Storm Theology | Luke 8:22-25 | Pastor John Miller

storm of bement storm of disease storm of divorce maybe storm of some difficulty some relationship some finances storms come in different shapes and different sizes but God uses them for our good and for his glory now how did the disciples respond to the storm verse 24 it says they woke him up saying master master we perish the repetition master master there because they were freaking out master master we perish and he arose and rebuked the wind and the Raging of the water and they ceased and there was a great calm so they they responded by I love this verse 24 they came to Jesus and called out for [Music] help read verse 22 down to verse 25 our story says in verse 22 that it came to pass that on a certain day that he that is Jesus went into a ship it was actually a large sailboat with his disciples and he said to them let us go over onto the other side of the lake now that statement is going to be one of the keys to this whole story let us go over to the other side of the Lake and they launched forth but as they sailed he fell asleep that is Jesus went to sleep and there came down a storm of wind on the lake the word storm there in the Greek is actually a tornado or sometimes use of a hurricane and they were filled with water and were in Jeopardy they were in danger of drowning and so they came to him that is Jesus and awoke him saying master master we perish and he arose and he rebuked the wind and the Raging of the water and they ceased and there was a great calm and he said to them where is your faith and they being afraid wondered saying one to another what manner of man is this for He commands even the wind and the water and they obey him now we come in our study of the Gospel of Luke to one of the most beloved stories in the life of Christ what little child growing up in Sunday school doesn't love the story of Jesus asleep in the boat woken by his troubled disciples standing up rebuking the wind and the waves and immediately there was a great calm and the disciples wondering what manner of man is this that even the wind and the waves obey him this story is recorded for us in all three synoptic Gospels in Matthew chapter 8 if you're taking notes in Mark chap 4 and in Luke CH 8 Matthew 8 Mark 4 and our text today in Luke 8 now in Luke we move from the words of Jesus speaking Parables we heard the SE and the seed to the works of Jesus revealing his power so we go from Parables to his power it's one thing to speak wise words it's other to back them up with wonderful works so not only did Jesus speak like no other man Jesus did works and miracles like no other individuals now today in our text we see Jesus power over the wind and the wayes some of you know that I love the ocean I not surfing like I used to these days but I used to Surf quite a bit and I love the waves and the power of the ocean and whenever I'm out in the ocean I'm always thinking about the Lord's Master of the waves and the wind and the Sea there's all these beautiful Psalms we're going to read one in just a moment about he brings up the waves he takes down the waves and he brings the waves to a calm so Jesus brings the power of the nature to a calm his power over nature now in the remaining verses of Luke 8 we will see Christ's power over demons the demoniac of gerera over disease the woman with the issue of blood and over death the healing of Gus's daughter so Jesus power over nature over demons over disease and over death now I've titled this message purposely storm theology because in the story we have revealed Christ's person and power God reveals to us his nature and his power and his love in the storms of life now I want to divide the text into three parts we're going to look at before the storm we're going to look at during the storm and then we're going to look at after the storm so before the storm during the storm and after the storm first of all let's look at before the storm verse 22 and the first part of verse 23 go back there with me now it came to pass that on a certain day he that is Jesus went into a ship and his disciples and he said to them let us go over to the other side of the lake this is the lake Galilee it's commonly called the Sea of Galilee and so they launched forth but as they sailed I love this verse 23 Jesus fell asleep am so blessed to know Jesus like to nap anybody want to say Amen to that I was talking to my little granddaughter the other day I said AR you love to take naps she goes no I hate naps I love naps so Jesus is sleeping in the boat now let's break this down verse 22 it came to pass on a certain day Mark 4 and verse 35 tells us that it's same day when the evening was come so this is actually the same day that Jesus has been speaking the parable of the swer and the seed and at the end of the day late afternoon is when he got in the boat with his disciples sent the multitude away and he launched out on the lake Galilee to cross the lake so the same day and he that is Jesus went into a ship now remember he'd been preaching from a boat the sewer and the seed Parable now he gets into a larger boat the Greek word used for this boat here in the storm was actually a larger boat that had a sail could hold about 20 people now he sent the multitude away but he took only his disciples into this boat Into the Storm so his disciples were with him verse 22 now in Mark's gospel he sent the multitude away and takes only his disciples Jesus then then said verse 22 this is key let us go over no notice not under but over onto the other side of the lake and they launched forth now I want you to note as they sailed Jesus fell asleep now you think what is the big deal with Jesus sleeping