Help for the hopeless, Mark 5: 21-43

A cursory reading of the scripture before us today might lead one to conclude that the point of Jesus ministry was to relieve misery and suffering in the world. And by extension, the ministry of the church should be the same.  Our mission should be one of social justice. I was reading the website of a very  large, old Presbyterian church that I saw in Wilmington the other day.  And on their website they mentioned they were about the transformative power of God’s grace.  That sounds good.  But if you read further, they defined their ministry as dismantling structural racism, eradicating poverty, and furthering the inclusion of LGBTQIA + people.  

But I have to tell you that was not the ministry of Jesus.  Jesus came to seek and to save those that are lost.  He came to save sinners, to provide a way for man to be reconciled to God. He came to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God, how a person might be delivered from the condemnation of death, and born again into new life in Christ.

The gospel then must first cause a person to understand that they are lost. That church I read about is not concerned about sin. It doesn’t believe the Bible says that the wages of sin is death. And that it is appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgement. And so as a result of their distortion of the  gospel, they are condemning people to death by telling people the lie that there is no sin, there is no need for repentance, and God will not judge sinners.  

But Mark is presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ. He is not just telling a biography about Jesus. So Mark has given us in this chapter three illustrations of a lost person who is saved by the power of God.  In the first picture, we saw a demoniac.  A person whose life was given over and controlled by the evil one.  A life destined for destruction.  And Jesus delivered that poor man from thousands of demons that had tormented him and controlled him, so that he was seated at the feet of Jesus in his right mind.

The second example of a lost person is presented as the woman who had the discharge of blood.  Because of her illness, she was under the law considered as unclean.  She is a picture of a person who is unclean before God because of their sin.  She was hopeless, having tried everything to no avail.  Her only hope was Jesus.

The third example of a lost person is the little daughter of Jarius. She was suffering from an illness which actually took her life before Jesus could visit her.  Being under the sentence of death is another picture of a lost person. Being spiritually dead is what is means to be lost. And only Jesus can give life to the dead.

When Jesus was at home in Capernaum earlier He had  performed the miracle for the paralytic that had been lowered down through the ceiling.  And you will remember that at first Jesus said, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”  And the Pharisees in attendance there were indignant that Jesus said that, because they said that only God could forgive sins. They were right.  But what they failed to see was that Jesus was God sitting right in front of them.

So Jesus responded to the Pharisees, “In order that you may know that the Son of Man has the power on earth to forgive sins, I say to you, get up, pick up your pallet and go home.”  See, the important thing was the forgiveness of sins.  The miracle of healing was only physical evidence that Jesus could forgive sins.

So as we study this text before us today, let’s not lose sight of the point of Jesus’ ministry. Now I’ve really already given the conclusion of the story before I’ve expounded it, but nevertheless, let’s look at it in more detail and see what else we might learn from this event.

First, we note that there are two miracles which take place, one of which happens as an interruption to the first. Mark says in vs 21 “When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore.  One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing Him, fell at His feet  and implored Him earnestly, saying, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death; [please] come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.’”

So they have left the former demoniac on the shores of the Gerasenses, and gone back over the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum, Jesus’ home town.  It’s important that we recognize that, because we are going to assume that these people must have known who Jesus was.  Capernaum wasn’t large town, and Jesus lived there, and it would seem that Peter lived there. And Jesus had performed so many miracles there that He had to leave town to get some rest and even be able to eat. So everyone in Capernaum must have known who Jesus was and have known someone who had been healed by Jesus, or at least have witnessed Him healing someone.

Mark says Jairus was one of the synagogue officials. Jesus had most likely attended his synagogue on occasion. Maybe Jesus had even preached at his synagogue. So I would be inclined to believe that Jarius was a believer.  He may not have progressed very far in his faith at this point, but I’m going to assume that he is a believer by his actions. First of all, notice he falls at Jesus feet. That’s a posture of worship.  That’s a posture of prayer.  That’s a posture of submission.  And I will say that was not the typical approach of the average Pharisee or Jewish religious official we see depicted in the gospels. So I would think this man shows that he is a believer.  He has saving faith in Jesus as Lord.

