Who Then is Jesus?

So let's read God's word from Mark's gospel, chapter 4, verses 35 to 41.

There are some Bibles around the church on some tables.

If you don't have a Bible and you come here today without one,

please feel free to take a Bible away from here.

We'd be very happy for you to do that.

The text will also be on the screen.

It's printed in the bulletin.

So lots of ways to access it as it's preached this morning.

So let's read God's word together.

Mark, chapter 4, verses 35 to 41.

Mark 4:35–41

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?

This is God's holy word.

You'll have a Bible to turn back to the passage that's been read from the fourth chapter of Mark's gospel.

I remember when I was a teenager reading a book on ministry saying you should never,

if you can possibly avoid it, never preach on well-known passages.

But I'm old enough to take the risk now and to direct us this morning to this extremely well-known passage of our Lord Jesus stilling the storm.

Because I think it helps us answer the question,

Who really is Jesus?

And the question that the older I've got has kind of haunted me.

What was and is Jesus really like?

I don't mean in terms of categories that theologians use,

but in terms of the words that Corey gave to us earlier on from the prophecy of Isaiah,

he was like someone who didn't break bruised reeds or snuff out dimly burning wicks.

And it's a question that I think in some ways,

really, if we can get near to some really clear biblical answers,

has the power to transform the atmosphere of our Christian lives.

To use a human illustration,

the way getting to know someone else that we know, admire, and love

can actually transform the atmosphere of our own lives.

That what the Holy Spirit does through the records of the life and ministry of Jesus

is to bring Him close to us and us close to Him

so that we sense what He is really like.

And that can change everything.

And certainly this was an instance in the lives of the disciples

that had the potential to change everything.

It began, in a sense, with a storm.

And I don't know how many sermons I've heard

on how Jesus can still the storm in your heart,

but actually what He did here was create a storm in their hearts

in order to loosen their inadequate view of who He really was

and lead them into a much more adequate view

that would transform their lives wonderfully.

And we love passages like this for different reasons.

Some of us may have loved this passage all our lives.

We maybe even can remember the Sunday school teacher

when we were in primary school who first told us this story.

And the power of it has kind of resided ever since in our imagination.

And then those of you who are of a more aesthetic tendency

and who love art may love Rembrandt's great painting

of the storm on Galilee.

It's a magnificent painting into which he painted himself

just at the back of the ship

where he seems to be looking out at the viewer

and saying,

well, how would you feel if you were in my position?

I've always wanted to meet somebody

who's actually seen that painting

because it was stolen several decades ago

and it's never been seen since.

So, if you have seen that painting,

we need to go to the local police station

where there may be a reward for you.

And then some few of us

who have kind of nerdy theological interests

may be interested in this passage

because it was the passage that brought a man

who some people regard as the greatest ever English theologian

to a real assurance that he was actually a Christian.

He was in his mid-twenties at the time

and very unsure of where he stood spiritually

and this was the passage.

This simple passage to this great intellect

brought a real knowledge of Christ

and a real assurance of him.

So, I want to try and unpack for us

a number of things that we find in this passage.

Probably, you know that this passage

is really in all three of the Gospels,

Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

But it's told in different ways.

And the church has believed

for most of the church's existence

that Mark's gospel

is actually Peter's gospel.

And one of the very early comments

about Mark's gospel

by a man called Papias

indicates that Mark

served really as the secretary

of Simon Peter.

And that's why of all the Gospels,

Mark's gospel is the easiest gospel

to turn into the first person singular.

And it's a lovely way to read it, actually.

And if you do that,

you will catch a sense that,

yeah, maybe it is true that Peter wrote this

because there's this sense of vitality.

There's a kind of,

everything happens immediately,

which is very Peter-like.

But there's also this strong sense

that this was the story of an eyewitness.

And there are little indications of that

that you don't find in the other Gospels.

For example,

Mark alone tells us

the time of day this happened.

It was in the evening.

None of the other gospel writers

noticed that.

This was an evening cruise

over the calm sea of Galilee.

Another thing Mark tells us

that indicates there's an eyewitness behind this

is he says there were other boats.

My guess is

that unless you kind of focus down on that,

you would assume

that what's described here

is what happened to a single boat.

