Trad Life (Mark 7:1-23)

We’re officially in tradition season. At Thanksgiving and Christmas, our national and personal traditions make our celebrations what they are. Think for a moment of the one thing you wouldn’t be willing to give up. Whether it’s a certain activity or special food, there’s something you do every year that – if it didn’t happen – the holiday wouldn’t feel right.

And that’s absolutely fine. Those annual customs can enrich our appreciation of why we celebrate. Certain traditions can help us understand and savor more fully.

Traditionalism can be good for Christmas, but it is terrible for our communion with Christ. That’s what this text is about. The scribes and Pharisees accost Jesus, saying He does not properly honor the traditions of the Jewish elders and, therefore, is not qualified before God.

Jesus takes the opportunity to not merely defend His disciples, but to reveal that He was instituting a whole new arrangement through which people can be right with God.

Yet again we’re seeing a pivotal moment in spiritual history. In this text, Jesus not only puts Himself above the traditional Jewish interpretations of the Torah, He will, in fact, declare that He is above the Torah – not just able to interpret it, but concluding many aspects of it as He introduces a new covenant between God and man.

Mark 7:1-4 – ¹ The Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him. ² They observed that some of his disciples were eating bread with unclean—that is, unwashed—hands. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, keeping the tradition of the elders. ⁴ When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they have washed. And there are many other customs they have received and keep, like the washing of cups, pitchers, kettles, and dining couches.,)

The scribes and Pharisees were very aggressive in their desire to find fault with Jesus’ teachings and behavior. Some of these guys travelled more than 100 miles from Jerusalem.^[1] Look how they surround Him. When’s the last time you were surrounded by an official group of people accusing you of unlawful activity?

Their complaint was not about hygiene. It was that the disciples didn’t do a specific ritual washing before eating. Some think it was a washing up to the elbows, like surgeons do before operating. Or where they would pour water over a closed fist and use that to wash the other hand.^[2]

Now, this was not part of the Law of Moses. There were some specific rules about times when priests had to do ceremonial washing, but not everyone else. But, through the centuries, the rabbis and leaders of Israel had created these oral traditions around the Law and said they were just as important as the Law itself. And this mass of traditions kept mushrooming more and more to the point that the Mishnah, which was published later, has thirty chapters just on washing vessels.^[3]

And let’s realize at this point in time, all these rules were still in their oral form. They weren’t even written down yet. How could anyone actually keep up with all these regulations that the scribes and Pharisees said were essential and that they demanded?

Paul would later point out all these traditional rules were a heavy yoke put on believers’ necks that “neither our ancestors nor we were able to bear.”^[4] And remember – he was a Pharisee of Pharisees!

Mark 7:5 – ⁵ So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders, instead of eating bread with ceremonially unclean hands?”

This special washing was only formally required before the consumption of bread.^[5] That, by itself, should reveal how arbitrary their complaint was. But the much larger red flag is where they say, “Why don’t Your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders?” Not, the heart of God. Not the leading of God. Not even the actual WORD of God, but their traditions.

The traditions of the elders was their north star. Even though their traditions didn’t make them more like God in His love or His justice or His integrity. For them, the traditions were the goal.

And here’s a great irony: Some scholars believe that these particular rules actually came from Greek influence.^[6] So, here they are, self-proclaimed experts on what makes a person holy, what makes a person right with God, what makes a person spiritually qualified, only their systems don’t come from God as a source, but from their own ideas, and in some cases, Gentile ideas!

Mark 7:6-7 – ⁶ He answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. ⁷ They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines human commands.,

The scribes said, “We don’t like how Your guys handle their bread.” Jesus’ response was, “Let’s talk about how you handle the Word of God, which is what you should be living on.”

He said, “You’re hypocrites.” Many of you know that term refers to ancient actors who would perform with a mask on. They’d play a part, say their lines, but that’s not who they really were.

Interesting piece of trivia: Those masks the actors wore would often have a mouthpiece shaped like a small megaphone.^[7] That way the words they were saying were amplified for the audience.

What a perfect example of how legalists act. Caring not about God’s mouth, but their own mouth. They have their rituals, their rules, their supposed holiness, but always done at a loud enough volume to gain applause.

But God was not applauding. Their worship was a farce. They didn’t actually love Him. It was all a show. And this wasn’t something they couldn’t have figured out. The Old Testament prophets have many instances where God speaks to His people and says, “It’s not the ritual I want, it’s not the sacrifices, it’s your hearts.” In fact, He would often tell them not to bother with the ceremonies if they weren’t going to actually obey Him, actually submit to Him, actually love Him.

I can imagine some of these scribes and Pharisees going to synagogue in the coming weeks and having David’s Psalm 26 as part of the worship service. I wonder what they might have thought as they sang: “I do not sit with the worthless or associate with hypocrites…I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, LORD.”

Mark 7:8-13 – ⁸ Abandoning the command of God, you hold on to human tradition.” ⁹ He also said to them, “You have a fine way of invalidating God’s command in order to set up your tradition! ¹⁰ For Moses said: Honor your father and your mother;, and Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death., ¹¹ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother: Whatever benefit you might have received from me is corban’ ” (that is, an offering devoted to God), ¹² “you no longer let him do anything for his father or mother. ¹³ You nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other similar things.”

These guys were convinced that they were the most righteous – the closest to God. But Jesus said, “You abandon, you invalidate, you nullify what God has actually commanded.” They convinced themselves that their ceremonies, their traditions, were what God wanted and, in doing so, they closed their hearts and their ears to what God actually said. And God had been clear! “Give Me your heart. Worry about circumcising your heart so that you’ll love Me.

To prove His point, Jesus cites this example of corban. Jewish people had a responsibility, given by God, to care for their aging parents. But the rabbis and scribes and Pharisees had gone so crazy with their traditions and the doctrines of men that here’s what was happening: A person could say to his needy parents, “Sorry, I’ve ‘dedicated’ all the money I could use to help you, so you can’t have it.” And here’s where it led: If you announced your money was corban, you didn’t have to use it for anything sacred. You could spend it on yourself. Or you could give it to someone else. The only person you couldn’t give it to was your parents.^[8] Because, after all, you made an oath!

Jesus says, “You’re worried about how My guys are handling bread? That’s what you are handing down.” But that’s exactly what traditionalism does to a spiritual life. It’s not just a single mistake or blindspot. Jesus said, “I’ve got lots of examples I could use that are all the same.” Because traditionalism hardens hearts and moves us further from God, not closer.

We have to be very careful that the forms of our worship don’t slowly nullify the Word of God. That our spiritual heritage or culture doesn’t pull us away from the commands of God into a traditionalism that simply protects itself. That’s what happened to the Pharisees.

Mark 7:14-15 – ¹⁴ Summoning the crowd again, he told them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ Nothing that goes into a person from outside can defile him but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” 

Wait – did Jesus just nullify huge sections of the Law of Moses?!? He calls the scribes hypocrites for abandoning God’s commands but now isn’t He doing something similar?

We have to understand that this is a watershed moment in theological history. We’ve seen how throughout this section of Mark there have been Mosaic echoes, revealing Christ was greater than Moses. The feeding the flock in the wilderness. The walking on water. Now, with a crowd gathered before Him, He reveals a new phase in God’s household administration.

In Deuteronomy 5, verse 1 we read:

Deuteronomy 5:1 – Moses summoned all Israel and said to them, “Israel, listen to the statutes and ordinances I am proclaiming as you hear them today. Learn and follow them carefully.

Now look at what Jesus is doing. There are times in human history where God pronounces a new way of doing things. Think of how He spoke to Noah after the flood. How He spoke through Moses to the Israelites, establishing a new arrangement.

Jesus ushered in a new covenant. One very different from the old covenant. This is a moment where He starts explaining some of the specifics. One aspect of this new covenant was that the Mosaic dietary restrictions were going away. And, beyond that, He’s revealing that people are not considered holy by doing certain religious rituals. No, things were going to be different now.

Mark 7:17 – ¹⁷ When he went into the house away from the crowd, his disciples asked him about the parable.

The disciples understood that something big had just happened. Big enough that these guys struggled with these issues long after Christ ascended to heaven. Peter had to have a whole vision given just to him to get him to see that there was no longer a difference between clean and unclean animals. In fact, he had to receive the vision three times in a row!

They didn’t understand. But remember what Jesus said to them back when He told the parable of the sower and they followed up for more information? He said, “the secret of the Kingdom of God is being given to you.” That term “secret” is the word “mystery.” Paul would go on to explain that the Church age, the new covenant, contains many mysteries that are revealed through the teachings of Christ and the Apostles.

God, in the riches of His grace, gives us wisdom and understanding and makes known to us the mystery of His will to bring all things together in Christ.^[9] That understanding and knowledge is not found in human traditionalism, but through divine revelation.

Mark 7:18-19 – ¹⁸ He said to them, “Are you also as lacking in understanding? Don’t you realize that nothing going into a person from the outside can defile him? ¹⁹ For it doesn’t go into his heart but into the stomach and is eliminated” (thus he declared all foods clean,).

This doesn’t mean that it doesn’t matter what we put in our mouths. It doesn’t mean that it’s fine to do drugs or that nothing physical matters. Jesus was talking about how a person is considered right with God – what makes a person holy.

Under the Law, there was a temporary holiness obtained through ritual, through sacrifices, through diet, and days. But it was not lasting. It was a temporary covering for sin. It could never perfect the worshipers because it was merely the shadow of the good things to come.^[10]

Now, the Lamb of God had arrived. And He fulfilled the Law so the new covenant would begin.

Because Jesus came and accomplished His work, our relationship with God is no longer based on diet or days, but it is based on the Deliverer. His triumph, not our traditions.

Now remember: The early Church struggled with the issue of the Law. A lot of Jewish Christians found it next to impossible to let it go. Mark was writing to a Gentile audience. And it’s important that they know that getting rid of the dietary rules wasn’t just Paul’s idea or Peter’s idea, but that Jesus Himself declared all foods clean.

But this is important still today. There are things we do because we’re Christian – go to church, read our Bibles, pray, different religious boundaries and systems. Those are good things. They are needful and in many cases commanded by God. But we are not made holy by doing those things. Hebrews 13 explains that Jesus suffered so that He might sanctify His people with His own blood.^[11]

It is the blood of Jesus that makes you holy. So of course we no longer have the dietary law. That which before Christ was given as a temporary measure to bring people into holy relationship with God is forever done with because Christ provides the covering, the holiness, the robe of righteousness that we need. Qualification and closeness to God is no longer a hand-washing issue. As the Lord was about to point out, it’s all about the heart now.

Mark 7:20-23 – ²⁰ And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. ²¹ For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, ²² adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, self-indulgence, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

Sort of a good news/bad news situation. The good news? Bacon’s back on the menu. More importantly, we don’t have to try to approach God like the scribes, with an ever-expanding, impossible list of arbitrary rules that no one can live up to. We don’t have to “keep” the Sabbath or “keep” a certain diet or “keep” a certain state of ceremonial cleanness to be able to approach God.

The bad news is that the holiness problem is way worse than not washing our hands a certain way before eating a biscuit. The actual problem is that our hearts are defiled. But how do you wash a heart?

While the Pharisees thought their hands qualified them for heaven, Jesus reveals that our hearts disqualify every last one of us.

As Isaiah said so many centuries before, it’s the heart that’s the problem. David knew it many centuries before that. “Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord and stand in His holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart.” “Oh, Lord, create in me a clean heart!”

Interesting – both the hands and the heart are mentioned in that famous Psalm. You see, it’s not that our hands don’t have a part to play in our faith – they absolutely do. But Jesus explains here that Godliness and righteousness cannot flow from the outside in. It can only flow from the inside out. That a person’s heart must be cleansed and from that holy heart will flow righteousness and life and spiritual fruit. And God explains that He is the only One Who can clean a heart.

In Ezekiel 36 He says He will wash us. He will give us a new heart and a new spirit and that then we will be obedient to Him and walk in His statutes. Then our spiritual lives will be defined not by tradition, but by the holy transformation. We will be continually delivered from those things which seek to defile our lives. And our worship will not be in vain because those hearts will not be far from God. Instead, we will have hearts that understand, hearts that pursue the Lord, hearts that really allow God’s Word to be inscribed on them, and lives that truly honor Him and work true righteousness.

And so tonight we have a chance to ask ourselves: Do we understand? Have we apprehended the new covenant? What it means and how it should work in our hearts and through our lives? Because that is what we should be living out. Not some traditions of the elders, but the transformation of the Spirit.

Ghost Strider (Mark 6:45-56)

When is the last time you didn’t recognize someone you should’ve known? It’s never a good feeling and often leads to an uncomfortable conversation. But sometimes, once you get past the awkwardness, it can be a fun moment.

Recently, a lucky couple had their wedding in New Zealand, on the Shire set from the Lord Of The Rings films. In fact, they were married right outside the front door of Bag End. The ceremony was briefly interrupted when they suddenly heard the voice Frodo Baggins himself, Elijah Wood. He had, by chance, been visiting his old stomping grounds while in town for another event.

