“The Conquering Christ” (Mark 3:7-6:52)
Opening Illustration: I feel like an overcomer… Like a real conqueror of nature, because we took Hunter’s Safety this week and yesterday we passed the test! We shot at gopher silhouettes, and demonstrated that we could safely handle the guns and now I am a great hunter. I shot 10 rounds at the gopher and some actually hit the gopher… I feel like I can really conquer nature… They gave me this hunter-orange vest to wear around town to prove I am a real Montana hunter. Don’t own a gun, but this says “Safe Montana Hunter”…
Jesus’ posture as He moves from Galilee (Mark ch. 2-3:6) into the neighboring regions (3:7-6:56) is as a conqueror. Mark presents Jesus here as the victorious One. And many recognized that; but most were very confused, because He spoke a message not of domination but of submission; not of violent victory but of reconciliation…
…yet the section of Mark 3-6 can be described as the Conquering Christ, and we’ll see what Jesus conquered, and we’ll see how He conquered. We need to see this because we are called to walk in His ways…
The image of the meek-&-weak Christ often prevails, but the title assigned to Jesus as “Lamb” is a title of function—the sacrificial lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (He seems to be a victim…gets bit by the serpent, so to speak)—but the title of Christ as victorious Conqueror is a title of character (He’s crushing the serpent’s head as He is bitten). Jesus’ function as sacrifice should not be mistaken for His character, seen ultimately by John’s Revelation, as the One enthroned, seated at the right hand of the Father; He holds the Seven Seals of the Apocalypse, and is the only One authorized to break open and reveal those seals; He is the untamed/wild Lion of C.S. Lewis’ theological analogy in Narnia; He is Gandolf the Great who calls-&-sends the Hobbits, who delivers the faithful & vanquishes the enemy in Tolkien’s theological novels…
PowerPoint images of Christus Victor mosaics, iconography & imagery in Christian religious art… The church has often highlighted this facet of Christ and the atonement; but current sentiment shies away from it. Why?
In his sermon from Revelation 5:6, the great Scottish preacher Alexander Maclaren in 1891 said,
“This is the aspect of Christ with which we must begin, if we would know Him in the full greatness of His gifts and sweep of His work… Unless we do (see Jesus Christ as the vanquishing conqueror who triumphs over His enemies), we shall have but an unworthy conception of His wondrous love, and an inadequate estimation of His all-healing power…
…The evidence of His rule (& authority) is plain to all who are not blinded by pride & spiritual antagonism… The fact of His rule should be the unalterable conviction of every Christian soul (for it is Christ alone who can conquer the noisy rebellion of a human heart)… It is of utmost importance for the (health & vitality &) vigor of Christian life to keep clear and vivid that present activity of our Lord.”
READ: Mark 5:1-20…
VIDEO: “Jesus Casts Out Demon Legion” (clip from JesusFilm, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqnE3EY3BRI)
Our text sits within a broader, thematically-arranged set of stories that help us see who Jesus is. In this text, if we situate it in the broader context of His ministry throughout the region, Jesus presents himself as a conqueror who vanquishes the enemy; He is shown as victorious over His enemies; and make no mistake: there are enemies of Christ, enemies of holiness, enemies of the cross…
His initial ministry and teaching in Galilee (as we saw last week) was typified by conflict and controversies, where Jesus’ NEW WAY clashes—violently & dramatically—with the old ways of the Pharisees… but after 3:6, and leading-up to the exorcism of Legion among the Gerasene tombs above the sea at Gadara, let’s see where Mark has brought us:
• 3:7-12, Jesus draws a HUGE crowd from everywhere, and they surround him at the Sea of Galilee’s lakeside shores. They say “bad press is good press,” and all those conflicts & controversies alerted the masses to the fact that something amazing was happening. It says, “They came because they were hearing what great things He was doing.” Jesus healed many, and those with diseases & afflictions literally rushed-in upon Him, like the craziness of a mosh-pit, and those possessed by demons fell down before him, “flinging themselves down before him,” shouting, “You are the Son of God!” And everyone just wanted to touch Him for healing. To these He sternly warned them NOT to tell anyone; to keep the miracles and phenomenon a secret. Why? Because they were focused on the GIFT; Jesus was there representing the Giver. No testimony is valid or accepted by God unless it brings Him glory…