there's a lot of theology in the story and we begin with what is known as the Incarnation the true Humanity of Jesus this is one of many clear indications and implications that Jesus was truly a man sinless man but truly a man Christ was sleeping now in Mark 4 and verse 38 it says that he was back at the back of the boat which is the stern he was asleep on a pillow I love that why when I was younger I traveled around the world a lot long trips doing Mission Ministry and preaching in other countries and I used to have a little feather pillow it's like a goose down feather pillow and if you laid out the pillow it got so beat down that if you flattened it out it was only about a half inch thick I love that pillow I missed that pillow and it was so thin and so flexible if I put it on my arm it would just drape down like a towel and then I would fold it up and I actually put it in a briefcase and I used to travel with a briefcase with a pillow in and all my friends thought I was crazy but everywhere I went I slept perfect in my little I'd make a little ball just the size and the thickness I want I'd sleep on it and I had that thing for year after year after year after year after year until my wife threw it away I cried I wept my pillow she thought it was disease and full of fungus or something but man that was so cool and I always loveed this verse because like yes me and Jesus travel with our pillows and we can sleep anywhere we want at any time so he's at the stern of the boat he's on a pillow other translations have pad I reject that I love pillow so what this speaks to us of and it's simple but simply profound that Christ was truly human he was truly a man now how did Jesus become a man it's called the Incarnation now the word incarnate is Latin for becoming flesh so Jesus became flesh how through the Virgin birth so Mary being a virgin the Holy Spirit coming upon her there was conception in her womb so Jesus was God and man and one person it's called the hypostatic union fully God fully man one person Jesus Christ and in Philippians chapter 2 it says who being in the form of God the word form there means is Mor which means Essence who being an Essence God thought equality with God not something to hold on to but he emptied himself we get our word kosis from that emptied himself what did he empty himself of his display of majesty and Glory not his deity and then it says he took on him the form morphe of a man and came in the likeness of a man so Jesus was God and he was man and one person so Jesus the God man so he was fully human he slept he wept if you're taking notes John 11:35 he was tired John 4:6 he was hungry Matthew CH 4 and verse 12 and he was thirsty John 19 and verse 28 Jesus was truly a man so important now why is this important well so that he could redeem us so that he could die on the cross so that he could Reign on the throne of David but our Point here is important he became our compassionate high priest write down Hebrews 4:15 says he being Christ was actually tempted in all points like we are yet without sin so we have a high priest which cannot be touched with feelings of our infirmities so Jesus is our compassionate sympathetic caring high priest when you're tired Jesus understands when you're sad and You Weep Jesus wept you know very interesting too in John 11 when Jesus was at the grave of Lazarus in shortest verse in the English Bible Jesus wept it means his eye his eyes moistened and a tear just trickled down his face there's a different Greek word used for weeping mean which means sobbing or weeping convulsively out loud but this word weep means his eyes watered and A Tear just trickled down his face the Son of God in tears he was was thirsty he was tired he was weary he slept he was hungry someone said in every pain that rends the heart The Man of Sorrows has a part so it means he's sympathetic and compassionate as our high priest now what a beautiful picture in these first in this first verse and part of verse 23 that they're in the boat sailing with Jesus across the lake this is a picture of the Christian Life sailing with Jesus but life is not always smooth sailing amen storms do come into every life storms must come and we love the smooth sailing we love it when the wind is on our back when the road is slightly downhill and all the obstacles are removed and everybody lining the path is clapping for us and there's rose bushes with their fragrance and the Thorns are all [Music] removed Praise Jesus but storms do come even those who are Christians even Believers in Jesus encounter the storms of life life is not always smooth sailing storms may come if you've been taught as a Christian that your life will be without trouble or trial or tribulation you haven't been properly taught the word of God Jesus said in this world you shall have what tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world so this is before the storm they're in the boat it's late afternoon smooth sailing I remember the first time I ever spent a couple days on about a 25t boat we were doing a little surfing and fishing out of the Channel Islands and we anchored that first night in the wind was light offshore the glass glassy sea we were barbecuing steak out on the deck of the boat the moon was out it was just perfect everything was lovely until that night at midnight when a storm came it was the worst night I've ever had sleep trying to sleep we couldn't in that boat in the midst of the storm so we moved from before the storm to during the storm all of us are either going into a storm in a storm or just come out of a storm so the the storm verse 23 to verse 24 says There came down a storm of wind the word storm excuse me is actually a