And that’s further illustrated by what he says to Jesus. ‘My little daughter is at the point of death; [please] come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.’”  Now he may have said that because he had seen Jesus heal many people of many diseases.  And so he knows by experience that Jesus had the power to heal. But he knows she is going to die if Jesus doesn’t come.  Jesus is the only hope that she has to live.

But this request shows this man’s faith. I believe it indicates that he has faith that Jesus is the Son of God. And at first everything seems fine, because Jesus agrees to go with him to his house.  But there is an unforeseen interruption.  Vs.24 “And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.  A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse--  after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind [Him] and touched His cloak.  For she thought, "If I just touch His garments, I will get well.”

I said there was an unforeseen interruption.  I don’t mean Jesus, I mean Jarius did not foresee this interruption. I imagine that he is almost beside himself, knowing that they have to hurry.  Maybe his daughter has been sick for some time already, and when Jesus got off the boat, he had been right there to beg Him to come home with him and hurry, before his child died.  And now this woman interrupted their little journey.

But in the providence of God, this interruption will serve a greater purpose. It will display the glory of God much more brightly than it might have otherwise.  Sometimes God allows circumstances to get beyond all hope, so that the glory of God might be more fully revealed.

Let’s consider this woman for a moment. She had a hemorrhage for 12 years. It’s interesting that Mark will tell us that Jarius’s daughter is 12 years old also. I’m not sure what to make of that.  But it’s obviously a significant correlation between the two. We’re not told what this hemorrhage was.  But the Jewish law considered any hemorrhage to be a matter of uncleanness.  So this woman was an outcast from Jewish religious society. She couldn’t go to the synagogue in that condition. If she touched someone, they would become unclean as well and have to go through a series of ceremonies to become clean again. So as I said earlier, she was a picture of someone who is lost.  They are unclean, cut off from fellowship with God.

Mark says that she had spent all her money on various doctors, and had actually gotten worse instead of better.  I’ve known people like that.  They tried everything, went to every doctor that promised hope, even went to foreign countries to try experimental medicines in order hopefully find a cure.  The other day I met a woman who was selling her home to pay for some experimental medical procedure that was not covered by her insurance. That’s the state of this woman, and she has only gotten worse, not better.  That’s a picture of false religion. It offers hope of salvation but it is not able to provide it, and so the person is in even worse condition.

I think we can safely assume this woman had heard of Jesus.  She believed that if she just touched his garment that she would be healed. She had faith, albeit an imperfect faith.  Jesus said if you had faith the size of a mustard seed you could move mountains.  Saving faith doesn’t have to be perfect faith, all knowing faith.  You don’t have to understand every doctrine of the Bible to be saved.  But you must have a believing heart that continues to believe, continues in faith as God reveals more truth to you.

Her faith was in Jesus, not in HIs clothes, nor the tassel that hung from his cloak. Perhaps she thought that there had to be physical contact with Jesus for her to be healed. Jarius seemed to think that as well.  Jarius had said “if you lay your hands on her she will live.” So maybe this woman knows that she can’t have Jesus lay His hands on her because she is unclean, but if she just touches the fringe of His garment, then she will be healed.  But the point is, that she has faith that Jesus can heal her.

And you know what happened? She was immediately healed.  Jesus never seems to heal people the same way twice.  Those fake healers on television like to use a formula, a method.  I like the kind of faith healer that smacks people on the forehead. If I was a healer, I think I would like to use that method. Maybe if I hit them hard enough on the forehead I could  make them forget about the pain in their back or wherever it was. I offered that to Randy the other day, and I’m surprised he didn’t smack me on the forehead.

But as I said at the beginning, physical healing is not supposed to be a model for Christian ministry. It was to provide evidence that Jesus was the Son of God, that He had the power to forgive sins, and the power to give life.