The newlyweds were finishing up the marriage paperwork as the wedding photographer ushered Elijah up the aisle for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The groom later said, “At first I thought, ‘nah, that’s not him.’” But then shock set in as he realized it really was Elijah Wood.^[1]

That moment of failed recognition ended with smiles and laughter and a meeting the couple will long remember.

Tonight text is about recognizing Jesus. Mark gives us a sharp contrast. The disciples do not recognize the Lord, the people of Gennesaret do recognize Him.

When Jesus comes walking on the water to where the 12 are rowing in place, they are horrified. The moment doesn’t end in smiles and laughter, but in screams and fear.

While we understand they were under a lot of stress, the problem wasn’t the setting. We’re told they did not recognize Jesus because their hearts were hard. They did not understand Who Jesus really was. Like so many others, they had their own ideas of what the Messiah should be and what He should do. So, when Christ came, they weren’t considering the theological truths that were revealed to them.  And so, in this case, despite being disciples, the scene ends with them being described the same way the Scribes and Pharisees are in Mark 3, verse 5.

That is not a position any disciple wants to be in. Yet, it happened many times in the Gospels and it can happen to us. We, too, can fail to recognize Who Christ is and what He is doing in our midst if our hearts are hard.

The Old Testament prophets spoke of how God puts a new heart in His people. A heart that is soft and receptive to Him. Speaking of the Jews, the Lord said in Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 24:7a – I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD.

That new heart, God said in Ezekiel, replaces the hard heart of stone within us.^[2] Hearts that know the Lord, understand His ways, walk in them, and follow His leading. This is one of the themes of Psalm 119, particularly the second stanza, which speaks about how believers must keep God’s word, treasure His word in our hearts, not forget His word, and rejoice in what the Lord has revealed to us. That’s how we keep our hearts from hardening toward the Lord, which will also keep us from missing those moments of God’s presence or work in our lives.

The 12 had hearts that were hard and therefore closed to the amazing things Jesus was revealing about Himself. So tonight, we want to see the Savior revealed. Because our understanding must not come from what my conception of Him is or what I think He should do in my life, but we must know Him as He has been revealed in the Word of God.

Mark 6:45 – ⁴⁵ Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd.

The crowd here is at least 10,000 people. John explains they were about to try to make Jesus King by force. He quickly does two things: He sends the disciples away and He settles the crowd.

Why send His helpers away? Well, Christ knows every thought in the heart of man. The 12 would’ve undoubtedly joined in with the rest to make Jesus a King in their way of thinking – one Who would attack Rome and give political power back to the Jews.^[3] But that’s not what Jesus came to do.

Second, Jesus dismissed the crowd. And He had no trouble doing so. Jesus reveals many things about Himself in these verses. This moment of Jesus dismissing a frenzied crowd of 10,000 people shows He is willful. He was totally in command of the situation, and He would have His way. So, despite the intentions and demands of the crowd, they all turned and went their way – rather, they turned and went the way He sent them.

Mark 6:46 – ⁴⁶ After he said good-bye to them, he went away to the mountain to pray.

This action by Jesus reveals He is a Messiah Who is worthy. If 10,000 people said they were willing to make you their leader and you had ultimate power to do what you wanted, what would you do?

But Jesus never gave into temptation to bypass the plan of the Father. He never did His own thing to avoid the cross. He alone is worthy. He would not give in to the offers of Satan in the wilderness, nor would He give in to the offer of the spectators in this wilderness.

Mark 6:47-48 – ⁴⁷ Well into the night, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and he was alone on the land. ⁴⁸ He saw them straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Very early in the morning he came toward them walking on the sea and wanted to pass by them.

The disciples had a tough night. “Straining” is actually a word used for torture.^[4] At the same time, it does not say they were in imminent danger.^[5] Back in chapter 4, the boat was being swamped – they were actively sinking. There’s difficulty in this passage, but not necessarily danger.

As He communed with the Father, Jesus still had His eyes on His disciples. He saw them straining. He is a Messiah who watches us. He sees you. He knows what’s going on in your life. He’s mindful of your struggles and the path ahead. He knows what you need and how He can lead you there.

This text also shows He is a Messiah Who will, at times allow us to go through storms. It’s somewhere after 3am. They’ve been rowing for hours making little progress. The ordeal actually blows them off the original course. But the Lord allowed it. Not because He’s unkind, but because there’s always more going on than just our comfort or our ease.

Yes, they had to weather this storm. Yes, this was a hard night of rowing in place. But, had they been spiritually receptive, this situation could’ve been a profound, mind-blowing moment of revelation for them. Remember what we just saw play out? We saw a needy flock in the wilderness and Jesus providing the bread of heaven Himself. He was not just being nice, He was also showing that He was the ultimate Deliverer. Moses was the foreshadow, Christ was the finale.

In the book of Numbers, Moses spoke of how God’s people needed a leader who would lead them out and bring them back in so that the Lord’s flock “won’t be like sheep without a shepherd.”^[6] And in Ezekiel 34 we have a long passage where God talks about how He will gather the people of Israel from all over, out of their gloom, to the hills of Israel, to a green pasture, where He will bandage the injured, strengthen the weak, and be their Shepherd.^[7]

A thoughtful, observant Jew could’ve seen what Jesus was doing at the feeding of the 5,000 and realized this was more than bread and fish. This was the revealing work of God in their midst.

And if the disciples had softened their hearts, this moment of Jesus walking on the water should have solved once-and-for-all Who He was. Because Job wrote this about God:

Job 9:8 – ⁸ He alone stretches out the heavens and treads on the waves of the sea.

Or consider Psalm 77:19:

Psalm 77:19 – ¹⁹ Your way went through the sea and your path through the vast water, but your footprints were unseen.

If they were thinking theologically, if they were meditating not on their own desires but on what the Lord was actually revealing day in and day out to them, they could’ve made these connections.

This is why it so important for us to meditate on the word of God again and again throughout our lives. Once through is not enough.

Now, why does it say Jesus “wanted to pass them by?” It seems odd, doesn’t it? It does until we remember the conversation Moses had with God in Exodus 33. He says to God, “Teach me Your ways, and I will know You. How can we move forward if Your presence is not with us?”^[8] The talk culminates with Moses asking the Lord, “Please, show me Your glory.” The Lord says, “Ok, I’m going to pass by you in My glory, so that you know you’re really talking to God. You’re really following God’s plan.” So, did the disciples get the message?

Mark 6:49-50a – ⁴⁹ When they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out, ⁵⁰ because they all saw him and were terrified.

This verse reveals something important about our Messiah: He can withstand any opposition, any calamity, any foe. As one commentator notes, the raging of the sea is absolutely no hindrance to the Lord. He walks where the 12 couldn’t even row.^[9] But the moment wasn’t a comfort to the 12.

Sometimes I read a phrase like, “they cried out” and I don’t think much of it. But, they started screaming.^[10] They thought He was some sort of phantasm.^[11]

Sadly, instead of having this amazing moment of spiritual awe, the disciples were overcome with terror. They were truly afraid because they did not recognize the Lord as He approached.

Do you think that’s what the Lord wanted for them in this moment? Of course not! He is the God of all comfort. Their fear didn’t come from what He did, but from their incomprehension.

Mark 6:50b-51a – Immediately he spoke with them and said, “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” ⁵¹ Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased.

Jesus literally said, “Don’t be afraid, I AM.”^[12] In Exodus 33, as the Lord passed by Moses, He proclaimed His name to His servant. This is not just a crazy story, this is a clear revelation.

The Lord was trying to reveal to them Who He was. That He is God. That He is the Great Deliverer. That He is the Provider. That He will not fail them. And that when He is with them, everything will be ok. The circumstances might be difficult, but they can rest in the presence of the Savior King.

“Have courage!” Another way of translating that is, “be of good cheer,” or, “take heart.”^[13] What heart? The heart God wants to give you. This was a chance for the disciples to really believe in the revelation of God. To overcome their natural instincts^[14] and instead live out the supernatural insight God was giving them. Had they understood the theological, then there was no reason to fear.

Mark 6:51b-52 – They were completely astounded, ⁵² because they had not understood about the loaves. Instead, their hearts were hardened.

The story about Elijah Wood at the wedding is interesting because the people getting married were obviously superfans. Wedding ceremonies in Hobbiton are very exclusive. Everyone there was in costume. And yet, there’s Frodo, a few yards from them, and at first they didn’t know him!

The fact that these 11 guys who believed Jesus and loved Him so much and spent so much time with Him still didn’t recognize Him should give us pause. It should make us think soberly and seriously about the state of our hearts. Is it hardening or is it softening? Do we see Jesus for Who He really is? Are we able to receive the spiritual eyes God wants to give us so we can have a proper understanding of what He is doing in our lives? Or are we blind to it?

Here’s an exmaple: Most people saw Jesus as a miracle-worker. But that’s not Who Jesus was. He did work miracles, but He didn’t come to be a miracle worker. Mark is clear on that point. He came to reveal that He is God. That He is the Christ. That He is the Deliverer the world has been waiting for. That He is the Lamb of God. That He is the Alpha and the Omega. But when people only saw Him as a miracle-worker, they consistently missed out on what the Lord really wanted for them.

The climax of this Gospel is when Jesus ays, “Who do you say that I am?” The mistakes made by the Scribes, by the crowds, even by the 12 are because they failed to answer that question correctly.

Now, at this point, someone might say, “Wait…didn’t Peter also walk on the water in this story?” He did indeed. But Mark doesn’t record that. I find that interesting because Mark’s primary source for this book was Peter. I wonder why they decided to leave that aspect out.

Mark 6:53 – ⁵³ When they had crossed over, they came to shore at Gennesaret and anchored there.

The plan was to go to the northeast shore. They end up on the west side.^[15] That’s ok. The Lord can still accomplish His work when things don’t go exactly to plan. He’s flexible. We should be, too.

Mark 6:54 – ⁵⁴ As they got out of the boat, people immediately recognized him.

This is an amazing contrast. Unlike the disciples, the people immediately recognized Jesus. And it should make us ask, “How could His friends, who loved Him so, and knew Him so well not recognize Him?” It was all a heart issue. Even a disciple can move into fear and confusion when our hearts are hard. And our hearts get hard when we start considering ourselves more than the Lord, more than the Word, more than what God is revealing to us. Human hearts harden when we stop taking in the revealed truth of God. What He has shown us about His attributes, His power, His nature.^[16]

Mark 6:55-56 – ⁵⁵ They hurried throughout that region and began to carry the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶ Wherever he went, into villages, towns, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him that they might touch just the end of his robe. And everyone who touched it was healed.

Seeing Jesus, the disciples screamed. Seeing Jesus, the people of this region scoured the countryside for those who needed ministry. Now, their understanding was incomplete, but their faith and understanding was drawing them to Jesus. They ran to Him. They believed in His power to rescue.

For His part, Jesus shows what a welcoming Messiah He is. He did not turn any of them away. And it wasn’t just about physical healing. Scholars point out that the word used for “healed” is often elsewhere translated “saved.”^[17]

Jesus Christ isn’t here, bodily. But what has God revealed to be true? That He is with us. He is in our midst. He does dwell in our hearts. He is working in our lives. He will never leave us or forsake us. He has revealed that He is not only Savior, He is Master. And He is our Friend. And He is our ever-present help in time of need. What else has He revealed? So many things. That’s why we go again and again to His word.

Now we feel certain ways. And we do human math and sometimes deceive ourselves into thinking we’re all alone or we have to go our own way or that we can force certain things to happen in life. But its not true. What has been revealed? If we soften our hearts and take in God’s revelation, not only of what He has said, but being sensitive to what He is revealing in our lives right now, then the result is comfort and understanding and wisdom and spiritual power. Peace in the storm. Wonder at His greatness. And an ability to share Him with those around us who are also in need.

May we recognize our Lord more and more Who continually shows the truth to us.

A Meal Kit For A King (Mark 6:30-44)

In 1975, Steven Sasson was a young engineer working for the Kodak corporation. He spent his time on an unusual project. It wasn’t secret, it’s just that no one really cared about what he was creating.

When his prototype was finally ready, he showed it to his bosses and then to their bosses. He made presentations to executives in the technical department and the business department and the marketing department. The response was always the same: Skepticism and disinterest. After all, why would anyone want to look at a photo on a television screen?

You see, Steven had invented the first digital camera. But Kodak sold film. They sold flash cubes. They processed prints “made with Kodak chemistry on Kodak paper.”^[1] They ignored Steven’s history-changing presentation. By the time they finally embraced what he had done, it was too late. In 2012 the company was bankrupt. It is one of the worst missed opportunities in business history.

The text we just read in Mark 6 is one of the most significant in the timeline of spiritual history. In fact, it is the only one of Jesus’ miracles that is recorded in all four Gospels other than the resurrection. Mark will refer back to these verses two more times before his book is done.^[2] This story reveals amazing things about Who Jesus is. It also reveals how we should respond.

What does it tell us about Jesus? It reveals that He is the Good Shepherd, ready to receive the lost sheep of humanity into His flock. That He is the great Deliverer we’ve been waiting for. That He is the Bread of Life. That He is mindful of you and concerned with your everyday needs.

But, this text not only records the presentation of these truths. It also shows the failure of the crowd and the disciples to apprehend Who Jesus was and what He was doing.