word that means a very strong powerful wind like on a par of a hurricane a strong wind on the lake this is the lake Galilee and they were filled with water that is the water was splashing over their boat or ship and they were in Jeopardy and so they came to him that is Jesus and woke him up saying master master we perish and he arose and rebuked the wind and the Raging of the water and they ceased and there was a great calm now notice verse 23 during the storm there came down a storm of wind on the Lake again this is the Sea of Galilee now Matthew 8: 24 it says there arose a great the word is Mega Tempest we get a word seismograph from it it's the Greek word seismos in the sea now you need to understand the geography of the Sea of Galilee Sea of Galilee is a fresh water lake we have a river going into it from cesaria Philippi fresh water we have a river coming out of it which is the Jordan River we hear from the river to the Sea comes out of the lake Galilee it is a pear-shaped lake with a large part at the north of the top narrows at the base and listen to me carefully it's 13 mil long 8 mil wide but it sits 180 uh feet below sea level I haven't been able to research it or not but I heard that the Sea of Galilee is the lowest freshwater lake on planet Earth so it sits very low 680 ft below sea level but around the lake are large mountains behind the mountains is high desert warm desert plain so the Warm Winds come off the desert in through the mountains compressed into the mountain Canyons swoop down upon the lake kind of like the high desert here in Southern California and the winds that come down the cahome pass so the powerful winds that come down so it would hit the lake and they would get up to 10ft waves on the lake of Galilee so they start off smooth sailing everything's fine Jesus is in the boat he's taking a nap probably a moonlit night everything's cool but then wh the storm arrives unexpected unannounced but a storm came to them so they were filled with water verse 23 and were in Jeopardy paint the picture of that these guys were seasoned fishermen the other gospels indicate that they were actually fearful for their very lives now here's the lesson did Jesus know the storm would come did Jesus know the storm would come you don't sound too excited yes yes yes does Jesus know when the storms come in your life yes not only did Jesus know the storm was coming I believe Jesus planned the storm it was part of their daily curriculum to teach them faith and trust and an opportunity for Jesus to reveal his person to them for them to come to know him better same is true in our lives God knows the storms we face and God's hand is on it he plans it he designs it it is part of the daily curriculum why to test and strengthen our faith so that we might grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ now there are different kinds of storms that come into our lives as Christians there are storms that are corrective remember when Jonah was out of the will of God and Jonah got in the boat tried to run from God and he was in a storm and it got thrown over the boat and then a whale swallowed Jonah so he went from the storm to the whale and then the whale spit Jonah up on the beach I love that I always wanted to preach a sermon called barfed on the beach Prophet gets barfed on the beach and he says yes Lord yes Lord I'll go to Nineveh you know you don't want to get swallowed by a whale I've been on airplanes people go oh Pastor Miller I'm so glad you're on the plane I'm I'm a little bit afraid to fly and it's so nice to see a minister on on the plane and I'm thinking to myself how do you know I'm not a Jonah we may go down and get swallowed by a whale so Jonah was running from the will of God and God brought a storm to correct him and to get him back on track but not only are there corrective storms there are constructive storms there are instructive storms and I believe that's what this was it was a corrective sto not a corrective storm but a constructive storm or an instruction storm I believe that God wants to get our attention and he wants to teach us a lesson in faith and trust now remember the disciples were obediently following Jesus command in verse 22 Jesus actually commands them let's get in the boat go over to the other side of the lake now notice he didn't say go under he said go over so what did they do they got in the boat they went over the lake they were in the will of God so the point is storms can come even when you're in the will of God Jonah was out of the will of God and God was correcting him but you can be in the will of God and God's trying to construct you build you up and instruct you so God allows storms in our lives to bring us into a deeper relationship with him I believe that I believe that with all my heart that's not pleasant no chasing for the present seems to be pleasant but afterwards it yields the Peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who yield or exercise thereby now one of my favorite passages to illustrate this and I quote it so often is 2 Corinthians 12 it's Paul's Thorn In the Flesh you know what Paul said he said because of the abundance of Revelations and he just described in chapter 11 of second Corinthians how God caught him up into the third heaven to see unspeakable things so because of these abundance of Revelations he says this there there was listen to the word very carefully given to me a thorn in my flesh a messenger of Satan to Buffet me lest I should be exalted above measure who gave it to him God did we we always miss that in this in that in that text we're always talking about what was the thorn what was the thorn I've heard preachers say it was his wife no most