Christ In A Storm
Mark 6:45-52
Jesus Christ performs some of the greatest miracles ever written about in the book of Mark.
Mark was not necessarily an eye witness to all the accounts contained in his book…
In fact there is a strong belief that he received his information from someone who was part of the original twelve…Someone like Peter.
That’s what makes the book of Mark so amazing!!
The fact that he has been able to include such intricate details surrounding the miracles of Christ…
Like the one we read in our text tonight (today).
Take for instance…The sixth chapter of Mark alone.
Mark begins (what we now know today as chapter 6) by ending the last miracle described in chapter 5.
That was the miracle of raising Jairus’ daughter back to life!!
You may recall that Jairus was a ruler in the synagogue who came to Jesus begging Him to go to his home and touch his daughter who was dying.
On the way to Jairus’ house…Jesus is being thronged and pushed by the multitude…
And in the midst of this great crowd of people the woman with the issue of blood touches the hem of Jesus’ garment.
Immediately this woman is healed and Jesus stops…Turns around…And asks who touched Him!!
(2)
His disciples kinda laugh at this and say…
“You see the multitude thronging You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’”
In the meantime…Some people from Jairus’ household come and inform him that his daughter has already passed away…
Not to bother Jesus anymore!!
Can you imagine that? Can you imagine living at the time Jesus lived…
Knowing about all the great and wonderful miracles He is able to perform…
Knowing that you finally have Him all to yourself and that He’s actually on His way to YOUR house…
On the way there you witness Him heal this woman with the issue of blood…
Only to have some servants from your house walk up in the middle of this great healing and say…
“Your daughter just died…Don’t bother Jesus anymore”!!
Talk about an emotional roller coaster!!
Your heart is breaking over watching your 12 year old daughter dying in front of your own eyes…
You hear that Jesus has just come back to Capernaum from (what else) the man possessed with the demon named Legion…
You run to the sea shore…Fall on your knees at Jesus’ feet…And beg Him to come and touch your daughter!!
(3)
Everyone here tonight (today) knows the tension and sick feeling that comes over you when someone you love becomes deathly ill!!
You hate to leave their bedside…But at the same time you realize that if you don’t get help…They may just die!!
Jairus…Full of emotion over his sick child runs to Jesus…Falls at His feet and begs Jesus to come and touch his daughter!!
Jesus agrees!! Your spirits begin to lift as you picture in your mind Jesus touching the one you love and restoring them back to health!!
Only on the way back to your house…Jesus is delayed by someone else who is just as sick and just as important to Christ as is your child!!
And you can picture Jairus standing there beside Christ rubbing his hands together…Moving from one foot to the other…Becoming extremely nervous…
Not wanting to look selfish by saying… “Um excuse me Jesus, my daughter”!!
But at the same time thinking to yourself… “Man isn’t that the way it goes? I’ve finally got Jesus coming to my house…And He gets delayed”!!
Now you’ve gone from excitement over the fact that Jesus is on the way…
To nervous anticipation knowing inside that you wouldn’t want Him to not heal this woman of her sickness either!!
And while all of these emotions and thoughts are running through your mind…
(4)
Somebody walks up to you and says…
“Your daughter just passed away…Don’t trouble Jesus anymore”!!
As that news begins to sink down into your mind…
All of a sudden every ounce of hope you ever had is gone…
And you start to get that sick feeling as the realization hits you that it’s too late…Your daughter is already dead!!
Now let me ask you…What do you think that man’s face would have looked like upon hearing that news?
When someone receives bad news…What are some of the first things they do?
Their mouth drops…Their hands go up to their face…Their shoulders stoop…
And depending on the severity of the news…They begin to weep uncontrollably!!
Do you think this man would have reacted any differently upon hearing of his child’s death?!?
Mark 5:36 says…
Mark 5:36
As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, "Do not be afraid; only believe.
JUST AS SOON AS Jesus heard the news that those individuals brought to Jairus…
He turned and said… “Do not be afraid; only believe”!!
(5)
Jairus begins to sink into the depths of despair while Jesus says…BELIEVE!!!
Mark doesn’t tell us how far away Jairus lived from the shores of Capernaum…But he had to have been thinking…
“Jesus you don’t understand…My house is all the way over there…We’re here…My daughter has just died…
And you don’t want me to be afraid…Just Believe”?!?!
