Jesus' Presence, Power, & Care

Good morning. About a year and a half ago, I was in Sweden on a short-term missions trip. And while I was there, I met a young man from Afghanistan whose name was Sahad. Sahad was bright, well-educated in his late 20s, and he had been living as a refugee in Sweden for about three and a half years at that point. The stories that Sahad proceeded to tell me were ones of unimaginable pain, horror, and loss, including the death of family members, fleeing from Afghanistan to Europe, and leaving his wife behind of only a few months. I asked about his time in Sweden and expected to hear stories of hope restored, but I was shocked at how starkly his response to me contrasted with my expectations. Honestly, he said, the past three and a half years have been the worst in my life. I thought that coming here was going to provide hope for me, but since I've been in Sweden, not one person has gone out of their way to talk with me. I feel completely alone. I don't think that anyone would care if I lived or died tomorrow. To top it all off, after several asylum application attempts, appeals, and rejections, Zahad's final attempt to remain in Sweden had been denied. He was being deported and sent back to Afghanistan, alone and afraid. This is not the end of the story, but I want to pause here for a moment to reflect on what Zahad had experienced. Zahad shared with me that he was alone. fearful, powerless to control his circumstances. And understandably, he doubted whether anyone really cared. Now, I've never experienced most of the circumstances that Sahad described. But at different times and in different ways, as hard things have come up in my life, I too have felt fearful, wondering whether anyone really cared. And in those moments, I too find doubts creeping into my mind, questioning even Jesus himself. Why is he letting this happen? Does he really care? And I think, though not exactly like Sahad, many of us have gone through things in our lives that have caused us to ask nonetheless very real questions about pain and fear. Maybe it was doubt and fear over a bad diagnosis. Maybe over the betrayal of a friend. Maybe fear and doubt related to the uncertainty in the COVID-19 world that we all find ourselves in today. Whatever it may be, difficult life circumstances can cause us to fear and doubt the care, presence, and power of Jesus with us. How can we trust in times like these when we feel so afraid and alone? The Bible gives us a resolute answer to our fears and our doubts. This morning, we're gonna be looking at Mark 4, verse 35, as we look at the familiar story that Heidi just read for us of Jesus calming the storm. I want to begin by framing up our passage a bit. The Gospel of Mark was written by, most scholars believe, Mark, the missionary traveling companion of Paul. And Mark includes many details that would be associated with a first-hand account of Jesus' life, leading most scholars to believe that Mark gathered his information from the disciples themselves. Church tradition tells us from Peter. And the purpose of Mark's gospel could not be any more clear. Mark wastes no time, and in verse one of chapter one, he says, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. And toward the very end of Mark's gospel, he concludes with the words of the centurion, where he said, truly, this is the Son of God. From the beginning to the end of Mark's gospel, Mark's point is clear, to reveal to us the messianic secret of the identity of who Jesus is. What I mean by this phrase messianic secret is the Old Testament prophecies that pointed to a coming Messiah that the Jews did not know who this was going to be. And in the whole first half of the Gospel of Mark, we see Jesus teaching and we see Jesus doing works of power. And these teachings and works of power point to his identity, but it's not until much later in the Gospel that we actually see him explicitly proclaiming his identity as the Son of God. Right before our story takes place, we actually see Jesus teaching. There are four parables that Jesus is teaching to a great crowd. All of these parables about the topic of faith. And in these parables, he's teaching some of them to the crowds and some of them to his disciples. And again, this is an important theme in the Gospel of Mark that's intended to draw our attention when these changes in audience take place. When Jesus is preaching to the crowds and then in private ministry to the disciples, Mark cues us in that something is about to take place, either some significant truth that Jesus is about to tell us or some significant event that is about to take place. And right at the beginning of our story, this change in audience is taking place. Let's look together at the text, verses 35 and 36. On that day, When evening had come, he said to them, let us cross to the other side. And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And we see, right from the beginning, this change in audience taking place. Jesus had been teaching on one side of the Sea of Galilee, likely for many hours to the crowds. And he's leaving the crowds and inviting his disciples to cross to the other side. Come, let us go to the other side. Now, this