Last week we noted from Mark 4 that during a boat trip, Jesus taught His followers about faith. Faith is basically completely trusting what Jesus said by taking action accordingly until what was said is accomplished. Faith can be defined this way: Faith is believing what God says and putting it to action till completion!
We asked ourselves last week “How can I build my faith?”
And so, let us continue to build our faith by listening to what God wants to tell us from Mark 5:1-20…..
v1-5: What type of person greeted Jesus?
A person(s) possessed by demons met Jesus; lived in the tombs, could not be handled physically, in pain, and causes himself pain. We can note that demons are real! What can we say about demons based on this??
- can possess people
- many can be in the same spot/person
- prefers to live among the dead
- can empower people physically
- looks for ways to cause pain on people
v6-8: Who was speaking to Jesus?? – a legion of demons!
What did it know about Jesus??
- Son of God
- Has power to judge demons
- Has power to liberate a person from demons
v13: Jesus allowed the demons to possess pigs who killed themselves. The passage does not tell us exactly what happen to the demons except they definitely left the person(s).
Why did Jesus allow the demons to go to the pigs? - We can note at least 2 reasons:
- Jesus freed the person(s) from demon possession.
- v14-16?? - Jesus wanted the people to know what happened!
But how did the people respond to Jesus?
v15-17: The people were afraid and kicked Jesus out of town! Why do you think??
The people were comfortable with evil and they didn’t want to follow Jesus!
But in contrast, what can we note about the healed person in v18-20??
The healed person(s) begged to follow Jesus!
Jesus challenged the healed person(s) to testify!
The healed person(s) obeyed Jesus and impacted many people!
What Biblical principles must we note from this passage?
1. We must not be spiritually blind to powerful demons who can possess people!
2. Jesus Christ, available to every person, has power over all demons!
Based on these 2 biblical principles, what can we summarize??
If a person do not have Jesus Christ in their lives, they are susceptible to evil influences!
And, what can we note about the people in general in this passage??
3. People refusing Jesus Christ should not surprise us.
And finally, what can we note from the healed person which we can apply to our Christian lives??
4. We Christians should always have a desire to be with Jesus and a willingness to obey Him!