But what happened here

apparently happened to a little flotilla of boats.

And there's another rather sweet indication

that this is the story told by an eyewitness

because this is the only gospel

that tells us there was a pillow for Jesus

to put his head on.

And I think all of us recognize

that when we have

kind of dramatic emotional experiences,

it is amazing what details we remember

that nobody else would notice

unless they'd been there.

And so, I think it's really helpful for us

to see the shadow of Simon Peter

in the background here.

And if I can remember to do it,

I will come back to that

towards the end of the sermon.

But the other little eyewitness detail

that I think is really important

to notice is the way Mark's gospel

describes the atmosphere

in which this event began.

And you'll see this right in verse 35.

When evening had come,

Jesus said to them,

let us go across

to the other side.

And lest I also forget to say this,

the great thing is

that they did get to the other side.

But then, Mark says,

leaving the crowd,

they took him with them

in the boat.

And it's the next phrase

I want you to focus attention on

because I think this conveys

the atmosphere of the evening.

They took him

just as he was.

Just as he was.

I heard somebody

in the Westminster Seminary group,

which is the reason

I'm imposed on you this morning,

because I'd rather Corey were preaching,

say,

so,

what's the dress code?

I didn't say anything.

But what I thought was,

just come as you are.

Right?

Just come as you are.

And so,

there's something,

there's something almost magical

about that little phrase.

They took him

just as he was.

They had no reason,

they had no reason

to

deny his

encouragement,

let's go over

to the other side.

Because they would

take him there.

I mean,

some of them at least

were masters

of this little stretch

of water.

And those of you

who have seen it,

it's sea,

it is not,

it's a loch.

And they must have known

it's every inch,

almost it's every fish.

And so,

nothing special about this.

They probably had done this

often enough.

Let's just go out

on the boat

for a wee while

tonight.

But it's the dramatic

contrast

between that little phrase

and the question

at the end

that bookends

this extraordinary

experience they had.

They took him

just as he was.

But by the end

of the story,

they're really saying,

we didn't really know

who he was at all.

We thought we knew

who he was.

And we thought we knew

what we were capable of.

But we didn't really

understand either.

And what Jesus

is doing here

is bringing

these disciples

who have really

come to know him,

obviously come to love him,

and in a sense

come to trust him,

he's taking them

a stage further

into helping them

to understand

what he is actually

really like.

And the great thing here,

I think,

is to remember,

which I remind myself

of very often,

what Hebrews 13 says,

he is the same today

as he was yesterday.

I often say,

when Hebrews says

he's the same yesterday,

today, and forever,

it's not a long-winded way

of saying he's eternal,

although that's true.

What it's saying is

the Jesus of today,

of our time,

readers of my letter,

is exactly the same

as the Jesus of yesterday,

the Jesus of whom

you read in the Gospels.

So, there are three stages,

I think,

that you find in this story,

which isn't a joke

because most stories

have three stages to them.

And the first stage,

I think, is this.

And it's kind of stunning

to notice it.

It is that Jesus

led them into difficulty

in the storm.

Jesus led them into difficulty

in the storm.

Yes, the text says

they took him,

but they only took him

because he said,

I want to take you.

Let's go across

to the other side.

So, if you think about

this experience

in this context

and ask the question,

why were they in the storm

in the first place?

Why were they in the storm

in the first place?

The answer is

because Jesus took them

into the storm.

It's a staggeringly

illuminating illustration

of Jesus' confidence

in Himself

to get these disciples

over to the other side

no matter what happens.

But Peter is making clear

through Mark's Gospel

this was Jesus' idea.

It was Jesus' idea

to sail into the storm

on the Sea of Galilee.

And you can almost hear

Simon Peter

using this

as an illustration

when, for example,

later on

he's writing

in 1 Peter 4, 12

and saying,

don't be surprised

by the fiery trials

that are coming to you

as though this was strange.

And that's what

this passage teaches us.

But the Lord Jesus,

as He draws us

to Himself

and as we begin

to trust Him,

finds occasions

to lead us

into difficulties.

And the reason

He does so

is because

as long as we live

a life without difficulties,

we never actually grow.