Both times Mark refers back to this story, it is to highlight how the disciples did not understand because their hearts were hard. In John’s Gospel, we learn the crowd didn’t do any better. They totally misunderstood the spiritual aspect of Jesus’ miracle, focusing instead on the physical – they just wanted another sandwich. Jesus tries to get both the disciples and the crowds to understand what had been revealed, what had been presented, but they missed it.

So, we want to approach this text with the goal of understanding what Christ was revealing about Himself, and as disciples, we want to avoid the mistakes the 12 made in the scene.

Mark 6:30 – ³⁰ The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to him all that they had done and taught.

Back from their trip, the 12 are excited and animated. But notice their perspective: They’re not singing the praises of God. All they can talk about is what they had done, what they had taught.

When Jesus healed the paralytic in Mark 2, when people saw the blind seeing and the crippled restored in Matthew 15, when people heard about the conversion of Cornelius’ house in Acts 11, the result was everyone gave glory to God. The disciples are in a time of self-centeredness.

In our service to the Lord, we must keep His greatness and His activity in the forefront. We are not the reason God changes lives. It’s His power, His plan, His accomplishment.

Mark 6:31 – ³¹ He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.” For many people were coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.

Matthew tells us Jesus wanted some time alone because He just heard that His cousin, John the Baptist, had been murdered.^[3] Jesus had real emotion. He felt real sorrow. Think of His heartbreak at the death of His friend, Lazarus, despite knowing He was going to raise him from the dead.

But even in His sorrow, Jesus was mindful of the needs of His friends. He saw they hadn’t had a moment to grab a mouthful of food. He’s so mindful of us, so attentive of our situations and circumstances. Psalm 139 talks about the vast sum of God’s thoughts for every day of your life!

Knowing what we need, He calls us to come away to Him. To find our rest in Him. To refresh ourselves in His grace and His comfort and His provision. He says, “Come to Me. Hide in Me.”

Now, this is the era of “self-care.” That’s a term people love to use these days. Often behind it is this idea that I can’t love others unless I first love myself. But that is not the Christian pattern. It’s ok that they planned a little quiet getaway, but then it doesn’t happen. Even though Jesus wanted it! Rest isn’t a bad thing – God commands us to enter into His rest. But, the Christian mission prioritizes the needs of others as we treat our own lives as living sacrifices poured out for the Lord’s service.^[4]

Mark 6:32-33 – ³² So they went away in the boat by themselves to a remote place, ³³ but many saw them leaving and recognized them, and they ran on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them.

If the crowds could see them, you know they could see the crowds. This was thousands of people, running together so they could get to Jesus.

When I say to you, “A vast number of people, being miraculously fed in the wilderness,” what do you think of? We think of the Israelites and the Exodus. How there, in the wilderness, heaven’s bread came morning by morning as fine flakes after the dew. A flock not only set free, but supplied.

Now, Moses could not give them the bread. He was simply the messenger who told the people, “God is going to rain bread from heaven on you.” But in this text, we see that Christ is the One Who gives the bread. It is by His hands, His power that the people are fed. He is the Bread of life. And Jesus would go on to tell this crowd, “If you eat of this bread, you will live forever.” Sadly, it was that message that turned many away. They said it was “too hard” to accept.

These people in Mark 6 weren’t slaves to Pharaoh. But they were slaves to sin. Held captive by the Devil. They were just as much in need of a Deliverer. They felt it in their hearts, and so they ran to Jesus, Who they knew had power and Whose preaching was unlike anything they had ever heard.

Now, the next time we see the disciples, they’re pretty exasperated. It’s a long day and it’s about to get a lot longer. They were worn down. What about Jesus?

Mark 6:34 – ³⁴ When he went ashore, he saw a large crowd and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.

A God of compassion. It’s the same term used of the prodigal son’s father who saw his wayward son far off but ran to him and threw his arms around his neck and kissed him.^[5]

Remember: Jesus wanted to be alone. But, seeing the thousands swarming on the shore, He did not change course. He did not duck into another boat going the opposite way. He went ashore met their needs. Compassion outweighed exhaustion. His compassions fail not.

They weren’t only in need, they were in danger. They were sheep without a shepherd. That’s a very dangerous position to be in. A sheep without a shepherd has no protection from predators. They also don’t know where to go. They can only wander. Who was going to lead them? The pharisees? Herod? Pilate? Caesar? We need truth and direction for life. Jesus is the only One Who has it. But we have to recognize that Jesus’ goal isn’t only to do things for us, but to command and lead us.

Mark 6:35-36 – ³⁵ When it grew late, his disciples approached him and said, “This place is deserted, and it is already late. ³⁶ Send them away so that they can go into the surrounding countryside and villages to buy themselves something to eat.”

It’s never a good sign when you tell God what to do. Did you notice they command Him? They talk  to Jesus as if He doesn’t know what’s going on. “You know, Lord, this place is deserted. You probably shouldn’t have brought us out here since, after all, now we’re in a pickle.”

A proper response to the situation would have been, “Lord, what do You want to do?” Not, “Lord, here’s what we’ve decided You should do.” Discipleship is about trusting and following.

Their declaration betrays the fact that they are not really concerned with the people. In the moment, these people were an audience, maybe a nuisance, but certainly not their responsibility.  They assume there was no spiritual application in the situation. But remember: They had just returned from the mission field where God had worked through them and provided for them when they had no food to eat and no money to buy it. Even though God proved His ability and His desire to involve Himself in ordinary situations of life, they didn’t think He would work in this situation.

Now, Jesus knows what He is going to do,^[6] but He wants the 12 to understand what’s going on.

Mark 6:37 – ³⁷ “You give them something to eat,” he responded. They said to him, “Should we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?”

Their answer is a little testy – disrespectful, even.^[7] Why did Jesus tell them to address the problem? Remember: The story starts with them telling all the things they were able to do. Is this situation different? Is God only God on the mission field? Is He only at work when I feel like serving?

The problem is: While Jesus was motivated by compassion, they were motivated by exhaustion, stress, self-centeredness. Their hearts were hard. And hard hearts lead to unspiritual decisions.

They say it would cost thousands and thousands of dollars to feed the crowd. But, again, remember that God had just provided them food day after day on their trip. They knew what He could do, but their hearts weren’t soft, so their response wasn’t soft either.

We are so quick to forget the faithfulness of God. What happened to all their excitement from verse 30? It’s gone! And now, facing this scene, they think, “Well the only answer is money and we don’t have it.” But money wasn’t the problem. The problem was their mindset and their reaction.

Mark 6:38-40 –  ³⁸ He asked them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.” When they found out they said, “Five, and two fish.” ³⁹ Then he instructed them to have all the people sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰ So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties.

God was going to do a remarkable work here. And He did so in a calm and orderly way, with basic items. God is a God of order. This wasn’t going to be a strange and wild free for all.

He was also teaching the disciples things about ministry. First, humility. It’s humbling to have to ask people, “Hey, do you have any food to share?” Second, God expects us to serve. He could have just filled their stomachs. Instead, He made the disciples responsible for serving the meal, though that would take time and effort. But we each receive a gift so that we might lovingly serve one another.

Third, Jesus’ perspective is very different from our natural perspective. The Twelve thought of the crowd as a burden to be dismissed. Jesus saw this as an opportunity for growth and delight.

The term used for the “groups” here is a word that refers to garden plots.^[8] And the arrangement Jesus uses indicate a more formal banquet setting than a simple meal.^[9]

For Jesus, this was not just about solving a problem. This was a moment where people were going to experience joy and revelation and cultivation. A moment revealing what kind of God He is.

Mark 6:41 – ⁴¹ He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he blessed and broke the loaves. He kept giving them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.

The Lord kept providing meal after meal after meal after meal. He knew what was needed from the front row to the back row. He shows His limitless power and tireless compassion here.

Mark 6:42 – ⁴² Everyone ate and was satisfied.

Steven Sasson’s first digital camera was not the sleek DSLR we think of today. He scavenged a lens from an old Super-8 camera, a cassette tape recorder, 16 nickel batteries, and various other parts. But these humble components changed everything.

The meal that night was plain – just flat barley bread and dried fish. An ordinary lunch. But they were satisfied. We, too can find abiding satisfaction in the ordinary when the Lord is in it.

Now, think of the last banquet we saw in Mark. Herod’s banquet. The finest food. All the delicacies. Do you think anyone left that meal satisfied as John’s head was paraded around on a platter?

The Good Shepherd promises to lead us to green pastures. Just like He did here. They sat down on the green grass. He promises to satisfy us. In Psalm 90, Moses speaks of God’s compassion, saying:

Psalm 90:14 – ¹⁴  Satisfy us in the morning with your faithful love so that we may shout with joy and be glad all our days.

That is what God desires for you. That you receive your daily bread from Him and find not only the rest you need in your weariness, but satisfaction. Daily contentment and fulfillment in His love.

Mark 6:43 – ⁴³ They picked up twelve baskets full of pieces of bread and fish.

God’s math is amazing. There was more leftover than they even started with! The disciples weren’t forgotten. In fact, they’d be nourished as a result of their service. But they thought there was nothing for them in the wilderness. In reality, there was more than even they need, not to mention the thousands who had been ministered to. Christ’s provision is always sufficient. Always abundant. Always thoughtful and generous for us. And in this moment, the Lord wanted them to understand what He could do and what He wants to do in ordinary situations of life. In frustrating situations of life. In moments when we don’t know what to do. To show them that He is all they need for every aspect of life. That if they follow Him as a sheep follow their shepherd, the result is life and growth and eyes that see and spiritual power.

Mark 6:44 – ⁴⁴ Now those who had eaten the loaves were five thousand men.

Matthew adds that the women and children were not counted. That means each disciple could have been responsible for 1,000 people. This is a long night of service. Have you ever waited tables for 1,000 people? I haven’t. But Jesus empowered them, assigned them, supplied them, and it happened! Despite the fact they didn’t understand, despite the fact that their hearts were hard at the moment, the Lord still graciously brought them in to be a part of His incredible work. Because He doesn’t only have compassion for hungry stomachs, He also has compassion for hard hearts. But He wants to address that problem, too. And later, He will come back to this moment and say to the Twelve: “Do you still not understand? Do you still not get what salvation and faith and discipleship is about?”

It’s easy for us to become distracted by the miraculous aspect of accounts like this. Obviously, the Lord really, truly worked a miracle here. And God still does miraculous things. But one thing we can learn from this example is that, whether God works a miracle in your life or not, He does intend to do the supernatural. To bring you into His life-changing work. To help you have a heart like His, a mind like His, eyes like His, compassion like His. He wants to develop our faith so that we go to Him day by day, not fall into frustration or defeatism or annoyance.

He has all the power and all the capacity and all the wisdom necessary to do the supernatural in our hearts and in our midst. Our part is to remember Who He is. He is the Good Shepherd. He is the ultimate Deliverer. He is the Bread of Life. He is the Provider. He is the Savior. He is the Architect building in our lives. Building testimonies. Creating opportunities. Calling us to the supernatural here and now as we believe in Who He is and what He does.

Be Careful What You Wish For (Mark 6:14-29)

Have you heard about the scam where Elon Musk contacts you online and offers you a free car, a bunch of money? All you have to do is send him a $200 Apple gift card first.^[1] Hopefully no one here would fall such a con, because if you take the bait you’d only be poorer in the end.

But, let’s do a thought experiment. What if Elon Musk actually showed up and offered you a blank check? He just became the first person to be worth half a trillion dollars.^[2] What would you ask for?

We immediately think, “That wouldn’t happen.” And you’re right. On the other hand, in our text we see something similar play out. Herod asks his step-daughter, “What do you want me to give you?”

Yes, it was a hasty oath from a drunk man, but what would she choose? For her life? For her future? Then I realized that moments like this happen somewhat frequently in the Bible.

The king of Sodom offers Abraham all the plunder he wants. Jonathan told David, “Whatever you say I will do for you.” King David told Barzillai, “Whatever you desire from me, I will do for you.” King Ahasuerus twice told Esther, “Whatever you want, even to half the kingdom, will be given to you.”

But in the Bible this is not only something offered by wealthy men. God sometimes poses this question as well. What did God say to Solomon? “Ask. What should I give you?” And in Mark 10, Jesus will ask blind Bartimaeus, “What do you want Me to do for you?”

God has given you breath and life and made you an offer. Choose who you will serve. Choose between life and death. Our choices reveal what we want. And so, what would you ask for? What do you ask the Lord for? What is motivating and animating the goals and decisions of your life?

Tonight we’ll consider 3 characters who all make choices about their spiritual lives and futures. Sadly, they each choose not to surrender to Jesus. And they are all the poorer as a result.

Mark 6:14-15 – ¹⁴ King Herod heard about it, because Jesus’s name had become well known. Some said, “John the Baptist has been raised from the dead, and that’s why miraculous powers are at work in him.” ¹⁵ But others said, “He’s Elijah.” Still others said, “He’s a prophet, like one of the prophets from long ago.”

Jesus was big news throughout Judea. Big enough that the “king” found himself thinking about it and worrying about it. Worried because Jesus’ power was undeniable and it was spreading.

