The Power of Jesus
Sermon Notes
Introduction:
Today we’re continuing our teaching series called The Story, where we’re going through the biblical narrative from the very beginning in Genesis 1 to the last amen in Revelation 22, and today we’re studying the time when Jesus was in a storm. It’s the time when Jesus and his disciples were in a boat, and suddenly a massive storm came upon them. The storm was so big that his disciples were afraid they were going to sink. Sometimes this happens in life. Sometimes you’re sailing through life, everything’s going well, everything’s calm, but then a storm comes. A storm comes and it feels like you’re going to sink. Are you in a storm right now?...Has something happened in your life, in your family, career, school, and it feels like you’re in a storm?...Have you ever wondered if Jesus cares enough to hear your prayers when you’re in a storm?...Have you ever faced a storm in life that was so big, it felt like you were sinking, and it caused you to wonder if Jesus really cares?...Look you’re either in a storm, or you’ll be in a storm...You’re either in a storm right now, or you’ll be in a storm later in life. So let’s see what happens when Jesus and his disciples face a storm. Let’s turn to Mark ch 4 and see if Jesus really cares about the storms we face in life. If you open your bible to the middle, keep turning right, you’ll find the Gospel of Mark. We’ll be in Mark 4:35-41. Title of today’s message is The Power of Jesus, and here’s the big idea. Jesus has the power to either calm the storm, or help you make it through the storm...Jesus has the power to either calm the storm, or help you make it through the storm...
Context:
Here’s your context. The past few weeks we learned about the time when Jesus was tempted by Satan in the desert, we learned about the happy life of Jesus from his Sermon on the Mount, and today we’re learning about the great power of Jesus. In Mark ch 4 the Apostle Mark starts sharing some of the many miracles Jesus performed, and each miracle displays the power of Jesus. So as we break down vs 35-41, I want you to notice these 3 things about Jesus’ power: #1 The reality of Christ’s power, #2 The magnitude of Christ’s power, and #3 The loving care of Christ’s power. It’s the reality, magnitude, and loving care of Christ’s power. Let’s check it out.
The Word:
Mark 4:35-41 states, “On that day, when evening had come, Jesus told them, ‘Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.’ 36 So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him.” This is the 1st thing we’re learning about Jesus’ power, we’re learning about the reality of Christ’s power. There’s a few little details in this story that point to the reality of this story, to the reality of Christ’s power. The reason I stress this point first, is because if you don’t believe in the reality of this story, you won’t believe in the reality of Christ’s power. But if you can believe in the reality of this story, you can believe in the reality of Christ’s power, especially the reality of Christ’s power when facing storms in your life. It’s all in the details of this story, because it’s the little details that tell us this isn’t a legendary story like many skeptics think. Many skeptics used to argue the disciples lied, they made these kind of stories up about Jesus, so he’d gain legendary status and so they’d gain popularity and power. But that theory’s been refuted by many scholars and historians considering the disciples had nothing to gain in telling these stories, instead they had everything to lose including their lives. They were warned numerous times by the Jews and Romans to stop talking about Jesus, but they didn’t stop, they couldn’t stop, because they knew the stories were true! They didn’t risk their lives to tell lies about Jesus, they risked their lives to tell the truth about Jesus. They didn’t gain popularity and power for telling lies, they gained persecution and death for telling the truth.
So many skeptics have abandoned the lie theory, but they’ve adopted a different theory which is that the stories about Jesus are exaggerated like legendary writings. But once again many scholars and historians are quick to point out the fact that these stories aren’t written like 1st century legendary literature. We have plenty of 1st century literature to compare stories like this with, and none of the miraculous stories of Jesus are written like 1st century legendary literature, instead they’re written like historical eyewitness testimonies. Like I said there’s a lot of little details in the text pointing this out. For example in vs 35 it tells us the time of day this happened, it says it happened in the evening. We’re also told in vs 36 there were other boats around, which means there were other people, other eyewitnesses to verify the facts of this story. Any scholar and historian of ancient literature knows this isn’t written like it’s fiction, like it’s 1st century legendary literature, instead it’s written like it’s a 1st century eyewitness testimony. It’s written as an event that really happened, and people were still alive to verify the accuracy of this event as Mark was recording it and as it was being circulated. What we’re learning in these first few verses is that this story is true, which means the reality of Christ’s power is true too. We’re learning this isn’t a legend, it’s a true story about the reality of Christ’s power, in a storm.