likely some physical ailment but it was allowed and given by God you say it was a messenger of Satan God controls the devil the devil can do nothing to you but what God allows or approves or is filtered to his love and care rest assured of that nothing can happen to you but what it is allowed by your loving gracious Father in heaven so Paul says I prayed and asked God to take away the thorn God said no but he said my Grace will be sufficient in you my strength will be made perfect in your weakness so Paul said most most gladly I'll Glory my weakness because then the power of Christ can rest upon me for when I am weak then am I strong God gives you thorn Thorns God gives you storms to Humble you to make you rely upon his all sufficient Grace someone put it in a poem I ask the Lord that I might grow in faith and love and every Grace might more his salvation know and seek more earnestly his face to was he who taught me thus to pray and he I trust has answered prayer but it has been in such a way as almost drove me to despair I love that so many times Lord I want to grow I want to be more like you I want to go deeper I want a stronger faith and God was okay here comes a storm storm of bereavement storm of disease storm of divorce maybe storm of some difficulty some relationship some finances storms coming different shapes and different sizes but God uses them for our good and for his glory now how did the disciples respond to the storm verse 24 it says they woke him up saying master master we perish the repetition master master there because they were freaking out out master master we perish and he arose and rebuked the wind and the Raging of the water and they ceased and there was a great calm so they they responded by I love this verse 24 they came to Jesus and called out for help now you don't have to wake Jesus up by the way if something's going on in the middle of the night you go oh go I got to wait till he wakes up he never sleeps he never Slumbers he slept because he was in a body that was not glorified after his resurrection he's now in a glorified body and he's in the heavens and he's become our sympathetic high priest but he doesn't sleep he doesn't Slumber but here's the point when you are in distress run to Jesus don't run from Jesus don't don't run from his promises and his word don't run from his people at church don't run the alcohol or drugs or other forms of escapism run to Jesus with all you've got amen and cry out to him and he will hear our prayers now the storm could not wake Jesus up but the cries of his disciples did you know God's ear is not heavy that he cannot hear so God God hears us when we cry God hears us when we call when we seek the Lord when we cast our cares upon God he hears us in our hour of need and it's kind of funny to me too that you have seasoned fisherman turning to a carpenter for help in the storm in a boat with a little Sanctified imagination I can imagine Jesus waking up going whoa can you imag imagine how freak out that would be Jesus wake up and's like whoa no what are we going to do you guys are the sailors I'm a carpenter I don't know what to do no he's Master of the Seas and all creation do you know that Jesus created All Things by the word of his power you know the the cosmos the billions of galaxies billions of stars billions of light years stretched out in space and he spoke it by the power of his word so no big deal for him to say to the waves and by the way when he said to the waves stop literally in the Greek he said be muzzled it's like a mad dog that needed to be muzzled he said be muzzled and normally what a miracle this was when a body of water is being whipped into a frenzy by wind and the wind stops it takes a while for the agitation of the water to to Glass off I know in the ocean when there's a strong onshore wind the water gets very choppy when the wind stops the chops let they remain for hours later before they calm down but Jesus and his power calmed the raging Storm now why were they freaking out they awoke him and Market says don't you care that we're perishing in the Greek perishing is in the present tense there in Matthew he says why are you fearful to them now why were they fearful same reasons we're fearful let me write let me give you three reasons if you want to write it down number one they forgot his promise in verse 22 let's go over to the other side of the lake had they remembered that in the midst of the storm they would said what remember Jesus said we're going to the other side now they're going from the west side of Galilee to the east side and then we're going to see they encounter the demoniac of gadera so they go from a storm in the ocean to the demon on the land now some Bible scholars and it's just a hypothesis believe that the storm was created by the devil to kill Jesus and the disciples I I don't really believe that I don't know that doesn't teach that but needless to say Jesus is controlling situation so they go across the lake and they meet this storm they forgot his promises so we too when we're in the storm need to do what remember his promise you know what he promise never to leave you or forsake you he promised as your day is so shall your strength be he promises in Romans 8:28 all things work together for good to those who are called by God and those who love God in Philippians said he that hath begun a good work in you will what complete it to the day of Jesus Christ so we rest in his promises they help distill the storm in our hearts secondly they forgot his presence Jesus was with them still in the boat amen when Jesus is in your boat you cannot sink I love that is he in your boat yes he is no storm can sink the ship where lies the master