Mark 4 Scripture Reading

SPEAKER_00 0:35

Hi, my name's Harmony Wynne. I'm in sixth grade. I go to Benisha Middle School, and today I will be reading Mark 4, 35 through 41. That day when the evening came, he said to his disciples, Let us go over to the other side. Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was in the boat. There were also both other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped. 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? He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, Quiet, be still. Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? They were terrified and asked each other, Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him. This is the word of the Lord.

When Obedience Brings A Storm

Crossing Into The Other Side

No Delay And Other Boats Follow

Jesus Sleeps And Fear Accuses

Peace Be Still And Tested Faith

Who Is This Over Chaos

Silence Or Sovereignty Final Question

SPEAKER_01 1:30

Thanks be to God. Great job, thank you. Um Ken's killing me. He's like, if you have no friends, come to the 7 o'clock. So if you want to make a friend, we're all there together. I'll be your friend. I'll help introduce you to some people. You know that you know it's like a good mingling. That's so good. Um, all right. So you got all the announcements about this Easter week, it's holy week. Um, it's Palm Sunday, and we're gonna talk about some storms. We're um in the Gospel of Mark, which is found in the New Testament. Um, and this just is the chronicles the uh of Jesus and his life, what he did, what he said, what he who he was, um, how uh people experienced him and how literally he changed things, including the way that we understand and see storms. And so we're in chapter four. We're gonna do uh just a couple verses today, which is gonna finish chapter four. So congratulations. We're wrapping that up. Uh, if you're new with us, um, this is a standalone, but feel free, you can go back. It's easy to catch up with us. You can listen to us online, uh, you can watch it on YouTube. And uh just glad you're here with us today. Um, there's a lot to this stuff. I mean, most of us uh were quietly taught a version of faith that I think kind of goes like this. If you obey God, um things should improve. If you follow Jesus, life should like smooth out. And if you're at the center of his will, then the wind should cooperate. And then you read our scripture for the day, where Jesus literally said, Hey guys, let's go across to the other side. And what happens is the disciples immediately obey. And the result, a violent storm, a filling boat, professional fishermen thinking they're about to die, and then Jesus taking a nap. And that's the tension that Mark wants us to feel today. Starts with this, verse 35. Says, on that day when evening had come, he said to them, Let us go across to the other side. So in Mark's narrative, the other side isn't just a change in scenery. It's the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. This is the region of uh Geresis, which was um we're gonna immediately see actually in Mark chapter 5. Uh, this region is largely Gentile, which is non-Jewish. It's culturally different, religiously unclean by Jewish standards. And it's not just a boat ride, this is a boundary crossing. For first century Jewish disciples, that matters deeply. The eastern side meant different food, uh, different customs, different moral frameworks, different gods. Pigs, which again, we are going to immediately see in Mark 5, they show up right off the bat. For observant Jews, pigs weren't just farm animals, they were unclean, symbolic of compromise of those people. So when Jesus says, let us go across to the other side, he's not initiating movement, he's initiating discomfort. And that changes how we read the storm. Because sometimes storms happen not just when we step into obedience, but when we start to step towards people that we've been trained to avoid. Think about the narrative flow in Mark. Last week, Jesus was teaching about soil, about reception, growth. Then immediately we'll soon see in Mark chapter five, he frees a demon-possessed man in Gentile territory, a man living among tombs and surrounded by pigs. And the storm today sits between teaching and confrontation, uh, between the Jewish shoreline safety and gentile spiritual chaos. In other words, the storm happens on the way to mission. So now let's explain what that means. For the disciples, the other side represented uh loss of control, loss of uh familiarity, loss of cultural dominance, uh, loss of being an insider. And here's where that hits us. For today, the other side might not be geographic, it might actually be relational or ideological, it might be vocational, it might be emotional. The other side is wherever Jesus is leading you beyond your comfort zone. And for some of you, the other side is maybe forgiving someone you'd rather avoid, having a hard conversation instead of ghosting, serving people who don't vote like you, loving people who don't live like you, staying faithful when your friends drift. For other, the other side is internal, facing your anxiety instead of numbing it, naming your grief instead of managing it, or admitting you're just not as strong as you present. And then there's this deeper theological layer. In the Old Testament, the sea represents chaos, uh, disorder, threats, like the unknown. And