#63 Lu. 8:22-25 CAUGHT IN A STORM

Introduction:

    Jesus had been ministering to a large crowd of people when His mother
and His brothers came to visit Him.  At the end of the day He and His
disciples started across the lake in search of a place to rest when they
were caught in a storm.

I.  Starting across the lake

    V. 22, "Now it came to pass on a certain day, that he went into a ship
with his disciples: and he said unto them, Let us go over unto the other
side of the lake. And they launched forth.  Mark tells us that this was the
dame day in which Jesus taught the multitudes in parables.
    Mark also tells us that they were in several boats.  They were
apparently very small boats by today's standards.
    Not long after they left the shore Jesus fell fast asleep.  V. 23, "But
as they sailed he fell asleep...."  He was still physically tired from their
journey through Galilee.  He was additionally tired from a long busy day at
Capernaum.  Therefore once they were in the boats Jesus left matters in the
hands of the disciples to guide the boat and go to the right destination.
He found a place where He could stretch out and went off to sleep.  He
sacked out as we would say.
    Before Jesus was born in human flesh He never needed to sleep.  As
Spirit God it was not necessary for Him to sleep.  But as a human being
dwelling in human flesh He needed His rest and His sleep.  He was still
Deity God, but He was also human.
    The gently rocking of the boat sailing smoothly across the waves made
for good sleeping conditions and soon He was sound asleep.

II.  Hit suddenly by a storm

The good sleeping conditions for the Lord would not last long.  A storm came
suddenly upon them.  (V. 23), "...and there came down a storm of wind on the
lake..."  Normally on a lake one would be able to see a storm coming while
it was a great distance away.  At least that is the way it is here in East
Texas.  In the daytime one would see the clouds and in the nighttime he
would see the flashing of the lightening.  He would then have time to go
back to where he came from or perhaps to seek safety at the nearest land.
    But where there are mountains along the shore or near the shore the
storm may be hidden from view as it approaches.  It can move through one of
the valleys unseen until it swoops down suddenly.  I understand that this is
what happened in this case.  By the time the disciples were aware of the
storm it was too late to head back to Capernaum from which they started.
Neither did they have time to head in to the nearest land to wait out the
storm.  They were caught out in open water and they just had to make the
best of it.
    (V. 23), "...and they were filled with water, and were in jeopardy."
The term, filled, is used here in the sense of "virtually full."  It could
not mean "completely full" or they would already be sinking.  The idea was
that the boat was taking on water and that it was so full that the boat was
in danger of sinking.  That meant that all who were in the boat were in
danger of drowning.
    Keep in mind that these disciples were experienced fishermen.  At least
some of them were.  They were experienced seamen.  Under ordinary condition
they were not afraid of being in a boat out on the water.  They were not
afraid of being out in a storm on the water.  But this was no ordinary
condition.  The boat was already virtually filled with water and the storm
was still raging.
    That brings up a question.  Was Jesus really in danger of drowning?  I
think we all know that He had not come to this world just to be drowned from
a storm.  But looking at it from the human point of view, the disciples and
all who were in the boat were in danger of drowning.  I think we can safely
say that there was no real danger that Jesus would drown.  Nor was there any
real danger that those who were in the boat with Him would drown.  But the
disciples did not know that and they were afraid.

III. Calling on Jesus for help

    V. 24, "And they came to him, and awoke him, saying, Master, master, we
perish..."  Jesus was still sleeping soundly in spite of the storm.  The
winds and waves had not awakened Him.  He must have extremely tired and had
gone into a very deep sleep.  Had it not been for the storm the disciples
would not have tried to awaken Him at all.  But under the circumstances they
did not hesitate.  The went right to Him and woke Him up.
    Luke says that they informed Him that they were perishing, that is they
were sinking.  Matthew says that they asked Him to save them, that is to
save them from the storm.  Mark says that they asked Him, "Carest thou not
that we perish?"
    I am not sure of just they wanted Jesus to do specifically.  They hay
have wanted Him to use His powers to stop the waters from coming in over the
sides of the boat.  They may have expected Him to actually dry up the waters
that were already in the boat.  They may have expected Him to cry out to God
the Father and appeal unto Him for help.  They did most certainly want His
help in some way, but they surely were not expecting to do what He did.
    One thing they did know.  They knew that if they were going to survive
this storm, it was going to be up to Jesus to save them.  They were already
doing all that was in their power to do, but to no avail.

