Miracles Around the Lake - 240305

SPEAKER A Hello, I'm Kaysie Vokurka. Welcome to let God speak. Mark's gospel portrays Jesus as the action Messiah, and this is evident during his busy ministry around the sea of Galilee. He calms the storm, casts out demons, preaches, heals, feeds the people, walks on water, and even raises the dead. Join us as we discuss some of these incredible displays of power that are drawing the disciples closer to an understanding that he is the son of Goddess. On our panel today we have John Kosmeier and Cassie Sollano. Welcome to the programme. SPEAKER B Thank you. SPEAKER A Just before we begin, we're going to have a word of prayer. Loving Father, we thank you so much for the rich stories in your word that teach us more about who you are, and we just want to invite your spirit to be with us. Now guide us as we discuss these accounts and we ask in Jesus name, amen. The common people of Galilee were very receptive to Jesus. His fame spread quickly in the country, but Jesus ministered long days and suffered from fatigue like everyone else. We're going to start with the account of the storm on the Sea of Galilee, and we can find that in Mark, chapter 435 36. I'm going to read those verses to start with. It says, on the same day when evening had come, he said to them, let us cross over to the other side. Now when they had left the multitude, they took him along in the boat as he was, and other little boats also were with him. So what do we pick up from these two verses about Jesus hectic life? SPEAKER C Well, jesus had a multitude following him that the disciples had to send away. So he was clearly exhausted and he needed rest. He asked to go to the other side of the lake, but even though he was in a boat, he was still followed in other boats. SPEAKER A So he couldn't escape, could he? The people just kept coming with him. Yeah, that's true. So to continue the story, what happened next? SPEAKER B John, Mark, chapter four and verses 36 37. And I'm reading from the new King James version, and it says now, when they had left the multitudes, they took him along in the boat as he was, and other little boats were also with him. And a great windstorm arose and the waves beat into the boat so that it was already filling. But he was in the stern, fast asleep on a pillow. They woke him and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? Well, the sea of Galilee has some very interesting storms, and this was one of them. 1 minute was calm, and the next it was as rough as. And here the fishermen and they were experienced sailors, and even they were afraid. Jesus was exhausted from his work, and he was lying in the back of the boat fast asleep, and he did not wake up despite all the chaos that was around him. SPEAKER A That's incredible, isn't it? I mean, I don't know if I could do that. That's really amazing. Is there a lesson for us in what Jesus did there, Cathy? SPEAKER C There absolutely is. I'd like to just jump to Isaiah 26 three, which says, you will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on you because he trusts in you. Jesus was following the will of his father, and that's how he had this amazing peace in the face of all the chaos. That peace can be ours, too, when we trust in God. SPEAKER A That's a precious lesson, isn't it? SPEAKER C It really is. SPEAKER A Many of us have that in our lives, stuff going on around us, and we just need to focus on Christ. Yeah. So that's interesting. Now, the story continues in verse 39 through to 41. And it says there, then he arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace, be still. And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But he said to them, why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith? And they feared exceedingly and said to one another, who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Now, the disciples had seen jesus work miracles before, but in this ending here, we see mentioned that twice the disciples had a lot of fear. So, John, why did the disciples react that way in this situation? SPEAKER B A fear of death was the first fear. But when they saw what Jesus did, they went, what? Just who is this man that even the waves and the storms obey him? Because it had been so rough, it was risking their lives and also the lives of the other boats. And here Jesus stood up, calmed the storm, and he saved their lives and the other little boats as well. So they were a different kind of fear. It was awe and respect. And all of a sudden they didn't have answers. SPEAKER A And I guess through that fear of God and what he could do, then they lost that other fear, didn't they? The fear of their lives was gone, wasn't it? SPEAKER B Yeah. And that's what makes the book of Mark very special. And I always get people, when they first are introduced to the Bible, to read the Book of Mark, because they can there read the story of what Jesus really was. SPEAKER A That's powerful, isn't it? So, well, after the stormy boat ride across the lake, they arrived into a very fascinating area called the country of the the Gadarenes. And there's a very important event in this place in Jesus ministry. So we're going to read this passage. I'll get you to start us off, Cassie. Mark five, one five. And then John, if you can pick up verse six to ten and then I'll finish off up to verse 13. So thanks, Cassie. SPEAKER C All right. It says, then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. And when he had come out of the boat immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit of who had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces. Neither could any one tame him. And always night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs crying out