Now, there are several men called “Herod” in the Bible. They’re all related, and the family tree is complicated and sordid. They were all killers, all deep into depravity and behaviors that turn our stomachs. There was a healthy dose of insanity mixed in, too.

There are four main Herods in the Bible. There were even more, but these are the four we meet:

Herod the Great is the guy at the beginning of the Gospel of Luke. He remodeled the Temple into it’s glorious form during the time of Jesus. He’s also the one who killed the babies of Bethlehem.

In the beginning of the book of Acts we have Herod Agrippa. He’s the one who killed James, the son of Zebedee and who was eaten by worms after God smote him for blasphemous pride.

At the end of Acts we see Herod Agrippa II. He’s the guy Paul preaches to in chapter 26 and he says, “You almost convince me to become a Christian.”

And then there’s Herod Antipas. That’s who we’re seeing here. He’s Herod the Great’s son and uncle/great uncle to the Agrippa boys. He was not really king. He was called a tetrarch. He wanted to be king. In fact, he lobbied too hard to be made a king and Caligula sent him into exile for it.^[3]

Once again we have the central question of Mark’s Gospel: Who is Jesus? His power was undeniable. His existence demanded a response. People grasped for explanations. “He’s one of those wacky prophets that come along from time to time. Unusual, sure, but certainly not Who He says He is – the Son of Man. The Messiah. The Lord of the Sabbath. The Forgiver of sins.”

God Himself spoke from heaven at Jesus’ baptism and said, “This is My beloved Son.” But rather than hear what was said by Jesus and by the Father, the people made their own determinations.

That is not the way to know Jesus. We know Him by shutting our mouths, quieting our hearts, and hearing Him. By actually hearing His Word in a way that changes us inside and out.

Mark 6:16 – ¹⁶ When Herod heard of it, he said, “John, the one I beheaded, has been raised!”

We can see a struggle in Herod’s heart. He’s full of sin, and yet he feels guilt. He wrestles with spiritual issues. Not because he believes, but because he’s convicted by the truth. He has dread that his sin is going to come back to haunt him.

And, of course, it would. Not by John’s ghost, but by God’s wrath. You see, when you are in sin, it doesn’t matter what you try to do to wriggle out of your guilt. It won’t work. You can kill the messenger, but the message of God’s judgment is still there. The debt must be paid.

Mark 6:17-19 – ¹⁷ For Herod himself had given orders to arrest John and to chain him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. ¹⁸ John had been telling Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” ¹⁹ So Herodias held a grudge against him and wanted to kill him. But she could not,

Herodias was not only Herod’s sister-in-law, she was also his niece.^[4] She’s the second character who is choosing and acting in this situation. She was not wrestling with the truth. She shows no guilt for her sin. She’s furious that someone would dare to preach to her. The language indicates that she was constantly trying to get John killed.^[5] She loves her sin and wants everyone to affirm it.

Why did John bother telling them their actions were unlawful? They’re not believers. Antipas didn’t even have Jewish blood. His mother was a Samaritan, and his father was Idumean.^[6] Why appeal to them on the basis of God’s Law?

Because that is the only true standard in life. God’s moral law still applied to Herod and his wife, whether they wanted to obey it or not. Whether they believed in it or not, God was right.

You see, God’s morality – His definition of good and evil, right and wrong – is a law like gravity. You might be ignorant of the law, you might laugh at the study of the law, you might not care about the truth of that law, but it most definitely applies to you, whether you want it to or not.

As we present the truth of the Gospel we must not remove what God has to say about sin, about evil, about righteousness and wickedness. We are lawbreakers. All of us deserve to die for our sins. The good news of Jesus is not that He makes us feel better about life, but that He brings us from death to life. That He takes our sin away and deals with it fully and finally.

When our hearts resent that message – when our hearts say “how dare you call me a sinner – it’s because we love our sin and do not want it removed. It has wrapped its tendrils around our hearts so that it can claim our lives and send us to the grave. John was trying to save Herod, not hurt him.

Mark 6:20 – ²⁰ because Herod feared John and protected him, knowing he was a righteous and holy man. When Herod heard him he would be very perplexed, and yet he liked to listen to him.

John the Baptist is usually portrayed as really gruff – almost hostile toward people. He’s depicted as strange, maybe even crazy. We picture him angrily shouting his message of hellfire. If that was all he was about, why would Herod like to listen to him? I don’t think he would.

Yes, John was direct. Yes, he spoke of repentance and wrath, but obviously there was more to his message than that. There was some light, some hope, some insight that kept bringing Herod back again and again to hear. Even though it challenged him and convicted him. He liked to hear, but he would not surrender. What he cared about most of all was being king. He would not leave the throne of his own life and bow before Jesus. And so, he knew no peace. He only had fear. He was afraid of John and his message. And he was all the poorer for this choice.

This is one of those sad scenes in the Bible. Someone who has such incredible access to the truth. Someone who is so close to salvation, yet he leaves it on the table. Don’t bother listening to the Gospel if you’re not going to obey it. The Gospel must change us. It must change our hearts and our minds and our choices and the trajectory of our lives. Instead he chose the scam of sin. He chose the path of get pleasure quick. Get power quick. And his end was the loss of everything.

Now, let’s turn for a moment and consider John’s example. Herod knew he was a holy man. If you’re a Christian, your holiness should be absolutely obvious to the world around you. I know we’re not perfect, we make mistakes, but if there’s no difference between us and the unsaved people around us in how we live our lives, then what are we doing?

As the One Who has called us is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct.^[7] When we walk in righteousness, we need not fear the Herods or Herodiases of the world. Even if they kill our bodies, they cannot change our eternities. They cannot rob us of the real wealth and power we have.

Mark 6:21-22 – ²¹ An opportune time came on his birthday, when Herod gave a banquet for his nobles, military commanders, and the leading men of Galilee. ²² When Herodias’s own daughter came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests. The king said to the girl, “Ask me whatever you want, and I’ll give it to you.”

Herodias’ teen daughter Salome performs a lewd dance here.^[8] This is so awful and horrifying. But this is the fruit of sin. This is where sin leads. Defilement and ruin and death. It is a disease that strips you of your humanity, of all virtue, of fall honor, ultimately of your very life.

Sin made Herod a captive. He could only pretend to be king. He was manipulated by his wife. A few years later his army would be defeated by his ex-father-in-law’s army.^[9] He was a weakling. But he wanted to look strong at his party in front of all his boys.

Mark 6:23 – ²³ He promised her with an oath: “Whatever you ask me I will give you, up to half my kingdom.”

In his drunkenness he gave this oath multiple times.^[10] But he had no kingdom to give!^[11]Herod was a puppet of Rome. If you’re not a Christian here tonight, you need to know this: You may think you are a big deal, you may think you’re in charge of your own destiny, you may think that this Jesus stuff is fine for all the losers around you but you’re fine as is, but here is the reality: You are sin’s puppet. The Bible explains that you are held captive by the devil to do his will. You’re not a king, you’re a slave to sin. And Jesus Christ has come to set you free and give you life.^[12] He is the only way out of this trap. You can’t buy your way out, you can’t trade your way out, you can’t think your way out, you can’t kill your way out. The only escape from sin and death is Jesus Christ.

Mark 6:24-28 – ²⁴ She went out and said to her mother, “What should I ask for?” “John the Baptist’s head,” she said. ²⁵ At once she hurried to the king and said, “I want you to give me John the Baptist’s head on a platter immediately.” ²⁶ Although the king was deeply distressed, because of his oaths and the guests he did not want to refuse her. ²⁷ The king immediately sent for an executioner and commanded him to bring John’s head. So he went and beheaded him in prison, ²⁸ brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother.

This is evil on another level. After the long and extravagant banquet, what’s served on a platter for dessert? The Baptist’s head.

Because of how weak sin had made him, Herod was powerless to stop this scheme. Oh, he could’ve said no, but he’s a slave to sin. And so, his life could only produce death. The death of his marriage. The death of Herodias’ marriage. The death of Salome’s innocence. The death of John.

You see, when we don’t obey God, when we don’t respond to His life-giving word, then sin will drag us into a corner and devour us. He liked John’s message. He wanted to hear more. But sin had dominion over him and would not allow it. So now it’s the choice: Choose this day life or death.

What is being produced in your life? Is it life or is it death? Death of relationships? Death of testimony? Death of spirituality? Christ came so that we may have life more abundantly.

Mark 6:29 – ²⁹ When John’s disciples heard about it, they came and removed his corpse and placed it in a tomb.

So, we’ve seen Herod making choices. Though he wrestles with the truth, he ultimately chooses self over surrender – the temporal over the eternal. We see Herodias making terrible choices because she loves her sin and refuses to even hear the message of the Gospel.

The third character I want us to evaluate tonight is not Salome – she’s just an extension of Herodias. No, the third character is actually a group of men – John’s disciples.

What they do is admirable and tender and brave – I don’t want to take that away from them – but let’s pause and ask: Why does John still have disciples? John told his followers, “There’s the Lamb of God! The One we’ve been waiting for!” And some had left to follow Jesus.

And we know that John’s disciples were actively watching, hearing, and reporting to John about what Jesus said and did.^[13] And yet they did not follow Jesus. Why? How could they be so close and not step into obedient discipleship under Christ? Why follow the forerunner when the King had arrived?

They may not have been like Herod or Herodias, but there was something in them that caused them to stop short, too. For whatever reason, they decided to hold themselves back from full obedience to the Messiah. “We like John. We like how he does things. We feel great about our tradition and asceticism and how hardcore we are.” They were so disciplined and dedicated and thought themselves close to God, yet they did not walk with Jesus. He was not directing their lives.

Now what would they do? Their captain was dead. Buried in the ground. It is a subtle warning to us to not slip into a legalistic traditionalism that is dead. We must seek and serve a Living Savior. Not a man, but the God-Man, Who still speaks, still leads, still calls us into communion with Him.

So the question is: What do you want? What do you want out of life? What do you want God to do for you? Do you just want the powers and pleasures of the world? Or do you want a thriving relationship with the living God? Don’t settle for sin. Don’t settle for trying to be on the throne of your pretend kingdom. But also let’s not settle for formal religiosity. Let’s not settle for a tradition or a system of spirituality that isn’t actively submitted and directed by the Lord Himself.

This is the life God has given us. We may wish circumstances were different, that’s ok. But this is your life. The world is offering you big promises. But they’re the scam of sin. God is also offering you big promises. What do you want Him to do for you? “Lord, we want to see. Lord, we need wisdom. Lord, we want to be used by You and to glorify You and to know Your power in a real way.”

One woman who fell victim to the Elon Musk scam says she thinks about her mistake every minute of every day. She says she wishes she had time machine and not make those couple of clicks.^[14]

Today is the day the Lord has made. Your life is given to you as a wonderful gift. He has put breath in your lungs. He calls out to you moment by moment. He has offered you more than you could ever ask or imagine. What do we want? What will we chase after? Faith is about trusting Him, believing Him, and giving up sin’s desires so that our lives can be truly enriched by His power and grace. That we recognize Jesus is the source of true life and therefore we will believe Him, follow Him, obey Him, and be transformed by Him, no turning back.

Hope With No Change (Mark 6:7-13)

In 1933, a satanic regime was starting to take power in Germany. President Roosevelt needed to appoint a new ambassador to Germany, but everyone he asked turned him down. In a last-minute move, FDR nominated an outsider with no experience in diplomacy – a history professor named William Dodd.^[1]

Many in the State Department had reservations about his suitability. William was neither a political operative nor a member of the social elite – that’s who was usually appointed.^[2] Even so, the Dodd family set out for Germany a month later. William didn’t intend on becoming a great diplomat. He took the job because he thought it would provide him free time to write a multi-volume historical work.^[3]) He has since been called a “diplomat by accident.”^[4]

But this accidental ambassador found himself called into service during one of history’s most pivotal moments. No longer was he someone who simply perused history – he was part of it. Though his time in Germany was relatively short, he became an important voice – preaching the dangers of Hitler and his plan to destroy the Jews.

In our text, Jesus commissions and sends out 12 ambassadors of His own. Quite frankly, they’re a bunch of misfits – men with no social status, men of humble heritage and little experience in preaching or power. And yet, the Lord is confident that not only are they sufficient for the job, but that they will be spiritually successful as they go – not because of who they are, but because of Who He is and the power He sent with them.

If you’ve been a Christian for a while, you know that you are also commissioned and sent to be an ambassador for Jesus Christ. You are an extension of His redemption to a lost and dying world. Seeing this first disciple mission gives us much to think about as we go on our way, carrying the message of Jesus, doing the ministry of Jesus, hopefully in the power of Jesus.

Mark 6:7 – ⁷ He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out in pairs and gave them authority over unclean spirits.

Jesus had just been in His hometown of Nazareth where He was rejected for the second time.

The first half of Mark’s Gospel can be broken up into three sections. Each section opens with a story about the disciples and closes with a story showing a negative reaction to Christ’s ministry.^[5]

In this new section, Jesus begins to withdraw out of Galilee into other places. But, on His way out, He first sends the twelve to a variety of Jewish towns to preach the Kingdom and perform miraculous signs to validate their message.

