Transcription

Connor
Hey, you’re listening to The Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun and practical ways.

Jeff
Welcome back, listeners. We’re so glad that you joined us today. He’s Chris, I’m Jeff, we’re the Bible guys, and we’re talking about how Jesus calms the storm.

Chris
Jesus calming the storm, which, by the way, is amazing.

Jeff
It’s going to be fantastic. But first, we have an incredibly important news article that we need to bring. You know, we are committed to bringing only the best news to our listeners.

Chris
Yes, just the very best, the.

Jeff
Finest and the finest news organization we know of is the Babylon Bee. Yes, right. Which is pure satire.

Chris
Every time we read this, I always, I always say, like, I love this humor because it’s so sophisticated and and it’s a satire article. Right. And so the title is the best questions to ask your husband while he’s watching a football game.

Jeff
Yes, because that’s the best part of football is when we’re being interrupted to answer questions.

Chris
I said to you earlier, I said, I’m pretty sure the answer is none.

Jeff
Yeah, well, I think this could be really helpful. Yeah, it says it’s that time of year again. Wives of sports ball fans. It’s it’s time for your husbands to break out their football jerseys and for you to constantly ask them millions of important questions while the game is on to help you prepare. The Babylon Bee is here with a handy list of questions to ask your husband during a football game. Yeah, so I believe we have ten very meaningful questions. Yeah. You want to just go every other one?

Chris
Yeah. Go ahead.

Jeff
Okay. The first question ladies that’s most important to ask your husband is which one is Michael Jordan. It’s it’s important to keep your eye on the real playmakers.

Chris
Question number two how many home runs do they need to get a double bogey. He’ll be impressed that you know these terms.

Jeff
Number three is honey can you help me renovate the kitchen real quick. You’ve waited long enough right?

Chris
Right.

Chris
That’s actually pretty typical.

Jeff
Yeah yeah, yeah.

Chris
Number four. Which team are we rooting for? Remember he he doesn’t choose based on colors.

Chris
Yeah.

Jeff
Do we like the blue ones or the green ones.

Chris
Right. Exactly. Yeah.

Jeff
Number six. Would you love me if I were a roly poly? And be sure to watch his face closely for any hint of hesitation?

Chris
Number seven. Why does that Prescott guy keep throwing the ball to the other team? Is that bad? Should he be doing that? No, wait. By the way I had Dak Prescott. Oh yeah I got rid of him.

Chris
I got rid of him in.

Chris
My other league. And then I picked up Baker Mayfield.

Jeff
Fantasy football. Yeah fantasy football.

Jeff
Yeah yeah yeah. Because Baker Mayfield never throws the ball to the wrong guys.

Chris
Dude Baker Mayfield is on fire okay.

Jeff
All right we’ll watch okay. Number eight is this. Why is that old white man telling all those black guys what to do? That seems like it isn’t okay.

Chris
It seems like.

Chris
That’s the best part. That seems like it’s not okay.

Jeff
Talking about the coach, right? Yeah. That’s great.

Chris
Okay, number nine, one last time. Which one is our team? It’s probably the one that’s losing.

Jeff
Yes.

Jeff
And then lastly number ten. And this one’s really important. Ladies write this down. Why did they stay in the nickel instead of switching to the dime package. When the offense went to an empty backfield set with five wide receivers, he’ll never expect this one.

Chris
You’re all set. It says now you can have some meaningful, meaningful conversation with your husband right smack in the middle of the game that he’s been wanting to watch all year long. Don’t worry, he’ll be thrilled.

Chris
That’s really, really funny. That’s true.

Jeff
That’s true right there, man. That’s that’s really helpful stuff.

Chris
Yes, I believe that all ladies should go back and relisten to this and write those down.

Jeff
Right. And we are not sponsored by the Babylon Bee, but we think you should pay close attention to Babylon bee.com. And bless you Chris.

Chris
Thank you very much. Wow. He does. Yeah. Yeah.

Jeff
So you’ve already sneezed this morning. So the yawns are coming.

Chris
Yeah of course it’s coming.

Chris
Well, believe it or not, I haven’t yawned yet. You know why? Because we’re not really in low lighting.

Jeff
I know it’s kind of bright.

Chris
Light in here. Yeah, it’s kind of.

Chris
Bright light in here, but. But the other podcast, whenever there’s low lighting, I yawn. Yeah.