and cutting himself with stones. SPEAKER B And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, what have I to do with you, Jesus, son of the most high God? I implore you by God, that you do not torment me. For he had said to him, Jesus had said to him, come out of the man unclean spirit. Then he asked him, what is your name? And he answered, saying, my name is legion, for we are many also. He begged him earnestly that he would not send him out of the country. SPEAKER A Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. So all the demons begged him, saying, send us to the swine that we may enter them. And at once jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine. There are about 2000. And the herd rantaine violently down the steep place into the sea and drowned in the sea. Wow. What a fascinating, eventful sort of story, isn't it? Cassie, what impression do you get of this man in the description that you read? SPEAKER C Well, he was possessed with demons and no doubt he looked terrifying. He was enraged and he had wounds and scars all over his body. And not only that, he was aggressive, violent and obviously strong. This was a man you stayed away from. You either got hurt or killed. So the disciples ran for their lives. SPEAKER A Yeah. So he was a very fearful sort of sight to come across like that. So John, how did the, how did this demon possessed man react to Jesus? SPEAKER B We're not quite sure really, because we don't know if the man was acting or if it was the demon who was acting. And so here his reaction was. He went over to Jesus to worship him. But then he said, you know, come out of him talking, Jesus talking to the demon. And the demon said, well, look, don't send me out of the country and send me into the pigs instead. What were the jews doing with so many pigs? SPEAKER A Good question. SPEAKER B You know, this book is full of very interesting little points. But here Christ was in complete control. He said, all right, you demons into the pigs. SPEAKER A Yeah, yeah, that's a very interesting point because the man obviously wasn't in control, you know, because the demons were taking over him. Yet Jesus was over control of the whole situation and he wasn't running away like the disciples would have been inclined to do, which is very fascinating. So why did the demonstration actually beg to be cast into the pigs? What was the motive behind that? Could we understand? SPEAKER C Well, it is interesting. So we've kind of got to think what did Satan want in this scenario? And he didn't want Jesus to have influence in this region of the Gentile Gadarenes. So this herd, as we've sort of mentioned, is a rare sight. It's worth a lot of money and would be hard to replace. So the demons, if they're cast into this herd, would destroy the pigs. And this would put the blame on Jesus. So this, well, this was Satan's aim, would offset the good he did by casting the demons out of this man. SPEAKER A So this is really a picture of that spiritual warfare going on, isn't it, between Christ and the demons or Satan's forces? How did this end? Like, what was the outcome of this event, John? SPEAKER B A demon possessed man and he had 2000 demons. Well, so many things we don't know about demon possession. How can 2000 demons be in one man cast out into the swine. The swine took the demons away. And here was this man sitting there peacefully listening to Jesus. And he had urges happen within his heart. You know, I want to be with you. And the people looked at the situation and they told Jesus what Jesus had told to the demons leave. And so we have a very interesting side play here of Jesus being told to leave when he had worked an amazing miracle in their region. And you just wonder. SPEAKER A Yeah, absolutely. That's quite a contrast, isn't it? And the demon possessed man who was freed, he didn't have that reaction, did he, Cassie? Tell us about that. SPEAKER C Yeah. Let's read in Mark five still verses 19 and 20. It says, however, jesus did not permit him, but said to him, go home to your friends and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you and how he has had compassion on you. And he departed and began to proclaim in disciples all that Jesus had done for him and all marvelled. So Jesus told others, well, he told this man to tell others that he had been healed by Jesus. But this man, in contrast to other people that Jesus had healed, was actually told to do this. When the others were said, oh no, don't say so. The reason for this difference is that this demon possessed man likely knew nothing about the scriptures or the plan of salvation. All he knew was that this man, Jesus, had delivered him from the demons. And imagine the impact of that story and of people seeing this man who they knew to be terrifying and enraged, to be delivered. And they knew that he was completely changed. And this is just such a powerful testimony of Jesus power over the demons. SPEAKER A It spoke for itself, didn't it? SPEAKER C It really did. SPEAKER A Quite amazing. Yeah. And so this would have had a huge impact in the region. Tell us about what the result of that was, John. SPEAKER B Jesus said to the man, you can't follow me. You stay here and you tell the people what Christ has done for you. And he did. He now went amongst the people. So the demons went into the pigs. Jesus was sent away. The man at Jesus command, he went and preached to the people. And nine months later it was amazing. A multitude came to hear Jesus and followed him. And there he performed the miracle of feeding 4000 men. And if their wives and children were with them, I mean, you're looking at 10,000 people. And so the amazing story of the life of Christ in the book of Mark