Vs 29 “Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.  Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power [proceeding] from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, "Who touched My garments?"  And His disciples said to Him, "You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"  And He looked around to see the woman who had done this.” 

I’ve read some commentators who said that Jesus’ response indicates that He was unaware of who had touched Him, but He knew that some power had proceeded from Him. They attribute that to the human nature of Christ which limited Him in certain areas, at certain times. I’m not sure I buy that explanation.  I think Jesus knew full well who had touched Him.  

Remember the conversation Jesus had with Nathanael in  with John 1:48?  Nathanael said to Him, "How do You know me?" Jesus answered and said to him, "Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”  Jesus wasn’t limited in His spiritual power.  He was in a human body which was limiting, which got tired, which got hungry, which could bleed and die.  But spiritually, He was fully God and so He knew all things at all times. He knew what people were thinking.  And He knew that this woman had touched Him to be healed.

So then why does Jesus ask this question?  One was for the sake of the disciples, so that they would know what had happened.  And secondly for the sake of the woman’s salvation. According to Romans 10:9, you not only need to believe in your heart, but confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord to be saved. And so I think Jesus wanted to progress this woman’s faith.  And He does that by getting her to confess with her mouth what she had believed in her heart.

Vs. 33 “But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.  And He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”

I want to point out that in the Greek language, what Jesus says is not has made you well, but “sozo” which means saved you.  So it should read,  “Daughter, your faith has saved you, go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”  We are saved by faith.  So her faith was the means by which Jesus saved her, forgave her of her sins, gave her new life, so that she was born again.  And He healed her of her affliction. 

By the way, we aren’t told that her illness was the result of some sin on her part.  Illness is not always the result of sin, though at times it could be.  But we should not assume that in this woman’s case, and I stress that you shouldn’t make that assumption in anyone’s case.  If sickness is of the Lord, then I believe that the Lord should reveal that to the person.That’s not our job.  But most illnesses are from natural causes, which are due to the original sin at the fall, but not a particular sin of the person suffering from it.

Remember the disciples asked Jesus about a blind man who was born blind. In John 9:2-3 And His disciples asked Him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?"  Jesus answered, "[It was] neither [that] this man sinned, nor his parents; but [it was] so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

So the woman is saved by faith, and healed of her disease, but poor Jarius is beside himself with worry while all this is going on.  And then as if on cue, his friends come and tell him it’s too late, his daughter has died.  Vs 35 “While He was still speaking, they came from the [house of] the synagogue official, saying, "Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?"  But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, "Do not be afraid [any longer,] only believe."  And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James.  They came to the house of the synagogue official; and He saw a commotion, and [people] loudly weeping and wailing.  And entering in, He said to them, "Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep."

Jarius must have almost died himself when the word came that his daughter had died.  Nothing causes more fear and anguish for a parent than that possibility of a child’s death. And now what he had feared had come upon him. But Jesus is telling him don’t be afraid, only believe.  What does that mean? I suppose it means that fear and faith don’t mix. He had believed that Jesus was able to deliver his daughter from this deadly illness, and now that the worst had happened, don’t give in to fear, but continue believing that what Jesus had begun to do, He was able to still accomplish. Tthe giver of life was still able to save, even from death.

Jesus said the child has not died, but is asleep.  Notice how the mourners turned from grief to ridicule. But one thing that ought to be noticed here, is that in the New Testament, being asleep is always a reference to a believer that has passed away.  It’s never used to refer to the death of an unbeliever.  It means the spirit is alive, but the body is sleeping, awaiting the resurrection of the body. Whereas the unbeliever is spoken of as dead, being both spiritually dead and physically dead.

Now if that is the case here, then it means that this girl was a believer.  Or it means that since her father was a believer, and she was under the age of accountability, then she was sanctified by her parents. I don’t have the time to spend this morning addressing that particular doctrine.  But I want you to pick up on Jesus’s choice of words there, which is very similar to what He said about His friend Lazarus when he died. Jesus isn’t talking nonsense by saying she is asleep, nor is He ignorant of what has happened.  But she has died, albeit died as a believer.

