Message preached Sunday, April 12, 2015 from Mark 4:35-41
Theme: This passage shows how to trust in Jesus in such a way as to be free from fearfulness.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
As we continue our study of the Gospel of Mark, we return to a passage that we have spent some time in before. But this morning, we’ll look at it with a different—and I hope very practical—application in mind.
That passage is found in Mark 4:35-41. It comes at the end of a long section in Mark’s Gospel—one in which He spoke many parables to a large crowd of people gathered along the shores of the Sea of Galilee. There were so many people in fact that He had to teach them from a boat in the water. And He explained the meaning of those parables personally to His disciples. And through it all, He taught His listeners a great deal about the kingdom of God.
It had been a very busy and very remarkable day of teaching and instruction. And so, with that context in mind, Mark then goes on to tell us this story:
On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” (Mark 4:35-41).
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Now; it’s important that we keep the main point of this story before us. And the main point is to prove to us that Jesus is the almighty Son of God.
In verse 11, Jesus told His disciples that to them it had been given to know “the mystery of the kingdom”. And the mystery is that the kingdom is all about Him; for He is the King of the kingdom, and all the fullness of that kingdom and the establishment of it is embodied in Him. One of the main purposes of this story, then, is to prove to us that He is the Son of God who is King of kings and sovereign over all things—even the weather.
But I believe there are other practical points that can be drawn from this passage. And one of those practical points is suggested to us by the gentle rebuke that our Lord gave to His disciples after He calmed the storm. He told them, “Why are you so fearful?” We need to pay particular attention to that word “fearful”.
In the original language of the New Testament—and even in this morning’s passage—there are a couple of words that are translated “fear” or “fearful”. One of them is a Greek word that you will probably recognize. It’s the word phobos; and it’s one from which we get the English word “phobia”. The idea of ‘a phobia’ tends to be thought of by us as negative thing. Phobias are bad to have. But the Greek word phobos is not itself always meant to be taken negatively. Sometimes, of course, it is; and when it’s used in a negative way, it’s often translated “fear” or “terror” in the Bible. But the same word can also mean something positive—a holy and godly fear that is something like the idea of deep reverence and awe. That’s how the word phobos is used in verse 11, by the way. When the disciples saw the power of the Lord Jesus over the storm, we’re told that they “feared exceedingly”; meaning that they were overcome with a sense of reverential awe because of the deep and sobering realization that they were in the presence of the all-powerful Son of God.
But in verse 10, when Jesus rebuked them and said, “Why are you so fearful?”, He used a completely different word. It’s a lovely sounding word that almost makes you think of a flower—deilia. But the thing it represents is not lovely at all. It’s a word that speaks of a sinful kind of fear that is never good; and it can sometimes be better translated “timidity” or “cowardliness”. It’s a kind of fear that comes from not believing on God or trusting Him as we should; a kind of fear that causes us to freeze up and not do what God tells us to do.
I think that a really great Old Testament illustration of the idea behind this word would be the story of the twelve spies in the days of Moses, who were sent out to examine the promised land. You remember that story, don’t you? After God had delivered the people of Israel from their bondage in Egypt, and as they approached the promised land to enter into it and take possession of it, Moses sent one representative from each of the twelve tribes to go on ahead and spy out the land in advance. After forty days, they came back; and they gave a report of how wonderfully fruitful and rich the land was. It truly was a land of milk and honey.
But that’s when this negative kind of fear—this timid, cowardly deilia kind of fear—began to take over. Only two of those twelve spies encouraged the people to rise up, trust God, and take possession of the land He was giving them. The remaining ten spies gave a discouraging report to the people, and tried to talk them out of going forward. “The people of the land are too strong for us”, they said. “They have fortified cities, and their armies are powerful and oppressive. And beside that, there are giants living in the land. We looked like grasshoppers next to them.” The two other spies tried to make the case that God would help them and give them success they will simply go in and conquer. But it was to no avail. A terrible attitude of unbelief and fearfulness had so taken hold of the people that they would not go up and do what God commanded them to do. They even talked about stoning Moses and his brother Aaron to death with stones, and then turning around and going back to their slavery in Egypt. And you probably remember what happened as a result. That whole generation lost its opportunity to enter the promised land. God made them wander in the desert for forty years until they died out; and then, their children—with full trust in God—entered in and conquered the land that they themselves would not rise up and take.
Now; let’s be clear. The thing we’re talking about—this deilia kind of timidity—isn’t a personality trait. Some of us are a bit shy and retiring by nature. And I don’t believe that God mean for us to understand that to be sinful. That’s just a part of who some of us are. And even then, when we tend to be shy by nature, we will still rise up—in spite of our natural inclination—and trust God and do the things that He calls us to do.