in Jewish imagination, the sea was not this neutral water, it was symbolic of untamed, the untamed world. And so when Jesus leads them across the Sea of Galilee territory, Mark is literally stacking imagery here. Chaotic waters, cultural outsiders, spiritual oppression, which again we're gonna see the demonic in coming weeks, unclean animals. Jesus is intentionally walking towards everything that religious Israel avoided. And that means that the storm isn't random. The storm sits at the threshold of expansion, and that's where this gets uncomfortable. Because we often assume that when God expands our influence, he actually makes it smoother. But in Mark, expansion comes through turbulence. The storm is not proof that the direction was wrong, it's resistance to what's on the other side. So now let's push this into like our own real lives here. Some of you feel like your life is stormy right now. Not because you did something reckless, but because you said yes. Maybe you said yes to a calling. Maybe you said yes to a relationship with integrity. You said yes to leadership. You said yes to therapy. You said yes to obedience when compromise would have been easier. And suddenly the wind picked up. It's tempting in those moments to assume I must have misheard. Maybe this wasn't God. Or if this was right, it would be easier. But Mark's narrative says something different. That the storm happened because Jesus was moving them towards territory that they would not choose on their own. And here's something even deeper. The disciples don't know yet what's on the other side. We do. The storm was on the way to someone's freedom. And that changes everything. The storm wasn't about them only, it was about who they were being sent to. Let that sink in. Sometimes the resistance that you experience isn't just about your formation, it's about someone else's liberation. If they had turned back, the guarantee man remains in chains. If they retreat to comfort, someone else remains in bondage. So the other side matters. So now let's just personalize this just a little bit further. There are a few ways that people respond when Jesus says, let's go to the other side. Some people, they're people who immediately grab oars, like they love movement. Um, they don't need all the details, the others hesitate, right? They want clarity, they want to understand why we are doing this. Others feel anxious. They can already imagine like the worst-case scenario. And then others feel protective. Like they think, why would we risk what we've built here? And every one of those personalities was probably in that boat. And Jesus leads them anyway. The call of Jesus will constantly take you beyond tribal safety, beyond echo chambers, beyond curated Christianity, into spaces where faith must be real. Because here's what's profound. We would often rather manage predictable chaos among our own people than cross into unfamiliar obedience. But the kingdom does not expand through staying, it expands through crossing. And here's the Christological punch. The one who commands the sea is not threatened by the other side. He doesn't cross nervously, he doesn't scout ahead cautiously, he doesn't negotiate with chaos, he moves with authority, which means the question becomes: are you willing to follow him into spaces that will stretch you? Not because they're trendy, not because they're dramatic, but because he said, Let us go. And for many of us, especially this matters. You're in a cultural moment where everyone is forming tribes, political tribes, identity tribes, digital tribes, spiritual tribes, and Jesus constantly moves across lines. We see he goes towards Samaritans, towards tax collectors, towards Gentiles, towards unclean, towards the overlooked. And if your version of following Jesus never disrupts your comfort, you may not be crossing where he crosses. The other side is where your faith stops being inherited and starts being embodied. The other side is where your theology gets tested, where your compassion gets stretched, where your fear surfaces and where your dependence actually deepens. And here's the grace in it. Jesus doesn't say, you go to the other side. He says, Let us go. He's not sending them alone. He's going first. And the storm may rage, the boat may feel, the fear may rise, but the crossing is literally communal. And on the other side of your obedience, there may be someone waiting who cannot cross the waters themselves, which means your storm may be someone else's salvation story. That's what the other side means in Mark. It's not just geography, it's mission, expansion, boundary breaking kingdom movement. And that changes how we sit in the storm. Okay, so now some of you are panicked right now because you're like, we're gonna be here all day. It just took him 12 minutes to do one verse. Verse 36. And leaving the crowd, they took him with him in the boat just as he was, and the other boats were with him. That phrase matters. Just as he was. Like no reset, no strategic meeting beforehand, no weather app check. What's it gonna be like? Just as he was. Jesus doesn't wait for optimal conditions to move forward. And there's also other boats with him. Don't miss that. This wasn't like just one tiny kayak drifting in chaos. This was a small fleet following Jesus into the dark, which means that when the storm hits, it's not just about one group's faith, it's communal, it's