The Shock and Awe of Christ's Holiness
by Pastor James Lincoln on February 25, 2007
Stressful times call us to be reminded that God is bigger then ourselves, that we are His creatures, contingent beings and that God is our Creator who holds all things together by the power of His word and sustains our lives by His tender mercies. To do this, I want us to consider the holiness of Jesus and the trauma that holiness created in His disciples that terrifying night on the lake. Before we look at the text consider that there are two meanings to the word "holiness". The second meaning has to do with moral purity. When God says, "Be holy as I am holy." He is referring to His moral purity. God is absolutely good and can be nothing but good all the time. God is unchangeable in His goodness. Our faith turns and runs to this reality especially when that goodness is hidden from our eyes. So, the second meaning of the word, "holiness," has to do with God's moral purity.
The primary meaning of the word "holy" has to do with God's transcendent majesty or His otherness. God differs from his creation. He stands apart, over and is above it. He is separate from and not equal to His creation. Instead, He rules over His creation. This is primarily what the Scriptures mean when they speak of God's holiness.
So, how do people in the Scripture respond when they come into the presence of God's holiness or His transcendent majesty? Well, some weep; some fall down as though dead. Like Paul and Zachariah, some are struck dumb. They just can't speak. Some tremble and shake.
Belshazzar (Dan.5), King of Babylon, served up a feast for his lords, wives and concubines. He brought in the vessels of gold and silver that his father had taken from the temple in Jerusalem. With these vessels he toasted his pagan gods of gold, sliver and stone and mocked the Lord by using them. While he was doing this Belshazzar looked up and he saw the disembodied hand of a man writing on the palace wall. The hand wrote, "Mene, Tekel, Parsin" meaning, "Your days have been numbered, you have been weighed and found wanting. Your kingdom will be given to the Persians." Daniel later told him, "The God who holds your breath in His hand and who knows all your ways... you have dishonored." (5:23) In the presence of the holiness of God, Belshzzar's, "skin went white; his arms went limp, and his knees buckled and literally knocked together."
From his watch tower, Habbakuk (3:16ff) came into the holy presence of the Lord and said, "My lips quiver; my body trembles at the sound and rottenness enters my bones; my legs tremble beneath me."
Job (21:6) wrote, "I put my hand over my mouth and trembling has taken hold of my flesh." Job 21:6
Isaiah in the presence of the Lord said, "Woe unto me for I am undone." He was filled with the awareness of his own sinfulness and he says, "I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips." In the presence of God he felt the glue melt that was holding his bones, joints and muscles together.
People say, "Well, that's the God of the Old Testament." Yet, when Ananias and Saphira lied about their offering and God struck them both dead on the spot, "Great fear fell among all the people and the whole church." In the presence of Jesus, Paul, was struck dumb. When John sees the resurrected Jesus on the island of Patmos he falls to the ground as though dead. When we are defending the miraculous presence of Jesus we say, "He is the same yesterday, today and forever." Do we claim the same for His holiness? Is the church today ever struck with fear of offending God's holiness?
Mark 4:35ff
On the boat that night the disciples got a glimpse of the holiness of Jesus and it was the most terrifying and awesome thing they had ever encountered.
What Atheists Do with Religion
Consider one more thing before we look at the text. At the turn of the twentieth century atheistic theologians had a problem. If there is no God, how is it that every human culture up to that point has some idea of God? Freud got into the debate and said that the reason for the universal belief in God or gods arises out of our fears of nature and death. He said that we are afraid of things we can't explain, things we can't control and things that can destroy us like storms, hurricanes, fires and other natural disasters. These things seem absolutely indifferent to us and they terrify us. So, the theory goes that we first impose personality on nature (the wind and the fire - animism) and then we trade up and create a being or personality in our own image who can protect us from such fear and indifference. So, you bribe the god of the storm and offer him gifts to save you from danger. Freud said that religion is borne out of our fear of nature. Now, hold that in your head and let's look at this episode of Jesus with His disciples.
