Mark 4:35-5:43 - Jesus' Power

The gospel of Mark and we are continuing the series that Richard kicked off for us a couple of three weeks ago 4 weeks ago, whatever it was and we're going to be walking through the entire Gospel of mark But as we do that it requires us to think a little bit requires us to ask questions of the text. And that's a practice that I would encourage you guys to get into I won't ask for a show of hands, but it is my prayer and I hope that we as a church that most of us would have a regular habit of reading the word of God, but sometimes it's hard to read the Bible or is that just me? I don't know you some of some of your shaking head summer saying yeah. Well, sometimes it can be hard to read the Bible because we are in a cultural setting very much different from the setting in which the Bible was written and it can be difficult sometimes for us to understand what's going on in the text of the of the word and so we read it and be like, oh, okay. I just got some words and I put them in my head, but I'm not really sure what they mean or how they relate to me. But the Pastor said I should do it. So I guess I'll just keep reading. Let me encourage you to get into a habit of reading the word not just know the mechanical wave just kind of in taking some some words into your brain. Let me encourage you to make your study of the word of God something that's more of a dialogue begin to ask questions of the text as you read and you'll be at how the scripture starts to come more alive in this week in our Facebook group. I posted some questions that as I was reflecting on this text that I was I was Considering and I was wrestling with in dialogue with this text and I I just said, you know, what? Why should I keep all the fun to myself? And so I threw that out there and if you guys have a join me in this ask these questions of the text. I know not everybody in that group, but are those of you who are how many of you were able to read this passage and ask those questions this week? Alright, thank you guys. So we come to this section of marking in the three questions that I was asking if this text is why? Does Mark record these events this way? Why does he record these events? Because we know from the other gospels John in particular says if everything that Jesus did and thought were to be written down he Suppose there wouldn't be enough books in the whole world to contain it. Right? And so we know that Mark is not writing a an exact, you know day planner a Jesus like this is what he did this day and then the next day did this but but he's he's picking and choosing from amongst the stories much like a modern biographer. Would you don't tell the whole life story of the person you tell this the life stories that relate to the point of the biography you trying to get across this is who this is this is the key Essential Elements. So, what is Mark doing? In Chapter 4 verses 35 through 543. What is he doing here? What's his points to recording these stories? And then there's some other questions that come up in the text as we read through that text we start to say, why does Mark record the presence of other people crowds even at every single point in the narrative? What why did why does he take pains almost to point out that there were a lot of other people there? Why does he do that? And then the final question I was asking is and we'll get into which stories I'm talking about. But why in each of these stories does Jesus's statement or command to the people in Five? Why is it different in each one? Why does he tell one person go and tell everybody what I just did and then he tells another one don't tell anybody what I just did. Why does he do that? And so these questions were rattling around in the empty recesses of my brain this week and I and I was reflecting on him and thinking all right. What do we do with this as as the people of God today? How do we read Mark that first question? What is he trying to demonstrate by these particular stories is the first one. I want us to consider together and an in Mark chapter 4 what? I think that Mark is doing and Mark chapter 5 is that like the other gospels Mark is concerned with demonstrating that Jesus is his followers say that he is he's concerned with demonstrating that Jesus is the Messiah that he is the promised one. He is the one who will redeem all the world under the inspiration the spirit then Mark is selecting stories that best portray. Jesus's nature as king the best portray the nature of the Kingdom that Jesus is establishing and last week we talked about that if you were here with us last week we talked about Jesus Parables, right? There's these parables in chapter 4. Jesus is talking about how do you identify? Who is apart of the king of how do you identify if there's no geopolitical boundaries around the kingdom of God? How do you determine who's the citizen and who's not right and it's so we looked at that and that's what Mark was trying to establish with. He he then this week in this week's text. He shifts from looking at what Jesus said about that to what Jesus did the demonstrated the reality of his kingdom. And so if you got your Bible open now, I have to confess that I have made Don will seize life very difficult this week work for us every Sunday this week. I've made it rather difficult on her because I just have this long chunk of scripture and that's it. So I in deference to Don and to help her out. If you would pull out a Bible and turn to this passage, that would be beneficial cuz we're not going to read this whole thing, but I don't want you to miss what's going on. I want us to keep kind of in place and understand the context. So thank you in advance Don and thank you church for opening your copy of God's word and following along with the soap Mark chapter 4 in verse 35 remembering keeping in mind the context at the end of Mark 3. Jesus says who are my mother my brother my sister, it's those who do the will of God. Those are my mother my brother and my sister is talking about identity and then he tells me Are all dealing with the identity. How do you distinguish the kingdom of God from the world around it? And then it says after that look at verse 35 on that day when evening had come he said let's go across to the other side. Now if you're just jumping in the middle of this you may not understand what's going on. But if you look back at the beginning of chapter 4 you recognized Jesus has been teaching the people he's been telling these Parables to a crowd and the crowd was so great that he got in a boat and went out a little bit on to the Sea so that he could address them all at once and so it's essentially just after Jesus finishes his sermon, I want you to know this those of you who think I preach too long. Noted it was evening when Jesus finished his sermon. It will not be evening when I finish my sermon Lord willing. No, but the point is that he's already on the boat. He's on the on the sea. He's in the boat. And he says all right, we're done for the day. Let's go across to the other side. Right? No more detail. He says I'm leaving the crowd. They took him with them in the boat. Just as he was in the other boats and other Boats were with him Marquette almost all of the gospels record stories around the lake and Minnie testify to this experience hear the calming of the storm. But only Mark mentions the fact that there are other boats with him only Mark mentions that it wasn't just the disciples and Jesus in this boat. There were other boats with them that where they were going across the lake with them, right? So it's just important to note that I think when we see what happens because what happens is this storm comes up and Jesus is asleep in the bow of the boat. As the storm is Raging which if you ask my wife about my reaction to preaching on Sunday I go home and I usually take a nap and she could I can relate to Jesus why the storm is Raging and he doesn't even bad and I he is still fast asleep in the boat, but his disciples are getting worried because the waves are coming into the boat. The boat was already filling in verse 37, but he was asleep on the couch and they woke up and they said teacher do you not care that we are perishing?