public, it's shared. Verse 37 and a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. So this uh Greek word here uh for windstorm is lipas, uh, a violent squall. Uh, the Sea of Galilee, for just you to understand, sits low. It's surrounded by hills, uh, and cold air literally rushes down that. And so what can happen is storms appear suddenly and aggressively, like that you don't see coming. A lot of times, you know, I uh had some moments where I grew up a little bit in uh Arizona, and you'd have a haboob or a monsoon out of nowhere, it'd be hot, and it was like it creates this thing. Same sort of idea out of nowhere. And these disciples, it's important to understand, they're not suburban hobby fishermen. Like these are professionals. They grew up on this water, they know normal storms, and this is not normal. The waves are not splashing politely here, they are breaking into the boat, and it is filling. Translation. This isn't inconvenient, this is life-threatening. So now let's just pause and name something. Jesus told them to go. This is not a storm caused by disobedience, and that messes with some of our theology. Because somewhere along the way, we absorb the idea that if we're following Jesus correctly, the water stays calm. But sometimes the storm is proof that you're exactly where you were set. Verse 38. But he was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. Uh, I think that sentence sometimes almost feels offensive. Like the boat is filling with water. Experienced fishermen are panicking. Jesus is asleep, not meditating, not quietly praying. He's asleep and not just anywhere, in the stern, in the back. He's not like leading the way, he's on a cushion. There's like detail here, and Mark wants you to see it. That's why it's here. He's not half awake, he's resting. Now, this is where personalities diverge really hard because some of you, you're like bucket people right now, right? When stress hits, you work harder, like more effort, more control, more striving. You assume if if you can just manage enough variables, you'll stay afloat. And some of you internalize, right? You spiral quietly. You don't always say it out loud, but inside you're asking, does anyone see this? Like, does God see this? And some of you you project strength, you become the calm one for everyone else. But inside you're exhausted from holding it together. And then some of you just analyze everything. You're trying to understand the mechanics of the storm instead of like trusting the authority of the one who commands it. Like, whose fault is this? Did we miss this? What could have we controlled? And then some of you, if you're honest, you feel deeply unsettled by the idea of a sleeping God. Because it feels like that's your story. You did what he said, you stepped out, you crossed into obedience, and now heaven feels silent. And the disciples wake him and say, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? That's not a polite prayer. This is accusation wrapped in desperation. Notice what they don't say. They don't say, like, can you help? They don't say, We trust you. They say, Do you care? And at the core of their fear is not just danger, it's doubt about his heart. And this is where the storm begins to reveal something. The disciples' greatest problem in that moment wasn't the wind, it was that they believed, it was what they literally believed about Jesus in the wind. Let's just zoom out for a moment. Just earlier in Mark chapter 4, Jesus said, the kingdom grows slowly, quietly, and visibly, and then immediately he leads them into a storm. This is not accidental. The same disciples who just heard about soil now become soil. The same men who nodded at parables now get tested in practice, and the storm becomes the diagnostic. Not of their boating skills, but of their trust. And if we're honest, storms tend to expose the same question and us when the diagnosis doesn't change, when the job falls through, when the relationship fractures, when prayer for healing doesn't land the way that you ask. I mean, let's talk honestly. Some of you were in storms that didn't get silenced. You prayed, you fasted, you gathered friends, you declared scripture, and the diagnosis didn't reverse, the anxiety didn't disappear, the relationship didn't reconcile, the job didn't materialize. So what do you do with the storm when your sea is still raging? Well, this is where we have to mature the reading. The point of the story is not that Jesus always removes storms, the point is that storms expose who you think he is. It's not just a can you fix this? It becomes, do you care? Now watch Jesus. And he woke, and he rebuked the wind, and he said to the sea, peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He rebuked the wind. The word rebuke here is the same word used when Jesus rebukes demons earlier in Mark. He's not politely requesting better weather, he's exercising authority here. Peace, be still. Literally, be silent, be muzzled. This is Genesis language. This is psalm language. In the Hebrew scriptures, the Old Testament, only Yahweh God commands the sea. The sea represents chaos and disorder and threat. And in Psalm 102, uh it says, He made the storm be still, and waves of the sea were hushed. Jesus is doing what only God can do. And immediately, not gradually, there was a great calm. Notice the contrast here. First, you have a great windstorm, and now a