On The Other Side - Abide In Me

Bible Verse

Mark 5:1–17 NKJV

1 Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. 2 And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. 7 And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.” 8 For He said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” 9 Then He asked him, “What is your name?” And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” 10 Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country. 11 Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. 12 So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them.” 13 And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea. 14 So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. 15 Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 16 And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. 17 Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.

Context

When we read this text, the first thing that we see and notice is the miracle.

And everybody loves a miracle. It is what people focus on

But there is a bigger story that this text is telling.

The text presents a conundrum (a problem, puzzle, riddle, a contradiction)

Problem 1 – The Contradiction of Miracle

Text is not just about the man who was healed but...a family, a community, a village, a town and a group of people.

It is about how easy it is to reject Jesus because of Fear and Complain

Destruction Of The Pigs - Economic Resource

When we read you notice that a man (if you read Mark, Luke) was healed, or men (if you read Matthew) were healed.

But the healing led to another problem, the destruction of the herd of pigs (2000)

The pigs symbolises the economic resource and prosperity of the family, people and country

Why did Jesus allow the pigs to be destroyed? Bearing in mind that these pigs were the source of livelihood (an economic resource) of the people

In essence:

Why heal our brother and allow the destruction of our livelihood at the same time?

Why did you not permit the demon to enter into the ground, or the grave, or the sea?

Why did you allow us to take one step forward and 99 steps back?

What is the point of this miracle?

Problem 2 - The Contradiction of Law

Mark states that the region is the country of Gadarenes (Ga-da-re-nes) located in the Decapolis (a city containing ten regions).

The region was a Gentile region meaning Jesus, being a Jew, was not meant to be there

The situation and conditions at Gadarenes were forbidden by Jewish traditions on the following basis:

Unclean spirit

Dwelling among the tombs (among the dead)

Lived in the Gentile town

Pigs (2000) were in the vicinity

These things are deemed unclean by the Levitical laws i.e. the ceremonial laws (see Leviticus 11)

Israelites were deeply concerned about ceremonial cleanness before God

There are strict Jewish ceremonial laws that forbid a person from touching or coming in contact with people, objects or animals that are deemed unclean

Being unclean was often a result of a physical action i.e. what you touched or ate, or a function of a condition i.e. bodily discharge, skin disease, sickness of the mind.

When a person was deemed unclean, such a person could not come into the presence of the Lord

The effect of being unclean was that you were ostracised (to exclude, banish, excommunicate from society, friendship, conversation, privileges, or country)

It means you were SEPARATED

We can become separated from God by our actions, thoughts, or words and thus we are symbolically unclean

So when Jesus went into this region, He was, in fact, going against, or in breach of, a long-standing holy tradition.

However, all these things and actions are telling us something greater than the miracle

It is revealing to us a relationship that God has with us, which is A SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP

But this text shows us the people rejected Jesus because of Fear and Complain

Fear and Complain

Just last week, I got a call from Nigeria between 5:00 and 6:00 am and the first question I asked myself was “who is sick and who has died”. Immediately I was consumed by the news that it was my brother who was sick and was in the hospital because he has a condition.

I became so angry and annoyed because I was battling another issue here (which is a miracle and I will give the testimony soon). The next thing I noticed was that I started complaining, grumbling, cursing, lamenting etc. I grumbled to God saying why would you give me something that I was asking for and then land me into another issue?

While I was dealing with this, on Wednesday my brother called me from Canada telling me that his car was stolen. Now the irony of this was that he and I just spoke the night before (Tuesday night), and he was calling me from the same car.

This was my Lailaps – my STORM moment!!

Then I prayed and asked God, what are you trying to teach me? Then I realised what it was and is. It was in my sermon!

When something traumatic occurs, when you are in the Lailaps, you will feel two common emotions:

Fear

Complain

These emotions were felt by the people when Jesus (God) was involved in their situation

Fear

Mark 5:15 NKJV

15 Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.

Fear: (the Lemma Transliteration) φοβέω (Phobeō). vb. to fear, be afraid.

Refers to the state of being afraid or the experience of becoming frightened

This word originates from (the Root) - φόβος (Phobos). n. masc. fear, terror.

Refers to the emotion elicited by a sense of alarm or danger or anticipation of a negative experience

This fear is the same fear the disciples felt in:

Mark 4:40–41 (NKJV)

40 But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?”

41 And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”

The text tells us that the people felt FEAR

when they saw the effect of the miracle of insurmountable proportions of the healing of the demoniac

Mark 5:15 NKJV

15 Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.

Fear is a strong psychological emotion which evokes a strong physiological response and change

We become tense, our blood pressure increases, our breathing changes

When we feel fear we respond with either flight or fight reaction

For this text, I want to focus on the fight response

To fight does not always mean you exchange physical blows

Fight can be verbal i.e. abusive words or to complain strongly:

Grumble

Accuse

Criticise

Denounce

Disagree

Lament

Moan

Oppose

Protest

Complain

We notice that when the disciples were in the storm, they were afraid (felt fear). But when they saw the situation not getting any better, they complained to Jesus!