Jeff
Yeah. It’s coming. It’ll it’ll happen. So Babylon bee.com has the best satire on the internet I think. So you guys want to check it out. And Babylon Bee you guys should be sponsoring our show. Here we go. So we’re talking about Jesus Calms the storm. And you know how we have been going in parallel. So parallel meaning we’re looking at all the passages in the Gospels that tell the same stories at the same time. Right. And so Matthew chapter eight is where we’re starting, but it also is found in Matthew chapter four and in Luke chapter eight. And so it’s one of the benefits of being able to read in parallel like that is to look for what are the variances, what are the differences, because each of the Gospels gives a different element to the story. So it really helps make it deeper and richer. Here we go Matthew chapter eight, verse 23. It says, Then Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples, and suddenly a fierce storm struck the lake with the waves breaking into the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, Lord, save us, we’re going to drown! And Jesus responded, why are you afraid you have so little? Faith. And then he got up and rebuked the wind and the waves, and suddenly there was a great calm, and the disciples were amazed. Who is this man? They asked, and even the winds and waves obey him. Mark chapter four. He tells it this way, he says. As evening came, Jesus said to his disciples, let’s cross to the other side of the lake. And so they took Jesus in the boat and started out, leaving the crowds behind, although other boats followed, and soon a fierce storm came up. Jeff
High waves were breaking into the boat and it began to fill with water. Jesus was sleeping at the back of the boat with his head on a cushion. Disciples woke him up shouting, teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to drown? When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and said to the waves, silence! Be still. Suddenly the wind stopped and there was a great calm. And then the. Then he asked them, why were you afraid? Do you still have no faith? The disciples were absolutely terrified. Who is this man? They asked each other. Even the wind and waves obey him. And then in Luke chapter eight, verse 22, it says, one day Jesus says to his disciples, let’s cross to the other side of the lake. And so they got into a boat and started out. As they sailed across, Jesus settled down for a nap. But soon a fierce storm came down on the lake and the boat was filling with water, and they were in real danger. The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, master, master, we’re going to drown! When Jesus woke up, he rebuked the wind and raging waves. Suddenly the storm stopped and all was calm. And then he asked them, where’s your faith? The disciples were terrified and amazed. Who is this man? They asked each other. When he gives the command, even the wind and waves obey him.

Jeff
I love this story.

Jeff
It’s one of my favorite stories.

Chris
Yeah, it really is.

Chris
Excuse me for me too. And the reason why I think, is because there’s so much application here. So this this incident that happens is totally applicable for our lives because it’s a picture of who God is and the scenarios that we find ourselves in. Because even though that we’re not with Jesus physically traveling across a lake, there are scenarios in our lives where we lack faith and we forget as the very first thing about this story, as Mark four and Luke eight include, is that Jesus says it’s his intention to go to the other side, right? He’s like, let’s go, and we’re going to go to the other side. And so there’s, you know, there’s a there’s a promise given it sort of in my mind, represents the intention of God for our lives. Now, of course, this isn’t a promise. He doesn’t say, we’re going to prom. I promise you we’re going to hit the other side. But what it is, it’s an intention that is given for the people. And God has intentions for our lives, which and we call those promises. And so it’s one of those things where I remember seeing a message one time, where it was actually back when I was living in Atlanta, Georgia, I had taken a group of college students, and the pastor was preaching on this passage and he said, you know what I would have loved to have seen? He says, right in the middle of all the panic, one of the disciples go, wait a minute. Didn’t Jesus say, we’re going to make it to the other side? Yeah, yeah he did. You know, didn’t he say other side? Let me check with you. Did the other side? Did he say other side? Chris
Other side. He said, we’re going to the other side. He’s like, well, I’m just going to stop, you know, panicking because Jesus said, we’re going to the other side. And then one guy says, but our boat is going down. And he goes, well, maybe Jesus knows a shortcut.

Chris
Right? We’re going.

Chris
To go down and.

Chris
Pop up on the other side, right? That’s right.

Chris
Because the faith says, you know, trust in the one who said, let’s go to the other side.

Chris
Yeah, yeah. And I think that and.

Jeff
He said, let’s that’s let us.

Chris
Yeah.

Jeff
Let us. So we are going he didn’t say I’m going. Right. That would, that would have totally changed the.

Chris
Meaning of this. Right.

Chris
As you think. I’ll just walk the rest of the way.

Jeff
Exactly. But he said.