just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. And so that man had a tremendous amount of influence upon the people. Jesus had been in command all the time. SPEAKER A Wow. So eventually his testimony, it won over any losses from the pigs and the people just they saw Jesus for who he was, didn't they? SPEAKER B Oh, by the way, just for interest's sake, those pigs were grown by the Gentiles to feed the roman soldiers who on the other side of the lake had their rest and recreation time. And so the Romans didn't have any pigs for a while. SPEAKER A Interesting. The influence spread further, didn't it? So Cassie, is there a lesson that we can take away from that in our own lives? SPEAKER C Yes, I think the lesson is that we can give our testimonies and in fact we have no excuse not to. We might think, oh, well, you know, am I equipped enough to do this? Am I a theologian or am I a teacher? But this demon possessed man wasn't. All he had to do was to tell the testimony of what jesus had done for him, and that's what we can take into our lives. When we have a personal experience with Jesus, we should share it with others so we can't underestimate the impact it will have on them. SPEAKER A Yeah. Because that really makes it real, doesn't it, what God is doing for us today and sharing that with others. Yeah. Thank you for that lesson. That's very, very powerful. So Jesus sailed back across the lake to Capernaum, and he never seemed to be able to escape people. They were always flocking to him and crowding to him. And this happened again. And this time, one of those people who came to him was a man named Jairus. John, can you tell us a little bit about Jairus and his situation? SPEAKER B Jorus, he was a big man in the area. He was actually one of the rulers of the synagogue, the church of their time, and his little daughter. And it's very easy for fathers to love daughters, and he was like one of us. And he knew that his daughter was dying. And as a last resort, he knew that Jesus was the great healer. So a message was sent and Jairus said to Jesus, he said, come and heal my daughter. And so away they went. And then, of course, that was interrupted. SPEAKER A Yeah. So Jesus had this request, and then he starts going towards Jairus house. Cassie, what happened on the way to going to Jairus house? SPEAKER C Well, it says in verse 24. So Jesus went with him and a great multitude followed him and thronged him. So again, he's being followed, so much so it's not an easy journey. He's swept with people on every side. So it's slow moving. SPEAKER A Yeah. So it's like when you're trying to push through the crowd, you can't get quickly where you want to go, can you? Yeah. So Jesus was confronted with that. He got interrupted not just by the crowd, but people in the crowd. Tell us about that, John. What happened? SPEAKER B There was a lady, and she had been sick with a flow of blood, as the Bible says, for twelve years. And so she was living a living death and she was rejected by her family and she was rejected by everybody because she was unclean, and as a result, she couldn't go and live a normal life. And she said, if only I could touch Jesus. And so she touched the hem of his garment. And Christ was in the great crowd and he said, somebody's touched me. And the disciples went, oh, surprise, surprise. He said, no, this is a. And the lady was sitting there, you know, and Jesus looked at her and says, it is your faith that has made you whole. And so here was Christ being interrupted in the work of raising somebody to death. When he gave this woman back her life, she was living a living death. And so here we have Christ all of a sudden involved in giving life, you know, saving it on the sea. Jairus daughter, now this woman, he's the great life giver. SPEAKER A Yeah, yeah. She certainly would have felt a new lease of life after that had happened. And what she'd been through all those years, this event, you know, sidetracked. Helping this lady would have taken extra time. What would Jairus would have been thinking at this time? Like, how would he have been feeling at the moment? SPEAKER C Can you share that, cassie? Well, his problem was totally urgent. So every time a second passes, his heart's breaking. He's thinking, oh, I'm out of time. I can't wait. You know, we've all been in a situation like that. We're just, you know, curry it up. But then he's told that his daughter had died. And then, oh, he's losing all his hope, and he's feeling horrible. But then Jesus, in his great mercy, says an amazing thing. And this is in verse 36. He says, yes. He says, do not be afraid, only believe. So just imagine hearing those words in this time when he's thinking, oh, I don't know what to do. He's saying, do not be afraid, only believe, and it'll be all right. SPEAKER A That's quite amazing, isn't it? Because to all human perspectives, this was a hopeless situation. Like, all chance has gone. And then Jesus says these words of hope to this man, and you wonder what he thought about that. What was the first thought in his mind when jesus said, oh, he still thinks there's hope here, which is amazing. So how did this story continue? How did it end for Jairus and his daughter? What happened? SPEAKER B Well, on the way to Jairus house, he gave life back to a woman. We go to Jairus house, and Jairus wife is there. And he said, it's all right. You don't have to cry because she sleeps. Verse 39. When he came in, he said to them, why make this commotion and weep? The child is not dead, but sleeping. And then they laughed at him. They were paid. They were paid to mourn. He went in, took the father and the mother, the parents and three of the disciples. And then he went in, took her by the hand, and