Mark 4:35-5:20
Key verse 5:7-8
Key verse 5:7-8
Introduction:
After the initial presentation, the good news of Jesus spread beyond the perimeters
of the land of Israel, reaching even the gentile area. This attracted a
large crowd, too large to handle alone. Seeing these crowds, the first thing
Jesus did was choosing 12 as his disciples. He wanted them to be with him and
then to send them out to preach the good news (3:14). The ultimate purpose was
for them to have an authority to drive out demonic forces (3:15). Along with
such a large crowd came the teachers of the Law. They accused Jesus of driving
out demons as the prince of the demon. Here Jesus explained that Jesus drove out
demonic forces by the power of the Holy Spirit. This raised two problems for
Jesus or per se for the disciples; first why the teachers of the law did not
believe Jesus’ word (question raised on 3:14); second, whether Jesus could
drive out demonic forces by the power of God or not was still left unanswered
fully to the hearts of the disciples ( 3:15). These two are the major topics
for his disciples to learn. So, he taught the parable of the kingdom of God;
that is the significance of the word of God. here Jesus taught two things: the
word of God is the seed of the Kingdom of God and if one mishandles the word of
God, then he won’t bear fruit that helps one attain to the kingdom of God. At
the same time, he taught how to handle the words of God. Their heart must be a
good soil to accept it and to endure with it. When one does so, then it was
assured for that person to bear the fruit amount to the kingdom of God (4:1-34).
This section is to take care of the first mission that Jesus wanted to do with
his disciples; the word of the LORD.
The second
section is to give an answer to the question that the teachers of the Law raised
and the disciple might be wondering if Jesus has the power to drive out demons by
the power of God or not (3:22-27). Also, this is the thing that Jesus wanted
his disciples to know and believe and eventually to share the authority to drive
out demonic forces (3:15).
In the hearts of
his disciples, there should be no doubt about Jesus’ authority to drive out
demonic forces for this is the final and ultimate purpose for calling them. In
this periscope, the passage has to be understood.
1.
Jesus calms the storm (4:35-41)
Jesus taught a
large crowd in four parables about the kingdom of God. it was by the lake and
as the end of the day was near, Jesus suddenly told this to his disciples, “Let
us go over to the other side.”(4:35). So leaving the crowd behind, the got on a
boat and went across the lake east- southward toward the place called
Gerasenes. Most likely it was getting
dark or was already dark into the night as they were almost reaching the
place. Suddenly there came strong wind with a storm. The boat was rocking so
much that it looked almost capsizing. Though four of the disciples were
fishermen on this lake for so many years, they never faced such a rough and raging
storm that they could not handle at all. In a panic, the disciples tried
everything but without any hope. But Jesus was still sleeping as if there was
nothing happening. As the last resort, they woke up Jesus and complained to
him, ““Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
We note two
things from what they said; first they were felt disconnected from Jesus
emotionally and relationally; emotionally because they were in panic while
Jesus was sleeping in peace without any signs of worries or concerns.
Relationally because they felt disconnected from Jesus because Jesus did not
seem to care for them at all. Secondly, they were in great fear of death and
they could not handle it with their own hands. Threat to life invariably unites
people together to overcome it especially they all faced a common predicament.
But Jesus, sleeping, seemed afloat of this life-threatening situation and was
totally disconnected from them or this crisis.
As he woke up
from a deep sleep, he rebuked the wind and commanded the waves, “quiet! Be still”
Then immediately the wind died down and the storm wave became completely calm.
The disciples were awestruck by the power of Jesus. He just rebuked and
commanded by his word. Then, as if it was like a man, the storm listens to him
in obedience to his word. Winds and raging waters were inanimate subjects. Yet
could such an inanimate subject hear and obey Jesus’ command? In addition,
Jesus said to his disciples, ““Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no
faith?” To him, the disciples should have never worried of the wind and raging
waters, no matter how rough they were. The reason why they worried or terrified
was because they did not have faith in Jesus.
According to him, by this time, they should have believed Jesus that he
even could protect them from such a life-threatening storm. What did this mean?
In order to understand, we are to examine carefully what he did to the wind and
raging waters. First, he did not treat the squall not as a nature’s
physical event but as an act of an animate subject. Actually, he rebuked demons
and commanded them in such a way before (1:25). That is to say that Jesus saw
the cause of this squall be of the devil or Satanic scheme. Second, since he
had shown them enough cases in which he drove out many demons from people, they
should have believed that Jesus would have no problem controlling the squall, a
demonic play to scare off Jesus and his disciples. Then, why did they not believe Jesus’
absolute power over demons, even though he drove away so many demonic forces?
