Power, Fear, & Faith (Part I)
Mark 4:35-5:20
Main Idea: Jesus can turn our fear into faith because he has power over all the chaos of the world.
I. Power Over The Wind & Waves (4:35-41)
After a long day of teaching (cf. 4:1-34), Jesus and his disciples make their way across the sea of Galilee (13 miles). Storms were common over the sea of Galilee, and they encountered a great windstorm (‘hurricane’ in Gk.). These professional fishermen believe they are going to die, while Jesus is asleep on a cushion in the stern. The disciples accuse Jesus of not caring for them in the midst of the storm.
The “sea” in Biblical thought represented chaos, destruction, and death; only God could control the waters (cf. Ps. 89:8-9, 107:23-32). Jesus shows his divine power by simply speaking to the storm, rebuking it like a child, producing calm, peace, and quiet.
The irony and key to the story is that the disciples are even more fearful after the calming of the storm than when they nearly drowned (4:40-41). They realize that Jesus has an even greater power than the seas and they had even less control over him than they did the waters. The storm outside revealed that they had a storm inside related to their faith.
This account of Jesus calming the storm simultaneously echoes something behind (Jonah) and foreshadows something ahead (the cross).
“Jonah’s willingness to die for the sailors points us to an infinitely greater sacrificial love that brings infinitely greater salvation. Unlike Jonah, Jesus was not thrown into the waters, because Jesus came to save us from a far greater peril than drowning. Jesus was able to calm the storm on Galilee and save his disciples because later, on the cross, he was thrown into the ultimate storm of divine wrath so he could save us from sin and death itself.”
~ Tim Keller
II. Power Over The Demons & Despair (5:1-20)
As they continue to the other side of the sea of Galilee, Jesus and his disciples enter a region no Jewish person would dare to step foot. The “Decapolis” (5:20) was a Roman stronghold, full of things that would be “unclean” by Jewish standards.“Jesus meets a man with an unclean spirit living among unclean tombs surrounded by people employed in unclean occupations, all in unclean Gentile territory.” ~ James Edwards
This demonaic’s existence shows us the pattern of evil and it’s destructive reality in the life of an individual:
He gives himself over to evil / idolatry of some kind
He is empowered outwardly
He is enslaved inwardly
He loses his sense of self
He gradually disintegrates (‘legion’) into despair
“There is no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, then you will never feel like you have enough. Worship your own body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally plant you…Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out.”
~ David Foster Wallace
The demoniac and “Legion” make a big, loud scene before Jesus, while Christ again simply speaks a word of rebuke, appealing to his own power, giving“permission” for the thousands of demons to run into the herd of pigs to destroy them (cf. John 8:44). Like the disciples on the boat, the people were more “afraid” after Jesus showcased his power then they were before.
The response of the people reveals their unbelief; faced with the economic loss of 2,000 pigs, they beg Jesus to leave. They would rather have the demons and the pigs in their midst than Jesus and this man who was in despair restored and healed. In their fear, they refused to relinquish control and embrace faith.
Jesus is the powerful one who has come to take the full force of evil upon himself and to let others go free, inviting us to a life of faith. When we realize that the evil that both impacts us and that we have participated in has been dealt with at the cross, we are invited to turn from our fears, trust in Jesus, and spread the good news of his mercy far and wide.
