"Confessions of a Former Demoniac" | Mark 4:35-5:20 | The Gospel of Mark Series | Hillside Baptist Church

As many of you are aware, there was a tragedy last weekend.

Flash floods devastated Central Texas, and the death toll has risen to 120 people, with more being discovered each day.

We grieve especially for the loss at Camp Mystic, a Christian camp for girls, where 27 campers and counselors were caught in the sudden flood and did not survive.

Among those who died include nine-year-old Janie Hunt.

She is the cousin of Gracie Hunt, the heiress and daughter of the Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt.

In response to this tragic event that took the life of her little cousin, Gracie Hunt posted a message on her Instagram account that went viral.

She wrote, Some days it's hard to understand how the world can hold both so much beauty and so much pain.

How can the same God who created the stars and set the planets in motion allow such deep suffering?

The truth is we live in a broken world, one that groans for redemption, and she cites Romans 8.

But Scripture promises that one day Christ will make all things new, a new heaven and a new earth.

And she goes on to cite 2 Peter 313.

She continues, My heart aches for our extended family and friends who lost daughters, for every life lost, and every family shattered by the floods in Texas.

I don't have easy answers, but I do know this following Jesus doesn't spare us from pain, but it means we never face it alone.

Even in the darkest valleys, we hold on to the hope that this is not the end of the story.

She goes on to cite 2 Corinthians 4, verses 16 through 18, which says, Therefore we do not lose heart, though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

2 Corinthians 4:16–18

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

And she goes on to cite Psalm twenty-three, four.

Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Even in the wake of such tragedy, Gracie Hunt's response was to trust and to give glory to God, even when it didn't make sense, and it came at a great personal cost.

Now I'm not sure what her background is as a Christian, but I can tell you this.

She understands how a disciple ought to respond when staring down the darkest of valleys.

During the course of every disciple's life, there come seasons of trials and suffering.

How we respond in those moments reveals a lot about the nature of our faith.

Our passage today is a tale of two responses.

One of Jesus' disciples in a moment of great danger and fear, and another of an unlikely convert.

We'll begin with Mark chapter four, starting with verse 35.

As we get ready to turn there, let's go to the God of all hope and prayer.

Father in heaven, you are compassionate and you do not abandon your people.

And as we grieve the losses of many lives in the past week, in the wake of this tragedy, and families that have been shattered, may they look to you for hope.

And God, as we turn to your word today, may we come to understand that you have purpose in everything.

That even as we go through the storms and the darkest and deepest of valleys, you're there with us and you care for us.

And so prepare us for your word today.

Prepare us to receive your word and to respond in faith.

That when we are sifted, our faith may be proven to be genuine.

We ask for your Holy Spirit's help in this.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Mark chapter 4, verses 35 through 41.

Mark 4:35–41

Let us go over to the other side.

And leaving the crowd, they took him along with them in the boat, just as he was, and other boats were with him.

And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling up.

And Jesus himself was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion.

And they got him up and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?

And he woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Silence, be still.

And the wind died down, and it became perfectly calm.

And he said to them, Why are you so cowardly?

Do you still have no faith?

And they became very afraid, and were saying to one another, Who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?

Jesus and his disciples were on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.

It's interesting that it's even called the Sea of Galilee, since it's essentially a giant freshwater lake.

Mark's gospel is the first written evidence calling it the Sea of Galilee, and you have to wonder why he chose to call it that.

Some speculate that it has something to do with the Hebrew word for sea, which is pronounced yum, and the ancient Near Eastern myth of a divine warrior who conquers the forces of chaos represented by the sea.

Now, this seems somewhat reasonable since we know how the story plays out.

Jesus fits that description as the one who demonstrates his mighty power over nature and creation.

However, keep in mind that Mark is writing predominantly for Gentiles in Rome.

And since there isn't an explicit reference to inform a non-Jewish audience, it's a bit of a stretch to expect them to make this connection.

Jesus intends to go over to the other side and escape the crowds, to the eastern shore where there are no large cities and therefore fewer people.

Jesus is so tired that he falls asleep in the stern of the boat.

But the peaceful moment didn't last very long as suddenly, like a flash flood, a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling up.

Storms can roll in fast over lakes.

Some of you have experienced this personally.

When the weather turns, the wind whips across the water, white caps begin rising, and before you know it, the boat starts to rock and water sloshes in from the sides.

It's not just uncomfortable, it's dangerous, even deadly.

When water gets into a small boat, you're not just getting wet, you're in trouble.

That boat becomes unstable and fills faster than you can bail it out.