Mark describes the atmosphere of the home when Jesus and the disciples arrived…
Mark 5:38
Then He came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and saw a tumult and those who wept and wailed loudly.
I don’t want to bring up any bad memories for anyone here…
But no doubt you’ve been in the hospital when someone passes away.
You’ve probably been at the bedside of someone you loved as they pass from this world into the next.
The uncontrolled weeping…The looks of anger and disbelief…
The utter helplessness knowing there’s nothing you can do…And nothing that be done!!
Such was the scene at the home of Jairus when he and Jesus finally made their way back to his house.
There the weeping the crying and the disbelief over the death of such a young child!!
(6)
And the Bible says Jesus walked into that atmosphere and spoke these words…
Mark 5:38
When He came in, He said to them, "Why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping.”
But to show you just how final death appears in our eyes…
Mark includes the response those in the home of Jairus gave to Jesus’ statement…
Mark 5:40
“And they ridiculed Him”!!
“Who do you think you are Jesus? We have the body!! She’s lying in there dead…
And you want to walk in here and tell us she’s sleeping…Fine go see for yourself”?!?
The whole time Jairus must have been thinking…
“Wait a minute now…Wait a minute…Jesus wouldn’t have walked all the way to my home if there wasn’t anything He could do”!!
“Didn’t He just tell me a little while ago not to be afraid but to believe”?!?
“Why would He have told me that if He wasn’t able to do something”?!?
And so while the people in his home ridicule Jesus…Jairus’ hopes begin to rise!!
He watches as Jesus calls Peter, James, and John…
(7)
Tells everyone else to leave the house…Then calls for he and his wife to go into the room where his little child lay dead!!
The last time he saw his daughter she was alive…But barely!!
The next time he sees her…She’s dead!!
And the only thing that stands between him and his hopes of ever seeing his daughter alive again…IS JESUS!!!
And if Jesus can’t do something…THEN the reality of her death will become real…And their home will never be the same!!
Have you ever found yourself in such a situation?
Not just the death of someone you love…But hearing that someone you love has contracted a fatal disease…
Or maybe you lost your job and you’ve got no way to pay this month’s bills…
And the only thing that stands between you and financial bankruptcy is Jesus!!
“And if Jesus isn’t able to do something…I just don’t know what we’ll do”!!
Or maybe it’s a marriage…And your marriage has been on the rocks for a long time and one or both of you are contemplating divorce…
And the only thing that stands between you and a broken home…Is Jesus!!
“And if Jesus isn’t able to do something…I just don’t know what we’ll do”!!
(8)
Or maybe it’s a Prodigal son or daughter who goes out of their way to make your life miserable!!
And you’re ready to call them up and tell to never come home again…
And the only thing standing between you and the loss of that son or daughter…Is Jesus!!
“And if Jesus isn’t able to do something…I just don’t know what we’ll do”!!
Jairus and wife stand there next to Jesus…Who stands at the bedside which holds the body of their little girl…
And watch and wait with great anticipation!!
And verse 41 says…
Mark 5:41-42
Then He took the child by the hand, and said to her, "Talitha, cumi," which is translated, "Little girl, I say to you, arise."
Immediately the girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age.
We talked about the emotional roller coaster Jairus was on all through this ordeal!!
How must he have felt seeing Jesus take the lifeless hand of his little child…
Speak a few words and then IMMEDIATELY watch her rise up and walk?!?
Mark tells us how they felt…
Mark 5:42
And they were overcome with great amazement.
(9)
You go from some of the lowest lows you’ll ever feel in your life…To some of the highest highs…
And your body just begins to feel drained as now the realization hits you…
That your child who not more than 60 seconds ago was lying in front of you lifeless…
Is now up and walking around the room!!
I don’t know if a person could describe the utter joy and pure emotion which filled the room day…
And so Mark writes… “they were overcome with great amazement”!!
I don’t know how else Mark could have described this event…
An event which no doubt completely changed the home of a man named Jairus!!
And that’s how Mark begins chapter 6 by saying…
Mark 6:1
Then He went out from there and came to His own country, and His disciples followed Him.
“His own country” was the area in Nazareth where He grew up as a child.
The Bible says that on the Sabbath…He went into the synagogue and began to teach.
His works…Always preceded Him!!
This is evidenced by how the people of Nazareth responded
(10)
to His teaching. They said…
Mark 6:2
Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands!