Jeff
Let us go.

Chris
Yeah, yeah. And I think that there’s a I think that there is a really strong application there because, you know, if number one, God’s in the boat with us and through the storms of life. Yeah. Number two, the promise is given. And so, you know, pick pick your storm, pick your circumstance, you know, and then the other application, well, I don’t want to preach the whole thing, but what’s one thing that.

Jeff
Stands out to you. Go ahead man I was I was into it.

Chris
Well, the other thing is, is that these are expert fishermen. They know their business. And it’s like it’s like, no matter, you know, I have a buddy that right now we’re praying he’s he’s jobless and not not jobless. He was jobless for a long time. He’s got a job that he can’t stand right now. And he’s and he’s sort of working through and he’s not having a good time. And I’m telling you, it’s been a season where financially it’s been very stressful. And this is a guy who has been very successful in the past through the storm. And he’s going through the storm for the last year and a half. And so there’s a group of us that are just praying. And then and then his wife is struggling physically. She has so much pain and all these kind of things. And it’s like, so, so but here’s what I’m thinking. This guy has a 30 year career in the business that he’s in, right? He knows everything there is to know about this field that he’s in. This is the same thing. The fishermen are in the storm and they know every. Everything there is to know about fishing and storms and boats and probability. And so what they would say is they would say, don’t tell me the odds. I can calculate the odds. Don’t try to tell me that we’re going to be fine, because I know you know that we’re not going to be fine, right?

Jeff
Well, they’re watching the waves literally splash into the boat.

Chris
Yeah, that’s.

Jeff
What says the. Was it Mark? Is it? Luke? Luke says raging waves are crashing into the boat. These guys know what that means.

Chris
Yeah.

Chris
They didn’t say we might drown.

Chris
No, no, they said.

Chris
We are going.

Jeff
To. We are going to drown. Yeah.

Chris
It’s an ultimate conclusion in their lives.

Jeff
And these are guys who lived on this lake.

Chris
Right, right, right.

Chris
Yeah. And it’s so funny how the Sea of Galilee is called a sea. Yeah, yeah, but it’s a lake.

Jeff
So it’s 13 miles long and seven miles wide. Yeah. At its deepest point, though, it’s a deep lake. So between 150 and 200ft, it’s really deep. But you’ve been there too. It’s 680ft below sea level. So it sits in a deep hole in the ground, and then the lake is at the bottom of that. Right. And there’s basically one way in for big storms when they’re coming across the land. And when they blow in like that, they can whip up very, very quickly. We were on the Sea of Galilee a few months ago, and we took a tour to Israel, which our listeners should go with us on a tour to Israel sometime. Sure, that’d be great.

Chris
But we’re going next year, right? Yeah. Next year. Next. Next May?

Jeff
Yeah, around Memorial Day.

Chris
That’s awesome.

Jeff
So anyways, we were on the Sea of Galilee and I asked the boat driver, I said, I’m sure every group asks you what’s the biggest wave you’ve been in? And he started laughing and he said, 20ft. And he said, I’ve been on the on the Sea of Galilee. When we had a big storm blow in, he said we could see it coming. And he said, but we were way out in the middle. And he said it was going to take 30 minutes or so. Those boats aren’t super fast, was going to take about 30 minutes to get back in. And he said it caught us and he said it just hit so hard. He said he’s been in a couple of really big storms, but the biggest one he said the waves were 20ft tall. Yeah. So think about that, that these guys are pros. They’ve lived on this lake. Josephus said. One of the ancient historians said that at any given time, there’d be 300 boats on the on the water of the sea, Galilee back then, because of the fishing industry. And so these people knew it. They knew it. And when these guys came and said, we’re going to die, they’re not exaggerating. It was raging waves flooding the boat. And what I love about it is Jesus is sleeping.

Jeff
Yeah.

Jeff
How cool is that? Right. So you’re asking is Jesus, is Jesus worried about your storm? Right? No, he’s not worried. His is on a pillow and he’s napping. That’s what he said. He’s not ignoring them. He just knows we’re going to the other side.

Chris
Yeah, well, I remember one time a good friend of mine who, by the way, I was his mentor. And at the time, and I remember there was a scenario where I was like, man, I can’t figure out, you know, what to do financially. And it was something with our church and, and the camp that we were going to. He was with me doing this camp with kids and things and, uh, excuse me. Wow. And I remember he made a comment to me, and and it’s always stuck with me here it is like 25 years later. And he says, Chris, God is not on the throne saying, oh, no, oh, no. What’s going to happen? He’s not on the throne saying, I can’t figure this out. I don’t know what to do. And he goes, and I just I just immediately thought to myself, he’s right. Yeah. Like like like I’m surprised he’s not up.

