The Presence of Jesus in the Storm

Introduction

A few years ago, your wife surprises you with a trip to Israel. You arrive in Tiberias, you sit down on a terrace by the Sea of Galilee to eat. The water is calm, everything is peaceful. You look out at this lake and think of the account in John 6, where the disciples found themselves caught in a storm. And there, you doubt. You think to yourself: "Can it really be that on such a peaceful lake, storms threatening life can arise?"

This is the story Loïc Richard shares at the start of this sermon at Chapelle Momentum (Nouvelle Vie). He asks the waiter why the terrace sits on a wall 5 meters above the lake. The answer stops him cold: the Sea of Galilee is surrounded by mountains that create a microclimate, and extremely violent winds can whip up waves there as high as 4 or 5 meters. That wall is a protective wall.

That day, Loïc remembered a line attributed to Werner Heisenberg, the German physicist and Nobel laureate, one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics: "The first sip from the cup of the natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the cup, God is waiting for you." We sometimes think we have enough information to disqualify the Bible, when really we just haven't dug deep enough.

So let's read together the passage that inspired this message.

"When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were frightened. But he said to them, 'It is I; don't be afraid.' Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading."

John 6:16-21

In life, you face storms. Some arrive after just a few months of existence, when your newborn is teething and suffers so much you wish you could take their place. Others come much later. Whatever your age, the question remains the same: where is Jesus when the storm hits?

Article Outline

1. Our lives look more like a stormy sea than a peaceful stroll

2. Sometimes Jesus calms the storm; sometimes he walks on it

3. "It is I": Jesus reveals who he is in the middle of the storm

4. All or nothing: accepting Jesus fully, not as a crutch

1. Our lives look more like a stormy sea than a peaceful stroll

In the Bible, the sea and the storm carry a lot of symbolism. The storm represents the forces of evil, the forces of darkness, everything you can't control or understand that breaks loose in your life. The sea, for its part, symbolizes dangers you don't see coming. On dry land, when an animal attacks you, you have room to see it coming. At sea, in your boat, the attack can rise straight up from below, and you don't see anything coming at all.

Loïc puts it plainly: our lives look much more like an adventure on a stormy sea than a walk in the park. There are, of course, seasons where everything seems calm, where you feel like you're in control, managing fine, not needing God. And in those seasons, the real danger is precisely that illusion: "I can handle this on my own."

Then the storm arrives. Your first instinct is to want it all to stop. For the storm to disappear. For the circumstances to change. That's human, and it's legitimate.

2. Sometimes Jesus calms the storm; sometimes he walks on it

There are other accounts in the Bible where Jesus says to the storm, "Quiet!", where he commands the waves to stop, and everything calms down at once. That happens in our lives too. And it's incredible. Loïc encourages us to pray in faith for the waves to calm down, for circumstances to change. Not because we have eloquent words or a lot of faith, but because our God is all powerful and, in his sovereignty, he has chosen to limit his action to the prayers of his people. So pray. Pray in faith.

But in John 6, Jesus doesn't calm the storm. He doesn't tell the waves to be quiet. What does he do instead? He walks on the water. And the Greek word translated "walk" conveys something very relaxed: taking a stroll. Jesus is strolling above everything that terrifies his disciples.

The text nowhere says he fights against the storm. Nowhere does it say he struggles to stay above the waves. He takes a walk. Without saying a word, he is telling them, "I am in control." Sometimes, God doesn't change your circumstance, he shows you that no circumstance escapes him.

3. "It is I": Jesus reveals who he is in the middle of the storm

In the middle of the storm, Jesus says to the disciples, "It is I; don't be afraid." In Greek, the words used are ego eimi, literally "I am." Grammatically, translating it directly as "I am, don't be afraid" wouldn't make much sense in English, which is why translators render it as "It is I." But the expression "I am" carries a great deal of weight.

