Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 7B)

June 20, 2021

Text: Mark 4:35-41

            “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:41; ESV).

            This is the One by whom all things were made, the wind, the sea, and all creation.  This is the Word God spoke, and so it was.  He was there when the earth’s foundations were laid (Job 38:4).  He “shut in the sea with doors” (v. 8).  He “made clouds its garment and thick darkness its swaddling band” (v. 9).  He “prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’” (vv. 10-11).

            This is the One who drowned the wicked world in the Great Flood, bringing Noah and his family, eight souls in all, safely through the water (1 Peter 3:20; Gen. 6-9).    

            This is the One who “rebuked the Red Sea, and it became dry land,” who led the Children of Israel “through the deep as through a desert” (Ps. 106:9).  This is the One who brought the waters “back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen” (Ex. 14:26), thus saving Israel from their hand (v. 30), so that “Israel saw the great power that the LORD used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the LORD, and they believed in the LORD and in his servant Moses” (v. 31), and “Moses and the people of Israel sang this song… ‘I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea’” (15:1). 

            This is the One who repeated the miracle for Joshua and the next generation, leading the nation through the Jordan on dry ground into the Promised Land (Josh. 3), and so Elijah (2 Kings 2:8), and so Elisha (v. 14).  As the Prophet Nahum preaches, “He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers” (Nahum 1:4).

            And this is the One who sent Jonah to preach.  “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me” (Jonah 1:2).  But he would not preach.  He fled in a ship from the presence of the LORD, from this One who sent him.  So, this is the One who “hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up” (v. 4).  And the only salvation, the only help, the only thing that would still the LORD’s wrath and bring peace and calm, was to throw God’s man overboard to be swallowed up.  The only answer was, as it were, Jonah’s death.  The belly of the fish.  Three days, three nights (v. 17).  And this is the One who carried Jonah through, who heard his repentant prayer, who “spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land” (2:10), God’s man, raised from the dead.    

            The Sea of Galilee is 700 feet below sea level.  30 miles to the Northeast sits Mt. Hermon, 9,200 feet above sea level.  When the wind blows down from the tops of the mountains and collides with the warm sea air, it creates sudden and spectacular storms, like that encountered by the little boat in our text.  But this is “the one who by his strength established the mountains, being girded with might; who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, the tumult of the peoples” (Ps. 65:6-7). 

            And so He does in our Gospel.  “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” (Mark 4:38).  So He awakes, and He rebukes the wind and the sea, this One.  “Peace!  Be still!” (v. 39), and there is a great calm.  Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey?  What clearer answer could be given?  Creation.  Flood.  The parting of the waters.  Salvation for God’s people.  Death and resurrection.  This man, Jesus of Nazareth, is God.  He is the Savior of the world. 

            So that is who He is.  Who then are you, to be so afraid?  “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge” (Job 38:2)?  Have you still no faith?

            The disciples thought He didn’t care as the wind howled, and the waves broke over the boat and began to fill it.  In the Hebrew mind, the sea is the place of chaos and death, the haunt of demons.  The disciples were in a fight for their lives.  And where was Jesus?  There He was, sleeping on a pillow, ignoring their mortal plight.  And they actually believed that He couldn’t care less.  That is you, isn’t it?  When you are suffering?  When you are in danger?  When your life is out of control, and your world comes crashing down, and all is hopeless, and you are helpless?  You cry out to God: Where are You?  Do You not care?  Are You asleep?  Can You not hear me?  Do You even exist?  Or are You out to get me?  My God, my God, why?  How long, O Lord, how long? 

            But remember who He is.  Creator.  God.  Savior.  And remember what He said.  The disciples forgot.  He said, “Let us go across to the other side” (Mark 4:35).   He spoke.  That is what would be.  He did not say, “Let us be drowned, like Pharaoh’s host, in the depths of the sea.”  Remember, you are Israel.  The LORD will bring you through.  Through the water.  Through the Red Sea.  Through the Flood.  “Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you,” says Peter (1 Peter 3:21), who was with Him in the boat that day.  In Baptism, this Lord spoke to you: “Let us go across to the other side.”  “Let your enemies, the devil, the world, your own sinful nature, be thrown into the sea and die.  I have triumphed gloriously.  And I will bring you through.  Through the water.  Through the valley of the shadow.  Through death, and into life.  Into the Promised Land.  Heaven.  Resurrection.  New Creation.”  He does not say, “Let me now abandon you to the evil forces that overwhelm you.”  He may be asleep on the cushion, undisturbed.  But don’t let appearances deceive you.  He has all things in His pierced hand.

            And He is with you in the boat!  Do you see?  The Church is the boat.  This is where God in the flesh rests with His people, with you.  We call the place where you are sitting the nave, as in Navy, because this is the ship, the ark, the boat where Jesus is with you, to save you.  And no matter how turbulent the waters get, no matter the storms to be weathered, even when the boat appears to be sinking, you have Jesus.  Always.  And He will do what He says.  He will bring you to the other side. 

            “Peace!  Be still!” He says, and of course, we know who He is to say that.  Not only is He God.  He is God’s Man, who, to still God’s wrath, was thrown overboard to be swallowed up by death.  Three days in the belly of the earth.  The Father carried Him through.  He spoke, and the tomb vomited Jesus out on Easter morn.  Jesus is our greater Jonah, accomplishing our eternal salvation.  And now He comes preaching, and He sends His men, the Apostles, the pastors, as well as your fellow Christians, to call out against sinners and sin, to bring you to repentance, to bring you into the boat, to show you your gracious Lord who loves you, forgives you, and cares about your every trial and tribulation, that you believe in Him, and go with Him, to the other side.  He sends them to announce His peace.  Be still.  The Lord is on your side.  He is risen.  And He is in the boat.

            “Some went down to the sea in ships,” the Psalmist prays, “doing business on the great waters; they saw the deeds of the LORD, his wondrous works in the deep.  For he commanded and raised the stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea.  They mounted up to heaven; they went down to the depths; their courage melted away in their evil plight; they reeled and staggered like drunken men and were at their wits end.  Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress.  He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed.  Then they were glad that the waters were quiet, and he brought them to their desired haven.  Let them thank the LORD for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man!  Let them extol him in the congregation of the people, and praise him in the assembly of the elders” (Ps. 107:23-32). 

            Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing. 

            In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.