Mark 5 (rescuing people)

This chapter was fun to outline.  Having to use the second of 4 'S's (out of 'JESUS IS THE RANSOM') for the outline theme drove me right to the thesaurus again.  But what I found there was an absolute jewel that I didn't foresee.

Salvage.

The picture I have in my head when I hear this word is some sort of National Geographic-esque underwater shot of some sunken ship.  So I looked it up.

Salvage:  to save something for further use, rescue something from a bad situation, save something from destruction. 

This is what Jesus did for people in Mark 5.

• Salvaged the man with Legion
• Salvaged the woman with bleeding
• Salvaged the girl who died
  

And the key verse I chose for this chapter is beautiful:

Mark 5:19 (ESV)
And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

The sunken ship can sail again.  The totaled car rolls into town.  What was bound for destruction at the hands of demons has been set free and restored by the hand of Jesus.  That is true for all three of these people in Mark 5.


Short Commentary

Salvaged the man with Legion

Here we see Jesus' confrontation with another person oppressed by foul spirits.  In this case, we find out that there were 'many' spirits inflicting upon this man ('legion' referred to a Roman regiment of up to 6 thousand men, but it also seemed to be used as a euphemism for 'a lot'), maybe even thousands.  At some point, Jesus saw the man and determined that he was demonized.  We know this because after Mark quotes the demonized man he writes that Jesus 'was saying to him "come out..."'  The man runs to the shore, falls down in front of Jesus, and professes Him to be the Son of God.  But in the same breath he (or the demon through him) lashes out and says basically 'mind Your own business, and swear You won't torment me before my time!'  Jesus responds with in authority by asking the demon what his name is.  This is where we find out that the man is demonized by many demons called Legion.  Then the demon (probably the leader) begs Jesus not to send them away.


The first thing that sticks out to me is the vast and varying range of emotions and dispositions of this demonized man.  He 'ran and fell down before him' (an act of worship or submission), he tells Jesus to 'mind His own business' (a statement of defiance), he tries to adjure (dfn. to force to take an oath) Jesus to swear that He won't torment him (an act of brash irreverence) and then begs Jesus not to send them out of the country but into a herd of pigs (a final pathetic plea of desperation).

I just love how Mark writes Jesus' response; 'So He gave them permission'.  He is in charge.  And the demons knew it even though they still tried to weasel out of punishment.

The man was grateful, and offered to follow Jesus.  But Jesus told him to go to his home and testify to the work the Lord had done in his life.  And everyone marveled. 

Salvaged the woman with bleeding
Mark picks up the story on the other side of the lake where another great crowd had gathered (I just did a quick search on the word 'crowd' in Mark; 35 times).  A man named Jairus, who was a ruler in the synagogue, came to Jesus and worshiped at His feet.  He then implores Jesus to come heal his very sick daughter.  As Jesus is going with the man to his house, He stops. 

We find out that a woman had somehow sneaked close enough to Jesus to touch His robe.  When she does, Jesus feels power go out from Him.  He then asks the disciples 'Who touched me'?  They aren't sure what to say because there were so many people around; how would they know?   But the woman who touched Jesus heard Him and was convicted to make herself, and her intentions, known.  She tells them of her disease and that she hoped that by simply touching the garment Jesus was wearing that she would be healed.  Mark says that the flow of blood (her disease) immediately dried up.  And see how Jesus treats this woman; 'Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your disease'.  She was no doubt very freaked that He sensed the healing, and came in 'fear and trembling'.  Jesus comforts her and blesses her for her faith.  It was pointed out to me that this woman would have been a social outcast in this town because of her ceremonial uncleanness.  Yet Jesus calls her 'daughter'.  He was on his way to heal the beloved daughter of Jairus, and on the way healed an outcast daughter and gave her back her life. 

Salvaged the girl who died
As he was talking with this woman, a servant of Jairus came to tell him that his daughter was dead.  They told him not to bother Jesus anymore.  Let's not forget the social implications of this.  Jairus was a ruler in the synagogue...which was filled with people (his friends) who hated Jesus (e.g. the Pharisees).  He was taking a huge social risk by coming to Jesus in this way.  Mark doesn't give us Jairus' reaction, but only tells us that Jesus overheard the conversation (how many times do we see Jesus having tremendous hearing :).  And what does He say?

"Do not fear, only believe."

If Jairus had as much faith as it took to come to Jesus so far, he must have displayed a willingness to still trust Him.  Jesus took His executive committee (Peter, James and John) and went to Jairus' house.  Everyone there was sure that the girl had died.  There were already official mourners present (as was the custom).  Jesus asks them "why are you mourning, she is not dead, but sleeping".  They laughed at Him, because it was so obvious that this girl was dead.  Notice how quickly this group goes from sadness/mourning to laughter/scorn.  Jesus walked right through it, took His execs and the parents and went in to see the girl.  He took her by the hand and simply spoke to her (the power of His Word).  She got up.  Jesus raised her from dead.  And then He further cared for her by requesting food for her. 