Look at the disciples attitude and waking Jesus, right? You're sleeping through the storm that's going to kill us. Do you not even care about us? I found that remarkable this week as I was looking at this there. They're not concerned for Jesus. Hey, if you're sleeping and the boat goes down. You're not you might not make it let's wake Jesus up to take care of Jesus know Jesus wake up. We need you to be worried. Like we are worried. We want you to be anxious about this situation like we're anxious about the situation, but he rebuked the wind Heroes and rebuked the wind instead of the sea. Peace be still and the wind ceased and there was a great calm. Hey listen to say please is why were you so afraid to have you still no faith and they were filled with great fear and said to one another food then is this that even the wind and the Sea obey him know you read that story and you didn't you see that and if you grew up in church, you're familiar with it. Everybody's heard it. We all know Jesus calm the storm blah blah blah etcetera etcetera. This is just a part of the cultural experience in Christianity. We grew up with the story. That's not how the disciples viewed it. It says they were in great fear when they woke him up. It says they were in great fear after he calmed the sea. Why were they afraid? Who is this? Who even the wind and the waves obey? We see your Mark making his point. What kind of King is Jesus? He's a king with power over the creation because he created it. I think this is the first Glimpse where the disciples finally start to have their eyes open to the fact that there may be more than Jesus than just an itinerant preacher. He may be more than just another one of the rabbis wondering the Judy in hillsides. There's something unique about him. There's something different about him and it's revealed in his power over the creation, but then it goes on and they get to the other side of the sea to the country of the gerasenes. And then when Jesus stepped out of the boat immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. All right, and we're introduced to this man with an unclean spirit and this man is is under such a demonic oppression that he lives out among the tombs and no one could bind him because it says every time they tried to bind him. He just break the chains off of himself. Now, it's interesting. It's interesting to me that what is being described here is the usual way that people with what today we might call mental illness back. Then it was viewed as demonic oppression what we have going on here. is the typical way they were dealt with they were pushed outside of the society. They were isolated from the community and many times. They were bound with the understanding that if you could bind the physical being perhaps the spiritual nature would be bound as well. And so what's being described here is somebody who would have received the treatment of his day. This is how you dealt with somebody in his situation. And Mark wants us to see how different Jesus deals with him because this man comes running up to Jesus this man who could break chains with his bare human strength, right or superhuman strength this man who had been cast out into the place of the Dead basically his community saying we wish you would just go there permanently. We're tired of dealing with you. How is Jesus going to deal with him? Well, we see this man runs up to Jesus and he says what do you have to do with me son of the most high God I Adore You by God do not torment me. Now. This is many many. Biblical Scholars say this is this is the demon speaking through this man. I'm not 100% convinced. It's just the demon what had this man received but torment from his community what has this man received but rejection from his community. Nobody cared about him everybody. Just wanted to not have to deal with him. So Jesus comes along he recognizes who this isn't he says I hope he doesn't torment me as well. The world has tormented me. The world has tried to deal with me in this way. I hope Jesus is different and it ended the demon speaking through him says don't treat me like I know you should write the rebellious Spirit has then we don't get into a lot in the American church, but we ought to be aware that there is a spiritual reality beyond what we can see there are angels in there are demons into this morning's not the time to lay that all out but understand this is real. This is not just a story. But how is Jesus going to deal with it? And Jesus says come out of the man you unclean spirit. He doesn't bind the man. He doesn't cast the man out. He gets to the heart of the problem. And he says come out of him you unclean Spirit. He says what is your name? My name is Legion for we are many. And the man beg him earnestly not to send them out of the country. They said send us into those pigs over there. Let's enter them you gave them permission. The unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs in the herd numbering about 2,000 rushed down a steep Bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.