of Earth and sea and skies is he in your marriage is in your home is in your heart you can't sink Jesus is in the boat and then thirdly not only they they forgot his promises his presence but they forgot his power they'd seen his power they'd seen the Miracles they read the Psalms they knew that Jesus could heal Jesus could save Jesus could deliver Jesus controlled the oceans this is a Divine Miracle look at it verse 24 he rebuked the wind I love that the Raging of the water They Se e and there was a calm this is a beautiful picture of how Jesus comes and calms the storm I want you to hold your place here we'll come right back and I want you to turn to Psalm 107 Psalm 107 there's a whole bunch of Psalms but this is the one I picked this Psalm as a boy growing up my Dad read to me over and over many times he loved it it was his favorite Psalm he was stationed in the Lucian Islands in World War II and he served in the uh Coast Guard and he used to read this to me and tell me stories about his time and sea verse 23 of Psalm 107 they that go down to the sea in ships that do business in Great Waters these see the works of the Lord now notice when you go to these Great Waters you see the works of what the Lord this is a reference to Jesus his wonders in the Deep He commands and he raises up the stormy wind he lifts up the waves thereof verse 27 they mount up to the heavens they go down again to the depth their soul is melted because of trouble they reel to and fro and stagger like a drunken man they are in their wits end and then verse 28 they cry unto the Lord in their trouble and he brings them out of their distress he makes the storm a calm so that the waves thereof are still and they are glad because they be quiet so he brings them into their desired Haven so I believe these disciples knew this Psalm and they could equate and put the two together go back with me now to Luke 8 they forgot his power so last but not least verse 25 After the Storm before the storm storm during the storm after the storm and he said to them now there's the calm but he says where is your faith and they being afraid wondered there's a storm going on in their heart saying one to another what manner of man is this now I could be wrong but I believe that there should be a question mark not a apostrophe or not an exclamation point after this for he commandeth even the wind and the water and they obey him so two questions first one Jesus asked the disciples the second one the disciples asked themselves now notice verse 25 Jesus asked them where is your faith in Mark 4:40 he said why are you so fearful how is it that you have no faith so when Jesus said to them where's your faith he said you don't have any faith at all now at first glance this question rebuke of Jesus to them might seem harsh after all they were going down and Jesus was asleep what would you do what would I do if I'm in a boat and by the way for years I read the Bible about the storm and I knew that this was a lake and I thought what a bunch of wimps it's a lake who can't swim across the lake and then I went to the land of Israel and took a boat ride and I said I can't swim across this Lake it's 8 miles wide and 13 miles long and when I get to heaven I'm going to apologize to these guys you're not wimps man that was scary so they're in the middle of the lake the storm is ready it's full 4 miles at least to the closest land and they're starting to sink and Jesus says where's your face where do you think it is it's going to be at the bottom of the sea if you don't do something they're freaking out but on the other hand they had seen his miraculous power they saw the Centurion servant healed by the power of His word they saw the Widow son of Na raised from the dead you know one of the problems that we have when we're going through a storm and we're freaking out we forget what God has done in the past we forget great is the God's faithfulness amen what about all the times that God saved God healed God delivered we so easily forget then the disciples asked this class question in closing they said what manner of man is this and again as I said I believe this is a question they're saying basically in one translation I read had who is this man who is this man and the answer is it's Jesus the son of God God in flesh now write down John 1 verse one in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God it's even stronger in the Greek god was the word so he's the Eternal Word in the beginning was the word he's the personal word with God fa to face God the son with God the father and the Divine word and the word Word was God the word became flesh verse 14 of John 1 pitched his tent Among Us in John 18 no man's ever seen God but the only begotten Son of God who's in the bosom of the father he has declared him when they said in that boat who is this guy it was God in flesh they could not comprehend that they couldn't compute with that so they were actually freaking out still wondering who is this man he's the Creator he is the sustainer he is the goal and the Redeemer you know if you acquaint yourself with Jesus you can be at peace one of the benefits of studying the gospels is getting to know Jesus better power over nature power over demons power over disease power over death Jesus could be trusted so remember this when you go through a storm run to Jesus cry out to him in prayer Psalm 46 says God is our refuge and strength and very present help in trouble secondly trust in Jesus run to him trust in him God is our refuge and strength and very present help in time of trouble if you're not in a storm you will be just thought I'd encourage you and when you do encounter a storm run to Jesus trust in Jesus amen