Mark’s account of their mission assignment has a few details but is rather brief. Matthew’s Gospel has a full 35 verses of Jesus’ instructions to them. For example: On this trip they were only to Jewish villages. No Gentiles, no Samaritans.^[6] That doesn’t mean Jesus didn’t care about those groups. Later in His speech Jesus says, “You’ll get there – you will bear witness to Gentiles eventually. In fact, you’re going to their governors and kings.”^[7] But this trip was for the Jews.

Why did the Lord send them out in pairs? It’s certainly better to have someone with you, but this isn’t the rule every missionary has to follow. In Acts we see God sending individuals out multiple times. Philip on the road is a prominent example.

Jesus sent them to tell the nation of Israel that the Messiah had arrived. The Kingdom of God has come near. In Jewish law, testimony wasn’t accepted unless there were at least two witnesses.

Not only did He send them out together to corroborate each other, He sent them out with power. Here it says power to cast out unclean spirits. Matthew adds He gave them the ability to heal the sick, cleanse lepers, and even raise the dead.^[8]

But notice: It’s not that He gave them ability, He gave them authority. They didn’t learn it like a skill or take a potion that changed their DNA. Christ sent them out to act as His representatives who could apply His power for this mission. As they went, they were an extension of Him.

Now, this was new. To this point, Jesus’ activity in this Gospel was limited to where Jesus was. But now He’s saying, “You can go out away from where I am and accomplish My work the way I do.” And so now, these guys who had so far only been followers were to become active agents. Not only watching the Lord, but working for Him with the same effect that He Himself had.

Mark 6:8-9 – ⁸ He instructed them to take nothing for the road except a staff—no bread, no traveling bag, no money in their belts, ⁹ but to wear sandals and not put on an extra shirt.

These rules were specific to this particular mission. They are not prescriptive for every missionary today. That’s not a cop out, the Bible says so. In Luke 22, at the Last Supper, Jesus says to the disciples, “Hey remember that time I sent you out with no money bag or anything? Well, now you should get yourself a money bag and some other things.”^[9] When we read our Christian commission at the end of Matthew, there are no specific instructions about what you should or shouldn’t have with you – only that you’re to go throughout the world and make disciples.

But this trip was to be sudden, short, and absolutely reliant on God. It reminds me of Paul Revere’s ride to announce the British are coming. There wasn’t a lot of time to waste, he just had to go. In a sense, they needed to go right then to tell these villages, “The Kingdom is at hand!”

The commands Jesus gave them would put them in a vulnerable position physically, but we know God was going to watch over them – that He was going before them – that He was going to pour out His power in and through them and accomplish incredible things. Yes, they would have to depend on Him for provision, but the Christian life is meant to be one of dependence. That doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to have a savings account or keep your pantry stocked. The strictness of this mission was specific. But it does remind us that our lives really are dependent on God – and that’s ok because He is a Provider and Protector. He can be trusted with your future.

Linguists point out a couple of interesting things in these verses: They weren’t allowed to even take pocket change with them.^[10] No dimes or nickels. And a number of scholars believe the bag referred to here would be a beggars bag.^[11] They would be dependent on charity and donations, but they were not to beg for it.

That’s how we try to approach ministry. Listen the activity of our church, the staff and equipment we have, the events we put on, the heating and air conditioning, all of that is dependent on donations. And we are so thankful and blessed by the fact that people give to this work that God established 40 years ago. But too many churches have become beggars in their behavior. Constantly asking for money, pressuring for donations, telling you you may have given already, but you need to give more. It’s not right. The Bible clearly prescribes that God’s people give toward His work and that they should not do so reluctantly, but it should never be under duress or out of compulsion.^[12]

Mark 6:10-11 – ¹⁰ He said to them, “Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that place. ¹¹ If any place does not welcome you or listen to you, when you leave there, shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.”

The disciples went out as heralds of the Messiah with mind-blowing power, but it was a humble authority. They went out to call, not to conquer. If the message wasn’t received, they moved along.

Jesus told them wherever they decided to stay, they needed to not change locations while they were in that village.

I was in choir for a few years in college. In the summers we would go on weeks-long tours. Most of the time we did home stays – a few guys to a home. We’d get to a spot, get our assignments, then the next day we’d get back together with the whole group and say, “How’s your house?” It always felt like everyone else was staying in Cinderella’s castle while we were in Dickens’ Bleak House.

The point for the disciples was that they shouldn’t be looking for better accommodations.^[13] Ministry was the goal, not largesse. Meaning none of these guys should appear on the PreachersnSneakers instagram account.

How long should they stay? Jesus didn’t say. Each pair would have to be led by the Spirit and respond to the specific circumstances. The context indicates this was not a long trip.

There’s an interesting verse in the Didache – which was a first century document that isn’t inspired, but was used as a sort of church manual. It says that if a minister stays in a house like we see here, this is the rule: “he shall abide but one day; but if there be need, the next day also; but if he abide three days he is a false prophet.”^[14]

But notice this also: Even though they were going out with Good News, with power, with miracles, with humbly and grace, Jesus told the disciples they should expect a some rejection. Just as many people refused to believe Jesus, so they would refuse His ambassadors.

There is no silver bullet in ministry that will convince every heart. Not even miracles. Jesus and the disciples were performing tons of miracles. Still, many would not believe. But, as ambassadors, we are sent out to try to convince people of the truth of the Gospel. In the end, if they will not listen, we do not kill them, we do not force them, we move on to the next place the Spirit sends us.

Mark 6:12-13 – ¹² So they went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³ They drove out many demons, anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

The disciples are going to come back and be super excited about all that happened. In fact, they’re kind of surprised that they were able to do what Jesus sent them to do!

They did work a lot of miracles, however, they weren’t going on a miracles tour. They preached repentance. The message was the important thing. They didn’t bill themselves as faith healers. They went as representatives of the Messiah. Now was the time to receive Him. Now was the time to believe His Good News. Now was the time to turn from sin and walk with God. It was time for their listeners to change their minds and their actions to align with what God had revealed.^[15]

Mark points out that they anointed people with oil. But Jesus never anointed people with oil when He healed them. So why were they doing something He didn’t do?

It demonstrates that it wasn’t them doing the miracle. They weren’t the miracle workers – God was doing it through them. When Jesus commands demons, when He touches the leper, when He raises the dead, it’s Him doing it, because He is God. But we are not. And if the Lord wants to work a miracle through our service, praise be to Him, because it’s His power, not ours.

But this was a monumental moment in spiritual history. It revealed that Christ’s work was not limited to Christ. Don’t get me wrong, it’s all His power and ability and direction, but here He is, the King of kings, the Lord of glory, saying, “I’m willing to send out ambassadors with authority. I’ll accomplish the supernatural through My servants, even though they’re imperfect, even though they aren’t elite, even though I could keep it all to Myself, even though they themselves struggle to believe.”

But God wants His message to go to every corner of the globe. He wants every life on your block to be transformed by the Gospel. And so, He sends ambassadors to be extensions of Himself.

You and I were not appointed for the Mark 6 mission. We’ve been appointed to the Matthew 28 mission. You are called to communicate the Gospel to someone. In fact, more than someone.

What is the Gospel? That humanity has been ruined by sin. We are dead in our trespasses. Unless Someone intervenes, our lives our hopeless and we will spend eternity in hell. But God came down from heaven, put on flesh, lived a perfect life, died in our place to pay the debt we all owe for the wrong things we have done. Three days later, He rose from the dead and He ascended into heaven to rule and reign on His throne forever. Now, God has invited us to be in an ongoing, dynamic, personal relationship with Him, all the days of our lives, to receive His free gift of salvation – a gift given by His grace and received through faith. And when we receive it, He transforms every aspect of our lives.

That’s the message. But we’re not only sent out with a message, but with power. Acts 1:8. 2 Timothy 1:7. 2 Peter 1:3. 1 Corinthians 4:20. God gives us power so we can be ambassadors with authority.

And yet, we often feel powerless. I’m not even talking about performing miracles or raising the dead. Why is it that there seems to be so little power as we represent God?

The Sadducees didn’t know the power of God because they didn’t know the Scriptures.^[16] The disciples often faltered because of their lack of faith. Even they sometimes struggled to believe the miracles they saw! The question is whether we believe God can do what He says He wants to do in our lives. Or do we think it can’t really happen? We can’t really be content. We can’t really be selfless. We can’t really have peace or joy. God not only says you can, He says you do have these things already. You have the power of God because God dwells in you and the Gospel is power.

FDR didn’t want the ambassador to Germany to be a cunning strategist or a ruthless political operative. He wanted the ambassador there to be a “beacon of American freedom and hope in a land of gathering darkness.”^[17] William Dodd represented a “kingdom.”

Do we believe what Jesus has said? Do we believe that we have power to live out our faith in ways that will change lives? Do we see ourselves as Christ’s ambassadors – extensions of Him?

The Gift They Keep On Leaving (Mark 6:1-6)

Would you reject a gift from an emperor? Usually that wouldn’t be a wise decision. On the other hand, if you once had a close relationship with him, perhaps you’d feel freer to spurn his offer.

In 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte sent his ex-wife, Josephine 72 custom designed, porcelain plates, along with an elaborate centerpiece. It was a divorce present. The well of each plate depicted a scene from Egypt, drawn by a famed French artist. Altogether, the service would cost more than $100,000 today.^[1]

But Josephine was not happy with her gift – even though she had been part of the design process! She would not accept the plates when they showed up. She said they were “too severe.” And so, sent them back to the factory. And, about six years later, they were passed on to the Dukes of Wellington, who kept them in the family for the next 160 years.

In our text, the King of kings brings a priceless gift to His hometown. The gift is Himself – His presence, His truth, His power. He meant to shower this community with insight and miracles and direction for living. He brought the secrets of the coming Kingdom for any who would receive these precious, life-changing gifts.

The people take a look and decide they’re not interested. Send it back. They not only reject what Jesus offers, but they reject Him as a gift-giver. And so, His presence, His teaching, and His power pass on to others, and the people of Nazareth remain spiritually impoverished.

It wasn’t the first time Jesus tried to deliver this gift to them. But, even on this second chance, they decide to pass. And the Lord is amazed at their unwillingness.

Jesus wants to give things to you. He wants to give you His Word as a light for your feet and a lamp for your path. He wants to give you life more abundantly. He wants to heal your heart and transform your present, give you an eternal future. He wants to give you specific gifts so you can glorify Him and bless others. He wants to properly diagnose problems and flaws and vulnerabilities in your heart and mind, in my heart and mind. These are gifts from a tender and loving Savior.

But if we think we have nothing to hear from Him – that we already know what we need to know – that we’ve got our life situation under control without need of His involvement, then we will make the same mistake the people of Nazareth made, and we will be all the poorer for it.

Mark 6:1 – He left there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.

Nazareth is about 20 miles south of Capernaum.^[2] I think most of us would assume, “Great, Jesus gets to go home and see friends and family. Who would be happier to see Him now that the whole nation is talking about how He’s healing people and casting out demons and raising the dead?”

But understand, Jesus’ trips home were not usually very pleasant experiences. The last time we saw anyone from Jesus’ family, they were accusing Him of insanity.^[3] Worse than that, the last time Jesus visited His hometown, the people literally tried to kill Him.^[4] Not just that they talked about it, they pushed Him to the edge of a cliff and fully intended on throwing Him over, but He passed through the mob.

I hope no one has ever tried to kill you. If someone did, I wouldn’t expect you to go over to their house tonight for dinner. And yet, this is our God. The God Who gives chance after chance to sinners. A Savior Who says, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”^[5]

Our hearts and minds were hostile to God – at war with Him.^[6] And He came not only with an offer of peace, but with an invitation to join His family. He came from heaven to earth. It could’ve been the other way around. And if it was, there would be no hope for any of us. But instead, there is hope for all of us, because God came at just the right time to rescue us.

Mark 6:2-3 –  ² When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished. “Where did this man get these things?” they said. “What is this wisdom that has been given to him, and how are these miracles performed by his hands? ³ Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And aren’t his sisters here with us?” So they were offended by him.

We don’t know a lot about Jesus’ life before the age of 30. We learn here that He had siblings and that He had been a carpenter. The word used of His profession is tekton. That was someone who predominately worked with wood,^[7] but it has a wider connotation than what we might think of when we hear the word, ‘carpenter.’ One source writes, “It could refer to any kind of craftsman: mason, smith, shipbuilder, sculptor, and even physician.”^[8]

As a carpenter in Nazareth, Jesus would’ve been the Person making ploughs and yokes for the farmers in town.^[9]

What a wonderful image it is to think of Jesus working in these ways. He still does these kinds of work in our lives, today. He’s not only the Architect of our lives, He works as a Builder day by day. He’s an Artisan – a Craftsman. He works with living stones. He sculpts our lives. But He also works with us like a smith with precious metals. He refines us in His smelt, bringing us forth as pure gold. He’s our Great Physician. He makes a yoke for us to take and wear and plough with Him – a yoke that is easy and whose burden is light. The Carpenter Who began all this good work in you will be faithful to complete it according to His power, His design, His artistry, His ability.

We also see here that Jesus had at least six siblings. Now, our Catholic brothers and sisters often try to refute this idea. Catholic doctrine teaches Mary was a perpetual virgin. And so, Catholic apologists will say the people named here are either Jesus’ cousins, or perhaps they were children of Joseph from a previous marriage.