is not an insignificant detail in and of itself. Jesus had been teaching a probably primarily Jewish audience on the Jewish side of the Sea of Galilee. But the other side of the Sea of Galilee was well known to be the Gentile side of the Sea of Galilee. At this invitation to cross to the other side, many of the disciples are probably wondering, Jesus, why would we go here? We probably can't even get a kosher meal here tonight. Why are we going to the other side? And here I think we see just a clear example that Jesus came for all peoples, not just for the Jews, but for the Gentiles as well. Let's keep reading. Verse 37. And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling. Now, in any story, the Bible, no exception, there is tension. And we don't have to wait long for the tension in this story. Jesus and his disciples get into the boat, begin to cross the Sea of Galilee. They find themselves out in the middle, and it says, a great windstorm arose. Now, imagine this with me. This is no small windstorm, but rain and wind coming down with waves so big that they are crashing into the boat so that the text says the boat was filling with water. This is a terrifying situation to find yourself in. Now, I'm not sure how many of you are familiar or not with what it's like to be out on the boat during a storm. I actually grew up near the water on the eastern shore of Virginia myself and grew up out on the boat on a regular basis. And my dad, I remember him telling me from a very young age, you just don't ever go out on the boat during a storm. I mean, we wouldn't even go out if it was breezy, in fear that the waves would be too big and the sea would be too choppy. Only one time did I find myself in a frightening, fearful situation that had to do with the ocean. I was about 17 years old, and I found myself on the other side of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, which is a 17-mile bridge with two underwater tunnels that we had to cross to get pretty much anywhere from my house. And while on the other side of this bridge, I needed to get home, but the weather was looking really bad. It was either a hurricane or a tropical storm that was coming in at that time. And I expected that the bridge was going to be closed and there would be no opportunity for me to get across. But I decided to try anyways. I drove up to the bridge and it was open. And so, I decided to cross. And it was okay at first, but about halfway across the bridge, just as my car was emerging from that first underwater tunnel, I realized that I had made a terrible mistake. The sky was pitch black with dark clouds. The rain was coming down in thick sheets, so strong that I couldn't see the road in front of me. There was thunder and lightning. And to top it all off, the wind was so strong that I thought my car was gonna be blown off the edge of the bridge. And the waves were so big, though I was 30 feet above the water at least, they were crashing up onto the bridge and water spewing in front of my car. I was terrified. And I wasn't even in as dangerous a situation as these disciples. I was 30 feet above the water in a car. Imagine the terror they must have felt as they found themselves in the middle of the lake, the storm raging, the waves breaking into the boat and the boat filling up with water. And as first century Jewish men, there's not only the physical danger that they're thinking of, but also likely the disciples' minds are going back to Old Testament texts that talk about the storms and waves and dark waters as spiritual forces that are opposed to God. They found themselves terrified. How do they respond? But first, where is Jesus in all of this? Let's look back at the text at verse 38. But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. My first question when I read this is how? How could Jesus possibly be asleep in the middle of this great storm in this small fishing boat out in the middle of the sea as it's filling with water? And I think there are two important things that we can draw from this text, from this detail. First, Jesus was a man, a man who was tired, and after a long day of teaching, he needed rest. He experienced limitations in his physical human body in the same ways that we do. But the second thing that I think that we see from this is Jesus is not just a man. Surely no man, I'll speak for myself, I would not find myself with the confidence in this situation to be sleeping in the middle of this storm. Let's see what the disciples do. The second half of verse 38. And they woke him and they said to him, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Do you not care? Jesus, do you not see what is happening all around us? Do you not care? And the disciples fear that their fallen condition and the sinfulness of their hearts is laid bare before us as readers of this text. This is not just a simple request coming to Jesus in confidence, saying, Jesus, we trust you. Will you help us? No, the disciples are questioning the very care and presence of Jesus with them. In their fear, they doubt whether he cares. In their fear, they question who he is. I mean, it was Jesus, after all, who led them into this situation. It was Jesus who said, let's cross to the other side. It's Jesus who was asleep in the front of the boat as the disciples feel like they are dying. Jesus, do you not care? How does Jesus respond though? Verse 39, and he awoke and rebuked the wind and he said to the sea, peace, be still. