through to chapter 5 verse 20. Two amazing, extraordinary things happen in these events.
Thanks Jeff.
That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, let us go over to the other side.
Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat.
There were also other boats with him. A furious school came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, teacher, don't you care if you drown?
He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, quiet, be still. And then the wind died down, and it was completely calm.
He said to his disciples, why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?
They were terrified, and asked each other, who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him.
They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.
When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him.
This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain.
For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons off his feet.
No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him.
He shouted at the top of his voice,
What do you want with me, Jesus, son of the most high God?
Swear to God that you won't torture me.
For Jesus had said to him,
Come out of this man, you evil spirit.
And then Jesus asked him,
What is your name?
My name is Legion, he replied,
for we are many.
And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside.
The demons begged Jesus,
Send us among the pigs, allow us to go into them.
He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs.
The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and the countryside,
and the people went out to see what had happened.
When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there,
dressed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.
Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man,
and told about the pigs as well.
Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
As Jesus was getting into the boat,
the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him.
Jesus did not let him, but said,
Go home to your family.
And tell them how much the Lord has done for you,
and how he has had mercy on you.
So the man went away, and began to tell in the Decapolis,
how much Jesus had done for him.
And all the people were amazed.
Thanks very much, Jez.
Well, please keep your Bibles open.
And there's sheets there if anybody likes to take notes.
There's a pen.
Kirstie's there, handing them out at the front.
Just put your hand up if you'd like one.
Keep your Bibles open at Mark.
Chapter 4, these two amazing stories.
And we're going to look at them together.
One of the reasons why we're looking at Mark's Gospel together
is to prepare us as, in the new year in January,
we're going to be looking at Christianity Explored.
It's a study to help people understand who Jesus is.
So we'll just be looking at that in the new year.
So let's pray and ask for God's help as we look at this together.
Our Father, we thank you for your word for the Bible.
We thank you for these amazing events that are recorded for us,
to teach us and to show us who Jesus is.
We pray that we will see clearly who he is and what he has come to do.
That we would welcome him and accept him.
And we ask, above all, that you would change us
by your power
to be more like himself,
more like the Lord Jesus.
We pray for your spirit to be at work amongst us all.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.
Well, Mark begins his Gospel, if you remember,
like this in chapter 1, verse 1.
The beginning of the Gospel about Jesus Christ,
the Son of God.
It's what we call Jesus Christ.
So as we read through the book of God,
it's a little bit like a sub-temporary,
or a biologist,
who Jesus is,
and what things are going to be.
He sees that we've come across.
As Jesus meets people,
as he begins to talk to people,
and he interacts with people,
he sees another piece of the picture,
which gives us a glimpse into the heart,
and the blood of Jesus.
And the picture that we've been doing so far
is that Jesus is God's face,
which is in three power and power to be.
He is coming to the world
and he comes to the border of the cross,
and he comes to the world,
and through his words,
in his spoken voice,
he is coming to the storm in me
what has been broken.
And in the next few incredible things,
he comes to the world.
It's all subject to the creation.
And he sees,
he was expected by the same people of the world,
and he tells us,
he is the spirit.
He is the spirit,
and he tells us what Jesus does.
And of course,
the whole purpose of this
is not just to give you information
for money,
but it can help us to engage
in the real universe
that we have come to,
confront us as we are,
to our human beings.
So let's look at the same
in the first place.
First,
we see,
we see something
of the same one.
I don't know if we've ever seen
in the school.
It's a very unique,
terrified experience.
We've all our hundred and many,
not going to be the same.
But we all are hundred and many,
and we have probably
from the right place,
in Central America,
to a mutual island of the trust.
And we all are thankful
to the next few hours,
because there's eight hours,
which is four million,
and we have to meet.
Because we get it,
like we've seen
the breakfast store,
and we've seen
the civil war show,
we explain our lives
to the time,
and we are hanging on
to the real life
under the territory.
We saw this
in the way to God,
in the midst of it.
the real life
and the things
of the land
of the fear,
of noogi,
of no Flint
and the tenths,
of an instant.
And we have seen
the future
before the future
and in life
and the little thing
in life
that we are
watching that.
