Jesus: Sovereign in the Storm
Introduction
Job said, “God alone treads on the waves of the sea.”
Last week we saw the glory of Jesus revealed in His miraculous feeding of more than 10,000 people. It was a miracle of provision. This week we are going to see one that points to the Lord’s protection. Jesus walking on the water is a classic passage in the Bible that brings hope and encouragement in the storms of life.
Jesus demonstrates to His disciples His divine power over the laws of nature. Man operates within the laws of nature, but, God as the Creator, transcends those laws. He is not bound by gravity. He is not bound by scarcity. He is not bound by disease. He is not bound by demons. In the 3 years of His ministry the disciples would learn day after day that there is nothing that Jesus is not greater than.
Even death, in the end, was not greater than our Lord, “Where O Death is your victory?” Paul would say in 1 Corinthians. Jesus is victorious over death. This is because He has authority over all things. He said in John 10, “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” Jesus has power over death and by His resurrection He proved it.
We know therefore that when He promises that He has authority to grant life to those who believe in Him that we indeed have life. Each supernatural act, each miraculous display of power was proof that He was sovereign over creation, and was pointing up to the fact that ultimately He was sovereign over death. Jesus is able to protect us from eternal death.
I mentioned last week that the feeding of the 5,000 was for the sake of the disciples. They were the ones who were the primary targets to witness this miracle. They needed to learn of the sufficient supply the Lord would provide. They needed to know that living for Christ and serving Him was supernatural and that He would supernaturally equip them with everything needed.
This week we see a miracle that shows Jesus is the One who protects. His disciples were the only witnesses of it. Again, Jesus’ intention is that they learn an important truth from seeing Him walking on the water. They would face much danger in the years ahead.
This is yet another event where Jesus shows them His supernatural power is able to keep them safe. In the middle of the storm Jesus is in control. The waters may seem out of control, but, Jesus walks on the water in perfect control. Life may seem to be coming down all around, but, when we see Jesus sovereign over life we can have His peace. He is sovereign in the storm.
Context
The previous verses ended with the crowd ready to force Jesus to become their king. We can see from John as well as Matthew and Mark’s Gospel’s that Jesus 1) immediately told the disciples to get into the boats and go on without Him, 2) sent the crowds away, and 3) went up to the mountain alone to pray.
Protection (v. 16-21)
Verses 15-21 show the supernatural protection that Jesus provides. We see three ways that Jesus does this: 1) He Prays, 2) He Parts the disciples from the crowd, and 3) He gives His Peace.
Protection by Prayer
First, Jesus protects us by praying for us. In Verse 15 John says Jesus goes up to the mountain. It is in Matthew and Mark’s account of this story that we learn Jesus went there to pray. Luke 5:16 says that Jesus would often get away from everyone, go to a lonely place and pray all alone for long periods of time.
Jesus prayed for Peter, He prayed before raising Lazarus from the dead, He prayed in John 17. He intercedes for us right now according to Romans 8:34. He is sympathetic to us while He prays according to Hebrews 4:15.
One reason He is the perfect intercessor is because He sees everything perfectly. Mark 6:48 tells us that while Jesus was still on the land, “He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them.” He sees His disciples where they are at and He knows that stormy wind is against them.
The Sea of Galilee has a reputation for its violent and spontaneous storms. It is about 700 feet below sea level. There are cutouts in the mountains on the west side of the Sea. These cutouts act like funnels for rushing wind that comes off of the Mediterranean Sea. I was thinking of this Friday night when we went to the Griffins game downtown in G.R. While walking down the street we came up to the arena on our right and on the left side of the street was another tall building a block long. As we approached we could feel the wind blowing harder in our faces as the buildings made a funnel for the wind. The wind like that on the Sea of Galilee made it a nasty voyage for the disciples that night.
Jesus watched it all. He knows the rain is driving down on them. He sees the wind blowing all around them. He sees the waves crashing all around. He sees that with every row they make little to no progress. A trip that should have taken a few hours is taking all night. He sees the storm they are in.
He sees the storm you are in too. He knows how you are struggling. He knows how the waves are crashing in. He knows that the night seems so long and the storm has no end. He knows the harder you try the less you go forward. All you ever had, and all you ever knew seem to fail you now. You seem at the mercies of the storm of life, beaten about and bruised from each crashing wave.