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. In the midst of the tumultuous chaos of this storm, the waves and wind raging, in a matter of three words, Jesus brings it all to a great calm. Peace, be still. Jesus exercising his absolute control over the creation. Imagine the minds of the disciples in this moment rushing back to Genesis 1 where they know that God spoke and the earth was created. He had the power of creation in simply his spoken words and here Jesus speaks and the creation obeys him. Who is this man? On top of that though, Jesus is not just showing his power over the physical world, but over the spiritual world as well. The word choice that Jesus uses is no mistake. Peace, be still. This was language commonly associated with first century Jewish exorcisms. where Jewish religious leaders would come to a demonically possessed man or woman and command the evil spirit inside of them to be still, to come to rest and peace. And this seems like an odd detail to include, but I think that Jesus was doing this intentionally. Not only was Jesus the Lord and ruler over all the physical world, but he had power and authority over the spiritual world as well, bringing to rest the dark, tumultuous chaos associated with the dark waters. What happens next? Verse 40. And he, Jesus, said to them, why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? Jesus rebukes the disciples with two simple questions that cut to the heart. First, why are you so afraid? So were the disciples wrong to be afraid? Were the disciples wrong in their fear of this clearly dangerous situation that they found themselves in? I think that this is a tension that we have to wrestle with as readers of this text. And if we look to the second question, I think it actually provides us some clarity as to what's happening in the first. Jesus proceeds to say, have you still no faith? And the second question reveals the intent behind the first that ultimately this rebuke is a rebuke of the doubt and unbelief in the hearts of the disciples. Remember, they had already seen Jesus do many miracles, healing sick people. They had seen and heard him teach in a way that no man could teach. And yet in this moment, in their fear, they do not believe that Jesus cares for them. They're missing it. They do not see who he is. And how do the disciples respond to these questions? 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 sea obey him? They were filled with great fear. And this is not a reverent fear of God as we are commanded to have in the Old Testament. They were afraid of this man, Jesus. Afraid because they realized that no man could do these things that Jesus had just done. And so they ask what, I mean, honestly is the right question, who then is this? Clearly this is not the teacher that we thought that Jesus was, who has power and authority over storms, who has power and authority over the spiritual world. Who then is this? And as readers of this text who live on the other side of the cross and on the other side of the resurrection, we have a definitive answer to this question that the disciples asked. This is Jesus, the Son of God. the one true God with the power to calm storms, who is present with his people, and who cares about them deeply, even in their fear and unbelief. So how do these truths meet us in our present reality? I think one of the first temptations that we need to fight against when reading a text like this is to dismiss the fear and doubt of the disciples. I think it's easy for us living on this side of the cross to say that we know who Jesus is, so certainly we wouldn't doubt and fear and question the character of Jesus as the disciples did. But as we look more closely at our hearts, I think the reality is that we find the root, the sinful root of fear and doubt and unbelief in each and every one of us. I think there are sets of contrasting truths in this text about the character of God and our sinfulness. First, we see that God is the God of power and authority over all creation. Colossians 1, 16 and 17 reminds us that it was Father, Son, and Spirit who created the world, and that it is for Jesus that all things were created. It is by him and through him. Jesus is the God of all creation. with the power to speak and bring to rest the uncertainty in our world, with authority over the physical and the spiritual world. And yet, in light of this great God, we do not respond in faith. Our response is fear. We fearfully doubt God's power and control, and we try to take control of situations ourselves. We think that we know what's best. And in our arrogance, we claim the guise of strong independence as an excuse to grab control of things ourselves in our fear. Secondly, we see a God who is present with his people, and yet we respond in doubt. From the beginning of creation and up until this point, we have seen consistently that God is a God who is present with his people. In the