“GO HOME” Mark 7: 4
When we see disasters, on the news, we most often remember the masses of people running FROM the disaster. But we also notice those who are running toward the trouble. We see the first res-ponders who rush in or people rushing home to do what they can to save their loved ones from some terrible disaster?
Today, our world is facing a terrible disaster and too many Christians are running in the wrong direction.
I believe that it is time to get out of our comfort zone and start running toward the disaster.
EBC, we need to be about the business of sharing the message of grace, the good news of Jesus Christ, with people, whose world may be crumbling around them; no matter who they are, what they look like or even how they act towards us.
I want ask you something.
Have you experienced the joy of sharing Jesus with someone and seeing them change?
It is an amazing experience that God wants you and me to know that joy as we share saving grace with everyone we can.
That’s why we gave away close to 80 tickets for our April movie. That’s why many of you were on social media inviting your friends and family. We don’t do it so we can give away free hot dogs and chips. It’s a way for you to say, “Hey, would you come to church with me and meet Jesus?” And when they ask you why you’re doing this, you can say “Because Jesus loves you and wants to get to know you in a real and personal way.”
I simply don’t know how someone who has been forgiven can sit back and refuse to share the good news of God’s saving grace.
Are you allowing the enemy convince you it is just too hard so don’t even try?
You and I DO NOT have the authority to write people off, just because we may think their hearts are too cold or they’re too lost.
Never underestimate the power of God’s saving grace.
I want to split the stage in half and if you can imagine this rail is the shore of the Sea of Galilee. This area over here is called Israel, which was founded by the twelve tribes of Israel. This side is the religious side, where the disciples grew up and, up to this point, the disciples had only operated in this region. They shared, they taught, they preached right here.
This was their comfort zone…
Then Jesus does the unheard of and says, “We’re going to go over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.”
NOW this side over here, known as “the other side.” In order to get there they had to cross the Sea of Galilee. The other side is called the “Decapolis.” Deca means “ten”; polis is the Greek word for “city.” It was referred to as the place of ten cities.
The Jewish people did not talk to people over there. Over here, on the Israel side, the people thought EVERYBODY was religious because their nation was founded by the twelve tribes of Israel. They thought they were the only people worthy of God’s grace.
But over there on the other side, this was a place of pagans, a very dark place.
The disciples thought this side was an unclean and a spiritually dirty place.
Jesus, You can’t be serious! Those people are unclean. They kill their children. They sacrifice to Baal. They do some crazy stuff…over there.”
They think pigs are cool and give their swine value. Now Lord we know that’s unclean.
We just don’t go there Lord. Why we’ve never gone there!”
These people, in the minds of these people, were too lost and too hopeless.
Why their prized animal was a pig and to the religious Jew, that’s not only unclean, that’s downright nasty!
We need to understand the same lesson the disciples had to learn and that is;
The VERY SAME power that brought Jesus from the grave lives within each of us!
That power is the SAME power that can provide you with the courage and boldness you need to share with those who may be different from you.
Can I tell you something? The disciples had the same fears we do, but Jesus didn’t say we might go to the other side. He said we ARE going…Because we’ve got people to reach.
Look at Mark 7:31- 37 where Jesus is met by a multitude:
People were flocking to Jesus, wanting to hear about this grace, and the disciples are just amazed as they witness the transforming power of God.
I wonder if the disciples were thinking; “WOW we’ve come to a place I would not have gone if Jesus hadn’t made me get out of my comfort zone and look what’s happening.”
I wonder what God would do through EBC, if you/I got out of our comfort zone?
Why is all of this happening? Because people were so hungry for the grace of God.
And let me tell you, people are still hungry for God’s amazing grace.
As we move from chapter 7 to chapter 8 the people of Decapolis were not only spiritually hungry but by now they were physically hungry.
The people and the disciples had stayed there three days, non-stop, listening to Jesus teach but they are getting very hungry and the disciples are wondering how they are going to feed them.
Flip over to Mark 8 verses 1-8.
The word filled in verse 8 is the Greek word, which I can’t pronounce, but it means “stuffed.” They were Thanksgiving dinner, falling into a food coma stuffed.
The disciples said, “How could we even satisfy people out here in the country, Jesus,”
Look at verse 5. What did Jesus ask the disciples? What do you have that I can use?
You change your world by giving Jesus what you have and leaving the results to Him.
As a small church, because of our financial resources and lack of space we too may believe the same thing BUT Jesus says, “That’s the point! You can’t do it! If you try to do it on your own, you’ll give them scraps, at best. BUT if you put what you have in my hands, you will be amazed at what I can do with the little you can provide.”