But instead, this is talking about a moral kind of timidity that comes from unbelief. This type of sinful, God-doubting fear is a terrible thing. It robs us of the good things God wants to give us. Here’s what the New Testament says about it. The apostle Paul once wrote to encourage his younger ministry assistant Timothy and said;
For God has not given us a spirit of fear [deilia—that is, an attitude of timidity and cowardliness], but of power and of love and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).
Such a ‘fear’ is not of God. In fact, at the end of the Book of Revelation—in the description that is given to us of the New Jerusalem—we’re told that such fear will be among the things that will not be allowed in. The word deilia is translated “cowardly”; and you get a sense of what kind of sinful company this type of fearfulness keeps when Revelation 21:8 tells us,
“But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8).
That’s because this kind of fear is something that expresses itself in disobedience—a disobedience that flows directly from a refusal to trust God or to believe His promises. It’s something that is utterly out of keeping with a relationship with Jesus Christ. In fact, Jesus even used this very same word when He told His disciples;
“Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27).
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And that’s why I believe this morning’s passage is a truly practical one. Dear brothers and sisters; I believe we’re living in a time when we need very much to be cured of this kind of soul-crippling fearfulness.
You can certainly think of it in terms of our own personal lives. There are things in our lives that God wants us to rise up and do; ministry opportunities that He wants us to rise up and seize; people that He wants us to lovingly go to and serve; great things that He wants us to trust Him for. And yet, I suspect that many of us fail to do what God wants us to do out of this very same kind of fearfulness.
For others of us, there are sinful habits and patterns and practices in our lives that God is calling us to conquer. It may be that the Spirit of God is telling us in some way that we need to step forward into an area of obedience—one that involves making some significant changes in our lives. It may be that there are relationships we need to break off, or life-style situations that we need to remove ourselves from. It may involve big changes. And it may even include opposition and ridicule from certain people in our lives. And yet, we freeze up out of fear; and fail to go forward, and grow in obedience to Christ’s call, and discover how faithful He is.
Or consider the our witness as the church to this world. We live in times that are hostile to our faith—and that are growing more hostile, it seems, every day. The Lord Jesus told us that we are to be a light in this world; and that we’re not to hide that light, but rather let it shine. But the forces of unbelief in this world are demanding more and more that we conceal that light. We’re often told to keep quiet about our faith, and to stop bringing the perspective of God’s word into the matters that concern us all. It takes great courage nowadays to live a consistently righteous life out in the open; and to faithfully declare the truth of God’s word in the public square. These are days in which we need a holy boldness. And yet, when we hear the threats, we all to often lose our courage. We become timid in a sinful way; and then we fail to be the witness that we should be.
I believe one of the great values of this morning’s passage is that it teaches us how to overcome this negative, ungodly, spiritually crippling kind of fearfulness. And as is true of everything else in our Christian life, the answer is found in drawing closer to the Lord Jesus Himself. The closer we draw to Him, the less fearful we will be.
Let’s go through this passage again; and as we do, let’s draw out some principles for trusting Jesus in such a way as to lose our fearfulness.
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Now; all of our Lord’s great teaching in Mark 4 had occurred near the norther coast of the Sea of Galilee—in the town of Capernaum. Mark tells us, “On the same day, when evening had come”, Jesus gave a command to His disciples. The sun was beginning to go down; and He said to them, “Let’ us cross over to the other side” (v. 35).
To cross the Sea of Galilee would have meant a journey of about five to seven miles. And if we were to read on to the next chapter, we’d find that the place they were heading was “the country of the Gadarenes” over on the eastern coast of the sea. (The disciples didn’t know it yet; but Jesus had an appointment there. He was going to heal a demon-possessed man who lived among the tombs, and turn him into one of His followers. But we’ll get to that story next time.)
And look carefully at what happened after Jesus gave that command. We’re told, “Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was.” (v. 36a). As they left at His instruction, they made sure to take Him along. And there’s a spiritual principle in those words that, if we’re not careful, we might easily miss; but it’s one that makes all the difference in our courage . . .
#1: MAKE SURE THAT JESUS IS INVITED FIRST INTO EVERY CIRCUMSTANCE THAT HE LEADS YOU TO.