That strikes our ears is really strange. Or mine. Anyways, imagine how weird that would have been for the original audience to hear that. Imagine how strange that was for them to see. Imagine the herdsman standing there the herdsman who probably didn't own the pigs, by the way, they were do they were probably just hired help and they watch their employers entire herd run off a cliff. What do you go back and tell your boss after that?

I know you're not going to believe me.

But I am telling you the truth man, this guy showed up and this other guy came down. And then there was this conversation the next thing, you know, the pigs just ran off the cliff. Promise. When do I start tomorrow? You know like this is a big deal. This is not a minor inconvenience. It's also a big deal that these are pigs. What country are they in? there in Israel there is air in the land of the Jews. The Jews couldn't eat pig. What in the world is somebody doing raising 2000 pigs in Israel?

When you're commanded not to eat it when your relationship with God depends on not eating pork. Where's the market for these two thousand? That's why it's important to have us understand the concept steer. This region of Israel was heavily Gentile eyes. There were a lot of Gentiles there who didn't mind eating pork? And so they were not your faithful Jews that you might run into in Jerusalem. These are not the Pharisees and the Sadducees. These were the people that were like God who write these were the people who probably worship the Roman gods. They had fully assimilated most of them into the culture of their conqueror. And so that they didn't see a problem with eating pigs. Jesus is in a very different setting than he is when he's teaching in Jerusalem. Jesus is dealing with an entirely different group of people here and Mark wants to make sure that we know that he wants to make sure that we understand Jesus is not hanging out with a bunch of Who's right now? He's hanging out with somebody who with with a group of people in the region of the nation. That is primarily Gentile. Why does that matter? Because he's demonstrating two things in the story. He's demonstrating black. He demonstrated with quieting the waves. He's demonstrating his power of the physical creation there. He demonstrates his power over the spiritual creation hear Genesis Straits has power over the demons here. But he also says this power is not just for the Jews. This power is for the Gentiles as well. This power is not just for the people who are good enough. They're not just for the people who are keeping all the rules and doing everything right. This is for the people who are quite literally ignore everything that God has to say this is for everybody. Jesus is power of redemption is not limited to the good people not limited to the Israelites. It's not constrained by political boundaries. It's not constrained by the blood genealogy that they retain it's purely based on God's grace. Mark is trying to show us. This is what the kingdom of God looks like the kingdom of God looks like a king. When witches King is Sovereign over the physical creation. He can quiet the waves in the wind it skiing is Sovereign over the spiritual creation. It can tell a demon leave and it leaves. He can tell if you believe in that leaves. Write Jesus does that and he's not just the king for the Jews? He's the king for the Gentiles as well. And it's amazing to me what he does out of this right the herdsmen just watch their bosses stuff run over a cliff. They've got a lot of explaining to do. The people come out wondering if this and they come out to see the 2,000 Pig carcasses. Maybe get a little free bacon out of the deal. And they come out and they see the guy that they had found in the Dead cast out. Just sitting there completely in his right mind fully clothed and having a conversation with Jesus. And what's their response?

