going to see him do all sorts of things. 00:31:40.360 --> 00:31:46.039 And when you come to a passage like this and you hear, all I need is just a little faith. 00:31:46.039 --> 00:31:51.400 If I just have a little bit of faith, then Jesus Christ will come into my life and he 00:31:51.400 --> 00:31:54.799 will stop all my storms. 00:31:54.799 --> 00:32:00.039 And that's not what Mark is teaching us here, because you've got to remember something. 00:32:00.039 --> 00:32:04.200 Every single one of the people in those boats, however many there were that day, they all 00:32:04.200 --> 00:32:07.119 died. 00:32:07.119 --> 00:32:08.240 They were all going to go from here. 00:32:08.240 --> 00:32:10.720 They didn't die this day, but they died. 00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:12.119 They did have to face death. 00:32:12.119 --> 00:32:13.119 Every single one of them did. 00:32:13.119 --> 00:32:15.240 They did have to walk through cancer. 00:32:15.240 --> 00:32:18.240 They did have to walk through immense suffering later. 00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:21.079 He stopped the storm that day. 00:32:21.079 --> 00:32:26.680 And so that's why we have to, you see, Jesus Christ did not come to be useful. 00:32:26.680 --> 00:32:32.840 Today, He came to be the King of the cosmos. 00:32:32.840 --> 00:32:36.519 He came not necessarily to end your problem today. 00:32:36.519 --> 00:32:39.759 He came to heal the whole land. 00:32:39.759 --> 00:32:41.560 He came to be the King of the universe. 00:32:41.560 --> 00:32:47.360 He came to dismiss disease, death, disaster and storm forever. 00:32:47.360 --> 00:32:52.440 And He said, I will do it, but not yet. 00:32:52.440 --> 00:32:55.960 And so we can come in our lives and we can say, Lord, would you free me from the storm 00:32:55.960 --> 00:32:58.519 I'm walking through today? 00:32:58.519 --> 00:33:00.400 And He has the power to do it. 00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:07.019 He may do it, and He might not, because we have to face death in order to see life until 00:33:07.019 --> 00:33:09.200 He comes again. 00:33:09.200 --> 00:33:13.920 John Piper preached the American preacher from Minnesota. 00:33:13.920 --> 00:33:18.039 He preached a famous sermon in 2009, not very far from my hometown. 00:33:18.039 --> 00:33:23.200 I grew up in a little town, Natchez, Mississippi, right on the Louisiana, Mississippi border. 00:33:23.200 --> 00:33:27.920 And not far from there is probably the most, or second most famous prison in the United 00:33:27.920 --> 00:33:29.640 States, Angola. 00:33:29.640 --> 00:33:35.519 Angola is infamous for its, it's a tough place, let me just say. 00:33:35.519 --> 00:33:37.039 And lots of prisoners there. 00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:40.000 Most of the people that go to Angola are in prison for life. 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:42.039 They also have a death row. 00:33:42.039 --> 00:33:46.480 And in 2009, John Piper was invited to preach at Angola. 00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:53.000 And he preached to 800 men who were in prison for life, and many were allowed to come that 00:33:53.000 --> 00:33:56.880 are on death row there in Louisiana. 00:33:56.880 --> 00:33:57.880 And this is what he says. 00:33:57.880 --> 00:33:59.319 This is kind of the famous line that came from it. 00:33:59.319 --> 00:34:03.940 He said, Jesus Christ is here now, and He's come already. 00:34:03.940 --> 00:34:08.719 Not first to give you bread, but to be the bread of life. 00:34:08.719 --> 00:34:12.239 Now what he meant by that was, Jesus Christ, he was saying to the prisoner, the prisoner 00:34:12.239 --> 00:34:18.119 who's been condemned for life, who's going to die at Angola. 00:34:18.119 --> 00:34:22.800 Jesus Christ, the message of the gospel is not that Jesus Christ has come today, and 00:34:22.800 --> 00:34:26.760 He's necessarily going to get you out of prison right now. 00:34:26.760 --> 00:34:32.519 He came to be the bread of life that will end all prisons. 00:34:32.519 --> 00:34:37.200 As Oliver O'Donovan next door at New College once put it, the message of Christianity is 00:34:37.200 --> 00:34:41.840 that you can go to the prison and say to the prisoner, you are a prisoner today, but you 00:34:41.840 --> 00:34:45.600 need not be forever. 00:34:45.600 --> 00:34:48.960 You can go to the hospital patients and say, you are in the hospital today, and I don't 00:34:48.960 --> 00:34:53.800 know what's going to happen, but you need not be sick forever. 00:34:53.800 --> 00:34:56.440 Jesus Christ came to be the king. 00:34:56.440 --> 00:34:57.720 He came to be the bread of life. 00:34:57.720 --> 00:35:03.079 He came to heal everything, and that means that you can say to him today, Lord, will 00:35:03.079 --> 00:35:06.400 you release me from this plight? 00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:11.960 And he may, he may not, but he will. 00:35:11.960 --> 00:35:14.519 And that's the message of Christianity. 00:35:14.519 --> 00:35:19.480 You see, it's eternal hope, even when you have to walk through the fires and the storms 00:35:19.480 --> 00:35:21.960 of life in the prison. 00:35:21.960 --> 00:35:25.480 And that means that this passage, and I'll leave you with this, this passage invites 00:35:25.480 --> 00:35:32.519 every one of us to say and to ask the question, when I come to Jesus for help, is it Jesus 00:35:32.519 --> 00:35:35.759 that is my treasure? 00:35:35.759 --> 00:35:40.239 Is He the one that I want in the midst of the storm? 00:35:40.239 --> 00:35:42.920 More than just getting out of it. 00:35:42.920 --> 00:35:44.960 And you can say, Lord, help me. 00:35:44.960 --> 00:35:49.400 He might, He can, and He will. 00:35:49.400 --> 00:35:50.400 Let's pray together. 00:35:50.400 --> 00:35:56.039 Father, we ask now that you would be the God and Lord of the storm for us, that we would 00:35:56.039 --> 00:36:02.599 know that you've come to heal all diseases, to end all disasters, and to stop all death, 00:36:02.599 --> 00:36:07.599 and that you will do it, and you've done it, and that you'll do it when you return, oh, 00:36:07.599 --> 00:36:08.599 Lord. 00:36:08.599 --> 00:36:16.039 Give us today patience in suffering, give us today hearts that treasure the deep, deep 00:36:16.039 --> 00:36:22.559 love of Christ for us for eternity, that we may eagerly await the adoption of the sons 00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:24.079 and daughters of the king. 00:36:24.079 --> 00:36:27.079 And so we pray this now in Christ's name. 00:36:27.079 --> 00:36:39.079 Amen.