And what is so interesting,

I think,

in this context

is

that many Christians

don't seem

to think that way.

I had a very dear friend,

a man I respected

enormously,

who knew me

very well.

And whenever I made

a major life decision,

of which I've made

a few,

and it was as though

the sea opened up

and things went smoothly,

he used to say to me,

isn't it just like

the Lord

to do that?

Isn't it just like

the Lord

to do that?

And I dearly

loved this man,

but I actually found

that marginally

irritating.

Because the truth is,

it is just like

the Lord

to do that,

but it's also

just like the Lord

to do this.

And I think

this story

is a wonderful

illustration

of the principle

that we should

never think

that our simple

trust and obedience

to the Lord

Jesus

is a reality

from which

we can extrapolate

how the future

is going to be.

And not to

discourage

those of you

who are young,

but as I,

because I've been

thinking about this

passage the last

couple of days,

as I look back

on my own life,

I'm kind of,

I'm really struck

by the fact

that having made

major decisions

and assuming,

and everyone else

I knew,

assuming where

that would lead,

in almost every

single case,

that's not where

they've led.

And you see

what Jesus

is teaching us

as He does this

in our lives,

what He was teaching

them,

that we need

to understand

that there will

be times

when He will

open up the sea

and we will

walk across

on dry land,

but because He

wants us to

grow strong,

and we grow

strong by the

exercise of our

muscles,

and sometimes

that kind of

exercise hurts,

there will be

times when

trusting Him

and following Him

will also

lead us

into difficulties,

into storms,

which is why,

you know,

every,

every Christian

minister I know

would be able

to tell us

the numbers

of people

who have said

to them,

why is it

now I become

a Christian

that many things

seem to be more

difficult than

they used to be?

It's because

that's the way

He teaches us

to trust Him.

That's the way

we grow

in trust

for Him.

the only thing

I watch

in the Olympics

is the

weightlifting,

and I love

to see these

giants come on

to stages like

this and lift

up these

barbells,

like amounting

to you lifting

up the three

heaviest people

you know,

and their legs

are quivering,

and they,

you know,

and then they get

it up,

whatever it is,

and I sit

on the couch

saying,

I could do that.

Why can't I

do that?

It's because

I haven't endured

any of the

hardship,

any of the

stress,

any of the

exercise that

has slowly

built these

men and women

up to be able

to do that

kind of thing.

And it's the

same in the

Christian life.

That's why

training is

used as

a metaphor

for the

Christian life.

And I think

what is so

fascinating

here is

that I

know this

is slight

speculation,

but I think

the text

gives us

every reason

to believe

that these

disciples

followed

Jesus

because they

thought they

were masters

of the

situation.

And what

Jesus wanted

to do was

to teach

them that

there is no

situation of

which we are

master.

But He

is master

of every

situation.

And that

speaks to us,

doesn't it?

I mean,

there are so

many things

that we know

better than

Jesus about.

And what He's

teaching these

disciples is

sometimes it's

in the areas

where we think

we know best

that He needs

to teach us

that He

actually knows

best.

So that's the

first stage

in this story

that it was

Jesus who

actually led

them into

these difficulties

in the storm.

The second

thing to notice,

and this emerges

in their

response to

Him and

His response

to them,

is that at

the core of

this story,

Jesus is

testing the

reality of

their faith

in the storm.

And it's

interesting how

the different

gospel writers

record this.

Mark records

it in the

harshest of

ways.

The other

gospel writers,

their language

is not quite

so harsh.

Here you'll

notice what

Mark records

is, and

presumably Jesus

asked several

questions, but

the ones that

Mark records

are, why are

you so afraid?

Have you still

no faith?

And you'll

remember how

Matthew, for

example, puts

that as, oh,

you of little

faith.

Why are you

afraid, oh,

you of little

faith?

So this

question, have

you no faith,

faith?

It's not so

much doubting

that they have

any faith, but

do they have

faith for this

situation?

Do they trust

Him in this

situation?

And if you

use your

imagination, you

can't help

thinking that

when Jesus put

His head down

on the pillow,

He was thinking

to Himself,

how long will

it be before

they are shaking

me?

and these

strong, proud

fishermen asking

me, carpenter of

Nazareth, to

save them in

the situation.