Vs40 “They [began] laughing at Him. But putting them all out, He took along the child's father and mother and His own companions, and entered [the room] where the child was.  Taking the child by the hand, He said to her, "Talitha kum!" (which translated means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!").  Immediately the girl got up and [began] to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded.  And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that [something] should be given her to eat.”

The mourners laughed at Him because they all knew she was dead.  They laughed in derision at Jesus. They scoffed at Him. But Jesus put them all out of the house.  Unbelief will not see the glory of God.  Those who challenge God to reveal Himself, to prove Himself to them according to their standards, their agenda, will not see the evidence that they claim they want.  But only those with eyes of faith shall see God.  Jesus is not interested in offering a spectacle for the viewing pleasure of skeptics.  He wasn’t providing religious entertainment.

So Jesus speaks to the girl in Aramaic, the girl’s native language.  Talitha kum!" (which translated means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!” Jesus spoke to a dead girl as if she were alive, because her spirit was alive.  And He was able to do this because He is God. Romans 4:17 says that God gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did. Jesus spoke to this girl with the power of God and she was raised from the abode of the dead.  Luke says that her spirit returned to her.

And Mark says she got up and walked because she was twelve.  I guess if she was a lot older, she would have sat there for a few minutes and thought, “what just happened?”  But being young, she just hopped up and started walking around again as if nothing unusual had happened. Maybe she hadn’t actually been dead longer than a few minutes or so and didn’t realize what had happened to her.

Then Jesus says for them to give her something to eat. I suppose that was to help her regain her strength after probably not eating during her illness.  And also there is nothing like a healthy appetite to show people that you are in good health.

So as I said, I think I gave away the concluding statement at the beginning of the message. But to remind you, the purpose of  Jesus’ ministry is that He came to seek and to save those that are lost.  He came to save sinners, to give life to the spiritually dead.  Don’t miss the message of the gospel.  God is concerned about human suffering in the world.  But the cure for the world’s ills is not social justice or racial inequity, or acceptance of sinful lifestyles, or eliminating poverty.  The cure for the world’s illness is the forgiveness of sin which is given as a gift of God’s grace.  The pardon for our sins is paid for by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ on our behalf, and we receive new life from Him.  I pray that you have received that new life by faith in Him, that you might have an eternal inheritance in the kingdom of God.

Delivering the Demoniac, Mark 5:1-20

Last week we looked at Jesus and the disciples, after a particularly exhausting day, crossing the Sea of Galilee in a boat in the evening, when they were overtaken by an extremely powerful storm.  The boat they were on almost was sunk and their lives potentially lost, but Jesus, who had to be awakened from a deep sleep, stilled the storm and caused it to be completely calm.

There was in ancient times a popular superstition that such powerful storms were caused by the devil.  Sometimes I am tempted to believe that the devil does have some control over the wind and the weather.  But I cannot be dogmatic about that.  However, the Ephesians 2:2  does call the devil the “prince of the power of the air.” Now that may allude to his power in the spirit world, but I think it may also refer to his power over the wind and the weather.  I’ve always thought it ironic that natural disasters are called “an act of God.”  I think they are more correctly attributed to an act of Satan.  Satan’s purpose is to steal, kill and destroy.  If you remember when Job’s children were killed, it says that Satan had received permission from God to attack Job.  And a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died. So I don’t know that all wind and weather is of the devil, but I do think there is Biblical evidence to support the idea that Satan has a certain degree of power over it.

Now I say all that to try to show a correlation between the storm on the sea, and the situation that meets Jesus and the disciples when they cross over the sea in the darkness and arrive the next morning. Because when they arrive, they are met with another fierce outburst of satanic activity.

You know, it’s difficult enough in our modern society to get people to believe in the existence of God.  But there seems to be an added reluctance to really believe in the devil.  I mean really believe in his existence and to attribute some circumstance that happens to the power of the devil.  I think a lot of people tend to think that’s superstitious, that it’s not rational to attribute anything to the work of the devil.  People want to explain it away as just unlucky circumstances, or  that someone has psychological problems, or anything to try to put distance between them and the idea that there is some sort of evil power in the world. But I think the kind of sick violence and unholy terror that is dominating the news headlines with greater and greater frequency should be convincing people otherwise.  I think part of the problem is we do not understand how the devil works.