Jeff
There wringing his.

Jeff
Hands, going, no.

Chris
I’m surprised and I’m worried. But God’s not right. And whatever’s going to happen is going to happen. Let’s just give it to him. Yeah. So but you know, I shared this way back before our podcast was called The Bible Guys on Daily is way back then we talked about the the hot air rising and the cool air coming down. Yeah. If you actually took a look at the Sea of Galilee, it is as if the creator of the universe designed the Sea of Galilee to immediately go from completely calm to raging storms. Right. And I’m talking like it is a formula.

Jeff
It’s like a washing machine.

Chris
Do you remember those old volcanoes that we used to build as kids? And we pour the baking soda and the vinegar? That’s what God did. He decided to build the Sea of Galilee and put ridges all around it. And the mountain ridges surround the Sea of Galilee, so that if there are winds, they just sort of swirl around like a tunnel, because there’s mountain ranges on every side surrounding the Sea of Galilee.

Jeff
With the tallest mountain in, in the whole region, Mount Hermon, being covered in snow. Right? So it’s cold air spilling off of that from the very beginning. Yeah, all the time.

Chris
So what happens is that’s that’s in like modern day Lebanon. Right? And that’s 13,000ft above sea level. Right? Right. And so all the cold air comes down from that and hits the Sea of Galilee. While you had mentioned the Sea of Galilee was 600ft below sea level, like, like 1200 feet below sea level, below below sea level is the Dead Sea. And then the river. Auden connects the two. And so all the hot air comes down from the southern region, and it comes up this the Jordan River, and the cold air comes down from Mount Hermon. And then what happens is they meet right at the Sea of Galilee. Jeff
It’s like a vortex. Chris
With a mountain range around it.

Jeff
Holding it in.

Chris
And. Right. And so when it says suddenly there’s a big storm, it’s not like they’re they’re incompetent fishermen, right? It’s like they have no idea back then. They don’t have barometers, right? They have no idea to know that it’s going to go from calm to 20 foot waves immediately.

Jeff
And you can’t see very far, right, because the hills are so high. So by the time you see dark skies coming over the top of those hills, you’re in trouble.

Jeff
Already, right? Right, right. So it’s.

Jeff
Sunshine. And then just like that, storms. And it takes you by surprise. So, you know, I think that there’s something to say with regard to the fact that these guys are pros. They’re convinced they’re going to die, and their only hope is to go to Jesus who’s not worried. He’s not worried. No. And they run to Jesus. No. And then the Bible says, Jesus stands up and says, peace be still. So we talked the other day about those family cartoons that about.

Speaker D
The Bible story, family entertainment.

Jeff
Family entertainment. So my sons loved those when they were little. And Jonathan, my oldest son.

Chris
These are VHS by the way.

Jeff
yeah, yeah, yeah.

Chris
Back in the late 80s.

Jeff
I bet you they’re on YouTube or somewhere now. But anyways, Jonathan loved this story. He liked this one in the in those cartoons. And so we had a driveway that kind of sloped out to the road. We lived in a subdivision and he was playing on his tricycle. He was dressed up like Batman and playing his tricycle, and he was kind of slowly going towards the road. And my wife says, Jonathan, you need to stop, come back this way. And he goes, oh no, mama, the wind is blowing me. The storm is blowing me to the road. And she’s like, Jonathan, you need to stop. And he doesn’t do it. Oh, it’s blowing me, mama. I can’t do it. She said, Jonathan, you stop, you’re going to be in trouble. And he stood up and he goes, holds his hands up over his heads. His peace be still. And he got on his tricycle started and he said, oh, look, mama, it works. It’s great. And so for him, it was Jesus can do anything, right.

Jeff
That was his his mindset.

Jeff
Jesus could do anything. Three years. That was his.

Jeff
That’s that was.

Jeff
His takeaway is Jesus.

Chris
Somebody did a good job in his Sunday school class.

Jeff
Well, it was from that. It was from the cartoon, from watching.

Chris
From the cartoons.