Couple of problems with those arguments. First, linguists point out that the Greek term for “brother” here seldom, if ever, refers to cousins either in the New Testament or external Greek literature.^[10] Both 1 Corinthians and Galatians reference Jesus having brothers.

As to these being Joseph’s kids from another marriage, that’s still a problem. Because that would mean Jesus was not the firstborn male in Joseph’s house, which creates an issue since the firstborn would be the heir to David’s throne.

We don’t know anything of Jesus’ sisters or two of these brothers. His brother James would later become the leader of the church in Jerusalem and be the author of the book of James in your Bible. Judas would become the author of Jude.^[11] Other than that, we don’t know much.

But here’s Jesus, in the synagogue of Nazareth, and after He’s done teaching, Mark tells us the people were astonished. They were knocked out by what they heard.^[12] But rather than falling down in worship or devoting themselves to follow Him, they were offended at Him. The word is scandalized.^[13] They cease believing in what they had seen and heard.^[14]

Why? well, as one commentator put it, they know both too much and too little about Him.^[15] They think they know everything they need to know about Him because they watched Him grow up, because they knew His family, because even they thought nothing good could come out of Nazareth. So whether it was prejudice or jealousy or pride or simple “I’m too good to let this Kid from the block tell me something” attitude, they stumbled over Him.^[16]

People still trip over Jesus, even though they didn’t grow up with Him. Paul referenced the prophecy of Isaiah that says some people will stumble over the Lord, but the one who believes on Him will not be put to shame.^[17]

We cannot allow ourselves to settle into a mentality where we think we know everything about God’s word, about His work in the world, about His commands and callings in our lives. It’s natural for us to come to a Bible book or passage or story that we’ve heard before, maybe many times, and think, “I’ve got it. I already know what I need to know. The warnings in that passage aren’t for me, they’re for someone else. The command given there I’m already doing to it’s fullest extent.”

That sort of mentality is not going to help us. In fact, it’s going to keep us from a greater depth in our knowledge of God and our relationship with Him. God’s word always has something to say to us. There is always some area in every one of our lives where adjustment or calibration or correction is needed. That shouldn’t make us sad, it should make us excited to come to the Lord and allow Him to do the searching and sanctifying work He wants to do.

Sadly, this scene is the last time we’ll see Jesus in a synagogue in the book of Mark. He came to His own, but His own did not receive Him. John says it was because they did not recognize Him.^[18]

Oh, they knew He was Mary’s son, James’ brother, but they did not recognize that He was the Messiah and Lord.

Do we recognize Him for Who He is? Do we see Jesus only as a Savior Who takes away our sin – a sort of spiritual garbage Man – or do we also recognize that He is our Sovereign, our Master, our Pilot, and King? A King Who has opinions, intentions, and commands for every aspect of our lives?

Mark 6:4 – ⁴ Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his household.”

This was a well-known proverb. It has parallels in both Hebrew and Greek literature.^[19] What’s sad is that they admitted Jesus’ teaching was unlike anything they ever heard. They acknowledged the miracles. But it didn’t matter. They wouldn’t believe. It wasn’t for lack of evidence. Jesus had all the proof. It wasn’t a question of how could they believe, but would they believe.

And they weren’t just having a hard time coming to grips. The issue was hard hearts. Did you notice how they said, “Isn’t this the son of Mary?” It’s possible that, since Joseph was dead they reference Mary. But that would be unusual. In Israel, even when fathers were dead, the children were typically still called son of the father. Or, it’s probable that they whisper this as a slur against Jesus. The Son of Mary – “No one knows who the father is, after all…”^[20]

Mark 6:5 – ⁵ He was not able to do a miracle there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them.

On first read this makes us think that Jesus had some sort of inability. Of course, right after it says He was not able to do a miracle there it goes on to say, “Except these other miracles He did.”

It’s not that His power was limited by them. It’s that His mission was limited because they would not receive the gift He was ready to give. He was ready to change their lives, save their souls and their bodies and their futures. But they said, No. Send it back. We don’t want it.

God will limit His work in our lives according to our response. If we will not exercise faith, if we will not obey, if we will not trust, if we will not submit, then He will not do all that He would like to do in and through us.

We have many Biblical examples. The Israelites wandering in the wilderness. King Saul. Peter told husbands when they refuse to love their wives in a Biblical way, their prayers are hindered. Paul told the Corinthians he had to hold back the message he had for them, a great spiritual message, because they hadn’t matured enough spiritually to handle it.

It is not any weakness or inability in God that causes these things, but that we put up a barrier to Him – a refusal to receive the gifts of His presence, His work, His instruction.

Mark 6:6 – ⁶ And he was amazed at their unbelief. He was going around the villages teaching.

We’ve seen a lot of shocked people in this book. Usually it’s after Jesus worked a miracle or taught something amazing. This time, it’s the Lord Who is amazed. It’s a reminder of several things: First, that Jesus was both fully God and fully Man. How can He be amazed, meaning He was surprised at how little faith they had? He was fully Man. And second, our God has emotion – real emotion.

We can bring God joy, we can bring God grief. His word reveals how we do each. We should listen intently and act accordingly.

The end of this Nazareth trip was better than the last one, but it’s still just as sad for the people. They make it clear they don’t want Jesus there and so He moves on. And He brings the gifts of His presence and His teaching and His miraculous power to other villages.

Back in Nazareth, their hearts were unchanged by the preaching of the Christ, and so their lives also remained unchanged.

He had said and done all that was necessary for them to believe. But they wouldn’t. And so they couldn’t receive all that Jesus wanted to give them.

We believe. We recognize that Jesus is the Messiah. And we recognize that there is much we need from Him. Praise God that He is the Gift-Giver Who keeps on giving. May the Lord help us to be a people who humbly receive all He wants to give as we walk with Him through life.

Is Anyone Else Seeing This? (Mark 5:35-43)

In 400 BC, Aristotle ranked sight as the most importance sense, then hearing, then smell, taste, and touch.^[1] Sight, he said, was the most essential to experience and survive in the world.

It’s hard to overestimate how much we rely on sight. Did you know that the olfactory bulb, which is like our CPU for smelling, takes up about 0.01% of our brain matter. Just 3% of your neurons are dedicated for hearing.^[2] But the visual cortex takes up about 1/3 of your entire brain.

It makes sense. Seeing is terribly important in life, not only as we experience it but as we make choices accordingly.

It’s a bit of a shock, then, when the Apostle Paul hits us with eight of the most famous words in all the Bible – words you may have adorning the walls of your home:

2 Corinthians 5:7 – ⁷ For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Paul was not just speaking in esoteric or theoretical terms. That verse comes to us as he discusses life and death, the suffering we experience, our burdens and our hopes.

According to Paul, these eight words should regulate our lives, our attitudes, our choices, and our understanding of what is really true, even if we can’t see it. We walk by faith, not by sight.

That is easier said than done. Easier read than lived. And yet, that is the kind of faith that Christ calls us to – one that willfully, actively trusts Him and obeys Him, in spite of what our eyes may see.

In our text, there are multiple groups who come to an intersection of faith and sight. Would they not only believe, but a faith that obeys, despite what they saw or expected? Let’s take a look.

Mark 5:35 – ³⁵ While he was still speaking, people came from the synagogue leader’s house and said, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the teacher anymore?”

Jairus is the name of the synagogue leader. He would’ve been a man of high social standing, probably a man of means, seen as a pillar in the community. On this day, he was just a desperate father. He came to Jesus and begged Him to come lay His hands on his daughter. Jesus was on the way when they were interrupted by the woman who touched the hem of Jesus’ garment.

At this point, a lot of commentators say that these messengers were showing anger or derision toward Jesus – that if He hadn’t slowed down the girl wouldn’t have died. That they thought if He really cared, He would’ve hurried.^[3] But, how long of a delay do you think it really was? Ten minutes at most? And, obviously the girl died before they sent the messengers, who then came and found Jairus. So, this wasn’t some long delay.

I don’t see anger here, rather they’re coming and saying, “It’s over.” Even if this marvelous Teacher had healed lepers and cast out demons. Death was different. Death was the end.

And, sadly, death was all too common, especially among children. Some records show that 50% of children did not survive into adulthood in that part of the world.^[4] But, whether Jairus waited too long to humble himself and come to see the Rabbi from Nazareth, or whether the illness simply moved faster than he anticipated, now, according to these eye-witnesses, the girl was gone.

Mark 5:36 – ³⁶ When Jesus overheard what was said, he told the synagogue leader, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe.”

Don’t you love how aware and observant Jesus is? There’s a mob of people pressing in on Him and He feels a woman touch His tassels. While He’s finishing up His conversation with her, He hears what these guys say. Be encouraged that no matter what it looks like or what you might be feeling, our Lord sees you, He sees what’s going on in your life, He sees into the deepest part of your heart, He hears your prayers, and He intends to commune with you all the days of your life.

Now, these messengers came with a true report: Jairus’ daughter was no longer among the living. But Jesus immediately grabs this father’s attention and effectively says, “Don’t look at them. Don’t listen to them. Listen to Me.” Jesus’ message to Jairus was, “Stop being afraid, just keep on believing.”^[5] The word He used for “believe,” linguists point out is in the present, continual sense.^[6] Right here, right now, despite the report, despite the apparent evidence, Jairus had a choice. Standing face-to-face with his worst fear, would he choose belief over fear?

We don’t hear his response, but we see it as he walks on with the Lord.

Mark 5:37 – ³⁷ He did not let anyone accompany him except Peter, James, and John, James’s brother.

These three are often referred to as the “inner circle” of Jesus’ disciples. They would also be at the Transfiguration and Jesus will bring them further into the Garden of Gethsemane than the others.

Now, let’s be honest for a minute. How would you feel to be left out? To not be picked to witness the greatest miracle anyone had ever seen thus far? Imagine you’re Andrew, Peter’s brother. I mean, you’re the one who brought Peter to Jesus! You’re the one who said, “I think we’ve found the Messiah.” And you see these other brothers get to go together. And your brother is getting these special opportunities, while you hang out in the street.

The truth is, if we were ranking disciples based on what we read in the Gospels, I think we would put Andrew as starting quarterback. But that’s not what the Lord did. And it’s not because these other guys had better faith. I don’t know why Jesus made these choices. But He did. The question for the nine was, would they still believe with obedience when it looked like they were being sidelined? Did they trust the Lord enough to not be jealous? To not become bitter or resentful? To not start comparing themselves to the other disciples? But to obey faithfully and trustingly, even when the situation looked a bit embarrassing for them?

Mark 5:38 – ³⁸ They came to the leader’s house, and he saw a commotion—people weeping and wailing loudly.

Matthew’s account explains that there’s a crowd of people here along with flute players.^[7] This clues us in to the fact that at least some of these people are professional mourners. Believe it or not, that was the custom. In fact, in the Mishnah – which was completed in about 220 AD – even the poorest Jews were encouraged to hire at least two flutists and one wailing woman when someone died.^[8] Jairus, being a synagogue leader probably had a larger group.

If it seems like it was too soon for all this, remember this is first century Palestine. No coroner is coming. No refrigeration. Bodies decomposed quickly, so burial happened quickly.^[9] Given how many people were already there, it seems the family had expected this little girl to die.

In the house there would’ve been a lot going on. The wailing included instruments plus choral or antiphonal singing accompanied by handclapping. Mark says it was an uproar.^[10]

He also keeps calling Jairus “the leader.” Why keep using his title when we know his name? Well, it puts his plight in perspective. You see, he was supposed to see to the care of the synagogue. He was supposed to see to the care of his family. He was supposed to be the one people could follow for spiritual guidance. His title could be translated a “ruler” of the synagogue.^[11] But in reality, he was in just as much need as the Gadarene demoniac or the woman with the issue of blood. The leader would have to exercise enough faith to follow the Lord, Who was the true Ruler of nature, of the supernatural, of disease, and of death. And the true Ruler was also the real Master of the house.

Mark 5:39 – ³⁹ He went in and said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead but asleep.”

Some will use this verse to say that the girl wasn’t actually dead but that she was just in a coma. All three of the synoptic Gospels – including the one written by a physician – agree that she was dead. The New Testament, at times, uses sleep metaphorically when speaking of death. And certainly, from Christ’s vantage point, she was about to wake back up into this life.

Jesus was asking this group to believe in a big way. There’s the body – lifeless. But He asks them to ignore what they see and instead choose to believe Him. Faced with the sight of death, would they believe in Christ’s new life?

Mark 5:40 – ⁴⁰ They laughed at him, but he put them all outside. He took the child’s father, mother, and those who were with him, and entered the place where the child was.

The phrasing indicates that they not only laughed, but they kept jeering at Him.^[12] The fact that they could switch so quickly from wailing to scoffing shows they didn’t actually care for this family. They’re working a job. And, frankly, for being professionals, they aren’t acting very professionally.

But man oh man are they going to miss out. And they miss out because they chose to see rather than believe. Luke explains, “They laughed at Him because they knew she was dead.”^[13] They saw it with their own eyes! But what they thought was rock-solid, superior knowledge was the very thing that led to their exclusion. In this moment they lived by sight, not by faith.