A Demanding Day
This had been one of the most challenging and gut wrenching days of Jesus' ministry. Earlier in the day the Pharisees had accused him of being controlled by the devil. This was their official or ecclesiastical stand on the person of Jesus. Imagine how much suffering Jesus endured having the church declare that his ministry was empowered and funded by the devil. Later, His mother and brothers attempted to take him back to Nazareth by force. They had concluded the He had lost his mind (cf. Mk.3:21 & 31). Now his family thinks He's nuts. Leaving the crowded house He went to teach down by the seashore. The crowed was so big and pressing in on him that he got into a boat and taught from there the rest of the day. That was his day.
Mark says, "When evening came Jesus said to his disciples, 'Let's go over to the other side.'" So, leaving the crowd behind, they took Jesus along just as He was, in the boat." Mark doesn't tell us what he means by that phrase. Did he mean that Jesus was just spent and worn out from the physical and emotional demands of the day? It's hard to say. However, when it was dark Jesus got into the boat, laid down on a pillow in the back of the boat and just went to sleep. The disciples raised the sail and began the five mile trip across the lake. As professional fishermen they had done this a thousand times before.
Then, without warning (Mtt.8:24), Matthew says that they were absolutely blasted by the perfect storm. The Sea of Galilee sits about 700ft. below the Mediterranean. It's flanked by high cliffs. Wind tunnels can come off the Mediterranean and when they collide with the warm air coming up from the valley floor they can generate violent storms. This was one of them.
Verse 37 says, "And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat against the boat, so that it was already filling up with water" (NKJV). The NASB says, "Fierce gale winds were causing the waves to beat against the boat." The word Mark used for beating is seismos, from where we get our word seismograph. A seismograph is a meter that measures the amount of shaking or vibration caused by an earthquake. Put yourself in that boat for a moment. Gale force winds - the storm is shaking the seas so violently that boat is tossing about like a cork in the ocean - I imagine the storm was so loud that they were yelling at the top of their lungs just to be heard. And now, water is filling the boat faster than they can bail it out. If you've ever been vulnerable at sea you know how helpless and overwhelming it can be.
OK. What's Jesus doing while all of this life threatening panic is going on? He's fast asleep on a cushion in the back of the boat. He's the picture of relaxation and calm. The storm presents no threat and so it doesn't disturb him at all. He's in REM sleep and so untroubled and peaceful in the presence of all of this that they have to wake him up! The contrast is stark. The disciples are full of panic and fear for their lives and yet, there's Jesus asleep, undaunted and undisturbed in the face of threat and danger.
Not only is he undisturbed by the storm he is seemingly undisturbed by the plight of his disciples. So, finally they wake him up and they say to him, "Teacher, don't you care that we are perishing?" It's a fair question? Their lives are about to come to an end, so it seems. But the question contains an assumption. If He cared He wouldn't let us experience any life-threatening events. Can you relate to this? The tangible circumstances of life don't match up with our idea of the goodness of God and so the rising waves of doubt, confusion, questions and protests beat against you and you're trying to bail yourself out as fast as you can. Out of shear exhaustion you begin to wonder if the Lord cares.
Naomi told Ruth and her sister not to follow her, She said, "The hand of the Lord is against me" Jacob said the same thing when his sons left Simeon in Egypt with the ruler insisting that they bring Benjamin to him. Jacob said, "Joseph is no more, Simeon is no more, and now you would take Benjamin. All is against me." Yet, in both cases God was using the storm to bless both Naomi and Jacob. And here Jesus was using the storm to bless His disciples though that blessing was hidden from their eyes. Beloved, what appears to be is not all there is. William Cowper wrote
God moves in mysterious ways
His wonders to perform;
He plants his footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.
Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
With blessing on your head.