Jeff
From watching that cartoon about the the Bible story there. But it made it so real and, you know, so then I think it’s interesting they went from being terrified of the storm to being terrified of Jesus.

Chris
Well, they it said they were amazed, but.

Jeff
It says they.

Jeff
Were terrified. Were they. Yeah. Yeah. In in in Luke chapter eight, the last verse, the disciples were terrified and amazed.

Chris
Well, yeah, you’re right. Like, who the heck is this guy?

Chris
I’m not sure I saw that before. Yeah, like like like, hey, I love you and I’m scared of you.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jeff
The fact that this guy, when he speaks, he can command the wind and the waves.

Chris
Yeah. Nature. Nature obeys. Yeah, yeah. You know, by the way, this is another point in the scripture where he didn’t say, what is the size of your faith? He said, where is your faith? Yeah. Yeah. Right. So God calls us to have faith like a mustard seed. And so just this question of saying, where is your faith is, is is indicating like, geez, guys, all you had to do is have a little bit of faith in me, right? And yet, apparently you have no faith in who I am, right? You know?

Jeff
Well, so they had enough faith to come and ask.

Chris
Yeah, right.

Jeff
And that and that did the miracle.

Chris
Well, they didn’t ask for.

Chris
Him to save him. Oh, no, they did say save master.

Jeff
Save us. Right, master. So.

Jeff
So what? They didn’t have didn’t.

Chris
Know how he was going to do.

Jeff
It during the storm. They didn’t have faith that he was going to fulfill his promise that we’re going to the other side. Sure. But they had enough faith to come and say, master, would you save us?

Chris
Yeah.

Jeff
And he goes, so you didn’t have enough faith that I was just going to take you to other side? Okay, I’ll calm the storm then. That freaks them out. So do you know how much faith it takes to get God to intervene? Enough faith to ask right?.

Chris
Right. That’s a sermon right there. Yeah.

Jeff
Yeah, that that was it. They didn’t have enough faith while he was sleeping. They look over at Jesus. And I think this is one of those moments when they finally figure out, begin to figure out who he is, because they look over at Jesus, he’s sleeping. The pros are all bailing water and rowing as hard as they can. Yeah, and he’s sleeping. And they didn’t have enough faith that when he said, let’s go to the other side that we were going to the other side. Right. They didn’t have enough faith for that, but they did have enough faith to go and say, master, we’re about to die, right?

Jeff
And that was enough for me. All right.

Chris
I’ve tried it all my own.

Jeff
I’ve done everything I can do.

Chris
To the point where I might as well come to you, right? Yeah, yeah. And by the way, one last thing. And that is Mark four, because Matthew eight, Luke eight, Mark four, Mark four is the only one that actually includes where Jesus actually asked them, do you still have no faith? Yeah. So the other ones record, do you have no faith? Where is your faith? But but again, he must have probably had a conversation. And Mark was the one that. Heard that word still right and so still indicates I have come through for you in the past. And that’s a whole nother sermon. Just that one word is a whole nother sermon because we actually depend upon God. We remember the great works of long time ago. You know, what it reminds me of is Psalm chapter 77, where David the first, the first ten verses of Psalm 77 says, I am just at the worst part of my life. God has forgotten me. You know, he’s decided to not be merciful. And then it says in verse number 11, but I remember your deeds of long ago. And he says, you’re the one that delivered your people out of Egypt. You’re the one that did x, y, and z. And then he says, what God is greater than our God? And there’s a shift in the verse that says, hey, I don’t understand the circumstances that are right in front of me, but I trust in the one who has worked in the past. Right? Because you’re faithful. And that’s what that word still implies. Yep.

Jeff
I think that along those same lines, as we wrap up, Jesus never promised them that they wouldn’t go through the storm, right?

Jeff
Right.

Jeff
And he doesn’t promise them that he was going to treat their boat any different than the other 300 boats on the water. He didn’t promise that. He just promised, we’re going to get through this. And they should have had faith in that. And so I don’t know. I don’t know that God’s promising in your life that he’s going to stop the storm you’re in. But Jesus does promise he’s going to get you all the way through the storm, right?

Chris
That’s great.

Jeff
And you can have trust in that.

Chris
So and he’ll be with you.

Jeff
It just takes a little bit of faith to trust him, that he will get you all the way through the storm.

Chris
And he’s in the boat with you.

Jeff
That’s right.

Chris
Well, that’s a great place to end. And so we’ll see you next time on The Bible Guys.