They were afraid. They were afraid what was the disciples response again to Jesus power over the physical creation. They were afraid what's the people's response to Jesus power of the spiritual creation. They were afraid this seems to be a common theme that the people of the people of this area when they see God at work. There's primary thought is fear. I think the Wedding March trying to tell us something about the nature of our King in the nature of his kingdom. But look what he does for the demon-possessed man. The people who were afraid they come out and see the dead pigs and they see the demoniac healed they come out and they say Jesus would you just leave it's costing us a lot of money to have you here. Right. We're not sure that this is safe for you to hang out with us. So would you leave in Jesus says, okay. I'll leave. But the demon-possessed man begs him take me with you. Let me go with you and Jesus says no. Jesus says know why does he say? No. Instead. He says here's what you're going to do. He did not permit him but he said to him go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he hasn't had mercy on you and he went away and begin to Proclaim in the decapolis how much Jesus have done for him? And everyone involved decapolis is simply a phrase meaning Tennessee's region. He says just go home and tell everybody what I've done. They kicked Jesus out cuz they're afraid of him. Jesus knows that they're still needs to be somebody bearing witness to his power in that region. And so he says to the man who's been delivered go and speak the truth of the Gospel what I've done for you go and speak that to the crowd around you bear witness to this among the Gentiles Paul is often called the Apostle to the Gentiles. But if we if we want to just really get down to brass tacks. The demoniac was the first one commissioned to take the gospel to the Gentiles and all he was doing all the whole gospel. He was sharing was this is what Jesus has done for me. That's amazing. God doesn't just heal this man. He invests his life with a new purpose. He gives his life meaning he's not just been set free, but he's been told go and tell everybody what's happens. Jesus is going to leave the area, but the gospels going to still go forward. Denmark continues in this narrative. He says he crossed again in the boat to the other side. All right. I'm convinced Jesus spent most of his ministry getting from one place to another. This was not the age of the automobile write. This is not the age of mass and easy Transportation Jesus it took time for him to get everywhere. He was going so he goes over and his ministers in the gentle region demonstrates. The fact that his kingdom is a kingdom. It's not just for the juices for the Gentiles demonstrates his power over the physical creation of his creation, but then he goes back to the other side guess guess what the other side was. I'm primarily Jewish region. He goes back into a region where the Jews faithful Jews who would have nothing to do with the pigs on the other side of the lake. Lives and I meant pigs as they did then both of the pigs and of the pigs. There he goes back amongst the Jews and it's interesting how how Mark record this. He says a great crowd gathered about him. He was beside the sea then came one of the rulers of the synagogue gyrus by name and seeing him he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly saying my little daughter is at the point of death come and lay your hands on her so that she may be well and live and he went with him. Now, how did gyrus know to come and ask Jesus to come heal his little girl. Because gyrus it heard the story of what happened on the other side of the lake most likely. He had heard about this demon depressed man being delivered being healed right there were Witnesses. It wasn't just the disciples in the boat. There were other boats with them. There were Witnesses when they came back that story would have come back with them. Gyrus knows this this man can do this in Jesus and Mark in his stead. Jesus needs us to understand Mark wants us to understand the Holy Spirit through inspiration wants us to understand that God is a God for all people. He's not just the god of the Gentiles. He's also the god of the Jews write. This is some place that the church throughout history has failed utterly when you see anti-Semitism creeping up. What you are seeing is the spirit of antichrist. Because Jesus was a Jew and Jesus was the king of the Jews. And we Gentiles receive him as our King as well, but not to the exclusion of the Jewish people. And so we need to understand that he is not just the king for the demon oppress Gentiles the pig eating Gentiles. He's the king for the faithful Jews. In fact jyrus is introduced as a ruler of the synagogue. He's the leading man in the city. He is he is the Jew that the other Jews in his are looking up to and saying we want to be like him. And Jesus is power is for him as well as Kingdom doesn't look like kingdoms were used to seeing we want to draw lines around classes. We want to draw the lines around races. We want to draw the lines around Republicans and Democrats and Jesus's I'm just kidding. Over all of that over all of you.

The quicker we recognize that. I'm convinced the quicker. We'll be ready for heaven where every tribe and every tongue and every nation will be getting praise to the king forevermore. Jesus power is for the Gentiles and the Jews did this Jew comes in Falls and he says come save my daughter come save my daughter. She's at the point of death in Jesus says, okay and he starts going with him, but it already Market I said there's a great crowd gathered around him. How many of you have ever tried to make your way through a great crowd?