This isn't the first time it appears in the Bible. In Exodus, Moses meets God at the burning bush. God asks him to go and deliver the people of Israel. Moses answers:

"Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, 'The God of your fathers has sent me to you,' and they ask me, 'What is his name?' Then what shall I tell them? God said to Moses, 'I am who I am.' This is what you are to say to the Israelites: 'I am has sent me to you.'"

Exodus 3:13-14

When Jesus says, "I am, don't be afraid," it's a direct reference to that name. Jesus is God. Jesus is the eternal God, the Creator, the Almighty, the one who has neither beginning nor end, the one who was there from the beginning. And he doesn't just say it, he proves it by walking above the storm.

Loïc points out a fascinating contrast. The "I am" of the Old Testament, spoken to Moses, came with: "Take off your sandals, this place is holy." It displayed the holy and perfect side of God, the distance between man and his Creator. The "I am" that Jesus speaks here is immediately followed by, "Don't be afraid." It's as if Jesus were coming toward the disciples and telling them, "I am God. I am all powerful. Everything you learned about this fearsome God in your training is true. But I am present, I am near, and I love you. I have a plan for your life."

4. All or nothing: accepting Jesus fully, not as a crutch

This "I am" means that Jesus is the transcendent God, the wholly other God, the source of all things, the cause of all existence. He is so far in a league of his own that when you choose to accept him, you're facing a real choice: all or nothing.

Loïc says it plainly: you cannot accept Jesus just so he'll help you, just so he'll change your circumstances, just so he can be a crutch when things go wrong, just so he'll calm your storms. That's not how it works with who he is. If you say, "I just want your hand, but I don't want to give you my life," you miss the encounter. What you need to say instead is, "Jesus, I want to give you everything. There is no area of my life I want to keep for myself, because I know you are a good Father."

Maybe you've already seen God act in your life. You've already seen a storm calmed. But you've never taken the step of saying, "Jesus, I give you everything." Today can be that day.

Key Takeaways

• The storm symbolizes the forces of darkness and everything beyond your control; the sea symbolizes dangers you don't see coming.
• It's right to pray in faith for Jesus to calm your waves, God is all powerful and he acts through the prayers of his people.
• But sometimes Jesus doesn't calm the storm: he walks on it, to show you that no circumstance escapes him.
• "It is I" (ego eimi) is a direct reference to the "I am" of Exodus 3: Jesus reveals in the middle of the storm that he is God.
• Following Jesus is all or nothing, not a crutch for your emergencies, but the Lord of your whole life.

Personal Application

1. What storm are you going through right now, a circumstance, an emotion, a situation you don't understand?
2. Are you in a season so calm that you feel like you don't need God anymore? What does that reveal about your heart?
3. Have you already prayed in faith for Jesus to calm your storm, or are you passively waiting for it to pass?
4. If Jesus doesn't calm your storm today but walks on it instead, can you trust him anyway?
5. In what area of your life have you never said yes to Jesus, work, money, relationships, the future, past wounds?

Scriptures Cited

• John 6:16-21 - Jesus walks on water toward the disciples caught in the storm
• Exodus 3:13-14 - God reveals himself to Moses as "I am who I am"

FAQ

Why doesn't Jesus always calm our storms?

Because his priority isn't first to change your circumstances, but to reveal who he is. In John 6, Jesus chooses to walk on the storm rather than silence it, to show the disciples that no force in the world escapes him. Sometimes God calms the storm; sometimes he leads you through the storm while reminding you that he is in control.

What does "ego eimi" mean in John 6:20?

It is the literal Greek expression "I am," translated into English as "It is I" for grammatical clarity. But it points directly to the name God gives himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14: "I am who I am." By speaking these words in the middle of the storm, Jesus affirms his divinity and presents himself as the eternal, all powerful God.

Can you follow Jesus "halfway"?

Loïc Richard answers clearly that you cannot. Using Jesus as a crutch in an emergency, while keeping control over the rest of your life, is not what Jesus offers. He is Lord, the transcendent God. To welcome him is to tell him, "I give you everything. There is no area of my life I want to keep for myself."