What’s the point? Jesus is who He says He is. More than that: Jesus alone has authority over life and over the forces of hell… His wilderness crowd by the sea recalls the Exodus, and Jesus’ posture here is one who would lead the captives to a place of Promise and freedom, away from the place of slavery and bondage to sin…
…from there…
• 3:13-19a, Jesus chooses the 12…
His disciples were appointed, v. 14 says, for 2 reasons: a) that they might be with Him; b) that He might send them forth. In sending them forth, it says they had certain responsibilities:
they were to preach and give the credible testimony of Jesus’ Good News;
they had a redemptive ministry: literally, “authority to cast out demons,” and that is a catch-phrase, interpreted later (6:6-13) as a confessional ministry that called all to repentance, that helped everyone turn-away from sin and towards God’s plan, that they would minister to the sick and restore people to wholeness… And it says their context in all that was the venue of hospitality… They were sent-forth into homes, to launch small groups!
Notice that Christianity began with a small group of disciples who were commissioned to go out and make disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were disciple to be disciple-makers! That is the purest portrait of the church then and now…
So Jesus draws a crowd. He commissions the disciples to make disciples…
…from there…
• 3:20-21, Jesus is labeled as a lunatic by His own family, who say, “He has taken leave of His senses!” They send some clansmen to try to collect him by force; they intended to restrain him; they want to bring him home, back to his mother & brothers; they feel that He is a scandal and are offended by Him! Jesus dismisses their accusation and brushes them off… And that conflict is still simmering…
…from there…
• 3:22-27, Jesus is accused of demon-possession. The Pharisees come down and say, “He has Beelzebub on his side,” and their explanation is that Jesus casts out demons by the power of demons. Jesus answered: “A house divided cannot stand. How can Satan have authority over Satan?” And again the implicit question that keeps being asked is, “Who but God can have control over Satan and over life and death & unclean spirits?” The answer? No one. Only God can do what Jesus does…
…from there…
• 3:28-30, Jesus describes an unpardonable sin. The point there is that, as Jesus says, “All sins will be forgiven the sons of men…” and Jesus’ point there is a focus on the forgiving grace God was providing ALL people in-&-through Christ alone, but by explaining-away the provision of God thru Jesus those Pharisees were committing an “unpardonable sin,” and even today the sin which can not be forgiven is the sin of excusing yourself from Christ’s perfect provision…
…from there…
• 3:31-35, Jesus’ mother, Mary, and his brothers come to try to talk some sense into him & bring him home. Someone says, “Hey, Jesus, your mom and brothers are here at the door. He looks around at his true followers and says, “These are my true family,” and he says, “Whosoever does God’s will is my true brother and sister & mother.”
…from there…
• We come to chapter 4, where Jesus again is teaching by the lakeside… Huge crowd… Jesus has to get into a boat and stand-up in the boat to teach the multitude that had gathered there by the sea… These parables all concern the kingdom of God… These kingdom parables are considered to be the most characteristic elements in the teaching of Jesus; ask any 100 NT scholars what was the heart-&-center of Jesus’ preaching; all 100 would say that the center of jesus’ sermons & teachings was the kingdom of God…
Parable of the Sower (4:1-9)
Teaching on the kingdom’s mysterious nature (4:10-12): “The kingdom is unintelligible,” Jesus says, “except to the initiated.” And Jesus says there are outsiders who will never perceive the truth; but then there are insiders to whom Jesus gives knowledge of the kingdom and only the initiated can know this knowledge that comes from faith in Jesus and obedience to the Father. Jesus had framed both the beginning & end of the Parable of the Sower with a solemn call to attentive hearing and His message on mystery & initiation has to do with that special spiritual obedience-of-faith hearing.