Is that fast going slow going? Slow going. Pardon me? Excuse me, even more difficult for Jesus when everybody's crowding around him. The whole crowd is wanting to see Jesus and so he's trying to make his way with gyrus who's concerned because my daughters at the point of death, would you come and come quickly and Jesus can't go anywhere quickly because there's this great crowd gathered around him. And we get this interesting story. So as they're going that Jesus is going on this Mission of Mercy if he's going to bring healing to this daughter who's sick. She's going to demonstrate his kingship over the Jews. There's this great crowd and is it says there's this woman in the crowd and it kind of interrupts the story here for a little bit Mark does that on purpose? I think I think he's wanting us to pay attention. He's wanting us to see what happens. There's a woman who had a discharge of blood for 12 years and she had suffered much under many Physicians and it's spent all that. She had and was no better but rather grew worse or introduced to this character one person in this crowd of people around Jesus this crowd that jairus's just fuming at get out of the way people. We're going to see my daughter in. Jesus is going to heal her and you people won't even get out of the way. He's fuming this woman just sees Jesus and she says I've got a problem that no human can fix. She's broke. She is a complete Outcast you need to understand that the the nature of her Affliction method according to the law of Moses. She could not worship at the temple. She could not even touch another faithful Jew nor could they touch her without themselves being made unclean and unable to worship at the temple? This is a woman who is completely isolated feels a great deal of Shame. No doubt from her condition has spent every dime. She has and had human medicine fail her at every points along the way. And she in her desperation says if I can just Touch the Hem of His cloak I will be made well, so she's as Jesus and gyrus are pushing their way through the crowd This Woman's trying to get close to Jesus just to touch the edge of his cloak and when she does Mark says she touched it and immediately Jesus since the power had gone out of him and he turns and he says who touched me and the disciples being there Eveready selves dummy, you're in a crowd everybody's touching you but Jesus meant something difference. He said who touched me in face who touched me looking for what only I could do. She knew. She came before Jesus this woman who had felt shame for 12 years this woman who had not been able to worship who had not been able to enjoy physical contact with another member of her faith. For 12 years. She falls before Jesus with what fear. and trembling

what's your response to her healing?

fear again Do we see this pattern that Mark is trying to show us there's something so radically different about Jesus and his power his authority and his kingdom there something so radically different of him is king a king over creation spiritual and physical a king over Jews a king over Gentiles that when he acts his his power is such the people fear.

She confesses the truth and he says to her. What does he say? Your faith has made you well. It wasn't the special, you know cotton of this robe. It wasn't it wasn't it? You know just the really fine fabric that they making out in Nazareth these days. Who is your faith? That made you well, what did he say go in. Peace? And be healed of your disease. The demon-possessed man wants to go with Jesus. Jesus has no you go. Tell everybody what happened to you. This woman who has endured rejection and isolation and shame. She just says let it get some. Peace. And be healed rejoin your community rejoin your family. Experience. Peace

Gyrus at this point has got to be coming uncorked. The crowd won't get out of the way. And now this woman is interrupting Jesus who's going to save my daughter and right at that moment there came from the rules house. Someone who said your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher anymore? But overhearing what they said Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue do not fear only believe now gyrus was just standing there is Jesus told this woman. Your faith has made you well now he turns to the synagogue leader and he says calm down. have faith and they continue going and when they get there. There's this group of people out there making this big commotion weeping and wailing because this little girl has died. More about that in just a second. Jesus says to them. Why are you weeping? She's not dead. She's just asleep. And the people immediately turn off the Waterworks and laugh at him. Now what Mark is doing with that? That's seemingly insignificant little statement. There was this great crowd lamenting and then they turn they can laugh at Jesus immediately. What he's doing is he pointing us to the nature of this crowd that is gathered probably not all of them. But some of these at least we're professional mourners. These would have been hired by the by the family of the synagogue ruler to come in to let everybody know that the daughter had died to show this great lament on behalf of the daughter. These people got paid to cry at funerals and this is actually a job you can have back then I've yet to see an ad on KSL for this. But this was the reality of the situation but the thing was you had to be rich to pay people to mourn someone's death. So this gyrus is is not just a Jew he's not just a spiritual leader in the community. He's probably a business leader in the committee. He's probably a wealthy member of the community if he's already got mourners on retainer ready for the moment. Somebody dies. This is a wealthy man. And because they're just putting on the show earning their coin. They can when Jesus says she's not dead. She just sleeping. They just stop crying and laugh at him. We're professionals Jesus. We know when somebody's dead Okay, this isn't our first rodeo here, buddy. So knock it off and go away. Basically, that's a Brandon's paraphrase version of this passage.