The religious authorities, i.e. the teachers of the law labeled Jesus as the
prince of demon and he drove out so many demons as the prince of demon. This
dampened their faith and blinded their eyes to see who Jesus really was, the
Son of the Lord, who only could subdue Satanic forces.
When Jesus drove
away so many demonic forces, all were so amazed and puzzled on one question,
where or how did Jesus get such power over demons? There is no one but God
himself. If Jesus showed such power, then who could Jesus be anyone but the Son
of God?
Now, immense
power, the power of God Almighty that subdued the wind and raging waters, came
upon their hearts and they became more fearful of Jesus than the squall. Simply
they were terrified by this; who is Jesus? A man Rabbi, a prophet, a powerful
prophet, the Son of God or someone whom they were yet to know? Truly in Jesus,
they saw the mighty hand of God that touched their life in awe-striking power.
2.
Jesus drove out a legion of demons
(5:1-17)
Soon after this
incident, the boat reached the shore of the other side. When Jesus got out of
the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tomb to meet him. If we
picture this more reasonably, it is like this: All the disciples were coming
off the boat one by one. But this man did not show any interest in any of them.
But as soon as Jesus got off the boat, he came forward to meet him. What or how
did he know about Jesus? This was the
first encounter between Jesus and the man and yet he knew of him. But he
shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the
Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” It was a very menacing voice.
Though he recognized Jesus as the Son of the Most High, his attitude was not
one of submission or obedience but one of animosity and hostility. Actually, he
was demanding Jesus to swear in God’s name not to harm him. Even though this
man knew well Jesus, the Son of the Most High God, he challenged Jesus’ power
and authority in such a very forceful manner.
What kind of this man was?
3 This
man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a
chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the
chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to
subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry
out and cut himself with stones.
This man lived in
the tombs, a place of uncleanness, and where the power of death overwhelms. His
strength was beyond ordinary men that no one could bind him or control him. He
cried out night and day among the tombs and hills. He cut himself with stones.
All these say of one thing; he was demon-possessed and controlled by demonic
power. Why did he come forward to challenge Jesus? Or, why did he come to Jesus, whom he had no
will to trust or to obey?
8 For
Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”
Long before he
came to meet Jesus, Jesus had already commanded the evil spirit to come out of
the man. When did Jesus say this to this man? It might be that it was sometime
after the squall and before the arrival to the shore of the town Gerasenes. Or
it might be even when Jesus rebuked the wind and commanded the waves for the
squall was the work of demonic forces. Did the demon know that Jesus was coming
to this town in order to destroy him? More likely so since the demon attacked
Jesus and his disciples with the squall while he was sleeping. Being compelled
by Jesus’ command, this man came forward to meet him as soon as Jesus landed on
the shore.
What truth do
these things unveil to his disciples?
First, Satanic
forces are the real enemy against God and against His people. His handy
subjects, demons, were the agent of death and their power was beyond any men
can fight and no men can win.
Second, Jesus
came to rescue men from the power of Satan. He first demonstrated his power
over Satan when he was led to the temptation of Satan for forty day. He drove
out demons from many and by doing so he demonstrated his authority over Satan.
Third, though the
disciples saw Jesus driving out demonic forces from people many a times, they
did not fully grasp the extent of the power of Satan and failed to believe
Jesus as the one who held the full authority of God the father, esp. in His
dealing with Satanic forces.
Fourth, for the
first time his disciples came to sense the full power of the Almighty that was
with Jesus as he drove out demonic forces.
When Jesus chose
the twelve, he wanted them to have authority to drive out demons. This was the
ultimate and final purpose in choosing them (3:15). Jesus knew that his
teaching, and his power of healing all kinds of sickness alone would not unload
His people from the reins of sin and death that Satan has been holding against
all humanity. Satan’s grip on men’s sin and death is far greater than a nascent
believer might acknowledge. Such naivetes was seen in these disciples.
Previously Jesus drove out many demons from people (1:23-28, 32) and this
became the talk of the town and all were so amazed how or where Jesus got such
power (3:20-34). Nevertheless, the
disciple did not grasp the significance of this in an understanding of Jesus. Now,
then ever before, the disciples faced the full gravity of this power, the power
of the Almighty and they were terrified… and they were to see the full impact of
such power in this man.