Then you start to lose control before eventually capsizing.

You might be thinking, well, what's the big deal?

It's just a lake.

People go swimming in lakes all the time.

Except this lake is upwards to 460 feet deep.

And there were still miles from the shore.

Not to mention that if the water is cold like the lakes here in New England, hypothermia can set in pretty quickly.

You don't have hours, you have minutes.

Your only hope is for rescue.

That's the situation that the disciples were in.

And remember, many of them were professional fishermen.

They'd been on the Sea of Galilee all their lives.

So if they thought they were going to die, you can believe that it was serious.

They knew the danger, crashing waves, water in the boat, and a long way to shore.

No life jackets, no radio, no Coast Guard.

And how do they respond?

Let's look again at verse 38.

And Jesus himself was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion, and they got him up and said to him, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?

It's ironic that the carpenter is in slumber while the fishermen are in shock.

When the disciples woke Jesus, it wasn't calmly or with trust, but with urgency and fear.

They shouted at him, exposing deep distress and uncertainty.

They weren't just scared of the storm, they were doubting whether Jesus cared about their survival.

The disciples, though physically close to Jesus, fail to trust him and are instead gripped by fear.

They completely forget his presence, power, and care, despite having every reason to believe.

Now let's remember they had seen Jesus' power, witnessing him perform extraordinary miracles time and time again, caring for the most helpless of people.

They were specifically chosen by Jesus, being given the mysteries of the kingdom of God.

They walked with him daily and were closer to him than anyone else, including his own family.

And yet, when it came time for them to need deliverance of their own, they doubted him.

They didn't even think he cared.

Their fear of the storm turned into a fearful misunderstanding of Jesus himself.

They went to him not in trust, but with fear and accusations.

Don't you even care about us, Jesus?

And we're often like the disciples, aren't we?

We find ourselves in dangerous storms of our own, whether it be health problems, financial strain, the ache of loneliness, family burdens, you name it.

We do everything we can to try and keep from sinking.

We become overwhelmed and gripped with fear.

And sometimes it seems like Jesus is asleep, silent.

This shows up in our prayer life or lack thereof.

Being a Christian for many years doesn't guarantee present trust.

Fear can cloud faith.

It can cause us to doubt God's love for us.

It can make us feel like he is far away, even when he's right there in the boat with you.

We must actively remember who he is.

The presence of Jesus in the boat doesn't mean that there won't be any storms.

It means you have nothing to truly fear because he is Lord over all, including the storms.

As Gracie Hunt said in her post, following Jesus doesn't spare us from pain, but it means we never face it alone.

Even in the darkest valleys, we hold on to hope.

We hope in the one who's worthy of our trust and with us through dark valleys and fierce storms.

After all, this passage isn't really about the weather.

It's about God's sovereignty.

Who then is this that even the wind and the sea obey him?

He is the Lord of creation, the one who spoke the universe into existence, now speaks peace into the chaos.

Storms normally subside gradually, but when the creator gives the order, it ceases immediately.

Jesus demonstrates his sovereign power as the storm obeys his command.

He's in full control, and it was never truly in question.

He can sleep through the storm because it was never a true threat to him.

And for those who are in Christ, we can have this same confidence because Jesus truly does care for us and stands mighty to save.

When the water pours in and your strength is failing, look to the one who is unfailing, not in fear and desperation, but in the calm confidence that comes from trusting in the Lord.

You may not see the rescue yet, but the one who commands the wind and the waves is with you, not indifferent, but sovereign, not sleeping, but raining, and he calls you not to panic, but to trust.

For the storms you face are not signs of his absence, but stages upon which his power is displayed, for your faith and for his glory.

True disciples remember God's power with faith, and are able to respond in times of crisis without fear.

Let's look at the other half of our passage today, chapter five, verses one through twenty.

Then they came to the other side of the sea, into the region of the Garasenes, and when he got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met him, who had his dwelling among the tombs, and no one was able to bind him any more, even with a chain, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.

And constantly, night and day, among the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out and gashing himself with stones.

And seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before him, and crying out with a loud voice, he said, What do I have to do with you, Jesus, son of the most high God?

I implore you by God, do not torment me.

For he had been saying to him, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit.

And he was asking him, What is your name?

And he said to him, My name is Legion, for we are many.

And he began pleading with him, earnestly not to send them out of the region.

Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain, and the demons pleaded with him, saying, Send us into the swine, so that we may enter them.

And Jesus gave them permission, and coming out the unclean spirits entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them, and they were drowned in the sea.

And their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside, and the people came to see what it was that had happened.