And just as He watched the disciples knowing they strained at the oars, so too He sees you knowing how you strain as well. And He steadfastly prays that you would not fail. He faithfully intercedes that you would have all you need.
Prayer was important to Jesus. Jesus knows what it is to be “too busy” and “too tired”. He knows what it is to be “too overwhelmed”. But, He regularly sacrificed the time, the energy, and even doing good things to go and pray alone. Boy we can learn from that can’t we? Spiritual growth comes from a strong prayer life and that doesn’t come without sacrifice. There are people who are straining at the oars of life that we need to be praying for. You may be that person.
Protection by Parting the Disciples (v. 16)
Secondly, Jesus protects by parting the disciples from the crowd. He sent them away specifically to get them away from the crowd. He didn’t want them getting caught up in the crowd’s misguided ambitions to make Him king.
The crowds were dangerously confused about the will of God. For Jesus, the cross comes before the kingdom. His kingdom is one that is not OF this world (John 18:36). That means the authority of His kingdom does not come from this world. These 5,000 men were trying to give Jesus a kingdom; the authority would come from them.
They weren’t the only ones though. Satan did the same thing in Matthew 4. He brought Jesus up to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world. He said to Jesus, “I will give you all these kingdoms to be yours if you will fall down and worship me.” The authority of this kingdom would come from Satan.
But Jesus rebuked that devil and made him flee. He also made these people leave too because of their misguided ambitions. When the time comes for His kingdom it will be by the authority of heaven. Daniel 7:13-14 says, “He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He WAS GIVEN authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and HIS KINGDOM is one that will never be destroyed.”
The authority of this kingdom will come from heaven. And those who are a part of this kingdom must be born into it. John 3:3, “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born again”.
In other words, the only way to be in His kingdom is if He forgives you for your sins. Colossians 1:13 says this, “For God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness, and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Being forgiven is the only ticket into the kingdom. That forgiveness was made possible by Jesus’ death on the cross. It was there that He took our sins away. The forgiveness that comes from the cross must come before the kingdom.
The Jews wanted the king and the kingdom now and completely missed that the cross was their ticket into God’s kingdom. They we’re an obstacle to the plan of God.
What we have here is another perfect illustration of what happens when people misunderstand who the Messiah was and what He came to do. Peter was guilty of this too, do you remember? Jesus predicted that He would have to go to Jerusalem, be arrested, flogged and crucified. This was God’s will.
But, Peter grabs Jesus by the arm takes Him aside and rebukes Jesus for talking in such a way. Do you remember what Jesus said? He looks at Peter and says, “Get behind me Satan.” He didn’t call him Peter because at that moment it was the work of Satan to stop Jesus from going to the cross.
People misunderstand Jesus. The Muslims say He was just a prophet and really didn’t die on the cross. The New Ager’s like those over at C3 believe Jesus was someone who achieved Christ-consciousness – realized the divine within Himself. The Nation of Islam thinks He is black. The Jews think He was a blasphemer. The Emergent Church thinks Jesus came to be transform our culture with a social agenda.
The authority and the agenda Jesus had did not come from Peter, Satan, or these 5,000 men. It came from God. “The Son can only do what He sees the Father doing.” “The Father loves the Son and has placed all things into His hands”.
Jesus was keeping the disciples on track with His program and so He tells them to go ahead of Him. Jesus sent the crowds one way, and the disciples another so that they wouldn’t get caught up in the misguided ambitions and attempts of the crowd.
How often it is that we need to be parted from the crowd. The Bible says Don’t be deceived, bad company corrupts good character. This is a warning – don’t get tricked, don’t get fooled - The best intentions of good Christians can be spoiled by the influence of ungodly people – and that includes worldly and carnal Christians.
Proverbs says that as iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another. Our ambitions for our own Christian character are only attained by the lives of others who are ambitious for Christian character. Get influenced by people who are influenced by Christ. Don’t get swallowed up in bad company.
Listen to 1 John 2:15, “Do not love the world or anything in it.” The more you hang around worldly people the more you will love the world and the things in it.
Protection of His Peace
So the Lord protects us by praying for us. He protects us by parting us from the crowd. And thirdly He protects us by His Peace.