And what is in

a way so

marvelous about

Mark's account is

that this very

straightforward

language continues,

and you'll see it

in verse 38,

they woke him and

said to him,

maybe the

cruelest words they

ever said to

him, don't you

care if we

perish?

So you hear

Mark again,

but you know,

Peter, if this is

Peter's voice,

this is absolutely

straightforward.

There is no

concern that

people might

misunderstand what

they are saying.

Maybe in

Matthew's gospel

there's a concern

that I do not

want people to

misunderstand what's

actually happening

here, but here it

is absolutely

brutal.

It is the kind

of thing you

do not say to

the person sitting

beside you on a

Sunday morning in

St.

Columbus when

you're asked the

question, how are

things?

You don't say to

them, the Lord

doesn't care if I'm

perishing.

But nevertheless,

many of us will

have said that and

have been in

situations where

that is exactly

what we have

felt.

Everything has

gone against us.

We see no way

through our

difficulties.

It seems that

God has abandoned

us.

Don't you care if

we are perishing?

Now, the truth of

the matter was that

he wouldn't have

been in the boat

in the first place

of the world.

He wouldn't have

called them if he

didn't care.

But, you know, the

supreme demonstration

that he cared was, of

course, he was going to

die for them on the

cross.

God so loved the

world he gave his

only Son that whoever

believes in him should

not perish, but of

everlasting life.

God did not send his

Son into the world to

condemn the world, but

that the world through

him might be saved.

They couldn't see

that, even although

he had given little

indications earlier on

that something was

going to happen, even

although they should

have known what

Isaiah was talking

about when he spoke

about the coming

Savior.

But they couldn't

see who Jesus really

was.

And, of course,

that's my problem,

isn't it?

when I feel deserted,

when I feel he doesn't

care, I've lost sight

of who he really is.

Remember how Paul puts

it in Romans 8.32?

He says, listen, if God

didn't spare his own

Son but gave him up for

us all, we can be

absolutely sure that he

will give us everything

we need to get us from

here into his glorious

presence.

But we take our eye off

the ball, or more

accurately.

We take our eye off

the Savior.

And that's what they

were doing.

And so their hearts

spoke through their lips

about what they were

saying was, you are cruel

to us, Jesus.

Don't you care that we

are perishing?

And in a congregation

like this, it wouldn't be

surprising if some of us

felt that way today as

well.

My friend Derek Thomas,

Corey's friend Derek

Thomas, tells the story

of a Welsh minister who

had a lady come to him

and she said, I'm

struggling in my

Christian life.

He said, what's the

problem?

He said, I've become

very impatient.

And he said, well, we can

fix that.

Let's pray.

And he prayed briefly, dear

Lord, send some trials

into my sister's life.

Amen.

And she began to express

a little impatience.

But you see, then he sat

her down and explained to

her that you don't develop

patience except in situations

that would evoke from you

a spirit of impatience.

And you will only learn

that patience when you

begin to look not within

yourself to your own

response to the situation,

but to who Jesus has become

in your life, to what you

know of Jesus, and to the

way in which he is able to

see you through situations

that previously evoked

impatience, to have his

patience.

And that's what Jesus is

doing.

He is always testing our

faith in him.

And in a sense, the only way

he can do that is by

dismantling our easy

assumptions that having

confessed that we trust him

fully, we do actually trust

him fully.

And you know, those of you

who are parents, you know

that when your son or

daughter has something

they're gripping onto in

their hands, and you say,

please give that to me.

And he says, please give it

to me.

And then you drop the please,

and it's give it to me.

And then you drop the give it

to me, and you give it to

them.

And you have this battle to

open their hands so that

whatever it is they are

holding onto lies open in

their hands so that you can

take it out.

And we foolishly forget that

we are all guilty of

infantile regression in the

Christian life.

And there are many things that

we hold on to tightly, our own

capacities, our own abilities.

I have no doubt that's what

Jesus was doing.

That's why this took place

on the sea, because these

men were fishermen.

This was their area of

mastery.