I've seen the earthly
When the לא� commencer,
Thank you.
Why are you so afraid?
Do you still have your faith?
Because the disciples have really found the reality that God is in the boat.
Because if we know the true identity of Jesus,
then here is the spell from all of us.
If Jesus is in control of the universe,
if he is with it all into his history,
if he controls the sun,
if he controls the moon,
the light, the light, the light,
and the light,
if he is here,
if he controls every detail that happens in our universe,
why do we hear?
Why are we afraid?
What happens when we face our face?
We are afraid.
We worry, don't we?
When we don't have faith in this awesome God,
we worry.
We get stressed,
and we get anxious.
We get overwhelmed.
We get concerned about,
am I going to have a job?
Am I not going to have a job?
What about my children?
Am I going to get sick?
Am I going to get well?
What's going to happen in two weeks' time?
What's going to happen in three years' time?
Am I going to have a tension?
Am I worried, worried, worried?
And we panic,
and we make ourselves sick,
and we make ourselves unwell.
That's what worry does.
We have no faith,
so we worry.
We get anxious.
Maybe the other response is this.
We control.
We try and change our circumstances.
We try to control situations.
We begin to manipulate people.
We try to get them to do things
the way we want them to do it.
We try to change people
to bring some kind of order
into our lives.
And we're getting frustrated
and annoyed and angry.
We're getting frustrated.
You see, if you are a warrior,
if we are controllers,
perhaps it's because
we're living in fear
instead of living in faith
in Jesus, who is God,
who controls the universe
and controls your life.
And those who do have faith in Jesus
are not immune to sickness
or tragedy or disaster.
The storms will come,
and he promised us
they will come.
We're not immune to suffering.
But what we do know
from this story
is that Jesus is present with us
in every storm of life
that we go through.
And he is the God
who's in control of the universe.
You might otherwise understand why,
but he is there
and he's in control.
So why?
We still have no fear.
Why do we get so afraid?
Suffer the God
who is in control
of the universe.
That's scene one.
Scene two.
What Jesus does.
We leave one storm
and we enter into another storm.
The violence that was present
out on the lake
is now present
inside a man.
Look at verse two.
When Jesus got out of the boat,
a man with an evil spirit
came from the tomb
to meet him.
This man lived in the tomb.
This was at a graveyard
out on the hill
and no one could bind him anymore,
not even with a chain.
For he had often been changed
hands and foot,
but he tore the chains apart
and he broke irons on his feet.
No one was strong enough
to subdue him.
The word there to subdue
is one that describes
trying to tame
a wild animal.
That's what he was like,
a madman,
out of control
and nobody could tame him.
Not only is he a problem
to the local community
and to his family,
he's actually a danger
to himself.
Look at first time.
Night and day
among the tombs
and in the hills
he would cry out
and get stones
and cut himself
with the stones.
In his anguish
he begins to self-harm.
It's a way of communicating
emotional distress.
I just read up a little bit
about self-harm
and this is what it says.
It's a way of communicating.
It says,
the body becomes
like a public notice board
where the scars
and the wounds
on the body
reflect the pain
or the distress
the person is feeling
that they can't
verbally communicate.
And this is what
this man is doing.
His life is a living hell
and the only comfort
that he's got
are these roaming pigs.
He's lonely
and he's tortured
and he's been shut out
of society.
His home is a graveyard.
That's where he lives.
Left to die
a miserable death.
It's a desperate picture
of mankind
at his worst.
Broken and ruined
with chaos
and disorder
ruling his life.
And yet he is powerful.
He's powerful
to break chains
and ropes
that people try
to bind him with.
but he's powerless
to change
his own life.
And no matter
what people
try to do
they can do
nothing for him.
It's not hard
for us to imagine
people's lives
in such a mess.
Demon possession
is not so common
in our culture.
It's common
in many cultures.
but within our culture
people still live
with terrible darkness
and disorder
in their life.
Lives are broken
and shattered
by the choices
that they have made
and because of the actions
done to other people.
