Jesus was a real mystery ****to his disciples, especially Peter! It was as if he was hiding behind a mask and even though they had seen him turn water into wine they had still only seen his the outline of his face. Jesus wanted to take off his mask, but he had to be careful. If he said, for example, “I am the King of the Jews”, the Romans might arrest him and possibly even even crucify him. The Jews would have been seriously irritated and picked up stones to stone him. He was ready to die but the the plan he had made with God (John 7:30) was to go to the cross when he had finished training his disciples. So before taking off his mask Jesus had to be very discreet. He could only take the mask off partially and very briefly. For example, when his mother asked him to supply the wedding guests with wine (John 2:1-11) he turned six hundred litres of water into excellent wine. As a result the disciples saw under his mask a little bit and we are told they believed in him. But that faith was still small. They needed to learn a lot more. Maybe another miracle would help.
So today we will to look at a nature miracle. It was called a nature miracle because it took place outside on the water, in nature. Another nature miracle was when Jesus walked upon the water. In each miracle Jesus performed some more of the mystery about Jesus burst into view. Each time he performed them his mask was lowered briefly. And with that his disciple’s faith was strengthened a little bit more. Another let’s learn about the miracle where Jesus battled with a squall which had rushed across the Sea Of Galilee and threatened to swamp their little boat. This miracle is called “The Calming of the Storm”. It is found in all three of the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke.
I'd like to read for you Mark's version of this miracle (see Mark 4:35-41). As you listen while I read it try to imagine you are Peter.
What do you imagine he thought as his hero Jesus performed the most incredible miracle so far in his ministry?
Try to figure out why this miracle made Peter and the other disciples “terrified”. By the way, other versions of this same story are found its Mathew 8:23-27 and Luke 8:22-25.
Mark 4:35-41
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!
Let's discuss this fascinating story a little further. You'll notice first of all that it takes place in the evening, probably after dark, and you'll notice as well that it takes place on a lake, almost certainly the Sea of Galilee which was a fairly large lake in northern Palestine. The Sea of Galilee, as it was known, was prone to storms, which Mark calls a “squall”.
What happens in the story is that sometime after dark a very tired Jesus decided he wanted to go to the other side of the lake. That was a distance of about thirteen kilometres. So his disciples invited him to join them in one of the typical many small fishing boats that could be found on the shore of the lake. Several disciples of Jesus like Peter, James and John had been fishermen and knew all about taking boats out on the lake. I say they “had been” fishermen because Jesus had recently called them to become “fishers of men” (Matt 4:19).
Can you imagine the boat? It was a sail boat, about twenty seven feet long and seven feet wide. If you put the twelve disciples and Jesus into that boat you end up with a very crowded boat.
As the text says Jesus was tired and seriously wanted to take a nap (vs 38) on the boat where the steersman stood on a platform directing the boat to the left or the right.
Jesus probably put his cushion down underneath this platform and slept there.
Pretty soon, the storm called a squall came up. The waves got bigger and bigger, and it looked as though the little boat the overladen little boat would soon be swamped.
The seasoned fishermen on the boat had spent a lot of their time in these boats. Often, I presume they survived storms like this, but for some reason, this one looked like it was going to swamp and then sink them. They were all going to drown (vs 38). Consequently, even the seasoned fishermen were frightened. So they called Jesus and said, “Master teacher we are going to drown and you're over there sleeping.” Follow closely what happens next. It's important that we get it right. Jesus then sat up, stood up and then spoke up. He did not pray. He didn’t need to since he was God. He just rebuked the wind and quieted the waves.