Calming the Storm - a podcast by Lewis Marsh

Revealed the Miracles of Jesus

Part 3: Calming the Storm

By Louie Marsh, 8-27-2023

 

Last pic – don’t camp out in storms

 

1) God will LEAD ME into the heart of the storm.

 

“³⁵On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” ³⁶And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats were with him. ³⁷And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.  (Mark 4:35–38, ESV)

 

As always Andrew and Peter kept their eyes to the skies when they sailed. They had both seen storms come up seemingly out of nowhere. Storms that could, and often did, become killers with very little notice. So as sharp fishermen they scanned the horizon.

 

 Mostly they looked toward what we call today the Golan Heights. That’s where the wind usually came from. Typically the winds would drive a line of low lying clouds before them. As the rain slashed down the winds would kick up the waves and batter any boats on the water. If the wind was strong enough it could pile up the waves so much that they moved from being bothersome to potential killers very quickly.

 

 And they often happened in the late afternoon.

 

The boat they were on was designed to have around five crewmen and also a like number of passengers as well. So with 13 people on the ship it wasn’t over crowed but was comfortably full. The disciples had moved together to give Jesus room to stretch out and catch a nap. Everyone was happy but tired and looking forward to a nice relaxing evening.

 

For centuries nothing much at all was known about the boats used on the Sea of Galilea. Then in 1982 an ancient fishing boat from the 1st century AD was discovered on the Sea of Galilee’s north-west shore. The remains of the boat are 27 feet long, 7.5 feet wide with a maximum preserved height of 4.3 feet. It first appeared during a drought, when the waters of the Sea receded.

 

Show Boat Pics

 

 But then the winds came. Down from Golan they gusted and blew up the waves. Soon water was flying before the wind, lightly spitting into the disciples faces as they watched the far shore disappear from sight as the storm developed.

 

Exchanging glances Peter and Andrew did what little they could. They could see the waves building and moving towards them and in mere moments the boat was being assailed by the waves. They kept trying to turn the bow into the waves but it was difficult as the waves seemed to have a mind of their own, frequently changing direction.

 

Peter knew this was a storm that could kill. Water was pouring over the sides of the wallowing ship. Peter motioned to Andrew to take the tiller and went to Jesus. Amazingly he was still sleeping. For a brief moment Peter wondered how this could be, but was shaken into action as the boat lurched and groaned.

 

Meanwhile the disciples had gotten into their boat. When it comes to the sea and ancient Israel there’s not a lot to be said. So little did the Israelites go to sea that there’s only one Hebrew word for fish, and it covered everything from minnows to whales. By the time of Christ however a small, flourishing fishing industry developed around the Sea of Galilee. The town of Magdala was a sardine-pickling center.

 

The job of a fisherman in those days and even to this day is difficult. Fishermen worked year-round in the heat of summer and the cold of winter, often at night. Several of Jesus’ disciples - Andrew, Peter, James, and John - knew the trade well.

 

One of the most important skills of fishermen was making and mending nets. Made of linen, a common fabric used in the ancient Near East, these nets had to be carefully cleaned and dried each day or they would quickly rot and wear out. The majority of a fisherman's life probably was spent mending nets. Net weights, small pieces of stone with holes drilled in them, were fastened to the bottom of the nets.

 

Show Myanmar net fixing pic: I’ve seen fishermen in Myanmar mending the huge nets they use. Like the fishermen of Jesus day, they sit for hours in the hot sun preparing the nets for that evening’s use.

 

“¹Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1, ESV)

 

2) God loves me IN & THRU the storms of life.

 

³⁸But 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?”  (Mark 4:38, ESV)

 

“⁵And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. ⁶For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” ⁷It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” (Hebrews 12:5–7, ESV)

 

3) Jesus stills the storm at just the right MOMENT.

 

 ³⁹And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  (Mark 4:39, ESV)

 

“⁴But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, ⁵to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” (Galatians 4:4–5, ESV)

 

“¹For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, ESV)

 

4) I must CHOOSE between fear & faith.

 

 ⁴⁰He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” (Mark 4:39, ESV)

 

“¹Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me; ²my enemies trample on me all day long, for many attack me proudly. ³When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. ⁴In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” (Psalm 56:1–4, ESV)

 

5) Jesus reveals Himself to us THROUGH his words & deeds.

 

 ⁴¹And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”” (Mark 4:35–41, ESV)

 

·       This is the real POINT of his miracles.

 

“³⁷If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; ³⁸but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”” (John 10:37–38, ESV)

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