Jesus had no desire to impress them or even to shame them by proving them wrong. So He tossed them all out. The term used for “put them outside” is one Mark also uses for casting out of demons.

Mark 5:41 – ⁴¹ Then he took the child by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum” (which is translated, “Little girl, I say to you, get up”).

Jews living in Palestine at this time spoke Aramaic.^[14] They would need to know Greek, too, given their proximity to Greek-speaking Gentiles in the region, but Aramaic was the language they used at home and with each other. Religious Jews like Jesus would’ve also known Hebrew. In fact, we see Jesus reading a Hebrew scroll in Luke chapter 4.^[15]

But His day-to-day speech was Aramaic. The nicknames He gave Peter, James, and John were all Aramaic. There are a variety of other Aramaic words we come across in the Gospels.

Here the phrase is very simple and very tender. He calls this child, “Little girl,” or it could also mean, “Little lamb.”^[16] And once again we see Him take someone by the hand. He did so for Peter’s mother-in-law. He touched lepers. He touched cripples. He touched the demon possessed. He is a Savior Who is not afraid to embrace us – to handle our lives and hold us in His hand.

Mark 5:42 – ⁴² Immediately the girl got up and began to walk. (She was twelve years old.) At this they were utterly astounded.

This was not the girl’s final resurrection – sadly she would have to die again one day – but this is one of the most important events in human history. Because the One Who came saying He was the Christ had now raised the dead.

Paul would explain in 1 Corinthians 15, “[Christ] must reign until He puts all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be abolished is death.”

This scene was not the final abolition of death, but it was a precursor. Jesus is the One. He really is the Messiah that will save us from sin, from death, from hell, and bring us everlasting life.

The gir immediately started walking. No slow rousing, no initial weakness or confusion. She demonstrates how Christ raises us up – we were dead in trespasses and sins – and He raises us to a life of walking. Walking with Him. Immediately empowered by His Word and His enabling.

And this stack of stories in Mark 5 shows that the Lord involves Himself with all who have faith in Him – He does not exclude people. He will save young or old, Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, chronically ill or suddenly stricken, “holy” looking people or defiled people, people of high social status or those who have been cast out. He is the Lord of all, the Savior of all.

For their part, the 5 witnesses didn’t know what to think. They were astounded. Bewildered. They could hardly believe what they had just seen. So, the Lord helped with some instruction.

Mark 5:43 – ⁴³ Then he gave them strict orders that no one should know about this and told them to give her something to eat.

Wait – how could they not tell people? All the people just outside the door are going to see the girl alive in like 2 minutes.

We don’t really know why Jesus put this restriction on them. Maybe Jesus wanted to avoid being invited to every funeral in the nation for the foreseeable future.^[17] Maybe He wanted to try to shield the girl from the kind of non-stop attention she might get.

It doesn’t really matter. That’s what He asked. “But Lord, this looks like a great opportunity to prove to the Scribes and the Pharisees You are the Messiah.” But this is what He wanted.

And then, He very tenderly sees to her ordinary needs. Let’s get this girl a sandwich! Let’s have some lunch. The Lord does care for our ordinary things. He’s a hands-on Master and Friend to us.

Would Jairus believe in the face of fear? Would the mourners believe in spite of what they saw? Would the 9 believe when they wanted to see what He’d do? Would the parents believe God’s next steps after this miracle were better than what conventional wisdom might dictate?

Do we walk by faith and not by sight? We’re supposed to. We’re supposed to live out our daily, ordinary lives by prioritizing and trusting the Word we’ve heard and the leading we’ve received. The problem is, our sight gets in the way.

There is a fascinating phenomenon researchers call the McGurk effect. It demonstrates how our brains prioritize what we see over the evidence of other senses like hearing. In fact, our brains will sometimes see something and then override what we hear, telling us we’ve heard something else, even when it’s not true.^[18]

Not a big deal when we’re talking about “Ba” and “Fa,” but it becomes a very big deal when we’re talking about what the Lord has said versus what we see in life around us. May we be those who trust our Lord for Who He is and live in such a way that we stop being afraid but keep on believing.

There Won’t Be Blood (Mark 5:21-34)

In the 1920’s, cattle were mysteriously dying across the prairies of North America. Previously healthy herds began to hemorrhage, seemingly without cause.^[1] By 1933, one farmer was desperate enough to drive 200 miles through a blizzard to try to reach the state veterinarian. But, it was Saturday, and the offices were closed. With nowhere else to go, the farmer walked into a chemistry lab at the University of Wisconsin. A professor and his assistant were there and the farmer showed them a dead cow, a pile of hay, and a milk jug of the cow’s blood.^[2]

They were able to diagnose the problem: The hay was the blame. Actually, it was the mold that had grown on the hay. You see, during the financial hardship of the 20’s and 30’s, many farmers could not afford to replace feed when it spoiled. And so, their herds would eat only to bleed out.

The fix ended up being very straightforward: Give the cows new feed. And if an animal was already starting to bleed, they just needed a transfusion of fresh blood.

Blood and healing are the focus of our text tonight. A hemorrhaging woman fights through a squall of people, in a desperate act of faith. Her hope does not disappoint, even if it was a bit misguided.

Mark 5:21 – ²¹ When Jesus had crossed over again by boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the sea.

Luke explains that this crowd of people welcomed people with great expectation. But in this great mass of people, I want us to notice that only one person experiences a meaningful interaction with Jesus and an outpouring of His power.

Mark 5:22-23 – ²² One of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet ²³ and begged him earnestly, “My little daughter is dying. Come and lay your hands on her so that she can get well, and live.”

As “president” of the synagogue, Jairus would’ve been a highly respected person.^[3] He’s toward the top of the Jewish social ladder. He’s probably a person of means. But facing the death of his only daughter,^[4] Jairus jettisons all dignity and pride and falls at the feet of Jesus.^[5]

The last person we saw someone in this position was the demoniac of the Gadarenes. He begged Jesus to leave him alone. Here an anguished father begs Jesus to come see his little girl. He knows he needs Jesus up close, hands on. The power he heard about and had seen, now he needed it.

Mark 5:24 – ²⁴ So Jesus went with him, and a large crowd was following and pressing against him.

Luke explains that the crowd was nearly crushing Jesus. It’s so bad it’s getting hard to breathe.^[6] The crowds of Mar are always so interesting. Because, on the one hand, they welcome Jesus, but on the other hand, they’re so selfish and short-sighted that they are actually doing Him bodily harm. And how could they have so little compassion? Here’s this father, he says, “My daughter is at death’s door.” Jesus says, “Let’s go save her.” And no one clears a path. No one tries to help. And they don’t even seem to actually want anything along the way. They’re just in the way.

But notice, it says they were “following.” That’s a charged word in the Gospels. Looking at this scene, is this crowd listening to Jesus? Are they obedient toward Jesus? Do they recognize Jesus for Who He is? The facts of the case bear out the answer is no. They can see Him. There He is, within arm’s length. And yet for all but one there is no interaction – no experience of power or transformation or relationship. Heaven help us when our “following” becomes lifeless like that. That we can be in His presence, hear Him speak, be among other disciples, yet go away unchanged, unaffected, only thinking about ourselves rather than the desperate needs all around us.

Mark 5:25-26 – ²⁵ Now a woman suffering from bleeding for twelve years ²⁶ had endured much under many doctors. She had spent everything she had and was not helped at all. On the contrary, she became worse.

The most expensive medical treatment out there is a heart transplant. It comes in at about $1.3 million.^[7] This poor lady didn’t spend a million bucks, but she did spend all she had. Her problem was uterine or menstrual in nature.^[8] And that would’ve caused so many other issues in her life.

Apart from the pain and the discomfort and the other troubles caused by loss of blood, her relationships would’ve been totally destroyed. You see, she would spend every day of these 12 years ceremonially unclean. Not only could she not go to the Temple to worship, she couldn’t do day-to-day things with other people since that would make them ceremonially unclean.^[9]

She’d be unable to have children. And so, she either would’ve never married or if she had been married, her husband likely divorced her, which men at that time often did when their wives could not bear children.^[10] Her life was one of pain and isolation and embarrassment and hopelessness.

And then came the doctors. The Jewish rabbis had a saying, “The best physician is worthy of Gehenna.”^[11] That is certainly unkind hyperbole, but this lady not only suffered from her illness, she suffered from the treatments, too. We have records of the kinds of things doctors did for problems like this. There were strange concoctions she would have to drink. One ritual was to carry the ashes of an ostrich egg in a linen rag around her neck or carry barley corn from the dung of a white female donkey.^[12] Or, she could stand in the intersection of two roads, holding a cup of wine and have someone come up behind her and scare her and say, “Arise from thy flux!”^[13]

Funny unless it’s you’re the one paying the bill and drinking the sluice.

But here’s what’s important: God cared about this woman’s suffering. Now, she was not important like Jairus. She had no standing in the community, in fact she was the absolute opposite, socially speaking. But God was mindful of her life, He saw her suffering, and He cared enough to help her.

God’s watchful, merciful attitude toward our suffering is a long running theme throughout the Bible. The Lord sees, He knows, He cares, and He promises that we can cast our cares on Him.

Like the demoniac in our last passage, there was nothing any humans could do to help this poor lady. They had tried and only made things worse. But Christ Jesus has power over demons and disease and, we’ll see next time, death.

Mark 5:27-28 – ²⁷ Having heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothing. ²⁸ For she said, “If I just touch his clothes, I’ll be made well.”

In some ways, her courageous faith was inspiring. But it was quite imperfect. She thinks of Jesus’ power in a superstitious way – that it can be transferred magically or mechanically.^[14] Though we don’t blame her for wanting healing, she didn’t see the need to speak with Jesus. She didn’t intend to worship Him or become His disciple. Now, maybe that’s because she thought He wouldn’t have her, as an unclean outcast of Jewish society, but nevertheless, there is a vending machine, transactional character to her faith.

This is a pattern any of us can slip into. We believe the Lord has power, we go to Him with certain things that are important to us, things that are troubling us, and we pray, “Lord, solve this problem or fix this issue in my life.” But we need to remember that we don’t only need that issue fixed. At the same time we all need a heart transplant – the biggest job of all. We all need spiritual brain surgery. We all need spiritual rehabilitation. We all need more than we realize from our Great Physician.

But at least she knew Jesus could save. She reached out to Him, while the crowd seemingly just pressed onto Him, asking nothing of Him. They were faithless or simply blind to their own needs.

Mark 5:29 – ²⁹ Instantly her flow of blood ceased, and she sensed in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

What a beautiful testimony of God’s amazing grace. Yes, her faith was imperfect, but God still rewarded her imperfect faith.

All of our faiths are imperfect, by the way. Thank God He condescends to our weakness. He does so because He wants to transform our lives with His love and power.

In an instant, the Great Physician did what a decade of doctors could not. She was totally, fully healed of her affliction.

That’s an interesting word. It’s the word used for a lash or a whip. The scourge used to flog people in the synagogue.^[15] Jesus took her scourge away. And He was willing, ultimately, to literally take the greater scourge of the Romans, pouring out His blood so we could be saved. By His stripes we are healed. And now, not only does the Lord save us from our afflictions and sufferings, because of the divine power He pours out on us, now we know that our current afflictions are only momentary and they are producing in us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.^[16] Quite a treatment.

Mark 5:30 – ³⁰ Immediately Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched my clothes?”

Why call her out? Why not just give her a knowing nod and let her go? It’s because Jesus does not want to have a transactional relationship with you. He wants to have a real, personal relationship with you. And He wanted her (and us) to understand it wasn’t His clothes that saved her.

He wants her to know some things not just about His power, but about His love and about what this healing means for the rest of her life. That He knows her and loves her and sees her.

Mark 5:31-32 – ³¹ His disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing against you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’ ” ³² But he was looking around to see who had done this.

They say there are no stupid questions. That’s not how the disciples felt at the time. Their answer was harsh.^[17] Sarcastic.^[18] They seem annoyed. Jesus doesn’t didn’t bother to answer them.^[19]

If the Lord asks you a question, it’s never a bad question. It’s not a stupid question. Sometimes God asks us very straightforward, obvious questions because we are missing the obvious lesson. We need to be humble and sensitive to what He asks, not dismissive or annoyed.

Mark 5:33 – ³³ The woman, with fear and trembling, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth.

Why was she so afraid? Well, she had just broken the Law. A woman with her affliction was supposed to notify everyone around her about her uncleanness. And anyone she touched would immediately become unclean, too. So now she is exposed and has to say why she touched Jesus…and all the dozens of other people she pressed through to get to Him.

Now, she had a private, transformational experience with God in the sense that she was healed and no one knew it at first. Sometimes Christians argue over whether a person need to say a prayer or go forward at an altar call when they get saved. The truth is, salvation happens in the heart. And so, that can happen in a public display or in the solitude of your own home. But, even though her rescue happened privately, Jesus asked her to give public testimony.

Mark 5:34 – ³⁴ “Daughter,” he said to her, “your faith has saved you. Go in peace and be healed from your affliction.”