Listen; the disciples had something to give…7 loaves of bread. Jesus took what they had and turned it into something great.
Not only did He use what they had but remember they found a few fish to go along with the bread.
That’s what happens when you give God what you have. He will not only turn it into something awesome but will provide you with a little something extra…
Is disciples picking up the scraps a spiritual picture?
We read in verse 8, after EVERYONE was filled, the disciples collected all remaining fragments. How many baskets did they collect? Seven LARGE baskets full.
That number may not mean much to you but to those disciples, this is significant. To us, it’s just a number; but remember, this area was founded by the seven pagan nations.
Could it be that Jesus is saying He’s the bread of life for these people or are we grabbing at straws and trying to make something spiritual out of a happy meal?
If you remember, the feeding of the five thousand was over here in the Jewish area. Which was founded in the how many tribes of Israel? [12] Now watch this;
[John 6:12-13 NIV] “12 When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, "Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted." 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.”
12 baskets over here in the Jewish area, founded by 12 tribes of Israel. 7 baskets over here, founded by 7 pagan nations.
Jesus was saying, “I’m the bread of life for them and I am the bread of life for them. I’m the bread of life for every man, woman, boy and girl…NO MATTER the color of their skin, the size of their house or what they wear…
You/I must share grace and leave the results to Jesus, because it won’t always be like this.” Sometimes you’ll get mocked or laughed at but leave the results up to God.
So now we know the why, but WHAT caused this dark place to receive the light of Jesus Christ?
Well you see this was not their first trip here. This was the second time Jesus brought His disciples to “the other side.”
Turn back to Mark 4.
What they/we are doing in our own backyard is great, but they/we need to understand that salvation through Jesus Christ is for people that you may not like or even feel deserves a chance to be forgiven.
Salvation is for everyone, and we need to get out of our comfort zone in order to share the grace of Jesus because Jesus loves the guy sleeping in a tent just as much as the guy in the big house on the hill. He loves that dirty little boy just as much as the kid with the spit shine. And so He says, “Guys, we’re going to the other side.”
Look at Mark 4:35, I wonder if the disciples may have said, “Lord are you sure about that? We’ve heard stuff about those people. Maybe the disciples said,
“But Jesus, those people over there on the other side worship Baal. They’re crazy!”
Why they not only sacrifice animals but children on what the Old Testament called “the altar of Tobit.” Archaeologists have actually found acres of baby coffins over there.
So YEA, it was a VERY un-clean place.
Well they get in the boat anyway and Jesus rescues them from a terrible storm, which is another sermon for another day.
So what happens when they get to the other side?
Were the people crowding around and praising Jesus, this time?
Well jump over to Mark 5:1-6. When Jesus stepped out of the boat, here is what they experienced: no crowds; no people hungry or thirsty for righteousness.
Just some demon possessed guy! A crazy man!
Can you imagine what the disciples were thinking at this point? MAN! This guy lives in the tombs…That’s unclean…That’s nasty!
Look back at verse 4. No one had the strength to hold him. He broke every chain that was used to bind him. Night and day he was in the tombs, and he was shouting and crying and cutting himself.
But on this day he saw Jesus and he locked his eyes on Him and ran right for Him.
The disciples were probably thinking, “See we told You that these people were crazy and now Jesus You have taken us out of our comfort zone, we got caught by this horrible storm, and as soon as we make land our welcoming committee is this demonic guy in the tombs, screaming, cutting himself, shouting, and NOW he’s coming this way!”
Maybe they thought, like we do so many times that this is an entire waste of time.
“We almost died Jesus” But then they hear the man talking to Jesus as if he knew Him.
Look at Mark 5:7, 8.As I was seeing this guy running toward Jesus and the disciples I thought, how many people sitting in churches, even EBC see someone, with a reputation, coming and say to themselves or even someone else… “Oh no! Not them”
Look at verse 9, Jesus asks the demon what his name is and he says, “My name is Legion.” A Roman legion had 6,000 men. This doesn’t necessarily mean he had 6k demons but this man was thoroughly possessed. “We are many.”
Look at verses 10-16.
This guy is the number-one social problem of this area and they can’t even help him, so they put him in isolation in the graveyard.
But all of a sudden Jesus comes over healed this man and calmed his angry soul and because of Jesus their whole world is getting rocked.
Their belief system is being challenged and they don’t know what to do, so they go get the townspeople.