said, talitha Kumai, which is translated, little girl, I say to you, arise immediately. The girl arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age. Twelve years as long as the other woman had suffered. SPEAKER A Wow. SPEAKER B And so here was the mother getting her daughter back after twelve years. And they overcome with great amazement. But he commanded them strictly that no one should know about it. Jesus knows when to say speak and he also knows to say quiet. SPEAKER A Yeah, he had great wisdom in that respect, didn't he? And it's so interesting, you know, these stories are really just showing incredible displays of Jesus power that are teaching his followers that he is the son of God and impressing that like after the raising of the dead, this girl who had died, you would think, wow, people would surely not have any doubts that Jesus was, he was the messiah that was promised. But what kind of reaction did he have when he went to his hometown of Nazareth's Cassius? SPEAKER C Well, it was a different reaction to what we might hope. The locals there rejected Jesus. And it wasn't even the first time they did this. The first time was at the start of his galilean ministry which is recorded in Luke 416 20. The locals were offended that Jesus claimed to be the messiah when they knew him from childhood. And they thought, oh well, he's just the carpenter in town, how does he claim this? So they were outraged to the point they even tried to throw him off a cliff. So because of this lack of faith, jesus didn't do many miracles in Nazareth. SPEAKER A That's such a contrast, isn't it? SPEAKER C Absolutely. SPEAKER A People who come to him with faith and they have this incredible deliverance and then you see that kind of reaction to jesus and you think, how can it be such a diverse response? But that's very interesting. So outside of Nazareth, the people continued, many of the people continued to flock to jesus for healing. And he ended up travelling to a region called Bethsaida Seder. And he was met by a huge crowd and was teaching them, tell us about what happened when jesus was with. SPEAKER B That crowd, John, the people became hungry. SPEAKER A Surprise, pretty normal. SPEAKER B Surprise, surprise. And jesus said to his disciples, feed them. And they said, oh, come on lord, you know, how much do we need? And here in verse 38 it said, but he said to them, how many loaves do you have? Go and see. And when they found out, they said, five fish. Five loaves and two fishes to feed, 5000 plus, once again, women and children. So they sat them down and then jesus prayed. He broke the bread and gave it to them. And here in verse 41. And when he had taken the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before them. And the two fish, he divided among them all. You wonder how big the whales were. So they all ate and were filled and they took up twelve baskets full. Once again, this number, 1212 baskets full of fragments. And of the fish, those who had eaten the loaves were about 5000 men. SPEAKER A Wow. SPEAKER B So Christ, once again, he gave life to people because Jesus said, I am the bread of life. SPEAKER A Yeah. Incredible miracle, wasn't it? And the people obviously had great awe and respect for Jesus after this occasion. Once jesus had fed them, what did he do? SPEAKER C Oh, well, I'd like to read. Yeah. Mark 646 says, and when he had sent them away, he departed to the mountain to pray. And this wasn't what the people of the disciples were expecting. After he's done this great miracle, they're now expecting, oh, some earthly kingdom that he's going to start acting like an earthly king or leader. But this isn't what Jesus was come to do. He had come to liberate people from the bondage of sin, I from the Romans. So doing this, going to pray, dashed their earthly hopes. SPEAKER A Interesting, isn't it? Jesus was very strategic in that response, wasn't he? And you know, the disciples must have been quite disappointed about this too, John. But Jesus had one last little surprise for them that night. And what was it. SPEAKER B Here in Mark, chapter six, verse 47. When the evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea. He was alone on the land. And when they saw, when he saw them straining out rowing because the wind was against them. And verse 49. And when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and cried out, for they all saw him and were troubled. But immediately he talked with him, said, be of good cheer. It is I. Do not be afraid. And here, this was a little private miracle that jesus did with just the disciples and him being there. It's all right. I can walk on water. SPEAKER A Yeah. That would have given them great confidence in him. Thank you so much for sharing about these wonderful stories. Today Jesus ministered and worked miracles around the lake in a way that gave evidence that he was the messiah, the son of God. He served his own community of faith and also reached out to people from gentile communities. Mark says that jesus saw the large crowds and he felt compassion for the people because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things. We are challenged today to do the same, to reach out to those around us and teach them about Jesus and the great things he has done for us. We're glad you've joined us on let God speak. Remember, all past programmes plus teachers notes are available on our website. 3abnaustralia.org.au. Email us on [email protected] God bless you. SPEAKER B You have been listening to let God speak, a production of 3ABN Australia television. To catch up on past programmes, please visit 3abnaustralia.org.au. Call us in Australia on 02 4973 3456. Or email [email protected]. we'd love to hear from you.