ࡱ> GIFq` %2bjbjqPqP .B::)%" 8 : "b b " $h<\  QQQ  QQQQ V p+{U WQ0QQQL 2 |Q d d """ """ """  WHO IS THIS? Mark 4:35-41 11TH FEB 2007 I like to get to the office early in the morning. Partly to avoid the rush hour and partly because I can get a lot more done when theres no one else around. However one day 18 months ago I was particularly glad Id caught the early train. I was sitting at my desk at about 9 oclock when a succession of screaming sirens and flashing police lights passed the front of our building. It was 7th July 2005. The suicide bombers had struck. Panic is possibly the most frightening human emotion. And there was plenty of panic in London that day. Its an awful feeling. It has not changed over the centuries. But heres a strange question: can panic be used as a teaching aid? Well, 2,000 years ago, Jesus used it. And he used it to teach the disciples a forceful lesson theyd never forget. In the early part of Marks Gospel we find the disciples desperately grappling with the question Who is Jesus? From the end of chapter 4 right through chapter 5 were told 4 miracle stories. These are living parables, if you like. Through them Jesus shows the disciples something of who he is, his qualities and his character. But before we look at the first of these miracles we must understand a little of the geography of the local area. The lake of Galilee is 700 feet below sea-level. Its a small lake, only 13 miles long and 7 miles wide. Surrounding it are steep ravines that descend from the hills. Late in the day cold air from above the snows of Mt. Hermon can drift down these ravines and meet the warmer air that comes off the lake. This clash of air temperatures causes violent atmospheric disturbance. Without notice fierce winds whip up the water in the lake. A vicious storm comes out of nowhere. Its just the same today. Small boats are not allowed on the lake after midday. Even the safe-looking car parks on the shore have notices warning of how vehicles can be smashed by the high waves from below. So this is the setting for one of the most dramatic episodes in the New Testament. I wonder how Peter wouldve described it. Maybe something like this: The Master had been teaching all day. Hed told us wonderful, vivid stories not like that boring theological stuff in the synagogue. But by the end of the day he was exhausted. He suggested we went to the other side of the lake. I quickly got a boat. We all jumped aboard. Then he curled up in the stern and went to sleep on a cushion. Frankly, I forgot all about him. It was such a glorious evening. The sun began to go down and the sea was beautifully calm. The only sound was the clink, clink, clink of coins as Judas counted the money, tossing each coin back into his sack as he did so. We sailed on. I was sitting down when I felt a slight breeze. I stood up and a sudden gust of wind nearly knocked me over. As I staggered a wave smashed into the boat. Then I was flat on my back. Water had come over the side. I shouted to the others to grab a bucket and start baling. Everybody did as I said. There we were, trying to hang on to the boat with one hand, while scooping water into a bucket with the other. It was hopeless. One moment the front of the boat was pointing to the sky; the next it was nose-diving downwards. We might as well have thrown the buckets overboard. They were useless. The boat was half full of water already. The wind was tearing the shirts off our backs. Now we were trying desperately just to stay in the boat. Nothing normally scares me but suddenly I felt these were my last moments on Earth. Id never experienced anything like this. For the first time in my life I was seized with panic. I was frightened and angry at the same time. I saw Judas in a corner sitting, clutching the money-bag to his chest. I cursed him and screamed: Throw the money overboard, you idiot! Its no good to us now! He just turned his back on me and curled himself into an even tighter ball. Then, through my panic, as the boat pitched and rolled even more violently, I had a sudden thought: Wheres the boss? James and John were beside me. Even though they were only feet away I had to lean towards them and shout in their faces to make them hear. WHERES JESUS? None of us had seen him. Had he fallen overboard? Trying to anticipate the rolling of the boat we crawled, inches at a time, to the stern. Lo and behold, there he was, sound asleep. As you can imagine we werent best pleased. All these people wed seen him heal couldnt he help us in our hour of need? We shook him awake. What do you think youre doing? We asked him angrily. Were about to drown and youre just lying here snoring. Weve had absolutely no help from you. Dont you care if we all drown? He didnt reply. Somehow he got to his feet. Then he shouted at the wind, SHUT UP AND STAY QUIET! As if he was telling off a yapping dog or a badly behaved child. What happened next Ive never seen before and Ill never see again. The wind and rain immediately stopped; just like that; in an instant. That was one thing. But then youd think the sea would keep rolling for hours after the storm. No, that stopped immediately too. It was like a millpond. Not surprisingly we were completely gobsmacked. Wed seen this man cure people with a word or with a touch of his hand. Wed heard