Series – Miracles in Mark
Pt. 1 - “The Master on a Mission”
Mark 5:1-20
Scripture Reading (18-20)
Good morning! It’s great to have you with us today and we trust that you have come expecting God to do something in our hearts and minds.
Today we are looking at a passage from the Gospel of Mark. Each of the Gospels has a theme. For instance in John we see Jesus as the Son of God and in Luke he is The Son of Man. In Mark he is unquestionably the Miracle Worker. Over the next few weeks we will be looking at some of the miracles in Mark’s gospel. I want us to be reminded again that Jesus possessed supernatural power and that He had power over disease, demons, and even death! He still has this power today and He can help you and I no matter what our problem is or how insurmountable it might seem. I also want to emphasis that He is our friend. What is a friend? A British publication once offered a prize for the best definition of a friend. Among the thousands of answers received were the following:
"One who multiplies joys, divides grief, and whose honesty is inviolable."
"One who understands our silence."
"A volume of sympathy bound in cloth."
"A watch that beats true for all time and never runs down."
The winning definition read: "A friend is the one who comes in when the whole world has gone out." Bits & Pieces,
This morning we see the Lord befriending a man that everyone had given up on. He had been written off by those around him. There had been many efforts made on this man’s behalf, usually in the form of bonds and imprisonment all to no avail, but thank God Almighty that Jesus shows up by crossing over to the other side.
I. The Maniac of Gadara.
a. See him chained – v. 3-4
b. See him crying – v. 5a
c. See him cutting – v. 5b
A. His hair was matted together.
B. His face was unshaven.
C. He was foaming and frothing at the mouth.
D. Blood was flowing from self-inflicted wounds, there are scabs and scars from old wounds
E. The clanging of chains could be heard as he dragged the remnants.
F. He doesn’t wear any clothes or live in a house but dwelled among the tombs. He is comfortable with the bones of the dead
G The stench of dried pus and soured vomit was unbearable. His body odor is repellant.
H. He would charge you screaming and crying like a wild animal.
A) (v. 2) Unclean- Mark is not reporting only on the man’s "external" but his "internal situation“.
B) (v3.) Unsettled - Look at where he lives.
C) (v, 4) Uncontrollable- No one could calm him or reason with him.
D) (v, 5} Unhappy- He’s depressed, in despair and demoralized.
F.) (v.6) Unstable- He does not jump up and down rejoicing but falls at the sight of Jesus.
f.) (v. 15) Unclothed- Uncovered, The body was out of control because his head was out of control. Don’t look for things to be right with the body if all hell
has broken into the mind!
II. The Miracle at Gadara.
C.H. Spurgeon defines faith this way, "Faith is believing that Christ is what He is said to be, and that he will do what He has promised to do, and then to expect this of Him."
a. The confrontation –
Jesus left one storm that He calmed that was external in chapter 4 to deal with a human storm that was internal in chapter 5. The grace of God has a way of showing up even in the madness of our situations.
b. The cleansing – 6,000 demons (legion)
Jesus performs an exorcism. "Come out of him.” What sociology couldn’t do Jesus did. What psychology couldn’t do, Jesus did. What philosophy couldn’t do, Jesus did. I’ll tell you that Jesus can do it! Salvation is a supernatural action. Only the Spirit of God can break through into a mind that is soaked in sin.
c. The change
"Was sitting” he was at rest
"Was clothed" he was clothed
"And in his right mind” he was composed
The Real Miracle
Meaning no disrespect to the religious convictions of others, I still can’t help wondering how we can explain away what to me is the greatest miracle of all and which is recorded in history. No one denies there was such a man, that he lived and that he was put to death by crucifixion. Where...is the miracle I spoke of? Well consider this and let your imagination translate the story into our own time -- possibly to your own home town. A young man whose father is a carpenter grows up working in his father’s shop. One day he puts down his tools and walks out of his father’s shop. He starts preaching on street corners and in the nearby countryside, walking from place to place, preaching all the while, even though he is not an ordained minister. He does this for three years. Then he is arrested, tried and convicted. There is no court of appeal, so he is executed at age 33 along with two common thieves. Those in charge of his execution roll dice to see who gets his clothing -- the only possessions he has. His family cannot afford a burial place for him so he is interred in a borrowed tomb. End of story? No, this uneducated, propertyless young man who...left no written word has, for 2000 years, had a greater effect on the world than all the rulers, kings, emperors; all the conquerors, generals and admirals, all the scholars, scientists and philosophers who have ever lived -- all of them put together. How do we explain that?...unless he really was who he said he was." (Ronald Reagan. http://www.christianglobe.com)
III. The Mission to Gadara.
a. The command – “go,” is also our Lord’s command to each of us!
b. The communication- “tell,” them what great things God has done!
c. The compassion – “He has had compassion on you.”
Paul wrote that “by the grace of God I am what I am.” To this we could also add that by the grace of God “I have what I have,” and by the grace of God “I do what I do.” It is really “all because of God’s amazing grace!”
THE BIGGER MIRACLE
Pastor Steve Yeschek lost his sister, Judy, after a five-year battle with cancer. She was a woman who, as Steve described her, was a party animal—-a big drinker with a self-contented lifestyle. She was someone everybody loved, because she exuded excitement and a thrill for life. When Steve tried to share Jesus with her over the years, she would laugh it off and keep partying.
But at the age of 44, her world caved in. She found out she had breast cancer. She later learned her husband had cancer, too. Adding to the devastation of these two blows, she discovered her husband was having an affair. He subsequently announced he didn't love her anymore and left her.
It was in that context that she began to ask eternal questions and soon prayed to receive Jesus as her Savior. From that time until her death, Jesus and his Word and purpose became her priority. With the same gusto with which she lived life as an unbeliever, she now approached her new life in Christ. Her greatest aim was winning others to Christ. She boldly shared her faith even as she was undergoing surgery after surgery, praying for a miraculous healing from the Lord.
Judy ultimately came to see that the greater miracle would be for her friends and family to come to know Christ. Even as she struggled for every breath, she talked her way out of the hospital about ten days before her death so she could be baptized and publicly proclaim Christ as the only way of salvation. Judy invited everyone she knew to come to her baptism service. Under the Spirit's anointing, she powerfully and urgently shared her testimony. Her 84-year-old father came to faith in Christ that night and was baptized—-along with her ex-husband, a number of nieces, a college roommate who was a New Age cultist, her aunt, her sister, and others.
Ten days later, Judy died. Even still, more people came to know the Savior. When Steve read the message she had prepared for her own funeral service, another 100 people prayed to receive Christ that day.
(From a sermon by Pastor Bob Page, Crystal Lake, Illinois )
Related Sermon Illustrations
KENYA MIRACLE
There is a precious family in a certain church in Kenya. Years ago, when the mother and the two young daughters were saved, they were returning home after baptismal service. They were rejoicing as they approached the door. All were singing. The father was a fearful demon-possessed man. He waited for them to get home. He was determined to kill them and he was ready to take his life also. God convicted him by their song. He fell on his knees and repented right there.
