Real Jesus - *Missing Audio*

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.

Mark 4 · chapter mention

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,

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

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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?

Why are we afraid?

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.

We're getting frustrated.

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