And as a result of it
addictive patterns form
and abusive relationships
begin
and lonely
and tortured
people begin
to respond
with things like
self-harm
or worse
suicide
and it reflects
the deep pain
and the distress
that people are in
and you'll find
stories like this
all over Cork
and all over Ireland.
Ireland has one
of the highest rates
of suicide
in Europe
amongst young people.
And self-harm
is becoming
more and more
regular
with young people
who are in distress
and don't know
how to say
how they're feeling
and what they're thinking
in their lives.
People's lives
are in darkness
and disorder.
And like the disciples
in the storm
and this man
with an inner storm
inside his life
were powerless
powerless
to change
what's going on.
That is
until
he meets
Jesus.
Verse 6
When he saw
Jesus from a distance
he ran
and he fell
on his knees
in front of him
and he shouted
at the top
of his voice
what do you want
with me Jesus
son of the
most high God?
ironically
the disciples
who spent
all their time
with Jesus
and seen
him cast out
many demons
seen him
healing the sick
they're still
asking the question
who is this?
But Jesus
comes to this man
and with the
demons in him
they recognise
who he is
and he cries
out
Jesus
son of the
most high
God
this is
the supreme
power
and authority
the one who
controls the
entire universe
and he comes
and he falls
down on his
knees before
Jesus
in complete
submission
and he cries
out in mercy
to him
look at the
rest of verse 7
swear to God
or by God
because you are
God
don't torture
me
don't ruin
me
in Jesus
he knows
that he
holds this
power
power to
break his
life
or power
to perhaps
change
his life
and as the
story unfolds
we get to
see what
Jesus does
Jesus
is God
who
transforms
broken
lives
the same
power that
Jesus
shows over
nature
he now
shows over
an individual's
life
because he's
come to
transform people
where we are
powerless and
helpless
the good news
of Jesus
breaks through
and we have
the most
extraordinary
scene
here as
Jesus commands
the demons
out of the
man
look at
verse 11
a large
herd of
pigs were
feeding on
the nearby
hillside
and the
demons
begged
Jesus
send us
among the
pigs
let us
go into
them
he gives
them
permission
and the
evil spirits
came out
and went
into the
pigs
the herd
about
2000 in
number
rushed down
the steep
bank
and into
the lake
and were
drowned
and
now most
of us
get
troubled
with this
section
of the
story
don't
we
the poor
pigs
the animal
rights
activists
are up
in arms
those cute
little pink
animals
with their
curly tails
and floppy
ears
Jesus has
just killed
these poor
little pigs
the local
economist is
joining in
as well
because each
of those
pigs
represented a
few months
wages
and now
they've all
gone like
lemmings over
the edge
of the
cliff
clearly
pigs
don't
what's
going on
well if
we try to
figure out
what happened
to the poor
pigs
it's to
completely
lose the
focus of
the story
because to
Jesus
the rescue
and restoration
of one
single
person
is far
more valuable
than the
lost
of huge
wealth
the story
is not
interested
in the
pigs
the story
is about
Jesus
who is
interested
in people
in his
mercy
and in his
grace
Jesus has
gone out
of his
way
to go
where
everybody
else
runs away
from
this man
is living
he's a
gentile
he's
unclean
nobody
wants to
be near
him
he's
living in
an
unclean
area
the
graveyard
he's
with
unclean
animals
the pigs
everybody
runs
away
from
him
he's
mad
he's
crazy
but
Jesus
in his
mercy
and his
grace
goes out
of his
way
deliberately
to meet
this
man
he has
come to
redeem
us
and to
welcome
us back
into his
family
and to
restore
us
verse
14
stars
in
those
tending
ones
those
tending
the pigs
ran off and
reported
this to
the town
and the
countryside
and the
people went
out to
see what
had
happened
and when
they came
to
Jesus
they saw
the man
who had
been
possessed
by the
legion
of demons
sitting
there
dressed
and in
his
right
mind
for me this is one of the most beautiful pictures
of the whole of Mark's gospel
picture that man in verses 2 and 3
broken
cutting himself with stones
and now restored
sitting with Jesus
and in his right mind
once naked going mad
now closed
because being clothed by another
was a sign of adoption
and Jesus is doing that for this man
he's making him clean
he's adopting him
he's welcoming into Jesus' family
because he's come to transform
broken lives and fix them up
we've got to ask ourselves the question
do we accept
or do we reject this Jesus?