Explanation of the Parable of the Sower (4:13-20). Not everyone gets the message, but there are those who receive the Word and the Word of God grows and develops and produces lasting fruit in their lives… And there are other people into whose hearts Christ’s truth can find no entry. Every soul has the capacity to receive the Word…
Jesus teaches that His light must be seen, though (4:21) and here we have an additional note on discipleship; that His hearers haven’t really heard until/unless the message is shared in meaningful discipleship. In other words, you can hear w/o perceiving, and you can “listen” but not be changed. If the Word has found a purchase in your heart you will share it and be a witness to the truth…
Please remember that Mark’s Gospel is a discipleship manual; or a “how-to”-textbook on discipleship, on being fishers of men, on doing the Great Commission, on sharing the Gospel with all of creation…
…because in Mark’s day, everyone knew that Christianity was meant to be seen—Jesus preached that and the biblical authors taught that—even though to show your faith in Christ often meant death and unimaginable suffering…
…You see, the Roman Empire was as vast as the world, and in a program designed to procure Roman Unity across the Empire a new religion was formed called “emperor worship,” which taught that the Roman Emperor (Nero in Mark’s case) was the in-the-flesh Embodiment of the state and the emperor was worshipped as a god. They believed that such forced religion would unify an empire that was constantly threatened with political turmoil. So on certain days (Winter Solstice, for example) it was demanded that everyone should come and publicly sacrifice to the godhead of the Emperor. More than anything it was a test of political loyalty. And after a man had sacrificed to the Emperor he was given a certificate that said he’d done so, and then he could actually go and sacrifice or worship before any other god he liked…
An example of such a certificate, Barclay’s Commentary p. 100
…And all a Christian could do was go and sacrifice to the Emperor, go through the formal act, receive the certificate, then go back and do whatever he wanted with Jesus. And the fact of history is that 1,000’s of Christians died rather than do that. Instead of publicly worshipping the emperor and his image, the publicly were tortured and brutally murdered as Christian martyrs or witnesses; their lives and deaths were their testimony of allegiance to Christ.
…They could have concealed the fact that they were Christ’s followers quite easily; they could have gone on being Christians, as it were, privately, with no trouble at all. But they knew nothing of such private, quiet devotion. The only faith they knew of was Great Commission faith, just as Jesus requires. To them, Christianity was something which had to be attested and witnessed in the presence of all people. Just as emperor worship needed a certification, their only certification of following Jesus was their testimony and their discipleship—they were proud that all should know where they stood—and to such we owe our civilization’s blessings!
• The Truth That Cannot Be Suppressed (4:22-23)—the historical reality helps us understand Jesus’ words here. Jesus says: “Every secret will be brought-out into the open; nothing shall be hidden; our Living Hope—our faith in & obedience to God—should lie open for all to see.”
• Additional comments on discipleship (4:24-25):
What you hear from Christ must be given away (4:24).
The Law of Increase (4:25)
• More Parables on the Kingdom of God (4:26-32). He shows us what the kingdom is like.
• Wisdom in Teaching & Learning (4:33-34): Jesus assumes His followers will teach others what they hear. Again: if you’re not sharing it, you haven’t gotten it… And in these 2 simple verses I find my own philosophy of teaching… Perhaps you can discover your own approach to sharing & teaching the truths that God has given you…
• The Peace of the Presence (4:35-41): after teaching the crowds and becoming totally burned-out from ministry, Jesus & the disciples get into the boat to cross over. The wind and waves rise-up in a storm that threatens to capsize them, they fear for their lives while Jesus is sleeping peacefully on the deck! Jesus rebukes the disciples for lack of faith, He calms the storm, and they are blown-away, totally baffled, and they say the now-familiar words, “Who can this Jesus be? Because the wind and the waves obey Him?”
Yes, who can this be?