Now; could you imagine how it would have been if, after Jesus had commanded them to go across the lake, the disciples had said, “Yes, Lord! We’ll make the trip across right away!”; then jump right into some boats and begin rowing with all their might?—as they left Him standing by the shore? That would be ridiculous, of course! And more than just ridiculous—it would have been fatal! And yet, we ourselves do it all the time. We so often run off in what we think is obedience to the Lord; and yet, we leave Him behind—as if we could do things without Him.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; we can’t do anything apart from Him! He Himself once said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Any time He sends us off to do what He commands, we need to stop and—as it were—take Him into the boat with us.
I am learning to do this more. Certainly, I am learning to do this in areas of ministry. In those tasks of ministry that I am called to perform in His service—not only the unusual ones, but even the regular ones—I am getting into the habit of stopping to ask, “Lord, please go with me in this. I cannot do anything apart from You.” But I’m also learning to do this in the mundane duties of life—the regular chores. The Lord calls me to do those things too—the work around home, the care of my family, the paying of bills. Some of those things are fun to do; but some of them can, at times, be a bit of a burden. But I have found that the load in all of them is lightened greatly by inviting the Lord to join me in them. And when things don’t go as I planned, or when a crisis strikes along the way, I find that I am much more ready to meet such times with courage; because I have already invited the Lord Jesus to come along with me.
I like it that it says that they took Jesus along “as He was”. I take that to mean that there hadn’t been any particular preparations made for Him with respect to the trip. He just got into the boat with them and off they went—as He was. It may have even been meant to indicate that He was tired from a long day. But if I may; I see it as suggesting to us that, in a spiritual sense, we need to do the same thing. Some people try to take Jesus along as they imagine Him to be—or as they would prefer Him to be. And He won’t go along with us on those terms. He won’t be an ‘imaginary’ Jesus for us—who goes to places with us, or approves of practices we engage in, that are against His expressed will. We need to take Jesus along with us “as He is”. And if we do, He’ll truly go with us.
And as I am learning to I invite Jesus to go with me in the various duties of life that He gives to me, I am also learning to ask Him help me remember that I invited Him! Sometimes when the crisis moments of life hit, I forget that He is there. But He has a way of reminding me that He is there when I have asked. And when I face challenges or trials along the way, it makes a great difference to remember that He is with me. Can you think of any situation in life in which you wouldn’t have courage—if you knew that Jesus was right there with you in it?
So; as a first principle in putting away all fearfulness, I suggest that we invite Jesus with us into every situation of life that He calls us to. What a difference that will make!
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Now; the fact that we invited Jesus to go along with us, that doesn’t mean that trouble won’t strike. It just makes us glad, whenever the trouble strikes, that He is there with us. And with respect to these disciples in the boat, it wasn’t very long at all before the trouble came. Mark tells; “And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling” (v. 37).
I take it that this windstorm was something very unusual; and that it took the disciples by complete surprise. It was a severe one! And notice that the boat was already filling with water and was beginning to sink. In the midst of such a powerful windstorm, there would have been no way that they could have made it to the shore. There were at least four professional fishermen on that boat; and they would have known that they were all about to perish.
But what about Jesus? They were all in a panic, but “He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow” (v. 38a). I take it that you can’t really have a greater crisis than to be in a sinking boat at sea out in the middle of a great windstorm. And yet, you can’t get a greater picture of calm in the midst of such a storm than to see Jesus asleep on the pillow.
And here’s another spiritual principle that helps us to put away fearfulness . . .
#2: CONSIDER CAREFULLY HOW JESUS HIMSELF RESPONDS TO OUR TIMES OF CRISIS.
If I may say this with all reverence; if they were to have turned and seen Jesus wringing His hands in worry and fear, then that would really be a time to panic! But He wasn’t worried at all. He was sleeping. And if He is not worried, then why should they be in a panic?
Have you ever read anywhere in the Scriptures that Jesus was fretful in the midst of a crisis? I can think of only two times in the Scriptures where we’re told that He was “troubled”. The first was when He went to see the tomb of His friend Lazarus; and I believe that He was troubled because He was about to take His beloved friend away from heavenly glory for a time. And the other time Jesus was “troubled” was while He was in the garden as He was waiting to be arrested. And that was because He was about to go to the cross and bear the punishment for your and my sins. But even then—at the one time when it would have made the most sense for Him to have ‘panicked’—even though His heart was troubled—He nevertheless prayed, “Your will be done”, and then rose up and submitted to the Father. Other than those two times, I know of no other occasions in which we were told that He was “troubled”—and certainly no occasions at all in which He was “fearful”.
