We left Jesus and the disciples in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had been asleep and a storm had arisen. The disciples, frightened, had awakened Jesus and Jesus had rebuked the wind and the waves and they had obeyed him. After telling us this story Mark leaves us with the question of the disciples, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
And that, of course, was the point of Mark including that story in his narrative. You and I, upon reading it, are supposed to pause and consider the question ourselves. Jesus did something so amazing, something the Bible specifically says only God does, and that is exactly what Mark wants us to reflect upon. And while we are doing that he immediately rolls into the next story where Jesus will again display divine authority, this time in the supernatural realm.
Matthew tells this story as well, and while Matthew's gospel is much longer than Mark's, Mark devotes almost twice as much space for this than does Matthew. It is the most detailed and the most dramatic of all the exorcism stories that come from the gospels. And while the authority of Jesus, as God, over the demonic realm is the main thrust of the story, it also has an important point to make about the function and purpose of the demonic--to distort and destroy the imago dei in us, in fact to bring about our destruction.
It might seem shocking to our ears for me to say this, mostly because of the influence of modern thinking on our mindset and worldview, but you and I are supernatural creatures also. What I mean by that is that our true self, our identity, that which makes us us, our ego, cannot be fully explained in materialistic/naturalistic terms. (What is the chemical formula for thought, reason, emotion, or self-awareness?) To be sure, we are physical creatures and our sense of self is intimately tied to our physical self and greatly affected by it. But when our physical body is destroyed we will go on. And in Christ we are promised a resurrection life.
When we die we go to be with Christ where we await our final redemption and resurrected bodies. We are supernatural creatures tied to the natural realm. The sad statement on our case is that we are a fallen race. Made in the image of God we have fallen and ruined ourselves. And the Scripture bears witness that that fall was instigated by Satanic influence. What we are about to see in this story is a man who represents all of us in our fallen condition and how Jesus has come to free us from our bondage to Satan and sin and to save us from certain destruction.
Below is a link to the audio recording of the sermon I preached from this passage. I hope you will take the time to listen to it. It is a sermon of good news with a challenge at the end. Listen and be blessed!
Click here: Mark 5:1-20 - Jesus Delivers a Demon-Possessed Man
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