great calm. Mark uses the same root word, which is mega. The chaos was mega. The calm is mega. When Jesus speaks, the shift is not partial, it's total. Verse 40. Now this is the part that I think stings. He said to him, Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? I got questioned honestly, like Lance Heavy. He addresses their heart before he addresses the weather, what just took place. Because sometimes the deeper miracle isn't the external calm, it's the internal stability. And this is where formation happens. There are two kinds of faith: there's storm-free faith and storm-tested faith. Storm-free uh faith believes conditions cooperate. Uh they believe because the conditions just continue to do what they need to do for you. Storm-tested faith believes because Christ is present. The disciples had proximity to Jesus, but proximity had not yet become confidence. And that's the journey, honestly, for many of us. You can grow up around church, you can know theology, you can attend gatherings, you can serve on teams and still panic when the real pressure hits, because faith has not yet moved from borrowed conviction to literally owned trust. Now, here's something profound. Jesus was asleep. That detail matters. He wasn't pretending, he wasn't unconcerned. Uh it wasn't like he was indifferent, he was resting. Why? I mean, that that tells us he wasn't threatened. The same wind terrifying them was irrelevant to him. He wasn't surprised by it or scrambling or recalculating, he was steady. And this is where we have to expand what this means. The disciples believe Jesus cared, you know, when he was teaching, when he was uh healing, when he was active, but they doubted his care when he was quiet. Which means they equated visible action with love and silence with indifference. That's us. When God answers fast, we say he's faithful. When he delays, we wonder if he's distant. But the sleeping Christ reveals something. His presence is not proven by activity, it's proven by who he is. Now, for just a moment, let's bring this into uh unanswered prayers. Some of you have prayed for healing that didn't come the way that you had asked. And this passage can feel confusing because Jesus calms the storm instantly. But remember what we saw in Mark 4 earlier: the kingdom grows in mystery, blade, ear, full grain, process, which means not every storm is removed instantly. Some storms are navigated with him inside them. And here's the uncomfortable but transformative truth. Sometimes Jesus calms the storm. Sometimes he calms you in the storm. And sometimes he allows the storm to strengthen what calm could never do. Because faith that only survives calm conditions cannot sustain mission on the other side. So let's talk a little bit about identity. At the end of the story, they say in verse 41, and they were filled with great fear, and they said to one another, Who then is this that even the wind and the waves and the sea obey him? So look at the progression here. They're afraid of the storm, and now they're filled with great fear, mega fear of him. The storm revealed his power. The calm revealed his identity. Who is this? And that's the right question. Mark is not just telling a miracle story, he's escalating Christology here. This is not just a teacher, not just a healer, not just a rabbi with authority. This is the Lord over chaos. And for us, trying to build a life in a world that feels unstable, this matters deeply. You're building careers and uncertain economies, dating and confusing relational landscapes, caring anxiety about climate and politics, mental health, identity. The cultural sea, friends, is not calm. And sometimes it feels like Jesus is asleep in the stern. But the story reframes everything. And here's the deeper theological current running underneath. The one who sleeps in the boat is the same one who will hang on a cross. And at the cross, it will look like again God is silent. It will look again like chaos is winning. It will look again like death is filling the boat. And in three days later, there will be a greater calm. The resurrection we will celebrate next week is the ultimate peace. Be still. Which means this storm on the Sea of Galilee is not just about the weather, it's a preview. And the disciples asked, Who then is this? And Mark wants you to wrestle with that. Who is this? So I would ask you, who is this? Is he just helpful? Is he just inspirational? Just a moral teacher who gives you coping mechanisms? Or is he Lord over chaos? Because if he's Lord over chaos, then your storms are not ultimate. They are loud, but they are not sovereign. And here's the invitation for me, Lawrence, and for everyone hearing this online in this room. You may not control the sea. You may not predict the storm. You may not understand the timing. But you are not in the boat alone. Faith is not pretending that the storm isn't real. Faith is refusing to let the storm define reality. And friends, the disciples feared the wind, but by the end they feared the one who commands it, and that's movement. And maybe that's the shift some of us need, not smaller storms, but a bigger vision of Jesus. So here's the final question for you. When the wind rises and heaven feels quiet, do you interpret silence as absence or a steady sovereignty? Because the king who slept in the storm is the same king who rose from the grave, and he is not threatened by your sea.