WHEN THE SWINEHERDS LOST THEIR JOBS
Mk. 4:37-39; 5:2-19
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: Karl the Pig Farmer
Karl the pig farmer was telling his buddies back on the farm about his first visit to a big city church:
1. "When I got there, they made me park my old pick-up in the corral," he began. "You mean in the parking lot," interrupted Jeb, a more worldly fellow.
2. "Then I walked up the trail to the door," Karl continued. "The sidewalk to the door," Jeb corrected.
3. "Inside the door, I was met by some dude," Karl went on. "That would be the usher," explained Jeb.
4. "Well, the usher led me down the chute," said Karl.
"You mean the aisle," Jeb said.
5. "Then, he led me to a stall and told me to sit there," continued Karl. "Pew," retorted Jeb.
6. "Yeah," Karl recalled. "Pew...that's exactly what the pretty lady said when I sat down beside her."
JOKE 2: The Farmer and the Pig
1. A farmer and his pig were driving down the road when a cop pulled him over. The cop asked the farmer, "Didn't you know it is against the law to ride with a pig in the front of your truck?"
2. The farmer replied, "No, I didn't know that." The cop asked the farmer where he was going and he said, "To Memphis".
3. The cop said, "I will let you off the hook this time if you promise to take the pig to the zoo when you get to Memphis." So the farmer promised he would.
4. Several days later the cop spotted the farmer with the pig driving down the road and he pulled him over again. The cop said "I thought I told you to take this pig to the zoo when you got to Memphis."
5. The farmer replied, "I did and we had so much fun, I’m taking him to World’s Fair next!"
B. TEXT
4:37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” 39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
5:2When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 6When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7He 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!" 8For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!"
11A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them." 13He 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.
14Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15When 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. 17Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. 18As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19Jesus 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."
C. THESIS
1. The sea of Galilee is a beautiful and unusual place. It is 8 miles wide and 13 miles long and is 141 feet deep. It is located 700 feet below sea level and is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth.
2. Another interesting thing about it is its topography. It is surrounded by very tall hills, which on the eastern
side, rise as high as 2000 feet above the water's surface.
3. As a result of these factors, it’s possible under most circumstances to see all the way across the Lake.
4. Tonight I want to recount this story from the perspective of the swineherds. They were on the high hills overlooking the lake during the storm and when the demoniac approached Jesus.
5. According to Alfred Edersheim, a Jewish biblical scholar of the first rank, "In the clear Eastern air not a word that was spoken could have been lost" by the swineherds on the hills above the beach [The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Vol. one, p. 613].
6. Some of my message may be imagination, but it's probably not far from the truth, and it’s accurate as far as the facts are known.
7. The title of this message is, “When the Swineherds Lost their Jobs.”
I. QUIETING OF THE STORM
A. A BOAT IN TROUBLE
1. Five fearful swineherds huddled in a cave above the Sea of Galilee, watching the fierceness of the storm raging across the Lake. It was one of the worst storms they had ever seen; their pigs & hogs had run for cover in a deep canyon on the shoulder of the mountains.
2. The whole storm was made more spooky because the Madman of Gadara had come from the tombs and was roaming the sides of a hill a half-mile away, adding his screams and gesticulations to the storm, as if he were trying to increase its fury.
3. The swineherds noticed through the rain and distance, a boat struggling to reach their side. It could be seen when it reached the top of the white-capping waves -- 20 feet high -- and then would disappear as it went down to the blue-black valleys of the tempest.
4. One herdsman said, "It's not going to make it." And it didn't look like it would, as one great wave after another broke over its bow.
B. THE LONE FIGURE
1. When it finally looked like the end was near, they suddenly saw a figure stand upright in the boat, and stretch out his hands toward the sea and sky.
2. Even with all the wind and the crashing of the waves, they could hear his booming voice, "'σιωπα πεφιμωσο", “Be quiet! Be muzzled!” (Mark 4:39).
3. There was instantly a change: the wind died down and the heavy clouds began to break up. Amazingly, the surface of the lake settled down and became as smooth as glass within a minute or 2.
4. Normally when a storm subsided, the Sea would remain turbulent for hours or days, but this transformation was immediate!
5. The shepherds looked at each other and whispered, “Did you see that?” “I’ve never seen anything like it!” “Do you think that man on the boat made the storm stop?”
6. “He must be a wizard or Sage!” said another. The first said, “And look, even the swine are coming back out on the hillside. What a strange day!” But the day wasn’t over.
II. CONFRONTATION WITH THE MADMAN
A. THE PLEA FOR MERCY
1. They watched as the boat quietly glided to the shore near them. One of the swineherds said, “Uh oh, here comes the Madman! He’s heading down toward their boat. Should we shout? He’s liable to attack them!”
2. Another answered, “No, let’s just see what happens. It might make a good story to tell at the Inn, the next time we go to town!” Laughter followed.