I have heard Jesus' mission on earth referred to as a 'rescue' mission.  And it was.  But in Mark 5 we see that Jesus also had a 'salvage' mission; saving souls from destruction for further use. 

Jesus sees beauty and value in people the world has cast off. 

Mark 4 (Jesus teaching with parables)

The key verse for this chapter sums up the chapter fairly well.

Mark 4:34 (ESV)
He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything.

I subtitled Mark 4 "Using Stories". It is built on the 'U' of Jesus is the Ransom (our chapter outline acronym). To add to the memory hook, each outline point has a 'u' first word and an 's' second word.

• Using a Sower
• Using a Shining Light
• Using a Seed
• Using a Storm

Brief Commentary

Using a Sower
Church health strategies, church growth initiatives, church-wide evangelism programs......one out of four. Jesus teaches that the ratio of people who receive the Gospel and trust Him to those who ultimately reject Him is 1 out of four. And this is Jesus talking. It's the ratio that He saw in His own ministry. People (including me) tend to overlook the fact that people rejected Jesus all the time in the Gospels. Even some who followed Him, whom John calls 'disciples', turned away and stopped following Him (John 6:66). And this is after walking with Jesus Himself. How can this inspire my ministry? The numbers don't look so good. I must remember when I'm preaching, teaching, counseling, leading, confronting, evangelizing, shepherding, and contending that even if I use the exact words that Jesus Himself would have used........one out of four. Even if I give the same counsel that Jesus Himself would give, some will reject it. Even if I use the same strategy of evangelism that Jesus would use, some will reject it.
My job? I need to walk with Jesus so that I do lead and speak in the very character and mind of Jesus.....and trust the response to God. I must be true to Jesus and His Word.....and trust the response to God. I must proclaim the truth and beauty of the Gospel of Jesus to the crowds and to individuals (to all who have ears to hear, v9).......and trust the response to God. Then, should He call someone and they repent of their sin and follow Jesus, we obey His commission; make disciples and baptize them.

Using a Shining Light
"This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.....hide it under a bushel, NO..." If the Gospel is a life-giving light, we must let it 'shine' in our lives. If we don't then we won't see where to go, and we'll never be able to help others see where to go either.

2 Peter 1:19 (ESV)
And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, (italics mine)

Using a Seed
There are actually two 'seed' parables back-to-back in this chapter. The first is about how a seed (apparently the Gospel seed similar to the one sown in the vv 1-20) grows. Jesus teaches that a man sows the seed, but he doesn't know how it grows. But it does. And when it is ripe, the man brings in the harvest. This echoes what Paul wrote about in 1 Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 3:6-7 (ESV)
⁶ I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. ⁷ So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

God is the originator of the Seed itself (the truth of the Gospel), but has given it to us to proclaim. God is the instigator of salvation (He alone saves people), but He has given us a role in the 'watering'. God is the initiator of growth (Holy Spirit working in us) but He commanded us to make disciples in His name. We are to sow, bring Christ to people, and make disciples. But the power of all of this lies with God alone.

The second seed parable seems to compare the growth of the Church to that of a mustard seed. Although the mustard seed is the smallest of seeds, it can grow into a large plant. Jesus' mission has played this out. His investment and training into a few men grew into a world-wide church that continues to carry out His mission today.

Verses 33 and 34 are confounding and yet comforting. Jesus taught with parables. He taught that way to the crowds to (among other things) test to see who was hungry. Then He took His disciples aside and explained it to them. He walked with them and taught them continually. Even if they didn't know it at the time, the kingdom rested on their shoulders (by the grace of God). He wanted to make sure they got it.

Using a Storm
Jesus got tired. I can't believe that He was just 'faking' being asleep, or that (as some would suppose) He just 'appeared' to be tired in order to better relate to His men. He was tired. He walked a lot, taught a lot, it was hot, and working with people is draining. So after a hard day of teaching, preaching, healing, and ministering....He wanted to get out on the water and take a nap.

And a storm came up. But He still slept. So He was either REALLY tired, or His disciples were freaking out over a storm that wasn't really that bad. Either way, they were scared, He was asleep. They wake Him up, accuse Him of not caring if they live or die, and then He displays the power of His Word.

'Peace! Be still!'

Done. No more storm.

But instead of just going back to sleep, He used this moment to challenge His men.

Mark 4:40 (ESV)
He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”

Faith. They heard Him. They followed Him. They walked all over the place with Him.

But did they trust Him?
Did they really believe Him?
Did they know Who He was?

Jesus let them get to the point of despair and then used the moment to drive home His point; remember who I am, and trust Me.

It seemed to take a long time for His own men to really trust Him. They had to walk with Him and follow Him. They had to learn, and sometimes re-learn. They had to believe who He was and what He was sent to do. Only then could they truly be disciples of Jesus.