IV.  Jesus rebuking the storm and then rebuking the disciples

   (V. 24, "...Then he arose, and rebuked the wind and the raging of the
water: and they ceased, and there was a calm."  Luke aid that Jesus rebuked
the wind and the waves.  He told them to stop.  "Wind, stop blowing!  Waves
stop your raging.  Stop pounding."
    Now can you imagine anybody telling the winds of a storm to stop
blowing?  Can you imagine anybody telling the raging waves of a stormy sea
to stop raging?  Jesus did.  And do you know what?  They stopped----
immediately.  They immediately stopped.  The wind stopped blowing and as
soon as the wind stopped blowing the waves stopped raging.  The winds were
what was causing the waves so when the wind stopped the waves stopped.
There was not a breeze.  There was not a ripple.  The waters was completely
calm.  The storm was over.
    Can you imagine any man being able to command the winds and the waves of
the stormy sea and having them to obey.  Well, as you know not just any man
could do such a thing.  Only the God-man can do it.
    Having rebuked the storm and commanding it to stop Jesus then rebuked
His disciples.  V. 25, "And he said unto them, Where is your faith?" That
is, Luke says that He asked, "Where is your faith?"  Matthew says that He
said, "Oh ye of little faith!"
    It is worthy of note that He did give them credit for having a little
faith in Him.  They did go to Him and wake Him up.  They did have enough
faith in Him to recognize that He was their only hope of survival and they
did wake Him up.
    But their faith in Him ought not to be so little.  They knew that He is
the Messiah.  They knew that He is the Son of the Living God.  They should
have known that God the Father was not going to let Him perish in that
storm.  They should have known the God would not allow that boat to sink.
They should have known that since they were in the boat with him that they
were perfectly safe.  They were going to survive the storm.
    Jesus rebuked them because they needed to be rebuked.  They needed to be
rebuked in order that they faith might be strengthened.  The Lord does not
rebuke nor chasten His people just to vent His anger at them.  He rebukes
that they might be strengthened.  This was especially true with those
disciples.  The time of His arrest and crucifixion was not far away and they
most certainly needed to have their faith strengthened before that time
should come.  They would need all the strength they could muster in that
dreadful hour.

V.  A reverential fear

     (V. 25), "...And they being afraid wondered, saying one to another,
What manner of man is this!  for he commandeth even the winds and water, and
they obey him."  At this point of things the disciples were still afraid,
but it was a different kind of fear.  They had been afraid of the storm.
They had been afraid of drowning in the sea.  They were no longer afraid
with that kind of fear.  Jesus had miraculously calmed the storm and the
danger was over.  So they were no longer afraid because of the storm.
    Their fear now was a reverential fear.  It was a reverential fear of the
Lord Jesus.  They were filled with awe and wonder at what Jesus had done.
They said to one another, "What manner of man is this!  He commands even the
mighty winds of the storm and they obey!  He tells them to stop and they
immediately stop!  What manner of man is this!"
    Let us take note of this again.  Jesus spoke and the winds and waves of
the storm obeyed His command.  That is what every man, woman, boy and girl
ought to do.  When the Lord speaks, we ought to all obey.

Conclusion:

    There was a time when we were all lost in sin.  We were not in danger of
perishing in the sea, but rather we were in danger of perishing in the lake
that burns with fire and brimstone.  And the fact of the matter is that we
were all in the same boat.  We have all sinned and we were all in the same
boat.  We were all headed for hell.
    Thank God, some of us have called on Jesus and asked Him to save us lest
we perish.  And thank God, Jesus heard our plea and He saved our souls.
Jesus has now saved our souls and now we are in the same boat with Jesus.
We are safe and secure because we are in the boat with Jesus.
    Yet being saved does not keep us from facing the storms of life.  Like
those disciples, we still faced the storms of life.  And, like those
disciples, we still need to know that our survival of the those storms
depends on Jesus.  Only by the power of the Lord can we survive the storms
of life.
    Some of you who are saved may need to be in the church.  I mean that you
need to be in church all the way.  You need to join the church and to be
active in the church.  We invite you to get in the boat with us and serve
the Lord.  The best thing is to be in the boat with Jesus, but it is also
good to be in the same boat with fellow Christians.