When the people arrive they find the man is sitting there, clothed, in his right mind.
Wonder what their reaction was? “WOW that’s great Jesus, that was our number-one problem, but we’ve got a lot of other social problems but we’ve got so many issues we need Your help with.”
Did they even thank Jesus for His awesome power that solved their number-one social problem? NO.
According to verse 17, they begged Jesus to leave. “Get out of here. There is something different about you and you need to leave.” And Jesus said “okay.” He didn’t argue.
I imagine the disciples were beside themselves at that point. Jesus! Are You quitting?”
After all we went through JUST to get here and “you want us to leave!”
Have you been there? You work so hard to get people to hear the message of Christ and even though their heart is burdened, they verbally or even physically push you away.
By getting in the boat to leave Jesus was telling the disciples; “The results are not your responsibility. You share the message of grace and leave the rest to Me.”
DON’T forget that Jesus ALWAYS has a plan.
As they were getting in the boat to leave they hear the voice of one man. Mark 5:18, Jesus is stopped by the man who had been possessed by the demons.
“Can I go with you? There is nothing for me here. I want to be where You are Jesus.
Nobody gave me hope here. I was their problem. Nothing they did could save me here. No one showed me love. No one showed me grace. No one showed me mercy. I was nothing to them but a problem. But then You came and saw my soul and saw that I was in need of help and You gave me grace. Jesus you saved me.”
Maybe the disciples were trying to make room for him on the boat.
But according to verse 19, Jesus said, “No, you can’t go.”
Maybe the disciples said, “But Lord, it’s so dark here. Let’s bring him over to our side, where there is light.” But see Jesus is about to show them/us how powerful the testimony of grace can be.
He turned to that man and said, “You cannot come, but listen to me.” And in verse 19, Jesus tells him to…go home.
“I want you to go home and tell your friends what the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you. I know you’ve only been saved for a short time but go home and share the same grace with them as I have shown you.
Yes it may be hard at first but trust Me and you will be amazed at the results.”
And Jesus gets in the boat with His disciples and sails away. He didn’t even leave someone to guide this new believer in how to live for Christ…JUST GO HOME…
The guy hasn’t been saved a whole day yet and he’s standing on shore and maybe he says, “What am I supposed to do? I’m not a pastor. I’m not a theologian. My life was just changed and I’m going to a deep, dark community where no one likes me.
But the ONE who changed my life just simply said to tell others what He did, so I’m just going to go home. I’m going to tell my friends how much the Lord has done for me and how he has had mercy on me.”
So His disciples make it back to their side; they see great miracles; they help Jesus feed of the five thousand; they have all these wonderful Sabbath events and people are thronging to Jesus.
And then a few months later Jesus says, “Guys, I want to go back over to the other side for a second time. I want to take you and go over there.”
I wonder if they gathered around and said, “Jesus, don’t you remember the first time we went over there? We met this guy; who was possessed, cutting himself and screaming in the tombs. He was crazy!
And don’t forget…they kicked us out. They’ve got pigs were running all over that place. We are not going back over there. It’s just NOT worth the hassle.”
Well they get in the boat and go back to Decapolis, and when they touched down the second time, they brought a man who was deaf and had a speech problem. The man’s friend begged Jesus to heal him, but there were so many people crowding around, looking for the grace of God that Jesus had to take them away from the crowds. WHY!?
Because the demonic guy was, not only changed by grace, he did just as Jesus said and shared saving grace with people who didn’t even like him. He took the truth of Christ and said, “I may not be a pastor or a theologian but I know that Jesus changed my life, and I’m going to tell whoever will listen, how the Lord can change their life too.”
The feeding of the four thousand and all the healing that Jesus was able to do here, on the other side in chapter 8 trip was sparked by the testimony of one man whose life was forever changed by Jesus. This man was willing to share the grace he found in Jesus.
Jesus is telling EBC today that our responsibility is to share the message of grace and step aside. Get out of His way and watch him do great and mighty things that we cannot do.
I want you to think of a name. Are they took dark, are they too gone? Are they too lost in your mind? Jesus says they are not.
Let the words of Jesus to that man ring in your ears and go home. Tell someone how much the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you. It doesn’t matter if you are a new believer or you’ve been saved for a hundred years…GO HOME…
Maybe you’re that man, maybe you feel that you, yourself are so far gone that God’s grace can’t save you today, tomorrow or ever.
Do like the guy in the cemetery and fix your eyes on Him and come to Jesus…
Thanks to Pastor Ben Gutierrez