And they came to Jesus and observed the demon possessed man sitting down, clothed, and in his right mind, the very man who had the legion, and they became frightened.

And those who had seen it recounted to them how this had happened to the demon possessed man and all about the swine, and then began to plead with him to leave their region.

And as he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed was pleading with him that he might accompany him.

And he did not let him, but he said to him, Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he had mercy on you.

And he went away and began to preach the Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him, and everyone was marveling.

Jesus and his disciples finally arrive at the other side of the sea.

The boat lands, not in comfort, but with confrontation.

The storm outside has ceased, but now a darker, more chilling tempest awaits.

They barely step off the boat before they are immediately confronted by a man possessed, naked among the tombs, screaming in agony, tormented by a legion of demons.

Here we have the voice of another one crying out in the wilderness.

The storm was strong, but this man is stronger.

The winds raged, but here rages an unclean spirit that no chain can bind.

And yet, the same Jesus who rebuked the sea now confronts a stronghold of Satan and wins with a word.

It's quite exciting as once again Jesus' authority is tested and he proves to be victorious over every boss battle that comes his way.

We see a lot of parallels and patterns between the accounts.

When encountering Jesus, the demons cry out in hostility, saying, What do we have to do with you?

As they also declare Jesus' divine identity.

In chapter one, the demon referred to Jesus as the Holy One of God.

Now, in chapter five, we see Jesus being called the Son of God Most High.

Most High God was an ancient title used to identify the one true and living God of Israel and to distinguish him from all of the other false gods.

Once again, we're reminded that the only ones who understand who Jesus is at this point are the demons.

And what makes this exorcism different is what happens next.

There is an exchange that goes back and forth as the demons plead with Jesus not to destroy them and to allow them to go into a nearby herd of pigs.

But Jesus allows it.

The demons proceed to go into the herd of pigs and cause them to rush down a steep bank and into the sea and drown.

What's remarkable is that there were about two thousand of them, indicating the immense number of demons that came out of this one man.

When the demons said, My name is Legion, for we are many, they weren't kidding.

The drowning of the pigs in the sea is reminiscent of when Pharaoh's army were drowned chasing the Israelites after they had successfully and miraculously crossed the Red Sea in Exodus 15.

This is truly a mighty act of God against some formidable foes, as one commentator puts it.

The demons are defeated, the man is no longer possessed, but now we have another problem.

We've got an angry mob.

Those pigs represented significant financial value.

In first century economic terms, 2,000 pigs is a massive herd.

In a day where most people owned only a handful of animals, 2,000 implies a commercial scale livestock.

Though pigs were unclean to Jews, this was Gentile territory, where raising pigs was common and economically significant.

Not only were pigs used for meat, but also for trade and even sacrifice in pagan temples.

A herd that large could represent years of income.

It would be the equivalent of a whole fleet of trucks going over a cliff today.

Not to mention, in an agrarian society, livestock like pigs were considered wealthy assets, like owning land or gold.

A single pig might be worth a week's wages or more.

Multiply that by 2,000, and you're talking about a loss equivalent to a lifetime amount of earnings for many families.

The herds destruction not only hurt financially, it likely shocked their entire local economy.

It would have been seen as a major disruption and perhaps even a threat to the power structures or pagan religious systems tied to that economy.

One could say that it would be like destroying a very expensive idol, or perhaps an entire factory that made expensive idols.

So it's easy to see why the herdsmen and the people were deeply disturbed when they realized the man who healed the demoniac was also the one who cost them their herd.

They didn't care about the fact that this man was completely healed, sitting down nicely, clothed, and in his right mind.

No.

He was just a minor inconvenience compared to the loss of their entire herd of pigs.

They'd happily trade this man's welfare to get their pigs back.

At this point, they just wanted Jesus to leave.

Whereas the demons pleaded with Jesus for them to stay in the region and not be cast out.

Here we see the people plead with Jesus to leave their region, casting him out.

And then we've got our ex-demoniac, delivered from perhaps the most intense case of possession recorded in all of Scripture.

No longer chained, no longer tormented, no longer isolated, but clothed in his right mind and sitting at the feet of Jesus.

Talk about a burden lifted in total transformation.

People must have been doing a double take when they saw him, like, who's this guy?

And in an ironic turn of events, this exdemoniac once again approaches the boat of Jesus.

This time not as a madman to be feared, but as a disciple asking to follow.

It's as if Saul of Tarsus had gone from persecutor to preacher in a single afternoon.

It almost seems too sudden, too unlikely, and yet that's the power of Christ's mercy to turn enemies into servants, and the tormented into heralds of the gospel.

