Christ Supreme over the Storm:
Mark Chp 4 Vs 35 to 41:
It is a great truth that Christ is with us in the storms of life:
"Lo I am with you always" (Matt 28:20)
"Fear not I am with with you..." (Isa 41:10)
"I will never leave thee nor forsake thee" (Heb 13:5)
but Mark chapter 4 throws up a deeper truth, not that He is with us in the storm but rather that we are with Him in the storm! This storm of Mark 4 is a storm by Divine appointment.
Christ leads His disciples into the storm: "Let us pass over unto the other side..."
The Saviour sends away the multitude and the disciples are hand picked for the storm!
Never think as we hit the storms of life that it is fortunate that He is with us and comes to our side! He is sovereign in leading us through and in determining the conditions of that storm!
Is it not all a little unfair? The disciples are handpicked for the storm and the multitude are sent away! Notice though the difference:
- The disciples go through the storm with Christ
- The multitude go through the storm without Christ!
This Book throws up same strange conclusions:
Daniel 3 - the safest place to be was the fiery furnace - it was where the Son of God was! It was those who threw Shadrach Meschach and Abednigo into the flames who were destroyed.
Daniel 6 - The safest place to be was in a den of lions where the angel of the Lord was! It would be those who conspired against Daniel who would be ultimately devoured.
The safest place in the universe in Mark 4 was that boat on the storm tossed sea for that was where Christ was!
The storm through which the Lord led them was no little storm, it was a "great storm" and the boat was "now full."
Before the disciples would face the challenges of a lost world in Mark chp 5:
- A man that men could do nothing for - the man of the Gaderenes
- A woman that men could do nothing for - the woman with the issue of blood (another medi cal failure!)
- A child that men could do nothing for
they must have absolute confidence in Christ!
For the Lord to teach them that He was a great Saviour sufficient for great need He must take them through a great storm! They must learn the truth before the world would learn it in Chapter 5.
He would bring peace to troubled disciples. He would teach them lessons in His peace. The disciples on the storm tossed sea would enjoy peace when the storm was stilled. The Peace they enjoyed inside would reflect a peace outside, brought when the Lord calmed the sea. A storm inside was caused by a storm outside. Ultimately the Lord would lead them to a greater peace: "My peace give I unto you" (John14:27), a peace that "surpasseth understanding" (Phil 4:7). In the midst of the storm Mark reflects that there was one man different from the other 12, who enjoyed a peace inside even whilst the storm raged outside: "in the hinder part of the ship asleep on a pillow". This is His peace, a peace that rises above the storm by resting in the God who is sovereign over the storm! This is the peace of Philippians chp 4, a peace that Paul wrote about whilst the storms of life were raging in the prison cell!
By the end of this storm the disciples were brought to an even greater fear than the fear of the storm (4:31) "they feared exceedingly...what manner of man is this that even the wind and the waves obey Him?" Christ would have nothing in the lives of His disciples to be greater than Him, not even their fear of the storm, nor even their fear of death! Their awe for the majesty of Christ would exceed even their greatest terrors and dread! He had shown Himself Supreme over the Storm. May Christ be Supreme over my Storm today!
Every blessing.Stewart
Posts