3. When the Madman of Gadara, a pitiful demon-possessed man, got down to level ground, he began running toward them with a wild, crazed expression.
4. At the last moment, he fell on his knees and began wailing and thrashing, for the Man who had stopped the storm had commanded, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”
5. The demonized man whimpered and cried, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?
Swear to God that you won’t torture me!”
6. Jesus demanded to know the man’s name, and he replied, “Legion, for many of us are in him.” And the Madman started begging and pointing, “Send us into the pigs.”
B. EVENT OF THE SWINE FLEW
1. The shepherds all looked at each other and laughed. What kind of joke was the Madman playing on the stranger? No one could command spirits what to do.
2. This story was getting even better. But Jesus stood straight upright, and commanded, “GO!” The swineherds stood breathless for a moment.
3. Then suddenly the entire herd of swine – 2,000 in all – began squealing and running in circles, as if they’d lost their minds. Then all at once they turned and rushed down into the water.
4. They kept piling into the water until the living pigs were running over the drowned ones, and charging out further and further into the water. After three or four horrible minutes, all was silent, except for an occasional squeal of death.
5. Two Biblical firsts here – “Deviled Ham” and the “Swine Flu!”
C. EFFORTS OF THE SWINEHERDS
1. The swineherds had jumped and shouted when the pigs started running; many thousands of denarii were tied up in those swine. They were responsible for them.
2. They ran after them, yelling and cursing, and tried to restrain some of them, but it was impossible; they seemed determined in their purpose to drown themselves.
3. When they saw that all was lost, the swineherds turned their anger toward the stranger, that Jesus; it was His fault the swine were dead! They had to report this to their boss!
III. JESUS AND THE SANE MANIAC
A. AN INSTANT CHANGE
1. Meanwhile, on the shore, a scene of a sweeter kind was taking place. The Madman of Gadara was a madman no more. Reason and light had been restored to his face.
2. The disciples took some of their clothes and clothed
him. He said to Jesus, “Lord, let me come and follow you.” But Jesus replied, “NO, for now I want you to return to your family and friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how He’s had mercy on you.”
3. He probably said, “But Lord, why don’t You come with me. It would be even better if they could see You themselves.” I’m Jesus, with foreknowledge, politely declined.
B. THE ASTOUNDED MOB
1. The swineherd's ran and told everyone they met about what happened, both in the town and in the countryside (Luke 8:34).
2. A large crowd gathered and gravitated to the spot. When they saw the Madman dressed and in his right mind, sitting at Jesus feet (Luke 8:35) -- they were afraid!
3. They had been terrorized by the demonized man "for a long time" (Luke 8:27). They had often sent parties of men to capture and chain him, but he'd always broken the chains.
4. Now to see him completely sane and clothed -- Who must this Man Jesus be who could control the weather, command demon spirits, and restore sanity to the criminally insane?
5. Whoever He was, Jesus was too dangerous to have among them! So they begged Jesus to leave their area.
6. There’s no doubt that the swineherds lost their jobs because there were no more pigs to tend. However, God probably provided for them another way.
7. Swineherds had a lousy job anyway, being the most detested members of the Jewish race (pigs were unclean, forbidden to eat, & hated so much by upright Jews that they refused to say their name).
8. But after this incident, the swineherds became celebrated and sought after, because the people of Gadara wanted to hear again and again the story of when Jesus came to their shores!
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. When Jesus came to Gadara, He changed everything. But Jesus didn't just come to those people back then, He comes to us today too! Sometimes He uses US!
2. One day a couple of church members were out distributing loaves of bread in a low-income housing complex. They came to an apartment where they heard arguing through the door, but they decided to knock anyway.
3. A man opened the door and asked what they wanted. One of the visitors said, "We don't want anything. We just wondered if you know anyone who could use some loaves of bread?"
4. "Why are you doing that?" the man asked. "Just to let people know that God loves them." "What did you just say?" the man asked, rather anxiously. "We're just handing out loaves of bread to let people know that God loves them."
5. The man stared and said, "I can't believe this. We just buried our three-week-old son yesterday, and now here you are at our door."
6. The visitors offered to pray with them, and the couple accepted their offer. As they were leaving, they heard the husband say to his wife, "See, honey? I told you God cares. We thought he wasn't paying attention to us, but he sent those people here to make sure we knew."
7. Can you bake a cake? Cook some food item? Cut someone's grass? Can you call people and give them an encouraging word? Can you do housework? Can you do handy work? Can you donate anything of value? Give a smile? Can you take an interest in someone else's life?
B. THE CALL
1. When you invite Jesus into your life, you start your own story of what happens when Jesus comes.
2. Why don’t you bring you cares and problems to the Lord. Is there someone you can encourage or help?
3. Prayer.