On hearing the demand of the evil spirit, Jesus asked him “What is your name?” The man
answered, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” Jesus forced the man to divulge
his identity. In his answer, we come to know that the name ‘Legion’ is not his
name but the name of the demon. They were many like a legion of Roman
Army. His life was totally controlled by
demonic forces and he was tormented by the demonic forces within him. His
violent life reflected the torment within. But now confronting Jesus face to
face, it was not him but the demon took over and spoke.
The demons in him
came to realize that they could not disobey Jesus’ command to come out of the
man, they changed their request:
10
And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. 11 A
large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged
Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.”
Suddenly his word
sounded humble begging for his life. But actually, it was the desire of the
demons in him. They wanted to stay in that area, a gentile area, where the
people had no idea or understanding of the God of heaven and earth and lived in
sin freely. They would be easy prey for Satanic scheme. As there came a large herd of pigs, the
demons asked to enter the pigs. On Jesus’ permission, they went into the pigs
and about two thousand pigs rushed down the steep bank into the lake. All the
pigs were drowned. To understand fully, I like to find a few facts from this
event:
First, Jesus
allowed the demons’ request to take the pigs in order to free the man from the
demonic forces. Second, the demons came out of this man and went into the pigs.
Third, the demons took the life of or killed two thousand pigs in exchange for
this man.
Here we see that Jesus
heard the request of demons to free the man from the rein of demons. Why
did he accept their request? Why could he not drive them away from this man as
Jesus did for many other people (1:25)? For the first time, there is a subtle
allusion that the demons demanded payment or ransom in place of the man whom
they held in hostage.
At the beginning of
his ministry, being guided by the Holy Spirit, Jesus was tempted by Satan. It
was God’s will for him to overcome the power of Satan. He went through the
temptation well and did overcome the power of Satan. It was His personal
triumph over Satan. So, he had an authority over Satanic forces and could command
all demons in his will. But here the demonic forces were enormous and they
showed unrelenting will to do what they wanted to do against Jesus’ command.
Unrelenting will of Satan was his demand for a ransom or payment for what he
considered as his possession, that is the man filled with many demons. Could
Jesus’ personal victory over Satan bring a victory on behalf of this man? Or
could Jesus claim this man from Satan’s grip? Here we can see that Jesus can
and will and yet it was not free but with a cost, two thousand of pigs.
Humanly speaking,
it was an enormous cost; it is about 2 million dollars in today’s term. The
people of the world values money more than the life of people. No man of a
meager asset is able to or willing to pay 2 m dollars for the life of another
man. Here Jesus showed his will to pay
anything on behalf of this man if it is not a life of human being.
In his command to
this man, it is reasonable to assume that Jesus was confident in this man’s
will to speak out what God has done in his life without hindrance. In other
words, Jesus was confident that Satan would not go back to him to claim him as
theirs even he went off all by himself for Jesus took the man out of the hand
of demonic forces and made him as Jesus’ own. From this point on this man
belonged to Jesus and no demon could touch him because Jesus paid the cost.
Salvation is one way; it is because the due for sins has been paid for good.
In various
occasions, Jesus declared or implied the salvation of a particular person (ex. the paralytic
2:5). Then Jesus could save all simply by his authority expressed through his
word. But he did not do that. Instead, the last half of his ministry, Jesus
incessantly taught that he had to suffer and die for the sins of men and be
raised to life afterward for the salvation to be imparted to them.
Jesus as the Son
of God overcame the power/temptation of Satan. But could he exert this power on
behalf of all men? Or how can that power be imparted to those who followed him?
As we know Jesus did this by giving his body on the cross and gained authority
over all authorities of heaven and earth, including Satan (Mat 28:18). This
exchange between demonic forces and Jesus gives us a glimpse of what was needed
to free men from the rein of Satan.
Ultimately Jesus gave his life on the cross so as to buy the pardon for
all sinners.
Jesus’ work for
the salvation of men began with the overcoming of the temptation by Satan and
then nullified the authority and power of Satan on the cross. This led him to
earn him the authority over the entire world.
As the last of the salvation work, Jesus would destroy all Satanic
forces at the end of age, and God will put him in the fiery lake of burning
sulfur for good (Rev 20:10).
What power did
Jesus have? If Jesus had to save people from their sins, he had to have power
over Satan. This is demonstrated in this story. The enormity of the power of
Satan speaks powerfully of the magnanimity of Jesus’ power that subdued the
power of Satan.
