Sermon Tone Analysis

Why Are You So Afraid?

Mark 4:35-5:43

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Introduction

In Singapore there is a Ferris wheel which is the largest in the world called the Singapore Flyer.

On Amazing Race last Sunday one of the teams took a fast forward and had to take the Singapore Flyer to the top and then they were to go outside the capsule which holds passengers and walk from one capsule to another.

One of the brothers who did this was terribly afraid of heights and it took all his courage to do it.

What are you afraid of?

Fear of heights is called Acrophobia, but there are many other fears and some rather unusual ones.

Did you know that Alektorophobia  is the fear of chickens; Ergophobia the fear of work; Lachanophobia the fear of vegetables and Peladophobia the fear of bald people?

What are you afraid of?

Psychologists and psychiatrists  classify most phobias into three categories Social phobia which are fears involving other people or social situations such as performance anxiety; specific phobias such as fear of a single specific panic trigger such as spiders, snakes, dogs, water, heights etc. and Agoraphobia which is a generalized fear of leaving home or a small familiar 'safe' area.

What are you afraid of?

I have two aunts, my dad’s sisters.

One lives in Winnipeg and one lives in Annapolis Maryland.

The later is a pretty good amateur photographer.

Last summer they went to Banff for a summer vacation and one day they took a hike up to a high mountain lake which involved about two hours of walking.

They enjoyed the area and just when they were about to leave they saw a Grizzly bear walking towards them.

The photographer aunt was very excited and began taking pictures.

The other aunt was terrified and began singing hymns.

The bear came near, saw that they were there and walked away and so they got away safely and with some great pictures.

What are you afraid of?

We have just spent the last 6 weeks examining the Easter story and have been amazed at what Jesus did in his death and resurrection.

On Easter Sunday, we asked the question, “What does it mean to live in the resurrection?”

The answer we came up with was that it means to follow Jesus.

Discipleship is the obvious next step when we recognize the great gift of God we have received in Christ.

But what does it mean to live as a disciple?

What are the details of following Jesus?

That is the question we will begin to study as we examine the rest of Mark.

Today we will look at lessons on fear and faith from the stories in Mark 4:35-5:43.

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I.                   Four Stories

These four stories are connected to each other.

Some of the connections we see are that the story of Jesus calming the sea is connected with the story of the healed demoniac in the mention of the sea.

The sea was perceived as a place of turmoil and the abode of demons and it was the place where the demons ended up.

The story of the demoniac and the sick woman is connected in that both of these stories have to do with persons who had suffered deeply for a long time.

The story of the woman and the girl are connected in that the story of the healing of the woman is inserted within the story of the raising of the girl.

So let us take a look at these stories.

!! A.                 Jesus Calms the Storm

Jesus had been teaching his disciples through parables and near the end of that day Jesus suggested to the disciples that they should cross the lake.

It almost seems as if Jesus was going to an appointment.

While they were on the way a serious wind storm came up.

Apparently this is not uncommon on the Sea of Galilee.

Jesus had been teaching and ministering to the people and was tired and so he was in the back of the boat sleeping.

By this time it was likely dark and the storm was getting so serious that the waves began to crash over the sides of the boat and the boat was in danger of swamping.

It was so serious that, as Geddert says, “Even experienced fishermen consider it life-threatening, but not Jesus; he sleeps.”

The disciples woke Jesus up with what seems to be a rebuke asking Him, “Don’t you care if we are destroyed?”

One wonders why they woke him up.

Did they want him to help bail?

Did they want him to pray like the sailors wanted Jonah to pray to his God?

It does not seem as if they expected him to calm the sea but, Jesus woke up and told the wind and the waves to quiet down and they did.

The great storm became a great calm at the word of Jesus and the disciples were amazed at what Jesus did and even more amazed at Jesus.

!! B.                 Jesus Heals the Demoniac

When they arrived on the other side, one assumes that it was morning.

The area was identified as the area of the Gerasenes.

It was primarily an area in which Gentile people lived.

We also know this because of the presence of a herd of pigs, which would not have existed in an area where Jews lived, because they considered pigs as unclean animals.

Almost immediately a man who lived in that area noticed Jesus coming and immediately ran towards Him.

This man lived in the tombs.

When we think of these tombs we have to remember that in those days tombs were not neat rows of 6 foot deep graves covered by flowers or granite markers.

Most likely it was an area of some kind of caves and so the man would have found shelter in these caves which were also occupied by bodies or at least bones.

What a terrible place to live!

He was a deeply disturbed man who was uncontrollable and also in so much inner turmoil that he did himself harm by cutting himself.

We still read about this today and one web site commenting on self harm says, “Cutting is a way some people try to cope with the pain of strong emotions, intense pressure, or upsetting relationship problems.

They may be dealing with feelings that seem too difficult to bear, or bad situations they think can't change.”

That is where this man was at.

It is a little confusing to know exactly who is speaking when.

Did the man come toward Jesus even though he was possessed by demons?

Who was in control when the man knelt before Jesus – the man or the demons?

What was the meaning of his kneeling?

When Jesus addressed the man, it was the demons who spoke indicating that the man was possessed by many demons.

These demons recognized Jesus and His authority and requested not to be sent out of the area and Jesus permitted them to be sent into the pigs.

I believe that the demons were out to destroy the man, but they could not completely destroy him because he retained a little of his own mind and will.

When the demons went into the pigs, they had complete control and destroyed the pigs and themselves.

Even though they did not want to be sent out of the area, most would have understood that being destroyed in the sea also indicated their going to the place of destruction.

As a consequence the man was completely changed.

No longer wild and uncontrollable, as he had been before, we read three important statements about him which indicate the tremendous change which had taken place.

In Mark 5:15 we read that he was sitting, he was dressed and he was in his right mind.

The people from the surrounding area were astounded and asked Jesus to leave the area.

The response of the people is interesting and Geddert asks, “Do they really prefer to cope with demons than with a power great enough to expel them?

Or do they just love their pigs more than the life that was saved when the pigs were lost?”

Jesus does not stay where he is not wanted.

The man asked to go with Jesus, but was sent back to his home town to tell what God had done for him and he went back to his home town and told what Jesus had done for him.

!! C.                 Jesus Heals a Sick Woman

When Jesus got back to the other side of the lake again he had a very different reception.

Here people wanted him around and wanted to experience all that He could do for them.

While he was once again ministering and teaching, a synagogue leader came to make a request of Jesus.

With all of the conflict Jesus had with such people it is interesting that this man was ready to accept help from Jesus.

His daughter was so seriously ill that she was dying and he requested that Jesus come and heal her and Jesus began to make His way to his home.

But on the way he was interrupted.

A woman, who had had a medical problem for a long time became aware that Jesus was around.

The text doesn’t say what the cause of her bleeding was, but we have enough information to know that she was uncomfortable and unwell, probably anemic and weak and certainly unclean.

She would not have been to worship in the synagogue for a long time because of her problem.

So her problem was not only that the doctors had made her poor or that she had to constantly deal with her bleeding.

She was also probably shunned by others.

Because of all her problems, she was too ashamed to come up to Jesus and identify herself and ask for healing.

She did, however, have enough courage to quietly, and she hoped unnoticed, sneak through the crowd and touch Jesus.

She believed that if she could only touch His garment, she would be healed.

So that is what she did and when she did, she noticed within herself immediately that she was healed.

At the same time, Jesus noticed within himself that power for healing had gone out of him and he asked what seemed to the disciples to be a foolish question.

He asked, “Who touched me.”

The disciples grasped the ridiculousness of the question and mockingly asked Jesus, “What do you mean?