The last few days here at Messiah we have been holding our annual youth science camp. This year we have been focused on the science of weather. We made lightening in a pie pan, we simulated a tornado in a mason jar, we filled a room with fog and imagined we were dancing on the clouds, we even had Ashley Kramlich a real-life weatherperson from WSB’s Sever Weather Team 2 come and help us broadcast the weather live on Facebook. After service today we are going to see if the hot air balloons our mini meteorologist made will actually fly.
We have had fun experimenting with and learning more about the weather but real weather, that is weather that hasn’t been replicated in a pie pan or mason jar, can be a powerful force. Weather to the south and east of us produces hurricanes that have the ability to lift sixty million tons of water and generate more power every ten seconds then all the electrical power used in the United States in a year. Weather to the west of us produces tornadoes that can be more than two miles wide and generate wind speed as high as 300 mph; enough to toss a 75-ton railroad car a few hundred yards. Weather to the north of us produces blizzards that can dump up to 6 feet of snow per day and drop temperatures low enough to freeze human skin in less than 5 minutes. Here in The JC we don’t typically deal with absurd weather like the unfortunate people who live around us. For the most part, weather is our friend. About the only weather we deal with here in our little paradise is the occasional thunder and lightning storm. But even that is impressive. Did you know that a typical lightning bolt is about 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit – roughly five times hotter that the surface of the sun! Weather can be a powerful force. Which is one of the things that makes our lesson for today so extraordinary. In Mark 4:35-41 saint Mark tells us about a time Jesus and His disciples were caught in a powerful storm.
It had been an exhausting couple of days for Jesus. Everywhere He went large groups of people pressed around Him. Like a mob of teenage girls at a K-pop concert the crowds would push forward in the hopes of touching Jesus. Jesus would spend hours in the midst of mobs like this teaching them about the kingdom of God. Rarely did Jesus have a moment away from the crowds and even when He did, those moments were filled with His disciples asking Him a seemingly endless stream of questions.
Our gospel lesson begins at the end of one of these exhausting days. Saint Mark tells us, “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.” Storms on the Sea of Galilee are no joke. First of all, it’s a big body of water. Even counting all its fingers that snake into the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Sea of Galilee is several square miles bigger than Lake Lanier. Also, the shoreline of the Sea of Galilee is surrounded by hills. When cool dry air crashes 2,000 feet from the hills above to the sea below it causes sudden and violent storms. It was not uncommon for boats to be sunk and sailors to be drowned on the Sea of Galilee.
The storm saint Mark describes is a particularly violent storm. The disciples, many of whom were experienced sailors and had no doubt navigated their fair share of storms on the Sea of Galilee, were panicked. Despite their best efforts to keep the vessel afloat it seemed inevitable to them that it, and they along with it should sink. In desperation they frantically cry out to Jesus for help. Saint Mark tells us “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?”
I am going to come back to this business of Jesus sleeping in the back of the boat in a moment, but what happens next is extraordinary. Try as we might, humanity has been unable to control the weather. The best we can hope for is to harness the weather. Well Jesus doesn’t simply harness the weather, Jesus doesn’t merely control the weather, Jesus commands the weather. Saint Mark tells us “39 He (Jesus) got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.” At the command of Jesus, the storm does not pass by, it does not dissipate, it does not run its course. It stops. To translate the root meaning of the Greek word, Jesus puts a muzzle on the storm. Instantly and absolutely, the storm obeys His command and becomes completely calm.
In response to all this the disciples ask, “41… Who is this?” It’s a great question, one that we ourselves will benefit from asking. Who is this Who sleeps in the back of the boat? Who is this Who commands the wind and the waves?
Let’s go back to the business of Jesus sleeping in the back of the boat. Mark doesn’t tell us they asked the question but as the disciples battled the storm, I am sure they were thinking, ‘Who is this Who sleeps in the back of the boat?’ Now, I am not going to pretend sleeping during a furious squall is normal. I don’t know how Jesus could sleep through the howling of the wind, the rocking of the boat, and the waves splashing in His face. Perhaps it was a combination of His trust in God to protect Him and the fact that he was likely exhausted. Remember this man has been grinding hard for the last few days. This time in the boat is the closest thing Jesus has had to a break in a long time.