“Man we’ve heard about all these ‘works’ He’s been performing…
We hear all these ‘words’ He’s been speaking…Just who does He think He is”?!?
Sounds to me like the people of Nazareth had never had a ‘Jairus Experience’!!
You know that if they had of…They wouldn’t be talking about Jesus like this!!
Sounds a whole lot like people today who think they know more about God than they really do!!
“And if God was loving and kind…Then why do we have to suffer”?
“God is a loving God…And He would never send me to hell…Why that goes against His loving nature”!!
If we REALLY KNEW Jesus and what He was all about…
We would spend more time learning about Him and living for Him than we would making excuses!!
And the people of Nazareth just simply refuse to believe in Him!! Why?
Mark tells us in verse 3…
(11)
Mark 6:3
Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?" And they were offended at Him.
They thought they knew Him!!
They watched Jesus grow up from childhood…Start running around thinking He was some sort of Prophet…
And the next thing you know…He shows up in His hometown synagogue teaching things that leaves everybody astonished!!
And the whole time these poor narrow-minded…Near-sighted Nazarenes are thinking…
“Who do you think you are? Why nothing more than Mary’s Son…And a carpenter at that”!!
That’s the problem with a whole of narrow-minded…Near-sighted people today…
They think they knew just who Jesus is what He’s all about…
And you couldn’t convince them any otherwise no matter how hard you try!!
So bad was the disbelief and hard-heartedness that Mark writes…
Jesus “marveled because of their unbelief”!!
Here is someone who spent the major part of His adult life healing the sick and raising the dead…
And yet is unable to do hardly any mighty works in His own country because of the people’s disbelief!!
(12)
I wonder…How many great and mighty works has Christ not been able to perform in our lives because of our disbelief?!?
A downright refusal to bring ourselves to accept the fact that Christ is who He says He is…
And that He is able to do all that He said He would do!!
He was there for the woman with the issue of blood…
He was there for Jairus…And He was there for ‘a few sick people’ in Nazareth…
Who were able to look beyond mere sight and believe in Jesus with their heart!!
Would to God our churches were full of men and women who were determined to place their faith in God!!
Not in what they could see…Not in what knowledge of a situation they had…Not in what they knew…
But were willing to place their faith in God and trust in Him with all of their heart!!
The writer of Proverbs implores us to…
Prov 3:5-8
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.
Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil.
It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.
(13)
That’s exactly what the woman with the issue of blood did!!
That’s exactly what Jairus did!!
And that’s exactly what very few in the town of Nazareth did!!
And for those who refused to believe…Jesus could only marvel!!
That brings us to yet another miracle of Jesus found in Mark chapter 6…And we find it starting with verse 30…
It’s there that Mark begins describing the miracle of Jesus feeding five thousand people.
But to really appreciate it…You have to know the events which lead up to the miracle.
Starting in verse 30 Mark relates how that the apostles began returning from their mission of preaching repentance.
You may recall how Jesus sent them out two by two…Gave them power over unclean spirits…
And told them not to take anything extra with them than what they had on!
How that anytime someone refused to hear them or receive them…
They were to shake the dust from that place off their feet…You remember that?
Well…Now the apostles have come back…And they begin to tell Jesus everything that has happened to them on this mission trip.
(14)
And in verse 31 Jesus says…
Mark 6:31
"Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while."
The preaching trip had no doubt left the apostles exhausted…
That coupled with the news of John the Baptist’s death…Left Jesus wanting time to be alone.
You have to understand that there was still such a large multitude that Mark writes…
Mark 6:31
For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.
We talked about the emotions of Jairus…Stop and think for a moment about the emotions of Christ!!
Being touched…And healing leaving your body!
Walking with a man into his home and bringing his child back to life!!
Going into your own home town and being looked upon as if you were crazy!!
Sending out your twelve apostles on a salvation mission…And while that’s going on to hear about your forerunner’s death!!
Only to have your apostles return from that mission…Try and tell you everything that happened…
Only they can’t because your constantly swarmed by this throng of people who won’t even let you eat!!
(15)
Looking for solitude…You and your apostles begin seeking an isolated area where you can just grab a few minutes of rest!!
Only to discover that the place you think will be a type of oasis…Has already been discovered by the multitude!!
Mark 6:33
But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him.
You know…If that were you or I…And we were exhausted and needed some time alone…
We would probably start getting pretty angry right about then!!
“Can’t those people see that I want to be alone”?!?