And you see in Scripture,

that is often the problem,

isn't it?

Think about Isaiah.

What does Isaiah cry out

about when he sees the

glory of the Lord?

He cries out about his

sinful lips.

I imagine him going down

after that experience to

his best friend and his

best friend seeing that

he is in distress and saying,

what's the problem, Isaiah?

And Isaiah says, my sinful

lips.

And his friend saying, you

and Mrs. Isaiah and the

boys need to go on holiday.

You're overwrought.

You are the finest preacher we

have had in this city in

decades.

And I like to think of

Isaiah, this is my

Scottish imagination,

lifting him up by his robes

and saying, you're not

listening to what I'm saying.

My problem is, it's right

into the strengths of my life,

my best gifts in life,

that my sinfulness and

mistrust has been woven.

And I felt in that place that God

was beginning to dismantle and

deconstruct me in order that he

might reconstruct me again.

And that's surely what the Lord

Jesus was doing here.

He was exposing the frailty of

their faith in order that he might

strengthen that faith.

And he does this, of course.

And this is how the story ends.

He leads them into difficulty.

He tests their faith's reality.

And then in the Sea of Galilee,

he shows them his glory.

And we were singing about that.

This passage is like a

fulfillment echo of Psalm 107.

Men going down into the sea

who were used to plying their

trade on the waters and suddenly

finding themselves in a storm and

crying out to the Lord and the

Lord saving them and the Lord

bringing them to a safe haven.

It's like the fulfillment of a

shadowy prophecy from the Old

Testament.

But it's also, I think, not just a

fulfillment of a shadowy prophecy.

It is itself a kind of reworking

of the shadow of an earlier prophecy

that is still a kind of shadow of

something that is to come.

Because it's interesting that the

psalm that is most used with

reference to the passion and death of

the Lord Jesus Christ is not one of

the better known psalms.

It's actually Psalm 69.

And it's the psalm that the apostles

picked out little details from and

saw that they were fulfilled in the

crucifixion.

And it's a psalm actually about a

water ordeal.

The waters have gone over my head.

And you can see how then Jesus,

I should say in this church,

by whatever means Jesus was baptized,

the waters went over his head in the

river Jordan.

And he saw that as a kind of miniature

water ordeal that pointed to the

greater ordeal described in Psalm 69,

his ordeal that he described later on

as the baptism with which he was still

to be baptized.

And whereas in the river Jordan,

if you think about it,

you can understand John the Baptist's

reluctance because this river Jordan

is now symbolically full of the

pollution of confessed sins of perhaps

tens of thousands of people.

And this is the water he's going to

baptize Jesus with?

But you see,

that's the point,

isn't it?

It's water polluted by the sins of others

in which Jesus will be baptized symbolically

in Jordan and actually on the cross of Calvary,

and the waters will go over his head

and engulf him.

And so it's not just the disciples

who are in the storm here.

It's Jesus who is in the storm here.

That may be the reason for the use of this

very surprising verb that Mark records,

that when Jesus got up,

you notice,

he rebuked the wind and the sea.

That's the verb that's going to be used

later on when Jesus rebukes the powers of

darkness and death and hell.

So there's something happening,

not just to the disciples here,

but there's something happening to Jesus here.

There's something about his sense

that he too is going to be engulfed

that makes him rise from sleep

and rebuke the wind and the waves

and say,

peace be still.

Because that's what he's going to do in Calvary.

Even the use of the word peace is interesting,

isn't it?

It's actually the first word that Jesus used

to the disciples hiding away there

in their upper room

when he appeared on the evening of the resurrection.

First word,

peace.

Be still.

It's like,

it's like what we've got here

is a trailer for what is going to happen

in the future.

And here in the midst of the storm,

Jesus is showing them his glory

that he's able to overcome and still the storm

because ultimately he's going to experience the storm.

And through his death for their sins and his resurrection,

he is going to bring them peace.

And maybe that's the reason why

in Revelation 21,

we're told that in the future world,

there will be no more sea.

Well, that's a pity.

There'll be no more sea.

What does that mean?

Well, the book of Revelation is full of picture language,

isn't it?

I don't think it's saying

in the new heavens and the new earth,

there'll be no more mountains

and no more sea.