What does Jesus do when they wake him? Matthew tells us that, at first, he didn't do anything. Instead, he asked them a question, "Why are you afraid?" Before He stills the storm he wants them to consider the source of their fear. But isn't their fear reasonable? You'd be an idiot not to be afraid in those conditions right? However, there's one thing that can make that fear unreasonable. That is...unless, the Lord of the land and the sea is in your boat! Unless the One by whom, for whom and through whom are all things is with you in your boat! Why are you afraid? Jesus asked. "If I am Christ the Lord, the Lord of creation, the Lord of the earth, the Lord of the land and the sea and if all creation must submit to Me why are you afraid?" The reason Jesus has to rebuke his disciples for their lack of faith is because to put faith in any other thing but God is idolatry. All creation must submit to Jesus. "Why are you afraid if He is in control and if He is in your boat?"
Then, Jesus turned to the forces of nature and he rebuked the wind and said to the seas, "Peace, be still!" Now notice what he didn't do. He didn't grab an oar and start paddling. He didn't get a bucket and start bailing water. He offered no practical help at all. He speaks a word or three words. "Peace, be still."
My guess is that they were hoping for Jesus to do more than speak words. My guess is that if they are like most the people I know...they want Jesus to do something tangible to keep that boat from sinking. However, Jesus wants them to be confident in the power of His word. By His word the worlds came into being, by His word they can be stilled. When you are in the storm it's easy to lose confidence in the word of God and to think you must do something to keep the boat afloat. Bailing water is a good thing. But as you bail, don't panic. Believe in the irrepressible, immutable word of God on your behalf!
He said, "Peace, be still"...and instantly, the winds ceased to blow. It was so calm and still you could hear a pin drop. Instantly, at the word of Jesus, the sea was like glass.
Let me ask you this. Where was Jesus during the most life threatening storm of their lives? He was in their boat. Where was God in the most life threatening moment of Jacob's life? Namoi's life? Where was God when Joseph was thrown in prison? Where was God when Daniel's three friends were thrown in the fiery furnace? And where was He when Stephen was being stoned and killed? He was closer to them all than their very breath.
Beloved, this past week, many of us didn't get the answers we wanted to our prayers. We wept, we ached, we questioned, we believed, we doubted, we agonized and we protested these things from the depths of our souls. Beloved, if we didn't do this surely we would be far removed from the love of God in Christ who ached, wept and suffered for us and loves us and now calls us to himself. Yet, faith also looks to the certainty of the promise of the goodness of God even when that goodness is hidden and veiled from our eyes.
Faith:
Jesus said to his disciples, "Have you still no faith?" Elsewhere He said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed you can toss mountains about." Now, Jesus didn't say if you have faith "as little or as small as a mustard seed". The NIV and NASB are mistaken. He says if you have faith, "as a grain of mustard seed". What Jesus wants us to recognize that mustard seeds are unencumbered with things like sin, doubt, resistance to God's will. Here's the thing about mustard seeds...their size doesn't matter even if they are small. Mustard seeds do exactly what God commands them to do and they do it instantly. If we have faith as a mustard seed we will do exactly as God commands and when we do what God commands we will go about throwing mountains around. Now, Jesus doesn't care if we move Mount Hood to Washington state or not. But if we obey Him without resistance we will move mountains of hopelessness, despair, lovelessness, false guilt, doubt and bitterness...and if it's the best for our loved ones - even mountains of disease. Because mountains of sin, hopelessness, helplessness, discouragement and uncertainty melt like wax in the presence of God who has promised to give us His best and proven that by giving us His best when He gave us Jesus. If He did not spare his own son will he not give us all things? Of course he will. We want what we want and that is natural but God is committed to giving us the best and He will never give us less. Mountains of hopelessness and submission to this reality about our good God cannot occupy the same place in the soul at the same time. So, beloved, be of good courage. God has heard your prayers and He is hearing them today. And He is unchanging in His goodness to those who are His own. Faith now turns to the certain promise of God's goodness even when that goodness is hidden from our sight. And as a mustard seed faith obeys.