He was not trying to embarrass her, He wanted to instruct her. He wanted her to know that He considered her His daughter. This is the only time Jesus calls a woman daughter in the Gospels.^[20] And what a comfort it must of been to know that no bill was coming in the mail. He healed her for free. She didn’t make Him unclean. He solved all those problems.

And He wanted her to understand that she wasn’t only healed of a sickness, but that this faith relationship she had with the Savior meant she could go from then on in peace. A word that means wholeness of wellbeing because of right relationship with God.^[21] He said, “Be healed from your affliction.” She might say, “I already am.” But Jesus was saying, “No, the restoring and peace starts now. There’s more. You’re going to go from this place becoming more whole day by day.”

How else might He intend to make her whole? That was the question. That’s our question, too. God’s intention is that we not just be around Him – that we not just see what He says in His word or come to church or hang around other Christians and then go away unchanged. He wants to transform us and fill our lives with His power and make us whole. But we have to have faith. We have to recognize that, yes, I need the Savior to save me. And that day-by-day, as I “follow” Jesus, there’s always some treatment He intends, not only for my good, but also so that the watching crowds around me can also have their lives saved.

Jairus is about to be told, “It’s too late. There’s no hope. Your daughter is dead.” But Jesus turns to him and says, “Don’t be afraid. Believe.” What had Jairus just seen? This woman’s life restored. Transformed. Saved.

Back in 1930, those University of Wisconsin researchers didn’t stop with diagnosing what those cattle were dying from. They realized something in this fungus made the cows’ blood thin out. Fast forward another 10 years and in 1940 they developed a way to control the process for medical purposes and invented Warfarin or you may have heard it called Coumadin.^[22] It is now one of the most widely prescribed drugs in the world, saving countless lives of stroke patients or heart attack victims. So not only were they able to stop the suffering of the prairie cattle, but also to use the suffering that had already happened to save many other lives for decades to come.

God wants to transform your life. He sees your struggles and not only wants to care for you in them, He wants to care for others through them. Our part is to understand Who Jesus is, believe it, and reach out in faith so He can do what He wants to do in us. We don’t just gather to see Jesus pass by. To hear His word in one ear and let it go out the other. Faith means we understand Who He is and reach out, trusting that He has life for us. Salvation and rescue and transformation that we desperately need.

When Pigs Fly (Mark 5:1-20)

I had quite a scare recently. In the middle of the night, our dog started barking. It wasn’t her small chirp that lets us know she’s bored and would like to see what’s going on outside. No, this was as loud and tense as I’ve ever heard her – something had intruded.

I went out to the front room and there, in the shadows, I could make out a round, head shape at eye level, about 3 yards from me. It moved ever so slightly and I knew I had very little time to react. Instinctively, I turned on the light and now could see the intruder clearly: It was a birthday balloon that had wafted in from the other room when the A/C kicked on.

This section of Mark is fright night. I usually think of the encounter with the Gadarene demoniac as being a daytime event but Mark told us that it was evening when they got into the boat at Capernaum. Normally it takes about two hours to get to the other side of the sea.^[1] Even assuming the storm slowed them down, there’s no reason for us to think it was yet morning.

Have you ever been followed at night? The disciples, who are already terrified as of chapter 4, verse 41, land on shore and see a grotesque man, bleeding, naked, staring them down as he ran toward them. Oh, and it’s all happening with a graveyard as the backdrop. Scary stuff.

Mark 5:1-2 – ¹ They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. ² As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him.

The Gospel of Matthew and Luke both record this event. In Matthew we see there are two demon-possessed men. It’s not a contradiction, just a matter of story-telling perspective.

The Devil’s artillery failed to stop Jesus’ arrival, so he turned to troops. A legion of demons is dispatched to resist the Lord. Of course Jesus could have called down more than 12 legions of angels to protect Himself.^[2] But Jesus Christ didn’t need bodyguards, even behind enemy lines.

The Gerasenes was Gentile controlled.^[3] He’s in an unclean land, among unclean tombs, facing an unclean Gentile, full of unclean spirits. But, Jesus goes there so He might bring deliverance and preach the Good News. Exorcisms happened in the sacred synagogue and the Gentile graveyard.

Mark 5:3-5 – ³ He lived in the tombs, and no one was able to restrain him anymore—not even with a chain— ⁴ because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had torn the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

We want our heroes to be fantastically strong – Captain America, Wolverine, Mr. Incredible. Much different story when the monster next door has that kind of power. This guy had supernatural strength. When’s the last time you broke through metal chains? The whole community had tried to contain this menace with zero success. No one was strong enough to subdue him. You couldn’t bind him or stop him. In that description, Mark was using “as strong an expression as imaginable.”^[4]

But now, let’s realize how horrible the situation was for the man himself. He was dying in slow motion. He lived among the dead. He was cast out to starve. He spent his days shouting into the dark and slicing his own flesh, his life ebbing away a little more each day.

If you’re not a Christian here tonight you need to know: This is you. I’m not saying you’re demon possessed, but you are dying in slow motion. You were born dead in trespasses and sins and no matter how strong you may feel, you are headed toward eternal death unless you are rescued and revived by Jesus Christ. There is salvation in no other name. But He wants to save you. That’s why He came to earth. To seek and to save the lost. He came to give you life.

Mark 5:6-8 – ⁶ When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before him. ⁷ And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you before God, don’t torment me!” ⁸ For he had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

Your version may say the man came and “worshiped” Him, but let’s not get confused about what’s happening here. The demons are not singing praises. In fact, their opening line was a colloquial saying that meant something like, “What have I done to You that You should do this to me?”^[5] In Matthew’s account, the demons also say to Jesus, “What a minute – You’re early. You’re here ‘before the time.’” And, as we’ve seen before, it seems the demons Jesus encountered sometimes tried to gain an upper hand against Him by using invoking His earthly name and heavenly title.^[6])

The demons also try to boss Jesus around, demanding that He swear to God in an oath that He won’t torture them.^[7] It’s ironic: They’re worried about being tormented after all they had done to this poor man. They made sport of torturing him. Luke says he had been that way for a long time.^[8]

But it’s interesting – they had some measure of understanding, they immediately recognized Him. They knew His name. They knew He had absolute power that could not be withstood. But they were simultaneously in the dark about many other things when it came to Jesus and His work.

So, they were not worshiping Jesus. But they could not help but pay Him the homage He was due as the Son of the Most High God. Philippians tells us that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess Jesus Christ is Lord.^[9]

A person may mock Jesus, rebel against Him, run from His commands, but one day, Christ will return, and then they, too, will be on their knees before the King of kings.

Let’s recognize one more thing: They knew that Jesus and His Father were both merciful. That He might not destroy them, though that’s what they deserve. Did their master, the Devil, show any mercy to Job? Had they shown any mercy to this man? But the God of the Bible is a God of mercy.

Isaiah 30:18a – ¹⁸ Therefore the LORD is waiting to show you mercy, and is rising up to show you compassion…

Jesus was willing to show these unclean spirits a measure of mercy. Now, He was not willing to allow them to continue what they were doing to this poor man. And remember, Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. And these demons were feeding on one of those Christ came to save. And so He would not fail to rescue this man and bring him from death to life.

Mark 5:9-10 – ⁹ “What is your name?” he asked him. “My name is Legion,” he answered him, “because we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region.

There is some suggestion that demons are assigned and attached to certain areas, but that doesn’t mean we need to start doing demon maps or anything like that. Nor do we need to learn how to extract the name of demons so we can command them. The demons tried to play that game with Jesus and He is demonstrating that they have no power over Him, whatsoever.

Now, at the time, a Roman legion was about 6,000 soldiers.^[10] That’s not a specific count for how many demons are in this guy, but it was a lot. I find it ironic that they really want to stay in that locale, but don’t mind being all cooped up together in a single guy.

Mark 5:11-13 – ¹¹ A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. ¹² The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.” ¹³ So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there.

You FFA folks might think, “Pigs aren’t really herd animals.” Mark is highlighting the cosmic conflict going on here by using military images. The word he uses was often used of a band of military recruits. And Jesus dismisses the legion, almost like a commander.^[11]

There’s another image hidden here for the original readers: The wild boar was the emblem of the Roman legion stationed in Palestine.^[12] So here’s Jesus, in Gentile land, facing a legion, and in the end the pigs are driven into the sea.

Remember: Mark was primarily writing this book to Christians living in Rome and elsewhere in Italy.^[13] So here is a subtle reminder that Jesus not only had power over legions of demons, but also over the godless legions of Rome and every other human kingdom. In the end, Christ conquers all.

Now, this situation raises a number of questions – some of which we simply can’t answer with total certainty. First, why did the demons want to go into the pigs? Well, there’s some indication in the New Testament that these sort of spirits want to inhabit other living creatures. There’s a second possible reason we’ll get to in a moment.

The second question is: Why did Jesus allow this? Doesn’t He care about the pigs? God absolutely cares about animals. But this does highlight God’s priorities. A single human life is much more important than even thousands of pigs.^[14] In Matthew 12, Jesus says outright, “A person is worth far more than a sheep.” That doesn’t mean it’s ok for people to mistreat animals, but when lives hang in the balance, God goes with the human every time. Because humans are created in His image. You are not the same as an animal. You are a human, and that is a unique being in God’s order.

Before we move on, one more quick reminder for us, especially anyone who is not a believer here. Take a good long look at the naked, bloody suffering of the demon possessed man. Try to hear the chilling screams of the pigs as they drown in the sea. That is the devil’s plan for you. That is what sin does every time. The road of sin leads to your grave. The road of salvation leads to life everlasting.

Perhaps Jesus allowed this so that this poor man would know he was really, truly safe. That the demons were gone and they would not return to trap him again. Because He wanted to remind us:

Micah 7:19 – ¹⁹ He will again have compassion on us; he will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

That’s what Jesus does when He forgives us because He delights in His faithful love toward us.

Mark 5:14-17 – ¹⁴ The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs. ¹⁷ Then they began to beg him to leave their region.

So, like the 12, these Gentiles were afraid. Terrified because they did not understand Who Jesus was. They don’t glorify God. They don’t think, “Maybe we should hear more from this miracle worker.” No, they go right to: “Would You please leave?”

We’d expect people to say, “Hey, I know this other person who is demon possessed,” or, “I’ve got this sick family member, let me go get them.” But they were not interested. And perhaps that is why the demons asked to go into the pigs. Maybe they knew these people well enough to know they cared more about their sows than their souls.

Now, turn from the crowd to the man. He has been totally transformed. He’s gone from screaming to serene. From naked to clothed. And we’ll see this wasn’t just him feeling a little better, but his mind is fixed. His desires and behavior are changed. Now he has strength for life not just death.

But there he is, seated and clothed. Jesus didn’t just deliver him, but also provided for him. Perhaps the cloak was Peter’s or John’s. Maybe it was Jesus’! But he was made well, from the inside out.

Mark 5:18-20 – ¹⁸ As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him earnestly that he might remain with him. ¹⁹ Jesus did not let him but told him, “Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.

After all that, Jesus gets right back in the boat to go back to Jewish territory. You know, Jesus does not stay where He isn’t wanted.^[15] When a nation, a community, a family, or a church says, “We don’t trust You, we’re not interested in Your opinion or Your leading,” then the Lord withdraws Himself. That should be a very sobering thought for us. It happened to churches in the New Testament. Instead of allowing pride or fear or misunderstanding to determine our relationship to Jesus, we should be like this Gerasene man. He begged to remain with Jesus.

That’s an interesting phrase – it’s exactly how disciples were described back in chapter 3. The 12 were those He appointed to be with Him and to be sent out to preach. This man was instantly filled with a desire for discipleship.

And Jesus says no?!? What in the world is going on here? Well, let’s remember: This is a Gentile. Jesus’ ministry at this point in time was not to the Gentile world – not yet. And bringing a Gentile into the group would’ve caused significant problems among the Jews. But did Jesus say this man couldn’t be a disciple? Actually, the Lord sent him out to proclaim the Gospel in the Decapolis as the Gentile world’s first missionary. To go and spread the word of God’s power and His mercy. And the man does it, fearlessly. The disciples were afraid. The crowds were afraid. But the one who was delivered had no fear. He became a proclaimer just like John the Baptist had been a proclaimer.

As we close, a couple thoughts about discipleship. On one level, it is shocking to us that Jesus would allow the demons to go where they wanted, but not allow this man to come follow Him. But, the Lord knows what is best and what is needful. One commentator writes, “Jesus’ answer [to this man] shows how impossible it is to have a stereotyped definition of discipleship. One person is taken away from home and family, another is sent back to them contrary to his own wishes.”^[16]

Will we allow the Lord to set the destinations and directives of our lives? That’s what real discipleship is. To kneel before Him, not because we were compelled by His power, but because we are compelled by our love for Him. A love that trusts and obeys.

And second, notice Jesus did not send this man out with power to perform any miracles. What did he have? His transformed life was the demonstration of God’s power. The changes in his life were the visible proof of God’s mercy, of God’s love, of God’s truth, of God’s activity. Now, the Lord may do miraculous things through you, but that’s not what we really need to make a difference in the world. Your life, changed by the Gospel, is proof enough. Your heart, your mind, your attitude, your choices, your hope when transformed by the love of God is enough to make an unbelieving world marvel.