Other than His praying in dark Gethsemane and His suffering on Calvary we don’t often think of the physical strain Jesus endured. I am not entirely sure why we don’t. Scripture doesn’t shrink from telling us that Jesus got tired[1], hungry[2], thirsty[3] and the like. Scripture is not afraid to show the human side of Jesus, which is comforting because, well, we are human. Being reminded of Jesus’ humanity is comforting because as a fellow human Jesus doesn’t just know what it feels like to be tired, hungry or thirsty. As a fellow human Jesus knows what it feels like when your parents don’t understand you, He knows what it feels like to be betrayed by a friend, He knows what it feels like to be blamed for something He didn’t do. In short, Jesus knows what it feels like to be you. Who is this Who sleeps in the back of the boat? He is a human, just like you.
A guy sleeping in the back of the boat during a storm, such as the one that ragged on the Sea of Galilee that day, would have likely been the main topic of conversation if that man hadn’t also calmed the storm. But, understandably so, it was the calming of the storm that captured the disciple’s attention. ‘Who is this Who commands the wind and the waves?’, they asked. Now, on the one hand we understand the question. To command the weather is beyond the capability of any human. But on the other hand, the answer to the question seems rather obvious.
In the days before Jesus and His disciples set sail on the Sea of Galilee, Mark tells us Jesus taught in the synagogues not as other men taught but Jesus taught them as “one who had authority”[4]. I teach and preach by the authority of another. Jesus preached and taught by the authority of Himself. Also, before Jesus and His disciples set sail, Mark tells us Jesus healed many who had various diseases like leprosy and paralysis. Additionally, after the storm, we who have the hindsight of Mark’s gospel are told after Jesus and His disciples landed on the other side of the Sea, Jesus drove a legion of demons out of a man and raised a dead girl back to life. Never mind what is beyond the capabilities of a man, these things are beyond the capabilities of Shangti, Amaterasu, Buddha, Ganesha and all the other so-called deities imagined by man. Who is this Who commands the wind and the waves? He is the one and only God Almighty.
Knowing Who Jesus is helps us better understand what Jesus did, both on the Sea of Galilee and on the cross of Calvary. Jesus did not come down from heaven to simply calm storms. While it is comforting for us that Jesus knows what it feels like to be human, Jesus didn’t come down from heaven to merely sympathize with us. Jesus came down from heaven to save sinners; sinners like me and you. You know in your heart of hearts that you have fallen short of perfection; you know you are guilty of wrongdoing. This falling short and wrongdoing are called sin. Scripture tells us “the wages of sin is death”[5]; the punishment for a human’s sin is a human death. You and I deserve to die because you and I are sinners. But thankfully, Jesus came down from heaven and became fully human, just like me and you. Yet unlike me and you Jesus did not fall short, and Jesus was never guilty of any wrongdoing, Jesus was not a sinner. But because this perfect man so loved humanity; so loves you, the man Jesus choose to endure the punishment of your sin; He allowed Himself to experience human suffering, He allowed His human blood to be shed, He gave up His human breath. The man Jesus suffered the sinner’s punishment to save you.
But how is it that the suffering and death of one man could pay for the sins of all humanity? This is possible only because that one man was also almighty God. As almighty God Jesus has authority over all things both natural and supernatural. “Quiet! Be still!”, Jesus commanded the wind and the waves and, powerful forces though they be, they had no choice but to obey that command. But it was not just the wind and waves that Jesus commanded. On the cross, after Jesus paid for your sins and mine, He commanded forces even more powerful than wind and wave. “It is finished”[6], Jesus commanded death and devil and, powerful forces though they be, they had no choice but to obey that command. Jesus, the one and only God almighty has put a muzzle on death and devil to save you.
Over the last few days, we have experimented with and learned about weather all the while recognizing weather can be a powerful force. Today in Mark’s gospel we have been reminded that Jesus is an even more powerful force. Today we have asked the question, “Who is this?” Who is this man who slept in the back of a boat and suffered for your sin? Who is this Almighty God who commands wind and waves as well as death and devil. “Who is this?” This is Jesus, your savior and mine. Amen.
[1] John 4:6
[2] Matthew 21:18
[3] John 19:28
[4] Mark 1:22
[5] Romans 6:23
[6] John 19:30