In the event we are studying today, we see the extreme result of demonic influence. I think it’s easy to see the origin of this behavior as demonic, but I think there is much more activity in our world that is of demonic influence that is not so easily discerned.  And I think that’s a danger for us as Christians.  As Paul tells us in Eph 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual [forces] of wickedness in the heavenly [places.]”. These demonic forces are real, but most of the time go unnoticed.  But as the great military strategist Sun Tzu said, you need to know your enemy.

A couple of things that we should take note of about satanic power.  First, the devil doesn’t always like to reveal himself as he appears in this episode with the demoniac.  He prefers to go undetected, or even disguised.  Paul said in 2 Cor. 11:14 that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. That is, he pretends to be a minister of God. And thus he is able to deceive more effectively.

Another thing to note is according to Peter, is that your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  Satan’s actively seeking your destruction. And if you give him any opening, he will exploit it and devour you through it. That’s why Paul said in Eph. 6:11 “Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.” But if you let down your guard, or worse, if you open up a piece of your armor, then the devil will take full advantage of that weakness and use it to destroy you.

Now as we consider this story, first of all, let’s take note of where Jesus and the disciples landed.  Mark calls it the country of the Gerasenes. Each of the three gospel accounts of this event use a different name for the area. I think the short answer to that is Gerasenes refers to the people of the region and the other names are either of a town or a region.  It was in the greater region called Decapolis, which was a Gentile region.  But it would seem that some Jews were living there also.  And Jesus has purposed to preach the gospel to these people as well.

But these Jews were living in a pagan culture.  The Gentiles of that region worshipped idols, which the Bible tells us actually represented demons. And as we will see, the native Jews living there were raising pigs, which was prohibited under Jewish law, and yet they were undoubtedly selling them to the Gentiles.  So they were profiting by something that was unlawful, engaged in business with a demonically influenced pagan culture.

Vs 2 “When He (that isJesus) got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him,  and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain;  because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.  Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones.”

Now as I said, what we see here is the extremity of demonic possession or influence. This is someone who has been given over completely to demonic control. There are a lot of debates among Christian commentators as to whether or not there is such a thing as being possessed, and whether or not a Christian can be possessed. I know for a fact that a Christian can be attacked by a demon, or influenced by a demon.  But whether or not he can be possessed or not I cannot say, because I don’t know where the line is before being influenced changes to being possessed.  I suggest it might be like having a couple of drinks.   At that point you think you’re fine.  Have a couple of more drinks and now you’re under the influence. But if you continue to drink, at what point are you drunk?  I don’t know. But I suppose it was probably a lot earlier than you realized.

I do know that in Matthew 16, after Peter had just confessed that Jesus was Lord, the Son of God, Jesus said to Peter, “get behind Me Satan.”  So I know that Satan’s influence can be pretty extensive, even for a Christian.

But as I said, this guy is experiencing the extreme affects of demon control. And I can’t help but wonder how he got that way.  He certainly wasn’t born that way.  Something happened in his life.  I would guess that there was some sort of  progression in his life towards satanic power.  Perhaps at one point in his life he had an interest in spiritual things.  But rejecting God, he sought spiritual enlightenment from evil spirits - maybe not even knowing they were evil spirits.  Maybe he thought they were angels, or he sought out some sort of white magic arts.  Maybe he got involved in using some sort of drug.  Did you know a lot of  witch doctors and sorcerers and so forth in many pagan religions used drugs to induce hallucinations and dreams and visions? The old folk tales that pictured witches mixing up and stirring a magic brew in their pots weren’t far from the truth.  So maybe this guy had been using some ancient drug that opened him up to demonic control.