Again vs. 35 states, “On that day, when evening had come, Jesus told them, ‘Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.’ 36 So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?’ 39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Silence! Be still!’ The wind ceased, and there was a great calm.” So here we’re learning the 2nd thing about Christ’s power. We’re learning about the magnitude of Christ’s power. There’s no doubt this is a powerful storm, because not only are powerful storms common in the Sea of Galilee, but the disciples are also experienced fisherman who are familiar with these waters. You know it’s a powerful storm when the experienced fisherman are scared they’re going to die. So there’s no doubt this is a powerful storm, but Jesus had the power to calm the storm. He says “Silence! Be still,” and the storm was calm. Jesus simply utters a few words and the storm was calm, which displays the magnitude of Christ’s power. He doesn’t have to debate the storm, he doesn’t have to wrestle with the storm, he doesn’t have to go Harry Potter expecto patronum on the storm. He simply speaks and the storm is calm. The disciples and the people in the other boats see this happening, they see the magnitude of Christ’s power, and they’re realizing it’s a display of Christ’s divinity. In fact what we’ll see in vs 41 is they’re still scared even after Jesus calms the storm. They’re still scared because they realize they’re in the presence of divine power, they realize they’re in the presence of God, since only God has the power to calm a storm like that. Only God has the power to be able to say “Silence! Be still,” and the storms are calmed. Only God has the power to be able to say “Let there be light,” and the properties of light are set in motion creating over 200 billion trillion stars. You know how many stars that is? A lot! Astronomers say the human eye only sees about 5000 stars, yet the Lord created over 200 billion trillion stars without even breaking a sweat.
Now each of those stars has the same amount of energy, as 40 million atom bombs like the one in Hiroshima. We’re talking only 1 star, has the same amount of energy as 40 million atom bombs! If that’s how powerful 1 star is, imagine how powerful the God is who created it... Imagine how powerful the God is who created 200 billion trillion stars, with only a few spoken words. “Let there be light,” and the properties of light were set into motion creating those stars. Isaiah 40:26 says, “Look up and see! Who created these? He brings out the stars by number; he calls all of them by name. Because of his great power and strength, not one of them is missing.” Isaiah’s saying God is so infinitely greater than us in power and wisdom, that he’s not only able to create the stars, he’s able to call each of them by name. He can look at each of the 200 billion trillion stars and say, “Hey Orion! Hey Pegasus. Looking good today star T3.14159-er...” I have a hard enough time remembering somebody’s name, even after they just told me their name! I’m like “Hey what’s your name?” Mike. “Oh nice to meet you Bob...” Thankfully I can blame it on Covid Fog now, so a lot of people give me a pass if I forget their names. But the Lord never forgets a name! He’s so much greater than us that he not only knows the stars names, he knows our names! Jesus says he even knows all the hairs on our heads. Matthew 10:30, “But even the hairs of your head have all been counted.” He knows the stars, he knows you, he knows the hairs on your head, and he set it all in motion with only a few spoken words. City Awakening the reason Jesus can calm the storm with only a few spoken words, is because Jesus is Lord over the storm. This is great news, because it means there’s no storm in your life that’s greater than the power of Christ in your life...There’s no storm in your life that’s greater than the power of Christ in your life...But the question is does he care?...Does he care enough to do something about your storms?...Does he care enough to use the magnitude of his divine power, to calm your storms?