I think it's saying in that world,

there will be no more of that kind of sea

because Jesus' peace and Jesus' glory

will be absolutely everywhere.

Get back to Simon Peter for a moment.

I've always thought reading this passage,

especially in Mark's gospel,

if indeed it's Peter's gospel,

Peter, you're not telling us something here.

You're not telling us what was going on in your head

when Jesus said,

okay, boys, we're going over to the other side tonight.

You're not telling us how for once in your life

you kept your mouth shut.

And you didn't say to the others,

he's a carpenter.

We're the fishermen.

There might be a storm tonight.

And I've sometimes extrapolated from that in my imagination.

So, what would have been like for Simon Peter

to have dug his heels in

and watched the other friends sail over,

the storm come in?

And of course it would have broken his heart,

but part of that man would have been saying,

I told you so.

You should have listened to me.

I knew best.

But what would actually have happened to Peter

if that had been true?

Well, Peter would never have seen the glory.

He'd never have seen who Jesus really is,

what Jesus can really do.

And the wonderful thing is,

as you fast forward from Mark's gospel

into the Acts of the Apostles

and see the way the Lord dealt with Peter,

you remember how by Acts chapter 12,

Acts 12 · chapter mention

Peter is in prison.

And Luke tells us,

the night before he was about to be taken out,

and that sounds a bit Glaswegian,

and that's what it means.

He was really about to be taken out,

presumably tried and executed.

And the Lord sent an angel to rescue him.

And the thing that I find so fascinating

is what Peter was doing that night.

He was lying fast asleep,

and the angel had to shake him

and wake him

so that he would be rescued.

His life had been wonderfully transformed.

And that's what Jesus is like.

I mentioned that those of you

who are theological nerdy

might love this passage

because you know the story

of either the conversion

or the real assurance

that he was a Christian

of perhaps the greatest English theologian.

His name was John Owen.

He went with a friend to a church in London

when he was in his mid-twenties.

I think he wasn't really sure

whether he was really a Christian or not,

although he had the whole Christian baggage

behind him in his life.

He was a minister's son.

He was an Oxford graduate.

He was brilliant.

But he wasn't sure he was a believer.

And they went to hear

a famous preacher.

And a substitute came in to the pulpit.

And his friend said to him,

let's go around the corner

and hear somebody else.

You can do that in Edinburgh, apparently.

And Owen was so melancholic.

He said, now I'm just going to stay.

And the man preached

from this passage.

And John Owen was brought into

an amazingly new experience

that Christ was his

and he was Christ's.

And the wonderful thing is

he was never able to discover

the name of the man

who had preached the sermon.

And I can't help thinking

that if you did actually come here

because somebody said to you,

you need to go and hear

Cory Brock

in St. Columbus

in Edinburgh.

And

you kind of groaned inwardly

when he said,

it's an old Scotsman

who's going to be here.

And

if that's the case,

please God,

you forget his name.

But if this

was Owen's story,

it can be your story

too.

Because this is what Jesus

is like.

And this is what he wants

to be like

for you.

And he did get them

to the other side.

And he'll get you

too

if you trust him

to the other side.

Let's pray together.

Lord, we thank you for

these

wonderfully simple

stories

that these

four men

under the guidance

of your

loving Holy Spirit

penned

for people

they knew

and loved,

but also

for people

that

they loved

but never knew,

including

ourselves.

And we pray,

Lord,

as we

think about

the Lord Jesus,

see him

as someone

who does not

break

bruised reeds

or snuff out

dimly burning

wicks,

but comes to us

in our need

and our distress,

that in his

providence

he has

unpacked

for us.

And when we

sometimes cry,

Lord,

do you not really

care about me?

We pray that we

may see who

he really is

find him

in his

grace

and glory

and trust

him

not only

in the areas

where we feel

inadequate

and incapacitated,

but in those

areas where we

foolishly think

that we

know best.

So,

we

give ourselves

to you

with

faith

and

joy

and

the assurance

that you

will see

us

home

to the

other

side.

So,

impress this

on us

we pray

as we

thank you

for your

word

in Jesus

name.

Amen.

Thank you.