“What’s the matter with those people…Don’t they know that I’m exhausted”?!?
But listen to what Mark says Jesus did when He found out that there was no chance of Him and His apostles being alone…
Mark 6:34
And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them…
Because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things.
He didn’t get angry…He didn’t shake His fist…He didn’t roll His eyes…He didn’t get hot under the collar!!
Of all the things He COULD have done…He chose the most the one most beneficial to the Kingdom!!
(16)
So being moved with compassion for these precious souls…He sat down and started teaching them AGAIN!!
I think we pastors and teachers could learn a lesson there from Christ!!
Ministry is not about us!! It’s about winning souls for the Lord!!
Oh sure…There are times when we need to get away and be by ourselves…
But do we ever purposely refuse to make ourselves available to those God has sent us to?!?
It’s been a hard day…You’ve made three trips to the hospital…
You’ve just come in and sat down…And somebody knocks on the door!!
You’ve prepared your youth lesson…You’ve delivered your youth lesson…
Now 3 or 4 of the youth want to stick around and ask questions…Only you don’t feel like sticking around!!
Jesus is exhausted and thronged to the point that He doesn’t even have a chance to eat…
And yet seeing those souls run before Him only moves Him with compassion and makes Him want to teach!!
Then after teaching…It started getting late in the day…So His disciples came to Him and told Him to send them on their way…
So that they could find something to eat.
(17)
And how does Christ reply… “YOU give them something to eat”!!
And those wonderful apostles who have just returned from that wonderful mission trip of healing’s and power over evil spirits say…
Mark 6:37
"Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?"
“What are you talking about Jesus? You need to disperse the crowd so that they can go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves something to eat”!!
“Besides…These are the same individuals who followed us out here and won’t leave us alone”!!
So in essence… “It’s not our responsibility to feed all these people…And it’s not our fault they’re out here to begin with”!!
See…Not only did Jesus have to deal with the outside struggles of His ministry…
He also had to deal with 12 apostles who just didn’t seem to get it!!
Verse 38 says…
Mark 6:38
But He said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." And when they found out they said, "Five, and two fish."
Mark goes on to describe in great detail how that there turned out to be 5000 men alone!!
That figure did not include the women and children!!
(18)
Notice that the only thing which stood between those 5000 men (not counting women and children)…From going hungry that night or having some supper…WAS JESUS!!!
Had it been left up to the apostles…The crowd would have been dispersed and everyone would have been on their own!!
But Jesus wouldn’t have it!!
It was not within Him to allow someone hungry for truth…
So hungry that they were willing to RUN to where He was…And spend the entire day listening to Him speak…
It was not within Him to send these people home without one more miracle to display God’s loving kindness toward us!!
So He sits them down in groups of 50 and 100…Takes the 5 loaves and the 2 fish…
And the Bible says…
Mark 6:41-43
He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them…
And the two fish He divided among them all. So they all ate and were filled.
And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish.
Notice the scripture says… “(Jesus) gave them to His disciples” AND “He (Jesus) divided among them all”!!
The words used by Mark and Luke in describing this miracle leave the multiplication of the loaves and fish in Jesus’ hands!!
(19)
The words actually mean…He continued to give or kept on giving to His apostles this superabundance of food!!
Can you imagine being one of the twelve watching Jesus pull fish and bread from a basket which never seems to go empty?!?
Knowing that you would have been completely satisfied to send them off to fend for themselves…
And yet here’s Jesus tired, exhausted, and hungry and man He just keeps reaching into that basket and pulling out food!!
Jesus was the only thing standing between a good supper and an empty stomach!!
And He used the opportunity to prove that He is more than capable to care for and provide for those who seek to do His Father’s will!!
The crowd was there because they wanted to see Jesus…To touch Jesus…Just to be around Jesus!!
Jesus seized the moment by saying through this miracle…
“It doesn’t matter what heartache or trial in life you may go through…I AM BIGGER THAN THE TRIAL!!!”
“If I can take something as small as 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish and feed over 5000 people…Just think of what I can do for you”!!
“But you have to be willing to accept Me and make Me your own"”!
I wonder tonight (today)…In your heart and in your home…Have you allowed Christ to be bigger than what you’re going through?!?
(20)
Do you realize tonight (today)…That Jesus truly is more than enough…And that He IS willing to you see it through?!?