One last thing here: If Freud was right, what would you have expected the disciples to have said after Jesus stilled the storm? They would have said, "Thank you, Jesus, for removing our fear of nature and the storm. Thank you Jesus for giving us peace, calming our nerves for removing all our anxieties." And unfortunately many stop the story there. But what was their response in v. 41? With that, "they were filled with great fear". In the original it reads, (phobeton...phobia megas!) or fear upon fear magnified: Fear on steroids. Beloved, their fear was augmented not reduced just like Belshazzar, Habakkuk, and Isaiah. Why? Because they are in the presence of the Supreme Manifestation of Holy God on the earth. They are in the presence of the Son of God: the Brightness of the Father's glory - not just another good teacher - Immanuel, God with us - the exact representation of His being. The veil that covered Jesus' glory was for a moment lifted and they beheld the holiness of Jesus and they almost came apart at the seams saying, "Who, then, is this that even the wind and the sea obey Him?" They realized they were in the presence of One for whom they had no categories to explain Him. Remember Jesus wasn't killed for saying, "Consider the lilies of the field." He was killed, they said, because being a man He made himself out to be God - calling God His Father.
If we create a god to calm our fears of nature why would we invent a God who is more terrifying than nature? Freud's theory fails. We don't create God. God creates us and He is holy. And when you are in the presence of Holy God there is a corresponding fear and that fear is the beginning of wisdom.
Peter puts a finer point on it in Luke 5:4-8.
The disciples came back from fishing all night. Remember they are professional fishermen. They tell Jesus that they caught nothing all night. Jesus says, "Hey go over to that spot where the water is a bit deeper and throw your nets down."
Now, preachers are not supposed to be any good at practical things like fishing or understanding how electrical dimmer switches work. Peter's protest was natural. "Look Jesus, we've been fishing all night. We're professionals. You're good with books but we know what we're doing." But Peter says, "He is the Lord...Let's humor him." And so they row over to a deeper spot, they throw their nets out and, of course, every fish in the Sea of Galilee jumps in their nets and starts sinking the boat." Now, remember Peter is a business man. Wouldn't you expect him to say something like, "Hey Jesus, if you could just do this once a month...think of the possibilities! We could fund an enormous amount of ministry. Money would never be a problem." But what does Peter do? When Peter saw this he, "fell down at Jesus' knees and said, 'Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.'"
That's why the disciples were terrified. In the presence of the laser beam and brightness of God's holiness they could not bear him. It was like trying to look at the sun if its brightness were magnified a billion times. Here's how Freud coped with it. Listen to this man who was an expert on telling other people about psychological denial. Freud wrote this in the 50's , "I can measure myself with the best people I have known. I have never done anything mean or malicious in my life and can't even trace any temptation to do so." Now, would you trust someone with your soul who was living at that level of denial?
In contrast David said, "If Thou, O Lord, should mark our iniquities who could stand? But there is forgiveness with Thee that Thou mayest be feared." He said "My sins are as numerous as the hairs on my head." God is holy and when we are thinking straight about ourselves we will know that we are not and that brings a corresponding fear in the presence of God, as He is.
Here's the beauty of Jesus. He's not only holy. He's also merciful. He became the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Because He bore all the blows of God's perfect justice all we (who believe in Him) have to bear are the blows of His mercy and compassion. Without grace we would be undone before the brightness of His glory. By His grace we can stand in His holy presence ransomed, healed, restored forgiven, ever more to sing His praise.
Have you received this grace and believed on the Lord Jesus as your own personal Lord and savior? We don't have to be like Freud trying to make ourselves look better than we are. Because the Light of His glory not only reveals our sin; it also shines the light on the brightness of His forgiveness through faith in Jesus. Have you received the gift of his peace? Beloved, this morning trust and obey for there is no other way to be glad in the Lord.