Once far from Jesus, bound by Satan and every power of darkness, this man has been set free and made completely new.

His first impulse is the impulse of every true disciple.

He wants to be with Jesus.

But Jesus has other plans.

He commissions him not to come along, but to go out.

And here is the beautiful paradox of discipleship.

To be with Jesus is to be sent by Jesus.

And before he sends out even one of the twelve, Jesus does something remarkable.

He sends this former demoniac as his first missionary to the Gentile region east of the Jordan River.

He is to be a witness to the mercy and power of King Jesus and his kingdom.

And as we see in verse 20, this man responds obediently.

He trusts Jesus, obeys his word, and boldly proclaims his mercy.

And here we see an outsider become a model disciple and missionary even before the twelve are sent out by Jesus.

Discipleship is not about status or proximity, it's about faith and obedience.

This entire section sets the demons and the exdemoniac in sharp contrast to the disciples who had just failed so clearly in the storm.

Ironically, it is the demons who rightly recognize Jesus as the Son of the Most High God.

While the twelve, despite all they have seen and heard, still question his identity, managing only to call him teacher.

The exdemoniac, now in his right mind, faithfully departs to proclaim all that Jesus had mercifully done for him.

That voice crying out in the wilderness is now proclaiming the gospel throughout Gentile cities.

Meanwhile, the disciples forget, fear, and even accuse Jesus of not caring.

In this way, the ex-demoniac ends up looking more and more like a true disciple.

It's a humbling comparison, and perhaps that's why the twelve are not mentioned at all in this section.

It's as if Mark is subtly putting them on the bench, allowing their failure to be highlighted by contrast.

As a whole, this passage gives us a tale of two responses: one marked by faith, gratitude, and proclamation, the other by fear, confusion, and forgetfulness.

And in that contrast, we are asked a question, not just about them, but about us.

Which response will we embody?

The question isn't, are you associated with Jesus?

But do you trust him?

True disciples remember Jesus' power over the natural and supernatural threats of this world.

Not only that, true disciples are called to fearlessly proclaim this power as a witness and testimony of the great things God has mercifully done for us.

Disciples who trust in Christ's power, they can't stay silent.

They proclaim it with boldness.

When Jesus calmed the storm, the twelve were silent.

When the legion of demons were cast out of the man, he went out and proclaimed what Jesus had done for him.

What we can learn from this is that genuine faith doesn't stay quiet.

It proclaims the gospel for all to hear.

Every disciple of Jesus Christ, regardless of age, gifting, or background, is called to declare his mercy and power.

The mission of true disciples and for the church is to go beyond the safety of familiar waters into the darkest shores, declaring the one who delivers from both storm and Satan.

The kingdom of God expands because no domain is beyond his control.

It invades darkness and will not be turned away.

No heart, no family, no culture is too far gone for Christ's authority and mercy.

Do you believe that?

Or have you given up on this world?

I want you to picture someone in your life who you would never expect to become a Christian.

Maybe they've hurt you.

Perhaps they are so deep in darkness that you can't even stand to be around them.

Do you ever pray for them?

Do you believe that God would save them?

Maybe you believe that he could, but do you believe that he actually would?

Don't be an inconsistent Christian.

Start praying for them.

If God can save this ex-demoniac, certainly he can save this person you've already given up on.

Let this passage today be an encouragement to us all.

We're not merely called to survive storms or endure the enemy's attacks.

We are called to remember Jesus' power, to trust him deeply, and to proclaim him boldly.

Let us not be disciples who panic in the boat or disappear in the graveyard.

Rather, let's be like the man who was once enslaved, now free, now sent.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, your kingdom is not only an everlasting kingdom, but it has relevance for us today.

And just as your son Jesus entered into the darkness and brought redemption through someone as unlikely as this man who is possessed by thousands of demons, who is a threat to society.

Somebody who is unclean in every way imaginable.

And yet, in your grace, you saved him.

And not only did you save him, but you made him a messenger of your gospel.

God, you are so merciful.

You don't deal with us as we deserve in our sin.

But God, you rescue us from our sin.

You rescue us from everything that keeps us in chains.

God, I pray for our church.

I pray that nothing would keep us in chains.

I pray that you would give us bold confidence in every storm.

That when the world seems to be on fire, we can lay our head on the pillow, trusting in our God.

Would you give us that peace, that confidence in you?

Would you deliver us from every storm?

God, we can rest knowing that you are with us.

Jesus, you are the embodiment of what it means for God to be with us.

You are the Emmanuel.

May you get the glory.

Pray in your precious name.

Amen.