Jesus Calms a Storm

Mark 4 : 35 - 41

Today is our first Sunday of this year, and at the same time also a family service. Now, I once ministered in our branch IREC Karawaci, and I asked pastor Jimmy Pardede because that was also a family service: “How is it usually [conducted]? Will there first be a service for the children and then a service for the adults?” To which he answered: “No, it’s one sermon to rule them all.” Now, I do not think I have tried that before here but today will be the first. However, it is not me who is going to rule you, but the Holy Word of God. Let us open our bible, and we will read from Mark chapter 4:35. “On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side. And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. 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?’ 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. He said to them, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’ 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?’

Now I believe that you children are familiar with this biblical story of Jesus calming the storm – you have been exposed to it since childhood and it is part of your experiences in Sunday school, often used as Sunday school stories etc. An adult interpretation tries to make an allegorical reading of the passage which I find not so convincing. This allegorical interpretation basically tries to make a parallel between the storm that Jesus calms with the ‘storm of life’. I think there is a certain difficulty when trying to interpret it this way. And furthermore, how would one then preach this story to children? What storms do they struggle with in their lives? Even if you managed to do it, then what you have on your hands would be a certain precocious child or child prodigy facing the ‘storm in life’ – which is a bit scary, somehow. So that is why the connection between the storm that Jesus calms and the storm in life I think is a made up interpretation that has no biblical basis. But we believe that we can dig deeper from this story – that beautiful and perhaps even frightening message from this story.

I believe as children you also know the story of Jonah. It is very interesting that there are so many parallels between this story and the story of Jonah. When you read the story of Jonah, it is a kind of anticipation of the story of Jesus here; and of course, also the other way around. When we read the story of Jesus calming the storm we can think again and recall the story of Jonah in the old testament.

Perhaps the first of these parallels we can find in Jonah 1:5. “Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep.” So Jonah fell into a deep sleep, and so did Jesus on a sailor’s cushion. It is very interesting that this is the only place in the gospel when you read about the story of Jesus that it was recorded that Jesus slept; and Jesus was sleeping during a storm. Of course, I do not say that Jesus never slept. I said that this was the only time recorded when Jesus slept; namely during the storm. This runs contrary to the human mind doesn’t it? Which is why you read a certain tone of accusation or rebuke from the disciple to Jesus: ‘Teacher do you not care that we are perishing? Not that we are against you; of course you can sleep, but don’t you have a better time to sleep? This is certainly not the correct time to be sleeping!’

Now let me go back to the “allegorical interpretation” that I do not really like. Let’s quote them here a bit. Does it not also hold true for the “storm in our life” that keeping calm is counter-intuitive? This isn’t the right time to be calm: you should be restless! So what can we learn from this account of Jesus sleeping during a storm? I think we can learn from Jesus’ complete trust, complete dependence on God even in the midst of dangerous adversity.

Another parallel that you can read here is one that I’ve already quoted: “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” The word “perishing” we can find uses the same Greek word in the Septuagint – which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew old testament, “Apollymi”. The captain of Jonah’s ship rebukes Jonah for sleeping while the crew is perishing. And so too here: “Teacher, do you not care that we perish?” It is not simply a matter of security or insecurity, rather that of life and death. It is a life and death experience. That is why the situation is so frightening. And we read that when Jonah is thrown into the sea, then the sea becomes calm. But here, it is the authority of Jesus’ word that calms the storm. It is interesting that the language used here, the word “rebuke”, is usually used in the context of exorcism. It is like a personalised storm, as if Jesus was faced with evil spirits. That is why, if I may go back, the allegorical interpretation somehow misses the substance of the war here. It is not our secure, pleasant, calm, romantic, sentimental life versus unpleasantness, or the blackout that is happening in Zehlendorf. It is not a matter of pleasantness versus unpleasantness or enjoyable versus unenjoyable. That is not what it is about. But the real storm is that this is the struggle, and even the war, against the evil spirits. That is the real storm in our life. Not unpleasantness in life, not certain dangers, but a spiritual war.

Now, I have to be careful so that you do not misunderstand. I do not mean to say that the sea is equal or can be equated to evil spirits. But if you read, especially in the Old Testament, then there is indeed a certain connection between the power of the sea and the evil spirits. The sea is like the location where evil spirits are. That is why we also have the story of the flood; a chaotic power akin to evil spirits that tries to redo God’s creation. And God rebukes the water. In other words, Jesus is depicted here as the strong man who vanquishes Satan in this spiritual war, and not someone who overcomes mere difficulties in life. It is not about the “storm of life” – that is, any difficulties or hardships in life that Jesus vanquishes. It is about the war between Jesus and the evil spirits. Because when they “perish”, this is about death. It is a destructive power that can bring humanity to death. If you read the newspaper, we are still in this situation. War, here and there. This is also a kind of destructive power that can bring death to a large extent. Or perhaps in the context of the children, you want your life to be autonomous: you don’t want to listen to your parents, you want to have your own life free from everything else in this world – God, your parents, etc. This kind of destructive power that works also in our contemporary context is basically the same.

