Jesus, Our Peace | Mark 4:35 - 5:43

December 27, 2020 Speaker: Curtis Hall Series: Stand Alone Sermons

Topic: New Testament Passage: Mark 4:35– 5:43

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INTRO: JESUS, OUR PEACE  

 Hello Mercy Fellowship. If you don’t know me, my name is Curtis and I am an elder  candidate here at the church as well as running a Fellowship group.We’re going to be in Mark  chapter 4 & 5 today, so if you have a bible, you can open up there.  

Something we should ask ourselves this morning as we close out the year, is in what ways has  this world tried to offer us peace & comfort admits all the chaos we’ve faced? Slogans such as  “We are all in this together,” others such as “Do your part, mask up!” But all of these are shallow  attempts at trying to give us peace. that we have seen and learned from this year as things are  being stripped back and the daily noise of everyday has been bogged down, is that the world  has nothing to offer us for our comfort and our peace, it’s not enough to make us whole; to  make us well, to heal us. I just heard on the radio the other day that of adults that live in king  county, more than 50% say that they are struggling with depression this year. I think that is a  number that is largely reflective of the rest of this state and maybe even the country as well.  What we don’t need is 7 steps to peace or some other process were by comfort is the end goal.  No, what we need is God Himself to intervene in our lives, to change and transform us. This is  the job of any preacher, to present us who God is, and how we should live differently in light of  Him. So here’s where we are going in Mark’s gospel today, is a couple scenes where chaos  erupts and Jesus is revealing who He is in the midst of chaos for the purpose of bringing about  peace. So if we would seek God first above all else, then He will give us peace, come what may.  

JESUS CONTROLS THE NATURAL WORLD:  

Starting in Mark 4:35, we read:  

35 On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.”  36 And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. And other boats  were with him. 37 And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so  that the boat was already filling. 38 But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion. And they  

woke him and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” 39 And he awoke  and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, and there was  a great calm. 40 He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?” 41 And they  were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the  sea obey him?” (Mark 4:35-41)  

Context:  

What we read from this story, is that Jesus, after speaking about parables of the Kingdom of  Heaven to others, He speaks to His apostles, and says they should go to the other side of the Sea  of Galilee. This sea was about 700ft below sea level, which would result in sudden windstorms.  So, the apostles obey Jesus and as they go out and Jesus is sleeping, a windstorm breaks out. It  says that water was breaking into the boat, and the boat was filling, so it would be a short time  before they all go over board. 

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Facing Fear:  

What would be running through your mind if you were on this boat? Fear? A real emotion that  we have all faced this year to some degree. Let’s dig a little deeper though, fear of what? Fear of  death? Maybe a fear that God does not care? What do the apostles say to Jesus?  “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Chaos is a great revealer in showing us what  we actually believe to be true. When you lose your job, lose money, when health is bad, when  death comes to your family. When we’re put against the fire of chaos, what we actually believe  to be true boils to the surface.  

Jesus Rebukes:  

The story continues that Jesus awakes from His sleep, He calms the sea to where there is a great  calm it says, and Jesus confronts the apostles. He asks “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no  faith?” Now, I am amazed by this, because you would think that after this great storm is gone  and the reality of sudden death has passed, the apostles would have peace. Not so though, rather  it says “they were filled with great fear and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the  wind and the sea obey him?’” Why did the apostles have great fear? They have fear because  they actually don’t know who Jesus is. They are re-evaluating who Jesus is in light of what has  happened, because most likely, growing up they would have learned from studying the OT that  God alone is the one who causes storms and calms them. They have fear because they actually  don’t know who Jesus is and Jesus is rebuking them, because if they actually knew Him, they  would have responded differently to the fear they were facing.  

Now here me on this, I am not saying that if we have fear, we don’t know God, rather, it is when  we have fear, how do we react? When we have fear, do we go to God in faith as a place of  refuge?  

We should note that the question the apostles ask about who is Jesus, is not a rhetorical one.  Rather, Jesus is revealing Himself in chaotic situations for the purpose of bringing about peace.  

JESUS HAS POWER OVER ALL THINGS:  

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had  stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.  3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he  had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke  the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs  and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And when he  saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 And crying out with a loud voice, he  said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do  not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And  Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”  10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs  was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us  enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the  pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and 

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drowned in the sea. 14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people  came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and  they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the  demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their  region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged  him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your  friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”  20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him,  and everyone marveled. 21 And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a  great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. 22 Then came one of the rulers of  the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet 23 and implored him earnestly,  saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she  may be made well and live.” 24 And he went with him.  