All of that leads-up to our story of the Gennesaret Demoniac, possessed by Legion…
And Jesus conquers the hellish, demonic forces of Satan…
…there’s more comments on discipleship, as the now sane follower of Jesus says, “Lord, I will follow you wherever you go.” No, Jesus says, “Go back, be reconciled & restored to your family, clan and village. And you be my witness.” And in the 10-cities he became the Great Commission evangelist to all the citizens of that region…
We have to see that this miracle stirs up more controversy, but look at what follows:
• More Crowds & the Synagogue Pastor, Jairus, pleads with Jesus To Heal His Daughter (5:21-24) Jesus tries to go with Jairus, but the crowds other urgent needs delay his progress to the place where the little girl lay dying & suffering…
• An Interruption by a Sufferer’s Last Hope (5:25-34): a woman had been hemorrhaging for years and she herself was threatened with a life-limiting affliction. She breaks all ceremonial laws, touches Jesus, and healing power goes forth from Him to her. This is an additional delay and Jairus and his friends are off on the sides there just wringing their hands, knowing how desperate his daughter’s situation is… Doesn’t Jesus understand that his girl is dying???!!!
• The Cost of Ministry: Despair and Hope (5:35-39). While Jesus was still speaking and ministering there along the road, with the crowds pressing-in and the woman-now-healed, now made whole, now being herself commissioned to go and be free from affliction…
…and in the middle of his sermon an interruption: messengers from Jairus’ household come along and say, “Don’t bother the teacher any more; your little girl has died.”
• The Raising of Jairus’ Daughter (5:40-43)—the end of ch. 5 has the miracle of raising the 12-year-old from the dead. She was dead. And Jesus did something that brought her back to life. Very simply, he said, “Arise,” and immediately she arose. Note that the jeering, unbelieving crowd of mourners were suddenly silenced when they saw her walk out and get some lunch…
• But in ch. 6 we see that Jesus was NOT able to perform many miracles in the next phase of his ministry (happened to be his hometown region), because the people did not listen to His teaching, and they were unwilling to believe…
• The sending of the 12 (6:7-13), Jesus’ followers were sent out to do what they had seen, and to teach what they had heard. Please understand: this is Mark’s heart; the Gospel must be received then passed-on as Christ gives it to you… And they were very effective…
• So that even King Herod heard of it all (6:14-15) and the people were divided in their opinion of Him. But what was happening was turning the world upside down!
• Then John the Baptist is murdered (6:16-29).
• Again Mark shows Jesus leading a mass of people in the wilderness, by the sea, a la the Exodus (6:30-34), and it says he had great pity for them, for they were like sheep w/o a shepherd, and in His great mercy what does He do? V. 34 says “He began to do…” something. What did he do? It says He taught them. If you’re not getting this then I don’t know what else to say. The most gracious, loving thing we can do in Jesus’ name is to feed them truth…
• Feeding of the Multitude (6:35-44) Jesus multiplies the loaves and fishes… And while this is a literal account of an amazing miracle, Mark’s point is that Jesus’ words & actions—His teaching & kingdom preaching—must be multiplied in our discipleship. You may not feed 5,000 people with a small basket of stale bread & salted dried sardines, but that’s probably not what God is asking you to do. What he IS asking & requiring you to do: Multiply your grace/faith/& holiness in the lives of others. To make disciples who make disciples…
• Afterwards Jesus walks on the water (6:45-52). They are stuck out on the lake in another storm, Jesus walks out to them, and the Gospel parallels show Peter getting-out of the boat and there’s a lot of discipleship-imagery in that… But Jesus steps into the boat with them, the winds-&-waves subside, and v. 52 says that between the fishes-&-loaves thing and this subsequent storm-stilling miracle their minds were blown!
• And this whole series of biblical stories is punctuated by the last few verses of ch. 6, in vv. 53-56, these demanding crowds who had nothing of the kingdom in mind but who were definitely reaping the rewards of the kingdom’s inauguration; those that would touch him were beneficiaries of the Presence of the kingdom’s future: Messiah came with a Mission and Mark shows it all unfolding…
Here’s what you & I need to grab hold of: Just as those many disabled and troubled people were clamoring to grab hold of Jesus’ robe in v. 56, just like the hemorrhaging woman wanted to get hold of something from Jesus, we need to get hold of this:
1) Jesus Came As a Conqueror.