And that if the only thing standing between you and a hard place in life is Jesus…
Then you have absolutely nothing to worry about…Because Christ is bigger then whatever it is that’s keeping you down!!
That brings us to our original text tonight (today)…
And now we have a better understanding of where Jesus is…And what He’s been through.
Notice Mark writes…
Mark 6:45-46
Immediately (after feeding the 5000) He made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away.
And when He had sent them away, He departed to the mountain to pray.
Jesus is finally going to realize the solitude He so desperately needs.
He tells His disciples to go ahead and start for Bethsaida…And sends the multitude away.
That accomplished…He withdrawals to a mountain to pray.
And here is something that should really standout to every christian in the room…Jesus made time to pray!!
The same Jesus who performed all of these wonderful miracles…
(21)
Is the same Jesus who made sure He found the time to pray!!
Now friends…If Jesus…Who is the same yesterday today and forever…Needed time to pray…
What do you think that says about your need for prayer time…And my need for prayer time?!?
A God-Man who walked through this life perfect and sinless…Yet felt the need to withdrawal and pray!!
We don’t even come close to living the life Christ lived…And yet there are christians who go through entire days…
Without so much as recognizing Jesus in prayer!!
That ought not to be!! If a perfect Man needed prayer…Then I know that I do!!
Mark leaves Jesus alone on the mountain praying and for just a moment cuts to the sea…
Where he describes for us the difficulties the disciples were having trying to reach Bethsaida.
The wind was blowing extremely hard…Making it almost impossible to row against…
And so it was almost as if they were stuck in the snow…
No matter how hard they rowed…They just couldn’t make any progress!!
You ever felt like that in your life?
Ever felt like you were in the middle of life’s sea just trying to make it through…
(22)
And your struggling and struggling…But you just can’t seem to make any progress…
Because the storms and pressures of everyday living just won’t seem to let you?!?
Even when you do make a little headway…Before you can even enjoy the success for little while…
Another wave comes crashing over your home…Or your life…Or into your family…
And the struggle starts all over again!!
Listen to what Mark writes about Jesus in verse 48…
Mark 6:48
Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea…
Don’t miss the miracle!!!
Jesus is up on a mountain…The disciples are out in the middle of the sea…It’s nighttime and it’s storming!!
Yet Mark writes… “Then HE SAW THEM!!!
HEY!! There weren’t any street lights back then!!
There weren’t any lighthouses up on the hill shining a beacon over the sea…
And Jesus wasn’t holding a flashlight!!
It’s dark!! It’s storming!! The disciples are out in the sea struggling against the waves…
(23)
And Jesus is up on a mountain!!
Yet He was able to look out into the night…See His disciples struggling against the waves…And go to where they were!!
But Mark doesn’t leave it at that!!
He writes that Jesus went to them “walking on the sea”!!
Not only did Jesus go to His disciples…But He went to them walking over the very thing that was causing them so much grief!!
The only thing standing between an all night struggle on the sea…
And safe passage to the other shore…Was Jesus!!
My Bible tells me that Jesus was bigger than the struggle on the sea!!
In fact…His ability to correct the situation was so large…That He WALKED OVER what the disciples couldn’t row through!!
Whatever it is your struggling with tonight (today)…And it just seems to grow larger and larger…
And your reaching your breaking point where you just don’t know what to do…
Keep your eyes open and keep your faith in God…Because long before daybreak Jesus Christ will come to your aide…
Walking over the very thing that appears to be too big for you!!
There you are struggling through the dark storm of life…
(24)
And all of a sudden out of no where comes Jesus walking over your trials…Walking over your afflictions…
And He walks right up to your little boat of life being tossed on the waves and says…
“Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid”!!
When was the last time you were going through a rough place in life that someone walked up and said… “Just be happy”?!?
You may have wanted to punch them right in the nose…And yet Jesus walks up the disciples struggling on the waves and says…“BE HAPPY!! I’M HERE”!!
In closing…Let me ask you…What does that say about us and the things we allow ourselves to worry over?!?
That there is NOTHING satan or this world can ever do to harm us…
As long as the only thing standing between us and the storm of life…IS JESUS!!
Jesus will provide our daily bread…He’ll comfort and cheer us during the trials of life…
And He’ll hold our hand when our eyes close in death!!
You see…We really have nothing to fear…For when we give our lives to Christ…
We submit to a power far bigger and far greater then any situation life throws our way!!
John wrote… “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world”!!