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25 And there was a woman who had  had a discharge of blood for twelve years, 26 and who had suffered much under many  physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27 She had  heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment.  28 For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” 29 And immediately the  flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30 And Jesus,  perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd  and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31 And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd  pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’” 32 And he looked around to see who  had done it. 33 But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling  and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your  faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”  

35 While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter  is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36 But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to  the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37 And he allowed no one to follow him  except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38 They came to the house of the ruler of  the synagogue, and Jesus saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. 39 And when he  

had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not  dead but sleeping.” 40 And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's  father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. 41 Taking her  by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42 And  

immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were  immediately overcome with amazement. 43 And he strictly charged them that no one should  know this, and told them to give her something to eat. (Mark 5:1-43)  

Jesus Power Over Demons:  

Once Jesus and the apostles go to the other side of the water, they come across a man. Who has  been demon possessed and living in the graveyard. The locals had tried everything to keep him  bound by chains and it didn’t work as he would break them. What’s the situation? 

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Hopeless on the part of the people who lived there and hopeless for this demon-possessed man.  Nothing but darkness. But Jesus intervenes, and Jesus is the light that shines in the darkness and  the darkness has not overcome Him, John says. Jesus has great love and mercy for him, and frees  him from his bondage.  

What we should take from this is that transformation and new life are found in Jesus alone. Jesus  is the one who alone takes people that are hopeless, addicts, drunks, ruined lives, wasted years  and good as dead and gives them life! If this communicates anything to us, is that there is hope  for us that our suffering does not have the last word in our story. That pain and tormenting do not  control the Christians life but rather it is Jesus.  

Jesus Reversing Impurity:  

What about the women with the discharge of blood for 12 years? It says that she suffered much  under the hands of physicians, she had spent all her money and didn’t get any better, but rather  grew worse. What’s her situation? Hopelessness, but in more than one way.  

Unclean/sin before God:  

Because of this women’s discharge of blood, ceremonially speaking, she was unclean. This goes  back all the way to Levitcus 15, where anyone who has a flesh wound or a discharge of blood in  some way, was unclean. Meaning, they could not enter God’s temple until they quarantined  themselves away from the rest of the tribe for 7 days until they were clean and after that they  could return and but first had to go and make a sacrifice in the temple. That’s great, but what  about those who like this women, never became ceremonially clean? She would never be able to  enter the temple of God, along with that anywhere she would go where others were, she would  have to announce her impurity publicly, so that people may be aware and can distance  themselves from her, so that her impurity does not spread. Her situation was hopeless before men  and seemed to be hopeless before God.  

Made clean/sinless by God:  

Nothing has worked for her, so as Jesus comes by she says as a final effort “If I touch even his  garments, I will be made well.” She is example of great faith for us. What happened? Her  impurity was reversed! The thing that kept her from entering the presence of God in the temple  and being in community with others had been taken from her, and she was made well. This is  exactly what Jesus does with us if you’ve placed your trust in Him. He takes us who are sinful,  unclean and cleanses us by His blood on the cross for our sins. 1 John 1:9, says “If we confess  our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Do you know this morning that you are clean?  

*Save & Heal 

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Jesus Reverses Death:  

The final story in our portion of scripture today is the 12 year old daughter of Jairus, who was a  ruler in the synagogue it said and chaos had erupted in his family with his daughter being at the  point of death (V.23). But we read later on that by the time Jesus gets close to her, the story  moves from chaos to hopelessness where the girl had died, death had won and Jesus was too late  to intervene. Jesus comes along and says “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The  child is not dead but sleeping.”(V.39) And Jesus speaks the the girl, commanding her to arise  and she wakes up from the dead.  

If this says anything to you and me it is this; death does not have the final word on our lives, but  rather whatever Jesus speaks over it. One day Jesus will speak over us and He will either say  “Well done, good and faithful.” Or “Depart from me, I never knew you.” Death doesn’t have the  final say but rather the great judge of the universe does, and what He says matters over us, either  leading to eternal life which is the reversal of death, just like this. girl or eternal damnation in  hell, which is an eternal death.  

The connection:  

So, if we thread the needle and connect the dots now to all of these stories, what is being  communicated to us? From all these chaotic situations, Jesus is revealing Himself and what He  does for His people for the purpose of our peace. The apostles ask the question, “Who then is  this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” This is Jesus, He has power over the natural  world, He has power over the supernatural world, He can reverse our impurities/sins and can  even reverse death itself. And Jesus looks at you and me this morning and ask us a question.  “Why are you so afraid? Where is your faith?”  

The Cross:  

The most chaotic situation in all of human history, is when Jesus goes to the cross and is  crucified. The reaction to the death of Jesus is hopelessness on the part of His followers. “The  light of the world has died, death and Satan have won, and there is no chance of goodness and  life prevailing. “ And what does Jesus do? On the third day, He resurrects from the grave,  conquering Satan, sin and death. Do you know what the resurrection means? It means that  whatever we may face, will not last. That if the resurrection is true, all the wrongs will be made  right and all that is sad will come untrue. And the hope we get from Jesus victory over death is  when He says “In this world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the  world.” (John 16:33)