Should you be afraid of Jesus?
Brian Fletcher
Mark 4:35-41
Intro/Context: I love that we are reading this story and that our church sits on a lake.
The context of this story is that Jesus had been teaching a crowd of people by the lake in Capernaum, which sits on the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee. I know this because I was there last summer.
But the context also reveals that Jesus had a reason to get into the boat and go to the other side of the lake. Jesus is actually taking the disciples with him to go and heal a man who was in a really bad way. A man who was possessed with a ''legion'' of demons. Do you remember that story? When Jesus cast out the demons he cast them into a herd of pigs and they rushed down a hill and drown in the sea?
So this story sits in between his teaching and his healing. And while I think the main point to this particular story of Jesus calming the storm is to show that Jesus has power over creation, there is a secondary meaning and that is Jesus will not be deterred from carrying out his mission to save this poor demon-possessed man.
The text says, ''when evening had come...'' Jesus wants to go to the other side of the lake. So it is getting dark and will be night-time soon. The distance from Capernaum to the place Jesus wants to go is about 4 miles. That is the same distance from one end of the Reservoir to the other. And remember, they do not have a motor, only sails and oars. I have a sailboat at the other end of the lake and 4 miles is pretty far. Depending on the wind and which direction it is blowing, it could take a few hours to get where they are going.
The place where they are going is called the Decapolis, which means ten cities and it is a region on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. And it is a very pagan region. The gospels tell us that Jesus only visited this area twice.
Now, there are two key ...
Brian Fletcher
Mark 4:35-41
Intro/Context: I love that we are reading this story and that our church sits on a lake.
The context of this story is that Jesus had been teaching a crowd of people by the lake in Capernaum, which sits on the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee. I know this because I was there last summer.
But the context also reveals that Jesus had a reason to get into the boat and go to the other side of the lake. Jesus is actually taking the disciples with him to go and heal a man who was in a really bad way. A man who was possessed with a ''legion'' of demons. Do you remember that story? When Jesus cast out the demons he cast them into a herd of pigs and they rushed down a hill and drown in the sea?
So this story sits in between his teaching and his healing. And while I think the main point to this particular story of Jesus calming the storm is to show that Jesus has power over creation, there is a secondary meaning and that is Jesus will not be deterred from carrying out his mission to save this poor demon-possessed man.
The text says, ''when evening had come...'' Jesus wants to go to the other side of the lake. So it is getting dark and will be night-time soon. The distance from Capernaum to the place Jesus wants to go is about 4 miles. That is the same distance from one end of the Reservoir to the other. And remember, they do not have a motor, only sails and oars. I have a sailboat at the other end of the lake and 4 miles is pretty far. Depending on the wind and which direction it is blowing, it could take a few hours to get where they are going.
The place where they are going is called the Decapolis, which means ten cities and it is a region on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. And it is a very pagan region. The gospels tell us that Jesus only visited this area twice.
Now, there are two key ...
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