If you read again in the Old Testament, God rebukes the water. It is a certain motif. He who can rebuke the water is God and God alone. So when Jesus calms the storm, it is a story that leads us to believe that Jesus did something that only God can do. Meaning, Jesus himself is God. He is divine. I made the connection with the book of Jonah, but now I want to connect with the book of Psalm. You can read in Psalm 107, especially in verse 29, “He made the storm be still,” He being God himself, “and the waves of the sea were hushed.” Again, by whom? By God. So when Jesus calms the storm, He kind of declares Himself that He is God. Because this is an action that God alone can do.

Now, perhaps the last parallel between the story of Jesus calming the storm and the story of Jonah. We can read in the story of Jonah that after the storm was calm they worshiped God. They were afraid. Having heard the story of Jonah saying that he believed in the one true God who made heaven and earth, they were really afraid. Now you read also in the story of Jesus that the disciples were also terrified at the calming of the storm. So there is this repetition between the fear of the sailors in Jonah’s story and the fear of the disciples; they were also terrified.

I think this message is also important for our knowledge of the true God. If you read again in Mark 4:40 after Jesus had calmed the storm, “He said to them, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” “Why are you so afraid?” So afraid of the storm, of course. “Have you still no faith?” No faith in Jesus, of course. The response in verse 41 is very interesting, “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?’” Now their fear because of the storm paled in comparison to their fear towards Jesus. The destructive power of the storm is nothing in comparison to their fear towards Jesus. What they felt here is no other than the very presence of God Himself. And of course, this is more frightening than the destructive power of nature.

Usually we want a kind of God that is an old, loving God that sits in His throne with a long, white beard who is very tame, is always patient and so on. One that always loves humanity and regardless of what we do will still embrace us. But that is a fake God. That is not the God of the bible. Once you have a personal encounter with the real God, the God of the bible, you will have this fear. And the very presence of God creates not only an atmosphere but a deep sense of sinfulness because we are before a holy God.

You can read this kind of depiction in the book of Revelation as well. In Revelation 4:6 - 7. “And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight.” Now let me go back to verse 5 of the same chapter, “From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God”. So what am I trying to say here? This is definitely not a Disney heaven. A Disney heaven simply would not have flashes of lightning. I mean, why this kind of heavenly vision with flashes of lightning? But this is the biblical depiction of Heaven. It is very far from pleasantness. It is a rather frightening, or terrifying vision.

Let me go back again to the story of Jesus calming the storm. Don’t they understand that they had just been helped by Jesus? Why do they not show a more thankful or gratuitous response? The answer is because they recognise who Jesus is. That He is God Himself. They felt the very presence of God in Jesus’ action. I think this is something beautiful that can happen in our lives. It’s not that we cannot be afraid in this life. But rather we should question what or whom we are afraid of. The more you know God, the more you know Jesus, the less you will fear even the most destructive powers of nature. It is nothing in comparison with the presence of God. But when you don’t know Jesus, you will have anxiety, depression, difficulties facing people, you will feel unpleasantness going out because of the winter, the snow, the ice, etc etc. Therefore the encounter with the presence of God is something that liberates humanity. That’s why here if we read again in verse 41: “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” We see how frightening the person of Jesus is. Perhaps the disciples recall how they dared rebuke Him with “teacher do you not care that we are perishing?” But this person has the power to calm the storm. This is something that has never happened before.

In our lives we have the same Jesus. The same Jesus yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He is always the same. It is an invitation for us to be with Him. Jesus is holy, and He is also gracious. So if you understand only the merciful and gracious aspects of God but without the holiness, then that is not the biblical concept of love and mercy. The more you know Him, the more you will understand not only His holiness, but also our, your and my, sinfulness.

We come into a new year. Many people made resolutions only to realise that resolutions don’t really work in the end. We try to improve ourselves, our characters, but we fail again and again. Where lies the problem? It is because we do not have a real encounter with God. Without a real encounter with God we will feel self-righteous. We will feel that we are better than our wife, better than our husband, better than our parents, better than our children. We are always better. Then we cultivate this hidden self-righteousness. But once a human being encounters the holy God then there is no place for this self-righteousness. When we want to fight this self-righteousness then I think we need the real encounter with the holy God.

I want to close this sermon with another story of when Jesus helped Peter when he had difficulties in catching fishes. I believe you know the story; it is also recorded in the gospel. What is interesting in this story is Peter’s response at the end after he was helped by Jesus. Again, it wasn’t a high-five. He said please Lord go away from me for I am a sinner. This is the real encounter. ‘Please go away from me for I am a sinner. I need your grace, I need your love. I need to repent, I need a second chance please give me a second chance I need to repent. Not the story of self-righteousness. I hope we find this real Christ in our lives. Or perhaps better said, we have found in Jesus that God finds us. (A.H.)