"Who Then Is This?" based on Mark 4:35-41
Pastor Troy Slater - Our
Just a few moments ago we confessed
together our faith in the words of the Nicene Creed. And of course as a part of that confession we
said regarding our Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, that He
is “of one substance with the Father, by
whom all things were made.” In
other words we confessed that Jesus was present at creation; that He was active
in creation; that He is Lord of creation.
Yes by Him “all things were made.”
And in fact
that is the point of our Gospel reading for today. He is the Lord of creation; even the winds
and the sea obey Him. In the chapters leading
up to our Gospel, Mark records for us how Jesus had power over demons, how he
could even heal the sick, make the lame to walk. And now here He is commanding the winds and
the waves to stop. After His disciples
wake him on their now frightening journey across the
This week I
came across an interesting little story about a man named Canute who served as
the King of England during the early eleventh century. According to legend King Canute once had his
throne set up by the seashore as the tide was coming in. The story goes that he did this for the very
purpose of exposing the error of his flatterers who told him that his word was
so powerful that even the tide would recede at his command. And so Seated on his
seaside throne, he ordered the tide not to invade his territory or to wet his
garments. I don't think I need to tell any
of you that the sea did not listen. He
and his garments got wet. But at this point it is said that Canute then declared, “Let all
the earth’s inhabitants know that the power of kings is vain and frivolous, nor
is any king worthy of the name except Him by whose command heaven, earth, and
sea obey eternal laws.” It is
said that Canute then placed his crown on the head of
an image of Christ on the cross. Apparently
he knew the truth that there is only one who can command the winds and the
waves and that one is God – and that one God is the Triune God – Father, SON,
and Holy Spirit. As the second person of
the Trinity – Jesus is God, He is Lord of creation. Only He can command the winds and the seas,
and they obey. …
In our
reading for this morning from Mark, chapter four, as the disciples see this Jesus
exercise His power even over the wind and the waves, they understandably become
rather frightened. Our reading tells us “they were filled with great fear and said to one another, "Who
then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?" I say they “understandably become frightened”
because put yourself in their shoes.
Probably all of us have been in some rather severe storms - probably
most of us saw one this past week as wind gusts over 60 miles an hour ripped
through our town. But imagine someone you
were with going out into that storm and saying to those winds and that rain -
"Quiet! Be still!" - and
the storm listens; in about a half second it becomes just as peaceful and as
calm as you've ever seen it. … You
wouldn’t know what to think about that person who was with you. And now imagine that just a few seconds
earlier you had rather sternly chastised that person who had such authority and
power. "Uh-oh. Who in the world am I dealing with here?", you would
no doubt wonder in awe and fear.
That’s what the
disciples had just done – chastising an all-powerful Jesus for sleeping and his
seemingly “uncaring” attitude as this violent storm had come upon them. .. Yes
they were filled with fear wondering, “Who
then is this that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” … "Who then is this?" …
Of
course we know much more about this Jesus than those disciples did as they sat
there in fear and awe in that boat on that suddenly calm Sea of Galilee. Here almost 2,000 years later, yes we know
much more about this Jesus who stood before them. For we know the rest of the story, don’t we? We know about those other events that Mark
records for us in his gospel account.
Events such as Jesus raising a dead girl and giving her back to her
father. Events such as Jesus healing both
a woman who had been sick for twelve years and also a man who was both deaf and
mute. Events such as the feeding of five
thousand men plus who knows how many women and children using only five loaves
and two fish. We know of His walking on
water, His transfiguration with Moses and Elijah. We know of His royal welcome into Jerusalm on
Palm Sunday. And most importantly, we
know of His suffering under Pontius Pilate, His crucifixtion, His death and yes
we know of His resurrection on the third day.
We know the rest of the story. We
know exactly who this Jesus is - the Son of God - the Lord of all creation "by whom all things were made"
who died that we might live; we know that He is the one who went to the cross
that forgiveness and life and heaven might be ours.
And
we know that this same Jesus - this Lord of creation - this Savior - has
promised to be with us - never to leave us - never to forsake us. And of course this is good news, isn't it? We have no reason to fear. This is good news because in a way, we're on a
journey. We are on a journey sailing across
the sea to our homeland, to the promised land.
And of course this journey is not always "smooth sailing" is
it? That boat that we are in - it gets
tossed about by the wind and the waves - the sea is not always so calm as the
storms of life come and appear to threaten our sanity, not to mention our very
lives. But we are not alone in this
boat, are we? We have one who is in the
boat with us - in fact one who is even guiding the boat over life's treacherous
waters. And He is the Lord of creation -
the one who can even command the winds and the sea. He is the one who can calm all our fears - He
is the Lord of creation who is also the Savior of the cross. He is in the boat with us. …
Now does that
mean then that He will take away all pains, all sorrows, hardships - make our
travels smooth sailing? No. For Jesus goal is not to make life easy. Jesus did not come to be our good luck charm
or to be an “easy button”. Rather Jesus
came to die for us – for the forgiveness of all our sins – to win heaven for
us. .
Jesus' goal is to teach us to trust in Him no matter what. His goal is to help us to see that our only
hope and salvation is in Him and in Him alone.
And so the storms will come - they will come - you can bet on it. But still, no matter what, He's right here
with us - in the boat - leading us, protecting us, guiding us, forgiving us,
teaching us to trust in Him. ..
In Psalm 23 - a
Psalm probably most of us know rather well - a Psalm that is of course often
said at bedsides and at funerals - but in it we say, "yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I
will fear no evil, for Thou art with me." No matter what life may through at us - no
matter what valley we may enter, no matter what storm may come - we have
nothing to fear.
For "who is
this" Jesus in the boat with us?
Well He is not only the Lord of creation - the one who can even command
the wind and the waves and they obey, but He is also our Savior - who went to
the cross for us. The disciples were
still learning that. The cross, the
resurrection were yet to come. But we
know it; we've been baptized into Jesus' cross and resurrection; we’ve heard
His word of absolution; we feast on His body and blood given and shed for the
forgiveness of all our sins. We know it;
we believe it; we cling to it. We cling
to Jesus – the Lord of creation who is also the Savior of the cross. And to Him be the glory both now and
forever. Amen.