The disciples
were terrified by being overwhelmed by the power of Jesus as he calmed the
storm in the sea of Galilee. What was the real power that was behind Jesus? The
disciples saw the full scope of the power in Jesus as they saw the two thousand
pigs rushing into the lake in a matter of a minute and drowned in the lake. There
were 2000 bodies of pigs floating in the lake. It was a very scary and chilling
scene. The disciples saw God and His power in Jesus. This was the power of God that they saw in Jesus and were terrified of. At that time, they had little
understanding of that chilling power. But now the character and nature of that
power were formed concretely; it was the power that subdued the power of Satan.
The substance of the terror that came into their hearts was seen in real life
as a fact. One thing was clear to the disciples; Jesus has the power of God and
in that power, Jesus can drive out, subdue any or all of the Satanic
forces. In Christ, no one shall not fear Satan, the lord of this world. What about the village people? They saw and
understood the power that Jesus had demonstrated in the life of this man; the
substance of that power was seen in the two thousand pigs floating on the
water. Where was this power come from? Who was Jesus, the one who had such
enormous power? These were the least of their concern because the impact of
material loss, about 2 million dollars, was too big for them to absorb. They
did not have any room to think about what was right and just, or whether it was of
God or not. When people’s hearts or lives are anchored in material wealth, they
are unable to see anything beyond, esp. the invisible God. They pleaded with
Jesus to leave their region. It was pitiful for them to miss out an amazing
revelation of God’s grace in one man. What can God do for them? Would Jesus
give up on them?
3.
Go home to your own people and tell
them how much the Lord has done for you (5:18-20)
“Go
home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and
how he has had mercy on you.”
In Mark, this was
Jesus’ first encounter with the gentiles. In coming to this place, Jesus had a
clear purpose by saying, “let go over to the other side” (35). Here the other
side (περαν) is the same word ‘across (περαν)’ in v5:1. It connotes an idea of
going to totally different places. Until this time, Jesus’ ministry was in and
around Galilee. If Jesus went away from this region, then it was when Jesus
chose the twelve. It was ‘mountainside’ meaning that it was within the same
territory but was on the mountainous area.
This tells us
that Jesus had an intention to go to the gentile area, a part of Decapolis,
with a clear purpose. It is significant in two ways: first, this area was
populated by gentiles and at the same time, demonic forces were working hard in
this area as we saw in this man. Second, there was a will to depart the larger
crowds in Galilee. Was it because he finished the first stage of his mission in
Galilee? Or did he want to cool out from the unhospitable crowds in Galilee? Or
was there another reason?
In 3:20-35, Jesus
defined who Jesus’ family was. At that time, an issue on how Jesus drove out
demons so many and so powerfully was raised and Jesus gave an explanation. But
the question was left unanswered to the heart of his disciples. In Ch 4, Jesus
devoted the entire chapter on the words of God and its implication for the
kingdom of God. If we think in respect
to what Jesus wanted his disciples to do (3:14-15), then ch 4 unpacked the full
meaning of what it meant that he wanted to be with him and to send out to preach
the Good News. The last of what Jesus wanted them to do was for them to have
authority to drive out demons. This issue was hanging and Jesus wanted to give
his disciples full implication of what he meant them to have authority to drive
out demons. This was the purpose of Jesus when he said, “Let go to the other
side”. To impart the faith that Jesus had power and will to destroy Satanic
forces for the sake of all that suffer under Satanic forces, Jesus showed them
two examples; one in the sea of Galilee and the other on the seashore of the
village Gerasene. As we have noted, these were not two events independent of
each other. Rather they are two events that one event compounded upon the
other so as to enforce one single message; Jesus has the power over Satan, no
matter how strong they might be, Jesus has the power to subdue and to
control. It was from the LORD and His
will was to impart this power and authority to His followers. What was the
ultimate purpose of empowering his followers with this authority?
This man knew the
power of Jesus more than anyone else, including Jesus’ disciples. In this
regard he would be the best witness of Jesus’ power or the source of power, God
the father. He was a better witness than the disciples as far as the power of
demonic forces and the power over those forces was concerned. As we read in the history of Israel (the
Kings), pagan beliefs are of all demonic forces or of Satan. By defeating the
most formidable-looking demons, Jesus opened a new horizon for the mission to
the gentile world. So, this story ends
with this:
20
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.
The message of
Jesus spread widely and all were amazed. The message from a changed life is
more powerful than thousands of words of superb wisdom and knowledge. To believe in Jesus ‘power over Satan is to
see the hope for all people of the world. Jesus wanted his disciples to see
this hope as well since they were the one who would go out to preach to the
Gentiles in forthcoming years.
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