Sunday School Lesson: Jesus Calms the Storm
Share
The Main Takeaway: Jesus is the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and He is sovereign over everything and everyone and He does what only God can do. He is our Redeemer.
The Lesson Objective: Children will understand that Jesus has supreme power and authority. His miracles were all signs pointing to Him as the fulfillment of all the Messianic prophecies in the Old Testament. We are to put our faith in Him alone as Creator, Savior, and Lord.
For the Teacher
Jesus had just spoken to the crowds in parables—parables about the kingdom of God. Here’s the narrative from Mark 4:35-41 about when Jesus and His disciples got into the boat:
“On that day, when evening had come, He told them, ‘Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.’ So they left the crowd and took Him along since He was in the boat. And other boats were with Him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke Him up and said to Him, ‘Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?’ He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Silence! Be still!’ The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Then He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ And they were terrified and asked one another, 'Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey Him!’”
From the moment Adam fell (and therefore all humanity was thrown into a sinful state), God reveals His plan of redemption throughout the rest of the Bible—Jesus the Christ, the Gospel. The Bible is all about Jesus. This passage shows Jesus as God—sovereign over all creation and Savior of His people.
The actions of this passage are Jesus delivering His disciples out of the storm by calming it and pointing them to faith in Himself. We remember that in Scripture, God uses water to illustrate salvation, as well as judgment. We see water as judgment in Exodus when the Egyptians were drowned in the sea after the Lord God saved the Israelites. And the narrative that immediately follows our passage shows Jesus drowning the demon-possessed pigs in the Sea of Galilee (Mark 5:1-14).
Only God has the power to save people and to remove evil, so this then is another affirmation of Jesus’ divinity.
This passage is a look back at the Exodus, where God saved the Israelites by parting the sea and then drowning the wicked. Jesus is asleep in the stern of the boat. Nothing surprises Him, and this has been “Plan A” all along to continue teaching His disciples Who He is. Jesus is the new exodus as He saves His people out of the sea (evil chaos) of the world. This passage is also a look forward to the culmination of the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. In both, only God (Jesus) has the power to save and remove evil. Jesus instills faith in His people and saves them.
And so, the main theme to teach in this passage is a picture of our salvation. Jesus, as God, does what only God can do by calming the storm and saving His disciples (and us!).
Activity for Jesus Calms the Storm Lesson
This is a three-part scrambled word activity.
What you’ll need:
- Sharpie
- Index cards
- Tacky wax to temporarily affix the cards on a white board or chalkboard
- One large sheet of paper with "Jesus" written on it.
The teacher will write one letter on each index card corresponding to each topic.
For example, the teacher will place individual index cards with the letter S on one, A on another, V on another, etc., so when the cards are unscrambled, they will spell an attribute or action (in this case, “Savior”), and can be placed on the white board in order. Using capital letters for the beginning of each word will help the children find the right letters.
Read the passage to the children, and from it, make a list of who Jesus is, another list of what Jesus does, and one more of what happens to us as a result.
1. WHO JESUS IS
- GOD
- SAVIOR
- CREATOR
- LORD
- SOVEREIGN (You may need to explain this word to them—Jesus has complete control over everything and everyone.)
Ask the children to choose the letters from their pile and spell out who Jesus is as shown in the passage (God, Redeemer, Creator, Lord). Choose one from each child to tack to a white or chalkboard.
2. WHAT JESUS DID AND DOES:
- SAVES
- CALMS
- RESTS
- IS PATIENT
- CONTROLS CREATION
Ask the children to choose letters and spell out what Jesus did/does.
3. THE RESULTS OF JESUS' WORKS
- FAITH
- SALVATION
- PEACE
Ask the children to spell out what happens when we believe in Jesus.
(If you think of more, please add them!)
Once you have all the cards posted on the board. Have the children read through each one aloud. Then ask them:
- Why do you think Jesus was sleeping (He knew what was happening and he wanted to test and teach His disciples about faith in Him).
- How did Jesus calm the storm? Do you think He yelled? Did He kind of just say, “Shhh?” (By His word to the storm, it calmed. Just as by His Word, He created the heavens and the earth and everything in them.
- What were the disciples afraid of? (Falling into the sea and drowning because of the storm).
- What did Jesus tell His disciples they needed (Faith in Him).
- How did Jesus calm His disciples? Did He? (They changed from being afraid of the storm to being afraid of Him).
- Why were Jesus’ disciples afraid of Him? (This is huge. The disciples at first feared death from the storm. Now they were faced with a fear of the Lord—an overwhelming quaking at being in the presence of God, who has authority over everything. You can read Luke 5:8-9, which was Peter’s reaction after Jesus filled their empty nets with so many fish the net just about burst. “When Simon Peter saw this, He fell at Jesus’s knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!”)
- Can Jesus calm your fears? How do you think He does that? (Yes, by His promises from His Word—the Bible)
Prayers for Jesus Calms the Storm Lesson
Jesus, thank You for calming every fear I have. You love me and care for me and don’t want me to be afraid. Amen.
Lord Jesus, thank You for creating everything, including the wind and the waves. Thank You that You control everything. Thank You for coming down from heaven and becoming a man. Thank You for loving us and saving us. We pray this in Your holy name. Amen.
Lord Jesus, You calmed the storm because You are God and You are our Lord. We love you and trust You for our salvation and to save the people we love. Amen.
Photo credit: ©Unsplash/JOHN TOWNER
