Sermon Notes - June 2, 2024
Follow Me / Mark 5 / Stronger Than Your Demons
Pastor Chris Pletcher
Mark 4:35-41
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 5 //
Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon
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[d] 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.
Jesus Heals a Woman and Jairus's Daughter
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[e] 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.
“NO ONE HAD THE STRENGTH TO SUBDUE HIM.”
Mark 3:22-27 // And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem were saying, “He is possessed by Beelzebul,” and “by the prince of demons he casts out the demons.” 23 And he called them to him and said to them in parables, “How can Satan cast out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. 26 And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end. 27 But no one can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. Then indeed he may plunder his house.
“UNLESS HE FIRST BINDS THE STRONG MAN”
“NO ONE COULD BIND HIM ANYMORE”
“NO ONE HAD THE STRENGTH TO SUBDUE HIM”
But so far in Mark’s gospel, the Deliverance King has commanded unclean spirits, rebuked demonic forces of nature, and erased sickness and disease. All of it LISTENS TO HIS COMMAND.
Rebuke //
To tax with fault, to enforce a merited penalty
To express severe disapproval in a formal statement
It is a correction or penalty being enforced from a seat of authority
“Even the wind and sea OBEY him.”
To listen, to hearken to a command, to be obedient to, to submit to
THIS IS A MAJOR THEME through the first 5 chapters of Mark… AUTHORITY.
The word is rooted in “authorship” - the Creator of the cosmos Himself is walking on the planet He formed. Adam squandered his authority and things got badly OUT OF ORDER. The second Adam is here to put them back in their place… UNDER the dominion of man.
“No one had the strength (ability, power, force, sound health) to subdue (to tame, to restrain, to curb) him.”
THE SECOND ADAM IS SUBDUING THE EARTH! And He is subduing the unseen spiritual realm that is behind so much of our dysfunction and brokenness.
Aren’t you so thankful that someone is strong enough for your issues?
Aren’t you so thankful that someone is powerful enough to handle your dysfunction?
Aren’t you grateful that someone is forceful enough to command your demons?
HIS NAME IS JESUS. HE IS IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD. HE IS THE WORD WHO BECAME FLESH AND DWELT AMONG US. HE IS THE BREAD OF LIFE. HE IS THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. HE WAS ANOINTED IN THE HOLY SPIRIT TO SAVE, HEAL, DELIVER and SUBDUE ALL THAT IS OUT OF ORDER IN OUR LIVES.
No one else can do what this man does.
New Age healing can’t do what this man does.
Self-help gurus can’t do what this man does.
Religious works can’t do what this man does.
Medical doctors can’t do what this man does!
HE’S THE AUTHOR!!! And He’s forcefully rebuking the strongholds… the strong spirits… the things that “NO ONE COULD BIND.” And just like at the dawn of creation, He is simply using His VOICE.
“COME OUT OF THE MAN” // “PEACE! BE STILL!” // “GO.”
Matthew 8:16-17
That evening they brought to him many who were oppressed by demons, and he cast out the spirits with a word and healed all who were sick. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.”
Matthew 8:28-32
And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” 30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” 32 And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters.
There is a revelation for us here when confronting spirits… DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE the power of your WORDS. There is death and life in the power of your tongue because you are made in the image of God.
IF YOU ARE A BORN AGAIN CHILD OF GOD, THE ONE WHO COMMANDS DEMONS LIVES INSIDE OF YOU. Maybe it’s time to start talking back…
Daimonizomai
“Demon-possessed”
Many scholars would say “demon-oppressed” is more accurate
But the point is that unclean spirits had a strong hold on this man and needed to “COME OUT” of him, which presumes that they were IN him… right?
What’s in a NAME?
IDENTITY
The question called out to his personal or true identity. The demons had robbed him of his identity to such an extent that not only did they make him an outcast from human society but deprived him of the right to his true name.
The question disclosed the level of torment the demons had inflicted on the man. The demoniac's response, “LEGION”, was a term used to describe a battalion in ancient Roman soldiers which comprised of 4000- 6000 soldiers.
AUTHORITY
In the Book of Genesis, God gave Adam dominion over all creatures by granting Adam the right to name them. Knowing the name of a creature gives you the ability to direct or control it. One cannot control that which has no name.
Naming has power, and knowing the name of something is the beginning of commanding it. This is true for everything that gives us trouble in our lives. If we cannot name that which troubles us, we are powerless to overcome it.
Mark 5:14-15 //
The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 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.
Then the story shifts from a tormented, isolated Gentile man to unclean Jewish women.
Men are often wild. Unsubdued. Unbroken.
Women are often wounded. Crushed. Cast aside.
“NO ONE HAD THE POWER TO HEAL HER.”
“...who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse.”
“Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the teacher any longer?”
But this story is showing us something far more powerful than a great teacher…
Both victims of illness are female and ritually unclean, one as a result of death and one as a result of hemorrhage;
Both are regarded as “daughters” (the little girl being Jairus’s daughter and the woman who is addressed by Jesus as “Daughter”).
An act of touch restores both women to new life even as those surrounding them lack understanding.
Both represent the significance of the number twelve in Jewish tradition
To the Jewish people, the number 12 was FULL of divine meaning. It represented perfection or authority. Jesus wasn’t just a TEACHER - He was the AUTHOR! The number 12 in Hebrew signifies perfect government—God's government, divine order. THE AUTHOR IS RESTORING ORDER TO THE WORLD HE CREATED.
Jesus is breaking through every social and religious barrier that existed.
Gentile vs. Jew: The juxtaposition of one scene happening outside of Jewish territory and the other scene centering upon a synagogue ruler’s daughter is ON PURPOSE… there is no partiality with God.
Male vs. Female: Whether it’s wild, demonized men or broken, outcast women… there is no partiality with God.
Clean vs. Unclean: Whether you are embraced or outcast by society’s norms… there is no partiality with God. The Kingdom is breaking in and ALL are invited in!
FAITH vs. FEAR
In Mark’s gospel, fear and faith are paired opposites. The theme of fear is already fresh in the reader’s mind, as it was prominent in the disciples’ response to Jesus’ calming of the storm (4:35-41) and in the response to the Gerasene Demoniac (5:1-20).
Fear is a recurring theme in Mark. Not only has it led up to Mark 5:21-43, but later in the narrative it continues to epitomize one reaction to the Kingdom of God breaking into the world. The disciples react with fear when Jesus walks on the water, and the episode ends with their hearts being hardened (6:45-52). Heading up to Jerusalem produces fear in those who follow (10:32-34). The Jewish leadership fears Jesus because he has curried favor and fame with crowds (11:18).
Further Study:
“The Woman Who Bled for 12 Years” By Rev. Alisha Riepma
“Commentary on Mark 5:21-43” By Micah D. Kiel
RESPONSE //
What is it in your life that “NO ONE HAS THE _________” to help?
Strength or Power
Wisdom or Expertise
Counseling or Medical degree
FAITH is always found at the intersection of our FEAR. COME TO THE ALTAR.
BUT ONLY COME IF YOU HAVE FAITH THAT JESUS CAN DO WHAT NO ONE ELSE CAN.