By the time Jesus comes to the disciples walking on the water it is the 4th watch. That means it is between 3am and 6am. Jesus has been praying and watching them for at least 6 hours. When He arrives they think He is a ghost and they are terrified. But it is when He speaks to them in verse 20 that their fears are calmed. Jesus says, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Did you know the words, “don’t be afraid” occur 365 times in the Bible? (One for each day of the year). It’s the voice of our Lord that is able to calm the anxious heart.
Later, in John 16:33, Jesus would tell them “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But, take heart! I have overcome the world.” In chapter 15 Jesus told the disciples all about how the world was going to hate them. In chapter 16 He tells them they will have grief when the world will have joy. But, that their grief will turn to joy for He will return to them.
And so by the time He finishes this private teaching in chapter 16 He tells them why He taught them all these things: so that in Him they may have peace while they are in the world. The storm of the world’s hostility and persecution will come upon them and that night on the Sea of Galilee He gave them an object lesson. The waters may rise up against them but He is the God who alone treads upon the Sea.
And just as He transcends the laws of nature, so too the peace that He gives is transcending. Remember Philippians 4? “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” God’s peace surpasses understanding. What Paul is saying is that we may not know the answers, we may not comprehend, we may not understand why things happen, but, we can have a peace that overrides our troubled hearts. That peace is in Christ Jesus
Conclusion
Life gets stormy. But, in the middle of life’s storms Jesus remains sovereign. He protects in the storm, just like we saw last week He provides in the scarcity. He protects by praying for us, by parting us from the crowd, and giving us His peace. Warren Wiersbe makes an interesting observation, “In writing the account of this event years later, perhaps John saw in it a picture of Christ and His Church. Christ is in heaven interceding for us, but we are in the midst of the storms on the sea of life, trying to reach the shore. One day, He shall come for us and we shall reach the port safely, the storms all past.”
What a beautiful picture of our hope of salvation. Our Lord having called us out of the world and separated us unto Himself; praying us through the storms of life; speaking His peace to us in our hearts, and one day coming back for us to bring us ashore to the eternal home He has for us.
Introduction
Job said, “God alone treads on the waves of the sea.”
Last week we saw the glory of Jesus revealed in His miraculous feeding of more than 10,000 people. It was a miracle of provision. This week we are going to see one that points to the Lord’s protection. Jesus walking on the water is a classic passage in the Bible that brings hope and encouragement in the storms of life.
Jesus demonstrates to His disciples His divine power over the laws of nature. Man operates within the laws of nature, but, God as the Creator, transcends those laws. He is not bound by gravity. He is not bound by scarcity. He is not bound by disease. He is not bound by demons. In the 3 years of His ministry the disciples would learn day after day that there is nothing that Jesus is not greater than.
Even death, in the end, was not greater than our Lord, “Where O Death is your victory?” Paul would say in 1 Corinthians. Jesus is victorious over death. This is because He has authority over all things. He said in John 10, “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” Jesus has power over death and by His resurrection He proved it.
We know therefore that when He promises that He has authority to grant life to those who believe in Him that we indeed have life. Each supernatural act, each miraculous display of power was proof that He was sovereign over creation, and was pointing up to the fact that ultimately He was sovereign over death. Jesus is able to protect us from eternal death.
I mentioned last week that the feeding of the 5,000 was for the sake of the disciples. They were the ones who were the primary targets to witness this miracle. They needed to learn of the sufficient supply the Lord would provide. They needed to know that living for Christ and serving Him was supernatural and that He would supernaturally equip them with everything needed.
This week we see a miracle that shows Jesus is the One who protects. His disciples were the only witnesses of it. Again, Jesus’ intention is that they learn an important truth from seeing Him walking on the water. They would face much danger in the years ahead.
This is yet another event where Jesus shows them His supernatural power is able to keep them safe. In the middle of the storm Jesus is in control. The waters may seem out of control, but, Jesus walks on the water in perfect control. Life may seem to be coming down all around, but, when we see Jesus sovereign over life we can have His peace. He is sovereign in the storm.
Context
The previous verses ended with the crowd ready to force Jesus to become their king. We can see from John as well as Matthew and Mark’s Gospel’s that Jesus 1) immediately told the disciples to get into the boats and go on without Him, 2) sent the crowds away, and 3) went up to the mountain alone to pray.
