Mark 5 ~ immediately there met Him

Touch, by Ron di Cianni

Mark 5

1 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 were 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 [oppressed by demons] 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.


"Redefining Lostness" by Clark Lowenfield, HopePointe Anglican Church, 3333 South Panther Creek The Woodlands, TX 77391

We did have another Wednesday evening worship service filled with the experiencing of the Holy Spirit's power, peace, joy, wisdom, strength, gentleness...and so much more...here are the sermon notes for the power of the message of the 5th Chapter of the Gospel according to Mark.

As I warned the congregation gathered, we all can have the tendency of getting "stuck" on demons being moved from a man into a herd of pigs (2000 of them) and then driven off a cliff. It is all too dramatic and visual, too Hollywoodish, and this can so distract us that we can miss some of the most important insights we are to glean about ourselves from this story...

I) God's power in Jesus and His Holy Spirit will come and change and transform even the most tormented soul (Mark 5:1-13)

II) We observe and experience this kind of transforming power effecting others, it scares us and yet draws us toward Jesus, that we even talk about it with others (...scared to death, they bolted and told their story in the town. Everyone wanted to see what had happened... Mark 5:14).

III) The tangible evidence of God's power at work can cause us to be both in awe and upset all at the same time (...at first they were in awe...and then they were upset...Mark 5:15,16)

IV) In our conflicted state of intrigue, fear, awe and unsettledness, we can want to look for a way to process or dismiss the power...the trasformation...so we do so by proclaiming to ourselves and the Lord that this power or transformation must be for "someone else" (...and they begged Jesus to leave and go somewhere else... Mark 5:17)

V) When we choose to not have faith or we choose to process with unbelief about His power rather than belief, Jesus will in fact depart and take his power with him (...and Jesus was getting into the boat to leave Mark 5:18a)

VI) Part of the completion, sealing, finishing of our healing and transformation is wrapped up in the giving of the glory to God, publically, to others (...Go home and tell your own people...tell them your story...what the Master did for you...how He had mercy on you...Mark 5:20)

See you Sunday for "Redefining Lostness!"
With my love and prayers,
Clark+

Clark WP Lowenfield