But Jesus ignores them. He actually doesn't ignore him. He put them all outside. So he kicks him out of the house of their employer. He says get out he takes the the child's mother and father and those who are with him and they went in where the child wasn't taking her by the hand ESAT said to her to tell her to me, which means little girl I say to you arise and immediately the girl got up and begin walking and they were immediately overcome with amazement.

What kind of Jesus is this? What kind of King is this? What kind of Messiah is this delivers a gentile? On one side of the lake and he comes back and he raises a Jewish girl on the other side on the way to raising her from the dead. He heals a poverty-stricken woman neglected by our community. On his way to go heal a rich man's daughter. Jesus is that kind of King Mark's point is with all of these Miracles is this is what kind of King Jesus is. He's a king over the physical world. He's a king over the spiritual World those two things are both under his command and other his sovereignty he can save the winds knock it off and you can say to a demon knock it off and they have to obey him. He has perfect authority over all of creation. Why because he is the creator.

Colossians 1 16 and 17 not on the screen, but I encourage you to look it up sometime. Jesus is the one who made everything. That's why everything listens to him whether it's physical or spiritual. He's not just a king for the Jews. He's a king for the Gentiles right? He's not just a king over your little circle your little click the gospel is not just for people who look like you smell like you work where you work live where you live? weather discussion in Sunday school this morning about the fact that the fastest growing Church on planet Earth right now is in Tehran. And yet there are those within our political system here in America who say just kill them all and let God sort it out. No. Jesus is King there you have brothers and sisters there. We are not independent of God's work around the world. He is the king of the Muslim. He is the king of the Christian. He's the king of the African American King of the European American. He's the king of the white guy the black guy the brown guy the red guy in if we've got any of them the blue guys.

Jesus is King. Over all creation and over all of humanity.

Jesus is King over poor people and rich people. I jesus does not love you more because you drive a nice car and live in a nice house. Jesus does not love you more than the child in Venezuela who make the living waiting for the dump truck to show up at the trash Heap every day. And then scrambles to get the freshest piece of trash. When we were in Ecuador, we can't stand Anthony and I were down there and Jimmy the missionary we were working with he was recalling his first mission trip ever his first mission trip was to a dump in Venezuela where people died everyday getting trampled by others who were fighting for the same pieces of trash. Does Jesus care less about people there? They need us here.

He was just as happy to heal. The woman with no money as he was the guy Rich enough to hire mourners for his daughter. Jesus is a king whose rule transcends all of our

he's over everything and everyone. And that's what marks trying to get us to see. and one final question

That's not true.

two final questions

Why does Mark reference the large groups just do this briefly? So that there would be Witnesses. From every social strata every religious affiliation from every economic status. There would be Witnesses from a wide range. Of groups who could all testify to the fact that Jesus was King over the physical world the spiritual world the Jew the Gentile the rich the poor Jesus was King over all of those. And many would see and recognize that.

CS Lewis said this the Miracles in fact are a retelling in small letters of the very same story which is written across the whole world in letters too large for some of us to see Louis is pointing us to the fact that we can all see this just because we weren't part of the crowd there that day doesn't mean that we can't join with those Witnesses say, yes, we see that Jesus is King over all of this because we see the world around us. We see what he's made and that leads us to give praise to the one who made it the final question. Why does Jesus tell the demon-possessed man to go? Tell everyone? Why do they call the woman that he healed on the way? Nothing just go in peace. Don't it doesn't say tell somebody that sell don't say don't tell somebody just go in. Peace. And why does he tell the synagogue leader not to say anything?

And this is the point where your preacher for the day confesses. I don't know.

