Introduction
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; 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 phobias 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?
One year I
was heading home from Simonhouse Bible Camp to The Pas with a group of men. I
was driving and all of a sudden I hit black ice. The road had been clear, but
very suddenly it was very slippery and the car began to swerve. I lifted my
foot off the accelerator and began to steer against the swerve. To say the
least, I was alert, but the man beside me, who had previously survived a fairly
serious accident was terrified. I am very thankful that we stayed between the
ditches and that there was no car coming towards us. What are you afraid of?
If we know
that we have a God who is all powerful and loves us, is there any reason for
fear? How does being a disciple of Jesus help us deal with fear? Today we will
look at lessons on fear and faith from the stories in Mark 4:35-5:43 .
I. Four Stories
There are four stories in this
section 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, “…do you not care that we are perishing?” 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 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 earth and decorated with flowers or granite markers. Most
likely it was an area in which there were caves which were used as graves. 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 cutting 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 likely what this man was experiencing.
It is a little confusing to know
exactly who was speaking in the conversation between the man and Jesus. Why 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 declaring 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 there, clothed and 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 did not stay where he was not wanted and
began the return journey to the other side of the lake.
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 this man's home.
On the way he was interrupted. A
woman, who had had a medical problem for a long time came to Jesus. 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. 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, “Who touched my clothes?” The disciples grasped the
ridiculousness of the question and mockingly asked Jesus, “You see the crowd
pressing in on you; how can you say, ‘Who touched me?” But the woman knew that
the gig was up and confessed that she was the one who had touched him. Jesus
addressed her as daughter and with this compassionate, personal touch He
assured her of healing. He intended not only physical healing, but healing of
her social situation and also healing of her soul. She was given complete
healing.
D. Jesus Raises a Child
Meanwhile Jairus was probably
getting quite anxious. He knew that his daughter needed help quickly or there
would be no hope. This delay was not helping and sure enough by the time all
had been sorted out, people from Jairus’ home came and told him not to bother
Jesus anymore because it was too late, the girl had died.
Jesus, however, encouraged the man
and they kept going. When they got to his home, they noticed that a crowd of
mourners had already gathered. It was common to hire professional mourners to
assist in the grieving process and that is why these people who appeared to be
so sincere in their grieving, so quickly turned to mocking when Jesus suggested
that the girl was not dead, but sleeping.
Jesus took only three disciples and
the parents with him into the house and the little girl was raised from the
dead. The detail of her age was added to let the reader know that the girl was
old enough to walk. Having been weakened by the process of dying, Jesus
encouraged the parents to give her something to eat. They and the disciples
were astonished that Jesus had raised this girl from the dead, but were told to
speak to no one about this. This command was probably given because Jesus was
careful not to draw thrill seekers, but followers, which brings us to the
question of discipleship. What do we learn about following Jesus in this
passage?
II. Fear and Faith
There are all kinds of connections
between these stories. The sea is mentioned in two of them. Twelve years is
mentioned in two of them. Ritual defilement is present in three of them, but
the connection which is made in every one of them is fear.
In Mark 4:38 we read that the
disciples feared the storm. It was a terrible storm and when they addressed
Jesus, they manifested their terror when they declared that they were afraid that
they were about to be destroyed. Jesus speaks of fear again in Mark 4:40 when he asks them,
“Why are you afraid?” When they observed that Jesus calmed the storm we read that
now they fear Jesus. The Greek translation would be, "They feared with a
great fear.” Fear appears again in the next story in the response of the people
to what happened. When they saw the man who had formerly been demon possessed
sitting and listening to Jesus in his right mind, Mark 5:15 says, “They were
afraid.” As we read on we notice in Mark
5:17 that they were so afraid that they asked Jesus to leave their
region. Fear is also present in the woman when she was found out. We read in Mark 5:33 that the woman, “…fell
at his feet and trembling with fear...” In this verse, fear is emphasized by
the use of two words for fear, “trembling and fear.” Fear is also present in
the heart of the father when he hears that his daughter is dead. But he really
has no time to feel or experience that fear because Jesus immediately calms him
by telling him, "Do not fear, only believe."
We notice
in these stories that there are two kinds of fear. On the one hand, there is
the fear of scary situations. When the waves began to crash over the side of
the boat, the disciples were afraid. Well, we can understand that kind of fear.
When the woman was found out and was in danger of being exposed and possibly
judged for her bold foray into the crowd, we can understand why she was afraid.
When the father heard that his daughter was dead, we certainly understand why
he feared. This kind of fear makes a lot of sense to us and we can identify
with it. We also fear many similar situations – natural disasters, illness,
shame, death. They are terrifying things and we can hardly fathom not being
afraid of them.