garden with Adam and Eve, God was present with them as he walked with them and talked with them. In the pillar of smoke and fire, God was present with his people as they went. God was present with his people in the tabernacle and in the temple. God was present with his people even in exile. God was present with his people here on this earth bodily in Jesus Christ. And here today, God is present with each and every one of his believers through his Holy Spirit, dwelling and living inside of each of us. Nearer than we are to ourselves, God is present with us. Psalm 46.1 reminds us that God is our refuge and our strength. a very present help in our trouble. And Jesus further affirms this reality in some of his last words that he gives to his disciples. In Matthew 28, after he gives the great commission to go into the world and make disciples of all nations, he says in verse 20, as a promise to his disciples and to each of us as we go, and behold, I am with you always. to the end of the age. Our God is present with us. Make no doubt. And yet, in our sin, doubt is exactly what we do. We doubt that Jesus is truly present with us. Even if we believe that he is the God of all power and all control, we do not believe that he is intimately present with us in our fear and in our pain and suffering. I can speak for myself that in this current season, there have been times where I have doubted the presence of God. It's easy to wonder whether he really sees Soumya and I as he's called us to be in Sweden and then time and time again, we are delayed and delayed and delayed. When will he let us go? Is he really present with us in this time? And I think if each of us take an honest look at our hearts, we find that that may be true in times that are difficult. Is God really with us? And lastly, we see that our God is a God who cares for his people, who knows our needs and provides comfort. Just like Jesus demonstrated his care for his disciples, Hebrews 4.15 reminds us of Jesus, who is our great high priest, who is not unable to sympathize with us in our weaknesses, But he was tempted in every way as we were, yet was without sin. And then the command that it gives here, let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace in our time of need. Jesus is one who has been on this earth, he has lived, he has suffered, and he cares for us. He is not far off and distant, but he knows our needs and draws near to us in our suffering. And yet still, our response is all too like the disciples, where we cry out in our trouble and say, Jesus, do you not care that we are perishing? doubting his provision. What hope for us then? What hope is there for us then? As people who find ourselves so stuck and deceived by our emotions of fear and doubt and unbelief. Praise God that he did not leave us in our sin, our fear and our doubt. Praise God that we live on the other side of the greatest acts of power, presence, and care in the history of the world. God recognized that we could not come to him in our own accord, that we would not cease to fear and doubt and live in unbelief. And he sent Jesus to this earth, becoming a man, determining to be present with his people here on this earth, living a perfectly sinless life here on this earth. He went to the cross in the greatest act of care, taking on our sin and our shame, and in the greatest act of power, Three days later, he rose from the dead, defeating death. Death has lost its sting in the victory and power of Jesus. And he invites us into this life that he offers. It is ours to have and walk in in the power of the Holy Spirit every day. And so what does this mean for us? How do we live this out day to day? I have three points of application for us. First, we must confess our lack of faith and trust. I think too often we treat not trusting as a passive point of growth. We dismiss it as something that we don't really need to confront and deal with in our lives. Maybe it's easy for us to confront the more obvious, the more obvious, the outwardly obvious sins of lying, cheating, and stealing. But when we doubt the faithfulness of God, we're willing to acknowledge it but not really confront it. And I think each of us, me included, need to hear the words in rebuke of Jesus to the disciples. Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? Friends, we must be careful that we do not quench the spirit by continually being dismissive of a lack of faith in our lives. We must believe that Jesus is who he says that he is and not trusting and not having faith is the opposite of that. True growth in trust and faith begins with recognizing that we have a sin problem, twisting and deceiving our hearts and emotions. We are in desperate need of forgiveness. We are in desperate need of the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. So we must come to God and we must confess to him and we must confess our fears and doubts to one another as well. We need to repent and turn from this. And friends, let us all hear the assurance that when we come to Jesus and when we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Do not continue to live in the fear and shame that doubt and unbelief creates in our hearts. Come to