Not like the conquerors history delights in; not like Attila or the Mongols or Caesar… But they knew of other ANE conquerors who found it better to make a treaty with lesser nations than to just march-in and destroy…
…and in OT days the great empires like the Hittites, the Neo-Assyrians and the Babylonians would send an envoy; a messenger with terms of peace. They came with what was called a covenant treaty. It was terms of peace, but the terms were dictated by the suzerain overlord. “Be at peace with us. Pay tribute. Send delegates to our court, and we will protect you from the Egyptians (or whatever competing imperial power was threatening them)…
…and the Bible says (Acts 10) that Jesus came with a message of peace like that. Romans says, “God was in Christ to reconcile the world to himself.” Jesus came in the posture of a conqueror that we call “Christus Victor.” Christ Jesus the Conqueror. And some people surrendered to His kingdom, and entered into a covenant with God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And in doing so, they too—I am one of them!—I, too, and you as well who are surrendered to Christ’s lordship… We are more than conquerors, victorious through Christ who loves us! And we wear the spiritual armor of God, and we storm the gates of hell—they shall not prevail against us!—and we set captives free…
Our Lord is a conqueror, and he leads us triumphally. Make no mistake; Ephesians 6:10 says, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power!” Why? Because He is a conquering Christ!
2) What Did He Conquer?
Jesus Christ vanquished the powers hostile to God.
• Jesus has authority over creation. Even the wind and the waves obey him. In the competing ANE mythologies the most powerful deities are the storm gods (like Baal) and the water gods (like Ea). But just as God’s Spirit hovered over the waters at creation, Jesus is over the waters on the stormy sea. Who but God can control the wind and the waves?
• Jesus has authority over the regions of the Gentiles. Even though their citizenry did not all accept him, Jesus intentionally entered into Pagan and Gentile regions, and the herd of swine among the Gadarenes represents that… Phil. 2 says, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow…” Jesus is Lord of all!
• Jesus has authority over the forces of hell… I pray that every believer would understand this; that no force of hell can prevail, no weapon formed against you shall prosper, there is nothing Satan or all the demons can do to you… Nothing can come to the life of Christ’s followers that hasn’t already been filtered through his loving and very capable hands. King David said, “I will fear NO evil,” and Kevin says, “Neither will I!” I know that many Christians have a spiritual anxiety about Satan and demonic forces; but that anxiety or fear is only because we tend to believe the devil’s lies more than we believe the guarantee of Christ the Conqueror…
• Through the formerly-demon-possessed-man’s testimony, Jesus gains authority in the Decapolis… And everywhere else that Christ’s followers go and preach the Gospel in all creation!
As Mark moves into ch. 7 he will ask us whether Jesus has authority in our hearts. For just as the demon-possessed people, in their torment, flung themselves before Jesus, and declared Him boldly to be the Son of the Most High God… ch. 7 will show very religious people neither worshipping him, or adjuring him, or falling upon his grace—all of which we see even demon-possessed people doing.
If the demons and their human hosts can fall down before Jesus… If even they have the ability to testify boldly and declare publicly who Jesus is…if even they can recognize that… James wrote, “Even the demons believe…and shudder!” I mean, a lot of people in the gospels meet Jesus but neither shudder nor respond to the presence of the Holy One… What do the demons know that maybe we don’t? Are we missing something that the demons understand? Am I missing something that the wind and waves get? The Gadarene swine-herders recognize and acknowledge Jesus’ holiness… They were very much afraid... They were freaking-out!!!
May you hear the message of peace. May you accept Jesus' terms of peace today. That God was fully in Christ in order to reconcile you to himself… Be at peace with God today and accept His terms.
CLOSING VIDEO: “That’s My King!” (from L.A. pastor S.M. Lockridge)
CLOSING PRAYER: “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through-&-through. He will do it. He has promised. He is faithful and will complete the work already begun in you.”