Again vs. 38, “Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, ‘Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?’ 39 He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Silence! Be still!’ The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ 41 And they were terrified, and asked one another, ‘Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him!’” Like I said before, the disciples go from being scared of the storm, to being scared of the magnitude of Christ’s divine power. But they start out being scared of the storm, being scared they’re going to die in the storm, while Jesus is sleeping on a cushion. This leads to our 3rd point, which is about the loving care of Christ’s power. In vs 38 the disciples wake Jesus up saying “Don’t you care?... Don’t you care that we’re in a storm? Don’t you care that we’re sinking? Don’t you care that we’re about to die? We thought if we followed you then life would be easy and there wouldn’t be any storms! But we’re in a storm right now, and it feels like you don’t even care we’re sinking?” Have you ever felt like that before?...Have you ever been in a storm that was so big, you felt like you were sinking and you were wondering if Jesus even cares?...Are you feeling like that now?... Are you in a storm, and you feel like you’re sinking in your marriage, your family, your bills, your health...Are you in a storm, the water is coming into your boat, and you feel like you’re sinking in your schedule, drowning in the stress of trying to fit your work, school, the gym, team practices, student ministry and church all within at 24 hr day...Are you in a storm right now and you’re asking “How am I going to make it through all this? Jesus do you even care?...” The disciples are asking that same exact question to Jesus, and Jesus gets up to calm the storm.
But if you notice Jesus doesn’t just calm the storm, he doesn’t just rebuke the storm, he also rebukes the disciples for their lack of faith. It’s because he’s already done so many things for them to the point where the thought of him not caring shouldn’t even cross their minds. It’s like a loving parent who says yes to so many things, but the one time they say no, their child throws a fit saying “You don’t love me. You don’t care about me. You love my siblings more than me.” You’ve made so many sacrifices for them driving them all over to their practices, their activities, spent money on their new clothes, vacations, and theme parks. You’ve said yes to them so many times before! But the one time you say no to something they want, the one time you say no to them playing the PS4, they’re like “You’re so mean! You don’t love me! You don’t care about me!” But they should know the loving care their parents have for them from all the times their parents said yes to them. The same is true for us. We should know the loving care Jesus has for us from all the times he’s said yes to us. Jesus is saying to the disciples and us, “How can you question my loving care for you after all I’ve done for you? Where’s your faith?”
See the point of this story isn’t that Jesus will give us an easy life, or even that he’ll calm every storm in our life. The point is to reveal the magnitude of his divine power and to expose the shallow depth of our faith. It’s to reveal that Jesus is still Lord and loving in the storm, even when our shallow faith can’t see it in the storm. Our faith gets exposed in a storm just like the disciples. We’re often quick to question Jesus’ loving care for us in a storm, but Jesus calms the storm for the disciples despite their lack of faith. It’s another display of his loving care for them. They keep questioning his loving care, but Jesus keeps displaying his loving care. Jesus cares for them, he cares for you, and he proved his loving care for you when he died for your sins on the cross. Romans 5:8, “God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” There’s no greater proof, no greater display of Jesus’ loving care for us then him dying for our sins on the cross. Jesus is saying to the disciples and us, “If I cared for you before the storm, then have faith that I’ll care for you in the storm. If I cared for you on the cross, then don’t question my care for you in the storm.” So will you face storms in life?...Yes you will...But that doesn’t mean Jesus doesn’t care for you...because the cross proves he cares for you.
The Big Idea:
The big idea is Jesus has the power to either calm the storm, or help you make it through the storm...Jesus will always do 1 of 2 things in a storm. He’ll either calm the storm, or help you make it through the storm, but either way you’ll make it through the storm. If you put your faith in him, if you turn to him in your storms, he’ll either calm the storm saying be still, or he’ll calm you saying be still so I can help you through the storm. Do you have faith in the reality of this story?...Do you have faith in the magnitude of Christ’s power and in his loving care for you?...
This story isn’t a legend, it’s a true story about the reality of Christ’s power, the magnitude of Christ’s power, and the loving care of Christ’s power. If you want his help in the storm, you have to turn to him and have faith in him as you face the storm. The more faith you have in his power and loving care for your life, the less anxious you’ll be over the storms in your life. So you might be asking Jesus “Do you care?” But Jesus is asking “Do you have faith?” The more faith you have in his power and loving care for your life, the less anxious you’ll be over the storms in your life. In the words of the hymn Begone Unbelief written by John Newton:
His love in time past forbids me to think,
he’ll leave me at last in trouble to sink...
By prayer let me wrestle and he will perform;
with Christ in the vessel, I smile at the storm.