Protection (v. 16-21)
Verses 15-21 show the supernatural protection that Jesus provides. We see three ways that Jesus does this: 1) He Prays, 2) He Parts the disciples from the crowd, and 3) He gives His Peace.
Protection by Prayer
First, Jesus protects us by praying for us. In Verse 15 John says Jesus goes up to the mountain. It is in Matthew and Mark’s account of this story that we learn Jesus went there to pray. Luke 5:16 says that Jesus would often get away from everyone, go to a lonely place and pray all alone for long periods of time.
Jesus prayed for Peter, He prayed before raising Lazarus from the dead, He prayed in John 17. He intercedes for us right now according to Romans 8:34. He is sympathetic to us while He prays according to Hebrews 4:15.
One reason He is the perfect intercessor is because He sees everything perfectly. Mark 6:48 tells us that while Jesus was still on the land, “He saw the disciples straining at the oars, because the wind was against them.” He sees His disciples where they are at and He knows that stormy wind is against them.
The Sea of Galilee has a reputation for its violent and spontaneous storms. It is about 700 feet below sea level. There are cutouts in the mountains on the west side of the Sea. These cutouts act like funnels for rushing wind that comes off of the Mediterranean Sea. I was thinking of this Friday night when we went to the Griffins game downtown in G.R. While walking down the street we came up to the arena on our right and on the left side of the street was another tall building a block long. As we approached we could feel the wind blowing harder in our faces as the buildings made a funnel for the wind. The wind like that on the Sea of Galilee made it a nasty voyage for the disciples that night.
Jesus watched it all. He knows the rain is driving down on them. He sees the wind blowing all around them. He sees the waves crashing all around. He sees that with every row they make little to no progress. A trip that should have taken a few hours is taking all night. He sees the storm they are in.
He sees the storm you are in too. He knows how you are struggling. He knows how the waves are crashing in. He knows that the night seems so long and the storm has no end. He knows the harder you try the less you go forward. All you ever had, and all you ever knew seem to fail you now. You seem at the mercies of the storm of life, beaten about and bruised from each crashing wave.
And just as He watched the disciples knowing they strained at the oars, so too He sees you knowing how you strain as well. And He steadfastly prays that you would not fail. He faithfully intercedes that you would have all you need.
Prayer was important to Jesus. Jesus knows what it is to be “too busy” and “too tired”. He knows what it is to be “too overwhelmed”. But, He regularly sacrificed the time, the energy, and even doing good things to go and pray alone. Boy we can learn from that can’t we? Spiritual growth comes from a strong prayer life and that doesn’t come without sacrifice. There are people who are straining at the oars of life that we need to be praying for. You may be that person.
Protection by Parting the Disciples (v. 16)
Secondly, Jesus protects by parting the disciples from the crowd. He sent them away specifically to get them away from the crowd. He didn’t want them getting caught up in the crowd’s misguided ambitions to make Him king.
The crowds were dangerously confused about the will of God. For Jesus, the cross comes before the kingdom. His kingdom is one that is not OF this world (John 18:36). That means the authority of His kingdom does not come from this world. These 5,000 men were trying to give Jesus a kingdom; the authority would come from them.
They weren’t the only ones though. Satan did the same thing in Matthew 4. He brought Jesus up to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world. He said to Jesus, “I will give you all these kingdoms to be yours if you will fall down and worship me.” The authority of this kingdom would come from Satan.
But Jesus rebuked that devil and made him flee. He also made these people leave too because of their misguided ambitions. When the time comes for His kingdom it will be by the authority of heaven. Daniel 7:13-14 says, “He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He WAS GIVEN authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and HIS KINGDOM is one that will never be destroyed.”
The authority of this kingdom will come from heaven. And those who are a part of this kingdom must be born into it. John 3:3, “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born again”.
In other words, the only way to be in His kingdom is if He forgives you for your sins. Colossians 1:13 says this, “For God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness, and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Being forgiven is the only ticket into the kingdom. That forgiveness was made possible by Jesus’ death on the cross. It was there that He took our sins away. The forgiveness that comes from the cross must come before the kingdom.