Jesus, confess your sins, and be forgiven. Secondly, we need to meditate on the promises of God's power, care, and presence with us. There are many stories throughout the Old Testament, the Exodus being a great example of God's power and faithfulness and presence with his people. And there are countless stories throughout the Gospels, ones like we read today, of Jesus's works of power that show his presence with his people. We need to meditate on these stories. We need to meditate on scripture that draws our hearts and our minds to the realities that Jesus is who he says that he is. A great example of this, a passage that many of us, it was one of the first scriptures that we ever memorized as young children, Psalm 23. It actually contains the truths of all three of these things, God's presence, God's power, and God's care for his people. I wanna read this psalm out loud for us here, and I want us to reflect on this. I'm going to pause and point out each reference to God's power, care, and presence with his people. Psalm 23. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. Friends, God cares for you. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. God is present with you. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me. God is present with you. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. God is powerful. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. God is powerful and God cares for you. You anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. Friends, God cares for you. And I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. God is present with you forever. Friends, we must ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate the Word of God to our hearts as we meditate on it. And we must do just that. Come to the Word of God. Memorize the Word of God. Let these truths sink deep down into our being. Speak these truths to one another in love. Pray the Word of God and watch as it transforms you and transforms your response to difficulty. How does this change our response? Point number three, we must call out to Jesus in faith. No longer are we calling out to Jesus, simply saying, as the disciples did, Jesus, do you not care that we are perishing? Rather, in future times of distress and trouble, we call out to Jesus with the truths of his power, presence, and care firm at the front of our minds. Believers, call out to Jesus. Call out to him. He is not far off, but present and near to you in your times of trouble. In Christ, we have been given the Holy Spirit as a comforter. And so in our fear, remember, he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. The enemy will not ultimately have victory. He has already won it. And in our doubt, the Holy Spirit is present with us. He will not leave us, and he will not forsake us. Call out to Jesus in faith. And if you don't know Jesus and you are here this morning and have never made a decision to surrender your life to his plan for you, call out to Jesus in faith. Jesus is not a powerful, not just, excuse me, a powerful cosmic God unconcerned with your life and your struggles. He cares for you deeply. He desires to have a relationship with you and he invites you to respond to his invitation. All you must do is repent and believe. Come to Him. If that is not something that you have committed your life to, myself or someone else would love to talk to you after the service today about what it means to surrender your life to Jesus, to experience His peace in your struggles. All of that has been won for you at the cross. At the cross, that victory has been won. Call out to Jesus. And so because Jesus is able and because he cares and is present with us, we can trust and call out to him in our trouble. To conclude the story of Sahad from the beginning, after sharing the deep isolation, fear, and doubts that Sahad had, the conversation quickly turned to hope. Sahad at first sharing that he didn't have any hope and asking me if I did. And upon hearing that I was a follower of Jesus and that Jesus was my hope, the entire tone of the conversation quickly changed like a light switch had been flipped on. Sahad had question after question about who Jesus was and about the gospel. And for the next hour and a half, I shared the good news of our powerful, present, and caring savior with Sahad. Sahad's appetite for the knowledge of God was insatiable. He was floored and could hardly believe that such a powerful God would care deeply enough for him to be with him and to be present with him in his fear and in his suffering. and to even go to the cross on his behalf. Our final moments together were hopeful as Sahad eagerly agreed to continue to seek truth by reading the Gospel of John in his native language on his Bible app that he had just downloaded on his phone. Friends, let us never move past the wonderful, marvelous reality of our caring and present Savior Jesus. In Christ and by the Spirit, these are promises that are ours to walk in today. And they are promises of a hope with him, present with him forever. In our brightest days and in the darkest days, when the storms are raging, and those days certainly will come, Let's trust Him together. Will you pray with me?