Dear brothers and sisters; I suggest that we make a careful study of Jesus in the Gospels, and learn to watch how He responded to trying circumstances. There is no crisis we could ever face that would be greater than what He faced. Certainly, we can’t claim anything greater than being in a sinking boat in the midst of a great windstorm, could we? And if we invite Him into the various situations of our life, then He would be the same in them as He was in any other. If He is not panicking, why should we? As the Bible affirms;
You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You (Isaiah 26:3).
Do you want to get rid of fearfulness in your life? Then keep your eyes fixed on Jesus in the midst of trials—and watch how He is responding.
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Now, the disciples found Jesus sleeping; and they took it to mean that He didn’t care. Aren’t we often like them? If we don’t find God panicking, then we assume it’s because He doesn’t care about our situation. Mark tells us, “And they awoke Him and said to Him, ‘Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?’”
Now; it wasn’t until they cried out to Him in fear that He got up. And I don’t believe it was because of the storm. The Son of God was in that boat with them, after all; and they would not die. But I believe Jesus rose up to demonstrate to them His authority as the Son of God. Mark tells us, “Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm” (v. 39). Do you see the connection? There was a “great” storm; but as soon as He rose up and gave His command, there was a “great” calm. Great storm—and immediately, great calm. What a stunning picture it would have been to them of the authority and power of Jesus!
And notice what happened next. “But He said to them, ‘Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?’” (v. 40). This can be translated—and I believe more accurately so—“Have you still no faith?” In other words, Jesus’ rebuke suggests that they should have learned some lessons about Him by that point that would have taken away their fearfulness.
What should they have already known? By this point in their history with Jesus, they should have known that John the Baptist had pointed Him out to them as the Son of God; and they would have already seen the witness of the Holy Spirit coming upon Him at His baptism, and heard the voice of the Father saying that He was His beloved Son. They should have known that they were in the presence of Someone exercised sovereign control over the elements of this earth—Someone who was able to even turn water into wine. They should have known that He was able to exercise authority over demons—and to cast them out even as they were crying out that He was the Son of God. They should have known that people could be brought to Him many different places with every kind of disease and sickness; and that He could heal them all.
And this suggests another principle to us in driving out fearfulness in times of crisis . . .
#3: REMEMBER WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE ALREADY LEARNED ABOUT THE SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY OF JESUS (vv. 38b-40).
This is another thing that I am learning to do. In addition to making sure that I invite Jesus with me into every venture He calls me to; and in addition to keeping my eyes on Jesus and watching how He responds to the trials of my life; I am also learning to recall the lessons I should have—by this point—already learned about Jesus; and bringing those lessons to bear in the current situations I face.
I would even dare to say that I have more of an obligation to do this than the disciples did. I know so much more now than they did in that boat! I have read the stories in the Scriptures of all that Jesus did; and I also have two-thousand years of history of Jesus’ mighty works of faithfulness in the lives of people.
If we remember what we’ve already been taught about Jesus—His sovereignty and authority—then we won’t be fearful and cowardly in the trials of life.
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And there’s one more lesson. We see it in verse 41. After Jesus calmed the storm before their very eyes, we’re told, “And they feared exceedingly”—not with a craven, cowardly, timid deilia fear; but with a reverential sense of awe that comes from the realization of the power and authority of Jesus. Do you notice that this is the third “great” in this passage? There was a great storm; and then there was a great calm; and now there is a great sense of holy fear.
Mark goes on to say that the disciples said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” Who? It is the Son of God. They began to worship Him for who He is. And I suggest that the principle we learn is this:
#4: REPLACE YOUR FEAR OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES WITH AN EVEN GREATER REVERENCE FOR JESUS (v. 41).
I would even suggest that you and I not even bother to try to not be cowardly or timid. That’s not the way to go about it. It’d be like trying not to think of polar bears. Instead of trying to not be fearful, just let that fearfulness be displaced with an even greater fear: a reverential fear of the Lord Jesus. Draw so close to Him, and study Him so intently, and learn from so much from Him, that you hold Him in reverential awe. Worship Him! And if you truly fear Him as you should, you will never have to be afraid of anything or anyone else!
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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; we truly need to be set free from the kind of sinful, cowardly fearfulness. It keeps us from obeying the will of God. In fact, this lost and fallen world needs us to be free of it. And this passage shows us how.
Let’s get into the habit of inviting Jesus with us into every situation of life. Let’s consider carefully how He responds to the things we face. Let’s study His works, and remember all that we have been taught—both in God’s word and through personal experience—about His power and authority. And let’s grow to hold Him in such reverential awe that we fear nothing else.
And the closer drawn we are to Him, the further from fearfulness we will be.