To complain is to express ingratitude or discontent in an unjustified way

The book of Exodus 14:10-12 demonstrates the interplay of Fear and Complain

Exodus 14:10–12 NKJV

10 And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord. 11 Then they said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you so dealt with us, to bring us up out of Egypt? 12 Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, ‘Let us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness.”

Our text indicates to us that the people complained – expressed discontent – to Jesus by pleading (imploring) Him to leave

Mark 5:17 NKJV

17 Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.

Result

Sometimes pain or loss can seem so unbearable that we are blinded to the good favour of God

We want or tend to distance ourselves from Him

But when we feel hurt, pained, lost or loss, when we feel emptiness, when we feel down and out when the Lailaps crashes on us, that is the time we run to Jesus and not from Jesus

That is the time to invite Him in and not to shut the door at Him

That is the time we remain under His will

Revelation

So you may be asking what is the promise of Mark 5

I want to tell you this

Unclean – Separated – But Wanted

The effect of being unclean was that one was not able to be in the presence of God and thus being separated

We can become separated from God by our actions, thoughts, or words and thus we are symbolically unclean

But Mark 5 is telling us that Jesus demonstrated His love for that man and us by coming to him and to us likewise despite it not being permitted, despite their conditions

This is revealed in Acts 10:15 and Acts 10:28

Acts 10:15 NKJV

15 And a voice spoke to him again the second time, “What God has cleansed you must not call common.”

Acts 10:28 NKJV

28 Then he said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to keep company with or go to one of another nation. But God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean.

So...

You may feel separated because of what you’ve done, but Jesus wants you

You may feel separated because of what you’ve said, but Jesus wants you

You may feel separated because of loss, but Jesus wants you

You may feel separated because of failure, but Jesus wants you

You may feel separated because of sickness, but Jesus wants you

You may feel separated because of affliction, but Jesus wants you

You may feel separated because of lack of self-confidence, but Jesus wants you

We may feel unclean by our actions or conditions, but our God is loving and is willing to meet us in that state

Obiter Dictum - The Storm Won't Stop Him

The healing of that man did not begin in chapter 5

The mission to heal the man had already begun when Jesus said; “…let us go over to the other side” Mark 4:35

Mark 4:35 NKJV

35 On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.”

On the way -

There was a great storm, But Jesus was on a greater mission!

The storm was big, but Jesus was on a bigger mission!

The storm was just an “obiter dictum” –

a Latin phrase meaning “that which is said in passing,” an incidental statement

In law, it refers to a passage or statement in a judicial opinion which is not necessary for the decision of the case before the court

Such statements may nevertheless be significant but lack the force of precedence to change the opinion/decision of the judge

So

The storm was there as an incidental factor but it lacked the power to change the mission!

The storm was significant but lacked the force of precedence to change the decision of our Lord and Judge Jesus!

So…

Jesus will travel through everything to meet you

Jesus will travel through the storm to meet you

Jesus will travel through your storm with you to be at your side

He will calm the storm to give you a final and permanent victory

Get The Evil Out Of Your System

Was Jesus unfair in allowing the destruction of the pigs which was the source of livelihood of the people? NO

The bible says:

John 10:10 NKJV

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Jesus was teaching us a powerful lesson here

The pigs were economic resources for those people

But the Satan was looking for where to go, and he said let me go into those pigs

Theological implication - the time for Satan’s final destruction is yet to come (Revelation 20) so Satan is still very active

In essence, Satan is saying:

Let me destroy their finances

Let me destroy their source of joy

Let me destroy their source of income

Let me destroy their source of peace

Let me destroy their source of security

Let me destroy everything about this person, this family, this community, these people

But God is telling us in Mark 5 is found in James 4:7 (NKJV) — 7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

So … When you stop one wrong thing in your life; when God delivers you from one bad situation in your life, don’t let temptation direct you to another part

When Jesus comes into your life, let Him stay in

He is a Miracle worker But Remain Under His Will

Can you be faithful to God in His perceived unfaithfulness – the perception that He has not done what you want, when you want, how you want, at the time you want?

The situation of the people felt this way

Jesus had healed their brother but let their pigs die

But what the man, that was healed, saw was a Man in the name of Jesus who is able to do exceedingly abundantly, above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us

Ephesians 3:20 NKJV

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

The man said (Mark 5:18) “Jesus, I want to abide in you, because if You can heal me, You can restore what what was lost”

Mark 5:18 (NKJV) — 18 And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him.

So I tell you today:

Because if He can heal me, He can restore my finances

Because if He can heal me, He can restore my joy

Because if He can heal me, He can restore my income

Because if He can heal me, He can restore my peace

Because if He can heal me, He can restore my security

So, He who has begun a good work in my life will complete it!

Philippians 1:6 NKJV

6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

Abide in Me

Jesus is telling us today!

John 15:4 NKJV

4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

John 15:7 NKJV

7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

Psalm 91 NKJV

1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” 3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler And from the perilous pestilence. 4 He shall cover you with His feathers, And under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, 6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, And ten thousand at your right hand; But it shall not come near you. 8 Only with your eyes shall you look, And see the reward of the wicked. 9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, Even the Most High, your dwelling place, 10 No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; 11 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. 12 In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone. 13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. 14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. 15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation.”