But there
is another kind of fear that is present in these stories and that is the fear of
the divine power of Jesus. When the disciples saw that the wind and the waves
obeyed Jesus, they “were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this?’” They
were aware of being in the presence of someone with power way beyond anything
they had ever seen before. They feared, but not in the positive sense of “fear
of the Lord” but in a sense of terror at the great power of Jesus. A similar
type of fear is seen in the people in the area of the Gerasenes. They observed
that Jesus had power over a power which none of them could control. They feared
this man because they could not control him. He had been among them for some
time and had probably done terrible things, if not to them, at least to
himself. But now they met someone who could control this uncontrollable man,
which meant that Jesus had even more power than the demons did. They feared the
power of God which was present among them.
But both
kinds of fear are overcome by the same answer and that is faith. Fear and faith are put together in
this passage as a lesson on following Jesus.
In Mark 4:40 , Jesus says to the
disciples, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” It seems that He was surprised that after all
that they had seen in Jesus, they still didn’t get it. His question implies
that if they believed in Him, they would not fear – not even when their boat
was in danger of being swamped.
We see that
faith is the answer again when we hear that it was through faith that the woman
was healed. Geddert says, “Faith was the conduit through which Jesus’ power
could flow to her need.”
It was also
through faith that the daughter of Jairus was healed. In Mark 5:36 , Jesus said to the
synagogue ruler, “Do not fear, only believe.”
Clearly fear and faith are mutually
exclusive. Either of the two kinds of fear, which we see in these stories are
not responses of faith. Faith overcomes the fear of circumstances and the fear
of God’s mysterious power.
These stories encourage us. Jesus
asked the disciples, “Have you still no faith?” Even though they lived in the
presence of Jesus they didn’t always get it right away. We also struggle as
they did and Jesus invites us also to have faith and not to fear.
III. Faith Wins Over Fear
Why can we respond in faith? We can
respond in faith when we know Jesus and these stories help us get to know
Jesus.
A. The Example of Jesus
The first encouragement to faith is
presented when we observe that Jesus was sleeping in the back of the boat. Some
may suggest that He was just a deep sleeper because He was so tired, but I
believe the story is intended to show us what Jesus was like. He was not
overcome with fear by the presence of a great storm. Even when they woke him up
and screamed in his face that they were going to die, He was calm and did not
fear. The example of Jesus encourages us to also have faith.
We may be tempted to say, “yes, but
that was Jesus” but I don’t think that should stop us from learning from Him.
Jesus is our example and so we need to follow that example. If He did not fear,
we are also encouraged not to fear. Because we have Jesus right with us at all
times in the person of the Holy Spirit, we have every reason to follow His
example to trust and not fear.
B. The Power of Jesus
These stories also give us another
reason to have faith instead of fear. They demonstrate the power which Jesus
had over each of the four different situations.
Jesus has power to overcome the
wind and the waves. If we rest in dependence on Jesus, we rest in dependence on
the one who can calm the storms. Whatever the storms, whether physical storms
involving real wind and real waves, or the storms in our mind or soul, we can
rest in His power to do what needs to be done in these situations.
He also has
power over demonic forces and can change a man who is out of control into a
person in control. John Calvin writes, (2:436) “Though we are not tortured by
the devil, yet he holds us as his slaves, till the Son of God delivers us from
his tyranny. Naked, torn, and disfigured, we wander about, till he restores us
to soundness of mind.”
Jesus also
has the power to heal long term illness and restore wholeness. The woman had
been suffering for a long time and was broken in so many ways, but Jesus was
not deterred by this long term problem. He had power over it.
Finally, we
see that Jesus has power over life and death. That is why he speaks of death as
sleep. Because Jesus has conquered death, we can speak of death not as an
ending, but as sleep with the confidence of waking in eternity.
The power of Jesus and the reality
of our relationship with Him allow us to have faith and not succumb to fear.
C. The Compassion of Jesus
There is one other powerful idea in
these stories and a connection between at least three of them that also
encourages us to trust.
There is a
common bond between the demon possessed man, the woman who was bleeding and the
dead girl. Not one of them would have been touched by any religious person in Israel
In Jesus we
see such compassion. What is the uncleanness in your life? Is it a sin you have
not dealt with? Is it a depth of sin so awful you cannot speak to anyone about
it? Jesus is not afraid of your sin and if you put your faith in Him, He will
cleanse you. No matter who we are, we do not need to fear Jesus. He welcomes us
when we come to Him.
Conclusion
When you have a test at school,
what is the purpose of the test? Is it not to see what you have learned? Jesus
had been teaching the disciples through the parables about the need to see with
eyes of faith and hear with ears of faith. Had they learned? When they got into
the boat it was time for a test and we learn that they failed the test. But the
test became another opportunity to learn.
So we also experience many tests in
life. Jesus asks us, as he did the disciples in Mark 4:40 , “Why are you afraid?
Have you still no faith?” But He also encourages us as he did Jairus in Mark 5:36 , “Do not fear, only
believe.”
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