The Jews wanted the king and the kingdom now and completely missed that the cross was their ticket into God’s kingdom. They we’re an obstacle to the plan of God.
What we have here is another perfect illustration of what happens when people misunderstand who the Messiah was and what He came to do. Peter was guilty of this too, do you remember? Jesus predicted that He would have to go to Jerusalem, be arrested, flogged and crucified. This was God’s will.
But, Peter grabs Jesus by the arm takes Him aside and rebukes Jesus for talking in such a way. Do you remember what Jesus said? He looks at Peter and says, “Get behind me Satan.” He didn’t call him Peter because at that moment it was the work of Satan to stop Jesus from going to the cross.
People misunderstand Jesus. The Muslims say He was just a prophet and really didn’t die on the cross. The New Ager’s like those over at C3 believe Jesus was someone who achieved Christ-consciousness – realized the divine within Himself. The Nation of Islam thinks He is black. The Jews think He was a blasphemer. The Emergent Church thinks Jesus came to be transform our culture with a social agenda.
The authority and the agenda Jesus had did not come from Peter, Satan, or these 5,000 men. It came from God. “The Son can only do what He sees the Father doing.” “The Father loves the Son and has placed all things into His hands”.
Jesus was keeping the disciples on track with His program and so He tells them to go ahead of Him. Jesus sent the crowds one way, and the disciples another so that they wouldn’t get caught up in the misguided ambitions and attempts of the crowd.
How often it is that we need to be parted from the crowd. The Bible says Don’t be deceived, bad company corrupts good character. This is a warning – don’t get tricked, don’t get fooled - The best intentions of good Christians can be spoiled by the influence of ungodly people – and that includes worldly and carnal Christians.
Proverbs says that as iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another. Our ambitions for our own Christian character are only attained by the lives of others who are ambitious for Christian character. Get influenced by people who are influenced by Christ. Don’t get swallowed up in bad company.
Listen to 1 John 2:15, “Do not love the world or anything in it.” The more you hang around worldly people the more you will love the world and the things in it.
Protection of His Peace
So the Lord protects us by praying for us. He protects us by parting us from the crowd. And thirdly He protects us by His Peace.
By the time Jesus comes to the disciples walking on the water it is the 4th watch. That means it is between 3am and 6am. Jesus has been praying and watching them for at least 6 hours. When He arrives they think He is a ghost and they are terrified. But it is when He speaks to them in verse 20 that their fears are calmed. Jesus says, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Did you know the words, “don’t be afraid” occur 365 times in the Bible? (One for each day of the year). It’s the voice of our Lord that is able to calm the anxious heart.
Later, in John 16:33, Jesus would tell them “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But, take heart! I have overcome the world.” In chapter 15 Jesus told the disciples all about how the world was going to hate them. In chapter 16 He tells them they will have grief when the world will have joy. But, that their grief will turn to joy for He will return to them.
And so by the time He finishes this private teaching in chapter 16 He tells them why He taught them all these things: so that in Him they may have peace while they are in the world. The storm of the world’s hostility and persecution will come upon them and that night on the Sea of Galilee He gave them an object lesson. The waters may rise up against them but He is the God who alone treads upon the Sea.
And just as He transcends the laws of nature, so too the peace that He gives is transcending. Remember Philippians 4? “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” God’s peace surpasses understanding. What Paul is saying is that we may not know the answers, we may not comprehend, we may not understand why things happen, but, we can have a peace that overrides our troubled hearts. That peace is in Christ Jesus
Conclusion
Life gets stormy. But, in the middle of life’s storms Jesus remains sovereign. He protects in the storm, just like we saw last week He provides in the scarcity. He protects by praying for us, by parting us from the crowd, and giving us His peace. Warren Wiersbe makes an interesting observation, “In writing the account of this event years later, perhaps John saw in it a picture of Christ and His Church. Christ is in heaven interceding for us, but we are in the midst of the storms on the sea of life, trying to reach the shore. One day, He shall come for us and we shall reach the port safely, the storms all past.”
What a beautiful picture of our hope of salvation. Our Lord having called us out of the world and separated us unto Himself; praying us through the storms of life; speaking His peace to us in our hearts, and one day coming back for us to bring us ashore to the eternal home He has for us.
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