INTRO:

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. 

* Change of plans. Not what we had planned but what God had foreknown. 

So that we might be true disciples of Jesus.

This morning, we are talking about Jesus making all things new, and the big idea is this, we live in a world that is broken. Due to sin and man’s rebellion against God and not submitting to Him, this world is not what God had originally created, it is a fractured world. Bearing in it both beauty from what God has created but also chaos due to sin. And what God does, in His great grace and mercy, is that He doesn’t leave us on our own to figure it out. He doesn’t  tell us  to get our act together, but He comes at the right time and intervenes into human history. 

*Story of women getting robbed in NY

God came down to our suffering, our brokenness, our sin to take that which is destroyed by sin to make all things new. This is why Christians don’t flee from issues in society but rather run to them, because by doing so we are imitating our God. 

So this morning, I don’t believe we are changed merely by good preaching or by churches being  planted all of which is incredibly significant. Rather, we need an encounter with God, will come into our lives and take that which is broken by sin and give it new life.

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. 

*This is the part where we interject ourselves into the story. We are just like the apostles and they think just like us. 

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 or do we run elsewhere to find security in something else?

We should note that the question the apostles ask about who is Jesus, is not a rhetorical one.

Jesus reveals himself for 2 reasons:

1) To show that He is God. 2) Specifically something about the nature and character if God. 

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 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? 

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

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 being his true disciples. 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 and cleanse us of our impurities/sins and can even reverse death itself. And Jesus looks at you and me this morning and ask you 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. All that is lost will be restored. So many people this time of year are longing for a new year, not recognizing that Jesus has come and given us a new world, His kingdom that we have the privilege of building now. I don’t know where you find yourself in life this morning, but you should trust Jesus, because He alone is the one who can make all things new.