him tell wonderful parables. But to have complete control of the elements, well But we didnt have much time to think about it because then he turned on us. He was just as angry with us as wed been with him, only moments before. He laid into us. Whats the matter with you? Why were you so scared? Dont you have any faith? What do you mean by saying Dont I care? I dont know what was more frightening - the fury of the storm or the fury of Jesus. The rest of the journey was pretty quiet I can tell you. What was this creature we shared our boat with? He looked like a man but he had the power of God. We were in a state of shock; shocked by the storm; shocked by Jesus power; shocked by his words. Yes, the rest of that voyage was quiet all right. No one spoke. Not even the clink, clink, clink of Judas coins was heard as we continued our voyage across the lake. Now Jesus method of instruction here isnt exactly orthodox! Not quite in line with current government guidelines for teachers treatment of pupils! Frightening them out of their wits, nearly drowning them, dramatically relieving their fears and then shouting at them for not trusting him, might not go down too well with Ofsted! But the disciples very quickly learnt 3 important lessons from Jesus that day. The first is pretty obvious, the second one less so and the third is quite obscure. First lesson: Jesus is in control. In 2003 most of the tennis world thought that Roger Federer was a very good player who might one day win a couple of major tournaments. Since then opinions have changed. In that time hes won 10 Majors. Hes on the way to winning more than anyone in history. People now look on him as a genius; as possibly the greatest player ever. His power and range of shots is astounding. Its taken about three and a half years for the tennis world to change their minds about Roger Federer. It took about three and a half SECONDS for the disciples to change their minds about Jesus. In their minds he changed from just a wonderful teacher and healer into a being who ruled the Universe. In the story its interesting that the disciples didnt say, Who is this MAN? but, Who is THIS? He may have looked human but he was way beyond being a mere man. As we heard in our first reading, God has absolute control over nature. We see here that Jesus has absolute control over the wind and the waves. Only God has that. Jesus is in total control. Secondly: Jesus cares. It was three days after Christmas. Little Johnny had opened his 46 presents and hed played with all of them. He was bored. Lying on the floor he turned to his mum and said, Mummy, I want a new iPod. Youll have to wait until your birthday for that, dear, she replied. Johnny knew his birthday was in July and he felt he just couldnt wait that long. He punched the carpet with his fist. Its not fair. I never get anything I want. You just dont care about me at all. Johnnys mother loved him dearly. She could take most things he said, but when he claimed she didnt care, that cut her like a knife to her heart. On that boat trip Jesus could certainly take being woken up. He would certainly respond to cries for help. But what made him furious was the claim that he didnt care. If you want to make Jesus really angry tell him he doesnt care. Thirdly, and this is the least obvious lesson the disciples learnt here: Jesus is utterly constant. About 100 years ago the famous missionary pioneer, Hudson Taylor, set up the China Inland Mission. He was sending out men and women to China to start the spread of the Gospel. All began well but suddenly there was trouble. News came back that a number of young missionaries were being tortured and killed. Taylor was devastated. He had to write to each parent to tell them of the death of their son or daughter. His sense of guilt at having sent these men and women to their death was overpowering. He wrote: I can not pray. Reading Gods Word has become a trial. All I can do now is TRUST. Eventually things got better. The work began to thrive and the Chinese began to respond to the Gospel. Only in retrospect, years later, did he see that somehow, even through this extreme testing, Jesus had been there beside him all the time. Occasionally we may meet people who have been through disasters, trials and tragedies in their lives. Their misfortunes take our breath away. We think their faith must have been shattered. But, no; we find quite the opposite. Their faith and trust in God seem way beyond ours. They have been hugely strengthened. Amazingly they say, that in looking back, Jesus never left them. He was there beside them all the time. Following Jesus is the greatest thing in the World. But there are going to be times in our lives when the storm clouds have gathered, the rain lashes down, the waves invade the boat and we think were about to drown. We pray and nothing happens. Jesus seems to be asleep. Were at the end of our endurance. We begin to panic. These are the times he wants us to trust him. And if we love him then hell test that trust. When were tested well discover that hes in control. When we panic well discover that he cares more than we can ever imagine. When the storm is over well discover that hes been utterly constant. Hes been there beside us all the time. 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