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The Way · Mark 4:35–41

Asleep in the Storm.

They thought they were going to die, and Jesus was asleep. Why did He call their faith little? How could He sleep? And what does He do in your storm?

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🌦️ Pick one, honestly✋ Tap once for each answer.

What's your weather this week?

Everyone in that boat was in the same storm. Only one of them was asleep.
The story · Read it out loud
Mark 4:35–36
🎬 Press play🎬 Watch the disciples' faces

Now watch it.

Starts at 55:02 in “What happened to Jesus?” Pause when the storm is over.

👂 Tap each Gospel👂 Read each cry out loud

Three Gospels heard three different cries.

Matthew 8:25
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Matthew 8:25
“Save us, Lord! We are dying!”
A prayer
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Mark 4:38
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Mark 4:38
“Teacher, don't you care that we are dying?”
A complaint
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Luke 8:24
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Luke 8:24
“Master, master, we are dying!”
Pure panic
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How Jesus answered
Matthew 8:26
“Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?”
Mark 4:40
“Why are you so afraid? How is it that you have no faith?”
Luke 8:25
“Where is your faith?”
💬 Talk:🤔 Think: Which cry sounds most like you when things go wrong?
🗳️ Vote first🗳️ Tap once for each vote

They thought they were going to die.
Was their fear wrong?

What the lake says
The lowest freshwater lake on earthThe Sea of Galilee sits about 700 feet below sea level, with hills all around it.
The wind falls down the hillsCool air pours down the slopes and can whip up a storm in minutes. Luke says it “came down on the lake” (Luke 8:23).
These men knew this waterAt least four of them fished this lake for a living (Mark 1:16–20). The storm scared the experts.
The boat was filling up“The waves beat into the boat, so much that the boat was already filled” (Mark 4:37).
Their fear made sense. Jesus never said the storm was small. His question was about something else.
🤔 How could anyone sleep through that?

How could Jesus sleep?

Reason 1
His body
He was worn out
He had taught a huge crowd from a boat all day (Mark 4:1). They took Him “even as he was” (4:36). Jesus got tired like we do (John 4:6).
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Reason 2
His heart
He trusted His Father
“In peace I will both lay myself down and sleep, for you, Yahweh alone, make me live in safety” (Psalm 4:8).
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He had already said where the boat was going: “Let's go over to the other side.” A storm can't cancel what the Son of God has said. So He slept.
💬 Talk:🤔 Think: What keeps you awake at night? What would it take to rest like that?
The Bible has one other man asleep in a storm

Two sleepers.

Jonah · Jonah 1
Jesus · Mark 4
Fast asleep below deck while the storm raged (1:5).
Asleep on the cushion in the stern (4:38).
Asleep because he was running from God.
Asleep because He was resting in God.
The sailors woke him: “Arise, call on your God!” (1:6)
The disciples woke Him. He is the Son of God.
The sea went calm after they threw Jonah in (1:15).
The sea went calm when Jesus spoke (4:39).
“The men feared Yahweh exceedingly” (1:16).
“They were greatly afraid” (4:41).
Jesus said it Himself: “someone greater than Jonah is here” (Matthew 12:41). Jonah went into the sea to save the sailors. Jesus calmed the sea with a word, and later went into the grave to save us (Matthew 12:40).
So why did He say “little faith”?

Their fear was about the storm.
His question was about Him.

🧠 What did they forget?
They forgot
What He said
His word
“Let's go over to the other side” (4:35). He didn't say “Let's go drown in the middle.”
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They forgot
Who was in the boat
His presence
The Son of God was lying a few feet away from them.
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They forgot
What they had seen
His track record
In Mark 1–3 they watched Him heal a fever, a leper and a paralyzed man, and drive out demons.
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They forgot
His heart
His love
“Don't you care?” Their fear said He didn't love them. Peter was in that boat. Years later he wrote that we can cast all our worries on God, “because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7).
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💬 Talk:🤔 Think: What has God already said to you that you forget when the waves get high?
Matthew records this phrase four times

“You of little faith.”
Look at when He says it.

Clothes

Worried about what to wear. He points to the flowers: God dresses them, and He will dress you (Matthew 6:30).

The storm

Afraid of drowning. He calms the sea (8:26).

Sinking

Peter sees the wind and starts to sink. “Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand, took hold of him,” and then He spoke (14:31).

Bread

Worried they forgot to bring bread. He reminds them of the five loaves and the five thousand (16:8–9).

Every time, the subject is worry. And every time, Jesus helps them right away. “Little faith” is what He calls His own friends while He is helping them.
Mark uses one word three times: great
A great storm.4:37
A great calm.4:39
A great fear.4:41

The storm made them afraid.

One sentence, and it stopped. Wind can die in a moment, but waves usually take hours to settle. Mark says the sea went flat.

Their fear didn't go away. It turned around. They stopped fearing the storm and started fearing the one in the boat. That kind of fear is where wisdom starts (Proverbs 9:10).

🤔 In the Old Testament, who calms the sea?
The question the story ends on

“Who then is this?”

Mark 4:41

“He makes the storm a calm, so that its waves are still.”
Psalm 107:29 · World English Bible

These men knew the Psalms. In them, it is God who stills the sea (Psalm 89:9). Jesus did it with one sentence, because God gave Him that authority. In another storm, the men in the boat said it out loud: “You are truly the Son of God!” (Matthew 14:33).

💬 Talk:🤔 Think: What changes if the one in your boat is the Son of God?
What would Jesus do?

In your storm, do what Jesus did.

Remember what He said. The promise came before the storm. Find one and hold on to it.
Remember who is in the boat. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you” (Isaiah 43:2).
Wake Him up. Bring it to Him in prayer, honestly. Waking Him was the right move. Matthew records it as a prayer: “Save us, Lord!”
Rest. You can't control the wind. You can trust the one who can. That's how Jesus slept.
Sometimes He calms the storm. Sometimes He calms you and rides it out with you. Either way, He is in the boat.
✍️ Type it. It stays on this device.✍️ Think of your storm.

Name your storm.

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Talk it through.

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One last thing

The storm is real.
So is the one in your boat.

Following Jesus doesn't keep the storms away. He gets in the boat with you, and He gets you to the other side.

🙏 Prayer: “Jesus, You are in my boat. When the waves get loud, help me remember what You said. Thank You that You care about me. Give me rest like Yours, and grow my little faith. Amen.”
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