knowing what Jesus does in people's lives
demands a response
from each one of us
verse 15
let's read that again
when they came to Jesus
they saw this man who had been possessed
by the legion of demons
sitting there
dressed
and in his right mind
and they were afraid
they're not unlike the disciples
it seems they're more afraid of Jesus
now than they were afraid of the demon possessed man
why are they afraid of Jesus?
how do they deal with this Jesus?
well look at verse 17
then the people began to plead with Jesus
to leave the region
go away Jesus
we don't want you here
we would think that they would want him to stay
and to transform other people
and to bring his miracles into the lives of other people
but the reality is
they're more interested in property than people
they don't know what Jesus is going to do
or how he's going to upset their lives
their own material wealth
is of more value
than the rescue and restoration
of their own lives
and we need to ask
are we people who accept this Jesus
are we with him
in the kind of ministry that he's doing
or do I just put my hand out to him
and say
no thanks
stay away
and the sign of those who have accepted Jesus
are people who are going to be willing
to release their finances
and all of their resources
to see the gospel spread
to go and see it transform lives
despite the impact it's going to have on your own life
unlike the men here
they didn't want Jesus
because it was going to cost them too much
if we reject Jesus
we will be tight-fisted
we will be caring more for our own livelihood today
than the eternal destiny of others
these two scenes
the raging storm
a violent graveyard
they give us a picture
a wonderful picture
of who Jesus is
and what Jesus does
but you know what
they also point forward
to the greatest scene
the big picture
of Mark's gospel
where it will all end
Jesus' death
on the cross
both of these scenes
are a little picture
of what the cross
talks about
because at the cross
Jesus would enter into
the ultimate storm
he would go into the storm
but this time
he would go alone
and on our behalf
he was going to face
the storm
of God's wrath
and God's judgment
for our sin
and he would satisfy
that wrath
on our behalf
and he would bring
for all those
who would trust him
a calmness
into our lives
he would still
that storm
in our lives
and he would take away
the fear of death
so that we can live
our life
calm
and at peace
because Jesus
took on the storm
that we could never
take on
but not only that
Jesus would enter
a more violent grave
than the graveyard
we read about
in chapter 5
and he would go
to that grave
alone
and he would experience
not only death
but he would experience
hell itself
so that we don't
have to
he would experience
evil
in its worst sense
but three days later
he would rise
from the grave
he would defeat death
he would defeat
the powers of evil
and for all those
who would accept him
he would close
with his righteousness
and he would adopt
and bring us
into his family
the power
and the grace
of Jesus
is so extraordinary
that if we would
just come to him
helpless
and powerless
and that's what
we get with
every person
that Jesus meets
who he heals
and restores
they all come
saying
helpless
powerless
and he will change
and he will forgive
and he will renew
we might come to him
like the rude
disciples in the boat
who shout
who shout at Jesus
don't you care
if we drown
but Jesus responds
in grace
and mercy
or we might
come like the man
with the evil spirit
who fell on his knees
and in submission
cries out
don't harm me
in these stories
we meet a Jesus
who goes out
of his way
and he has gone
out of his way
from heaven
to earth
to meet us
to meet this world
to speak his word
of salvation
into our lives
and so we are called
as his people
to go out of our way
to go and show
people who Jesus
is
to go and show
people what Jesus
does
to show the amazing
transformation
he can bring
our hope
is in Christ
and in him
alone
let's pray
when they came
to Jesus
they saw the man
who had been possessed
by the legion
of demons
sitting there
dressed
and in his
right mind
our father
we long
that by your power
you would reach
into the lives
of those
who are broken
who do not yet
know you
and we pray
that you would
transform them
that people
would come
before you
and submit
to you
and cry out
helpless
and powerless
wanting you
to change them
please do your work
in their lives
and in our lives
in Jesus name
Amen
what you
like
or
to say
like
holding me
perhaps
the
that
procedures