A HARMONY OF THE GOSPELS

W. Christ’s Exhibition Of The Importance Of His Word

(Matthew 8:18, 23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25)

I. Introduction

A. Christ’s Mark 4:21-29 admonitions on the importance of heeding His Word and trusting it to disciple when it was proclaimed was backed by a great exhibition in Matthew 8:18, 23-27; Mark 4:35-41 and Luke 8:22-25.

B. We view that exhibition for our insight, application and edification (as follows):

II. Christ’s Exhibition Of The Importance Of His Word, Matthew 8:18, 23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25.

A. Prior to the event we study in this lesson, Jesus had taught the Mark 4:21-25 Parable of the Lamp to admonish listeners of His Word to watch that they heed it since God will one day publicly expose their responses to it.

B. Then, He had given the Mark 4:26-29 Parable of the Seed Growing Secretly to tell “sowers” of His Word not to rely on their human ability for spiritual results, but to trust God to make His proclaimed Word effective.

C. Then, in a great exhibition of the importance of His Word, Jesus emphasized the profound truthfulness of these parables in the event recorded in Matthew 8:18, 23-27; Mark 4:35-41 and Luke 8:22-25 (as follows):

1. Following a long, eventful, humanly exhausting day of ministry, Jesus in Mark 4:35 KJV told His twelve disciples, “Let us pass over unto the other side” of the Sea of Galilee (J. Dwight Pentecost, The Words and Works of Jesus Christ, 1991, p. 220).

2. When they entered a ship and began to cross the sea, the humanly exhausted Jesus lay down “‘on the leather boss (soft pad) of the steerman’s seat placed near the stern of the boat and fell asleep.’” (Mark 4:38a; Ibid., citing J. W. Shepard, The Christ of the Gospels, 1946, p. 232-233)

3. Quite suddenly, as is typical of the weather of the Sea of Galilee, a “furious squall” arose, heaping up waves that “broke over the boat, so that they were nearly swamped,” Mark 4:37 NIV. However, Jesus in His great human fatigue was still asleep at the back of the boat, Mark 4:38a. The disciples then awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38b NIV) The scene presented so far is one of human frailty: Christ’s claim that they cross to the other side seemed like an impossible goal as the humanly exhausted Jesus lay fast asleep on a cushion at the rear of a boat that was being swamped by waves from a fierce windstorm that frightened even experienced fishermen like Peter and John!

4. However, in a great exhibition of the power of His spoken Word, the Incarnate Creator God ended the crisis by a simple order: He told the winds to be silent as if they were human beings and the dashing waves to be muzzled as if they were animals (Mark 4:39a; Ibid., p. 221, citing Shepard, loc. cit.) “Then the wind died down and it was completely calm,” Mark 4:39b NIV. The same One Who had called the universe into existence from nothing (cf. Hebrews 11:3 with 1:3 and Genesis 1:1-31) here demonstrated the power of His spoken Word to order parts of that universe that He had called into existence merely to obey Him.

5. Then, Jesus asked His disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40 NIV)

6. The disciples “were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’” (Mark 4:41 NIV) They were still in the learning process of comprehending Christ’s deity!

7. However, Christ’s question about their faith pointed to His statement back in Mark 4:35 NIV when He told His disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Christ had not said, “Let us try to go over to the other side only to be drowned in a fierce storm on the sea,” but “Let us go over to the other side.” The words of the Incarnate Creator Who had called the universe into existence by His words meant that Jesus and His disciples surely would make it to the other side of the sea, what Mark 5:1 assures us eventually occurred!

8. Thus, in exhibiting the importance of His Word, Jesus revealed the truthfulness of the parables He had given earlier: As He had calmed the winds and the waves in this life-threatening crisis by His spoken Word, Christ’s admonitions to hearers that God would hold them accountable for how they responded to His Word in the Parable of the Lamp and to God’s “sowers” who proclaimed that Word to trust its power to disciple in the Parable of the Seed Growing Slowly were to be heeded as being absolutely true!

Lesson: Christ’s miraculous calming of a fierce wind and its ruinous waves by His spoken Word not only revealed Him to be the Incarnate Creator God of the universe, but it also revealed how very seriously hearers of His Word should heed it and how seriously “sowers” of His Word were to trust the power of His Word to disciple hearers.

Application: (1) If we hear the Word of God proclaimed, may we apply it as God will publicly expose how we apply it, and (2) if we proclaim God’s Word, may we trust its power to disciple and not rely on our own power to disciple.