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MARK: GOSPEL OF THE SERVICE OF CHRIST, GOD'S SERVANT
Part XIV: An Unveiling Of The Supernatural Power Of God's Discipleship Through Bible Teaching (Mark 4:35-41)
  1. Introduction
    1. When we faithfully teach God's Word, Jesus claimed that God's Word of its own power so impacted people for a change we who sow it can do nothing but wait for a harvest, Mk. 4:26-29.
    2. In fact, He taught that the organization of God's people who respond to Scripture is itself a remarkable testament to the power of God independent of the human sower, Mark 4:30-32. God's Word operates effectively like a tiny mustard seed does to take a speck of a seed in a year's time to turn it into a 12 to 15 foot tall bush with room enough for birds to use for perching (Mk. 4:30-32 and last week's lesson).
    3. Well, it sounds almost too good to be true that just giving out God's Word has this kind of impact. Aware of this fact, Mark arranged to tell us of an authenticating miracle to show the incredible POWER of God's Word so that we could BELIEVE Christ's claims of the power of that Word and teach it (Mark 4:35-41):
  2. An Unveiling Of The Supernatural Power Of God's Discipleship Through Bible Teaching, Mk. 4:35ff
    1. Mark 4:26-29 is Christ's parable of the seed growing on its own to show that discipling changes that occur in people's lives who respond to Bible teaching occurs independent of any human effort of the teacher.
    2. Mark 4:30-34 shows the organizational development of Christ's people is something that occurs quickly and powerfully and adequately once people respond to Scripture independen t of the human sower.
    3. To demonstrate the supernatural power of God's Word as proof of these claims, Jesus performed a miracle in full view of His disciples, Bible Knowledge Commentary, New Testament, p. 121.
    4. That miracle was the supernatural calming of a storm that was apparently caused by demonic influence:
      1. After having taught these lessons on the effectiveness of teaching Scripture, Jesus ordered His disciples to take Him with them in a boat to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, Mark 4:35.
      2. The disciples did so, and were accompanied by other boats of onlookers as well, Mark 4:36.
      3. In the process, as is common on that body of water, a sudden squall came up of great ferocity with the wind being funneled across the lake at great speed by channeling mountains on either side, Ibid., p. 122.
      4. Jesus was humanly too weak to do anything about the problem:
        1. He was so tired from the previous teaching ministry that He had gone to sleep on the boat before His regular bedtime, Mk. 4:38. Anyone who sleeps this way is at a state of human weakness.
        2. Besides, He was so far out that He was not awakened by the waves that kept sloshing up over the sides of the boat and swamping it so that experienced Galilean fishermen had to awaken Him, 4:37f.
        3. Besides, the words used by Jesus to calm the storm are "Be silent! Be muzzled and remain so!" which are used elsewhere technically "for dispossessing a demon of his power (cf. 1:25)". In other words, Jesus im plied in His words to counter the storm that demonic power had caused the extreme and violent storm, meaning that mere human power would not stop the wind and waves!
      5. Yet, He arose from sleep, rebuked both the wind and waves, making not only the wind but the thrashing seas suddenly to stop their churning so that there was a great calm, Mark 4:39.
    5. This miracle was obviously of supernatural origin as the experienced Galilean fishermen in the boat with Jesus were very afraid of Him, wondering in their yet ignorance of His divine nature what manner of human being Jesus was that even the wind and the sea obeyed Him, Mark 4:40-41.
    6. The only other power that the Old Testament Scriptures claimed could calm the wind and sea was the power of God, cf. Psalm 89:8-9! In fact, though they were not disposed to believe in the incarnation as yet, the disciples had a hard t ime not believing He was God just from this event!
Lesson: Right after His instruction on the innate power of Bible Teaching to change lives and produce automatic organizational development in people as believers, Jesus gave great evidence of this fact in countering a demon-influenc ed, fierce wind and wave storm on Galilee with the mere words of His mouth while in a humanly weakened physical condition. If His WORDS alone have that much power, His promises about that Words' discipling and organizing powers are to be BELIEVED!

Application: We are to BELIEVE the innate power of Bible Teaching and DO it! (2 Tim. 3:16-4:2)