Wrestled with this question all week. And I don't know that I know the answer. I have several ideas on the subject and I hope that those of you who are able to read and ask questions to text. Maybe you've got some answers but is it because of the response right? Because the demons possess man feared or because the crowds feared and he needed the demon-possessed man to go and tell them why there was still hope And we noticed that the only group that does not respond in fear to a miracle is the Jewish Family they respond with amazement not fear as it is because their response Jesus knew that the demon-possessed man was going to be a reliable witness to the truth of his kingdom and his kingship so we should go and tell but when they respond that was fear not with submission, in other words, that was a recognition of his authority date. They responded just amazing that what he done. He says don't tell anybody cuz he doesn't want Just a bunch of people who are excited about the Miracles. He does he wants a bunch of people who are excited about the message that he's proclaiming. I don't know is it because of the fact that the word was already there amongst the Jews right? It's so often we see this pattern in the in the Bible but also in the world around us where when the gospel is first coming into an area. We see widespread Miracles. We see these incredible healings in these these acts of God, that could be nothing else and that's the situation in the region where he was they did so neglected the word of God that they were content with having a herd of 2,000 pigs. Is Jesus saying in this place where the word is being discounted than ignored? I need to prove my authority. But where the where the word it has taken root the synagogue leaders house which every Sabbath this guy would have been reading the word. I don't need to do the miracle because they've already got the word. This is this is the situation it with the story that Jesus tells of Lazarus and the rich man. There was a rich man. And there was a banker outside his door and they both die. And the rich man goes to Hades and the the poor man goes to Paradise. And the rich man says send Lazarus and the beggar back to tell my brothers about the reality of this afterlife. But he's told something really interesting. They have Moses and the prophets and if they wouldn't believe them, why would they believe if somebody came back from the dead Jesus is Miracles are never further spectacle sake this is something we need that she and I myself have been guilty of this in passing. I want to see Miracles like what they did in the Bible what God wants may be what God wants instead of those of us who've received the word to believe the word blessed. Are you who seen and believe but blessed more still are those who do not see and yet believe because the Miracles are not the point. The Miracles are not the point. The point is the kingdom and the message of the kingdom in the fact that Jesus Reigns and so is that the reason why the Jews who have the word the synagogue leader, who knows the Torah inside and out is so don't tell anybody about this Resurrection. I don't know. But when we today living in an age when people are looking for signs and wonders in desperately hungry for miracles, is it perhaps that we should be instead of seeking those things? Declaring to a nation in which every house has 1.8 copies of the Bible. Just open it up and read it. Why want God to speak to me today? Okay. Well, you know Genesis to Revelation go.

Is he saying? The word matters more the message matters more. That's the goal that met the Miracles Jesus did were just to get a hearing for the gospel. To get a ticket an opportunity for the message to be validated. Is that what he is saying here? I want you to wrestle with that. I want you to wrestle with whether or not. You in your heart and your mind you are waiting for this Grand display. Or whether or not you value what God has already done in Christ. Often times our search for miracles can disguise a dissatisfaction with the sacrifice of Christ? Our search for spectacle can be a devaluing of salvation. If God chooses to do miracles in our midst will praise him if he doesn't. Our faith is no less secure.

If he doesn't then we point people. To the resurrecting power of the Gospel that day by day is making dead people come alive. We point people to transformation in our lives where we've rejected anger that is characterized us. We're now people of Peace we reject. The greed that was driving us and we showcase instead that humility that God is producing in US these are all miracles. I don't want to be. Like the the Jewish synagogue leader. A recipient of the grace of God and have God say hey because you're going to not use that right? Just don't tell anybody. I want to be like the demoniac I want to be a recipient of God's grace the resurrecting power of Salvation. I want to be somebody whose heart is exchanged who does not have a Heart of Stone but has a lot of flash I want to be somebody who is not just saved not just resurrected not just redeemed but somebody who is taking that resurrection that redemption in that salvation and being given new purpose and meanings with it. The Jesus says to me go and tell all your friends.

It was we look at the power of Jesus this comprehensive authority of this King over his creation. We need to ask what's my place in that? What's my place in that have I responded to this king with submission or have I simply settled for saying? Hey, Jesus, you do some pretty cool stuff. How about you do some cool stuff for me? Or have I submitted myself and said you know what? Everything about me was a mess until you showed up. And since you cleaned it all up you can tell me to do whatever you want and I'll go do it. The demoniac Whitney told everybody who is what Jesus did for me. May we be the same who responds to the authority of our King with submission with humility with fear even with trembling marveling at the grace of God in our lives and who didn't go and speak of what he's done to everyone we meet. Let's pray.