I don’t want to camp out here too long, but I will tell you that drugs and alcohol are a gateway for demonic influence and control.  If you look up the word sorcery in the Bible, you will find that the Greek word is pharmakeia, where we get the word pharmacy from.  Revelation 9:21 speaking of the end of days says, “and they did not repent of their murders nor of their sorceries nor of their immorality nor of their thefts.” There is a connection between demonic influence and control and drugs, and I also think the same is true of alcohol.  In many respects,  I believe alcohol is probably a worse drug than heroin. But it doesn’t have the same stigma in our society and so people tend to accept it more, and consequently, it causes more destruction in our society.

Well, we don’t know what happened to this guy.  But at this point, he is basically insane.  He is living in the tombs, in the caves near the beach where they buried the dead. He is an outcast from society.  He is supernaturally strong.  Remember in Acts the seven sons of Sceva?  They were claiming to be exorcists and they tried to cast out a demon from a man by using Jesus’ and Paul’s name. And the demons in the man said,  "I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?" And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”  One against seven, and the one demon possessed man wins.  So demons can give supernatural strength.

Mark says that the demoniac could break chains and shackles.  Furthermore he says that the man was cutting himself.  I think one of the most troubling things I hear about today is the “trend” of what is usually young girls in cutting themselves. I’m not a psychologist, but I suppose it comes from a some sort of self image problem. I’m not suggesting that these young people are demon possessed, but I do think it’s possible that they are under demonic attack.The devil is a liar and the father of lies, and if he can convince you that you are undesirable, or ugly, or unwanted, then it suits his purpose and his long range goal to destroy you.  There are so many ways that the devil is attacking our young people today through a poor self image, and self loathing, that is resulting in what is no less that self mutilation in order to try to find some peace with themselves.

Well, look at what this man does.  He sees Jesus and the disciples about to land their boat and he comes shrieking down from the hillside, screaming and acting insane, and then runs up to Jesus and prostrates himself on the ground before Him. Vs6 “Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him;  and shouting with a loud voice, he said, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!"  For He had been saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

I want you to notice something in this; the demons in this man recognize Jesus as the Son of the Most High God. They don’t see Jesus of Nazareth, a man who looked just like any ordinary man.  But I believe they recognize His Spirit.  It should not be surprising that spirits can see spirits.  But of course we cannot see spirits.  I’m always amused by people claiming to be Christians who say they have seen the Holy Spirit.  You can’t see a spirit. But spirits can recognize one another.

One question that arises though is why are the demons afraid that Jesus will torment them?  In Luke’s account we may get a clue to what they mean.  Luke says in chapter 8 vs 31 “They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.” I think what they were afraid of was that Jesus would command them to be thrown into hell, chained in what is sometimes referred to as the lowest pit in hell which is reserved for the demons who did not keep their domain in Genesis 6.  You can read about it in Jude 1:6 and 1 Peter 3:19.

So in vs 9 Jesus was asking him, "What is your name?" And he said to Him, "My name is Legion; for we are many."  And he [began] to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country.  Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain.  [The demons] implored Him, saying, "Send us into the swine so that we may enter them."  Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand [of them;] and they were drowned in the sea.”

A legion was the name for as many as 6000 Roman soldiers.  It would seem that this man was inhabited with thousands of demons.  That’s kind of hard to imagine, but it explains perhaps his superhuman strength.  It would seem that it was at least 2000 demons since that was the number of the swine. I’ve seen some things written by people claiming to be exorcists, saying that one of the ways you get power over the demons is by asking their name, as if to say that’s why Jesus asked him his name.  But don’t think that’s the reason at all.  I think Jesus asked them their name because He wanted to reveal that it was not one demon, but thousands of demons.  And that He had authority over thousands of demons.

And the demons asked not to be sent out of the country. I suppose that as much as they wanted a body to host them, they also liked the spiritual climate, if you will, of this region.  They found the population hospitable to doctrines of demons.  So they wanted to stay there.

So the demons ask to be sent into the bodies of the pigs.  And Jesus permits them. There was a book that was pretty popular in religious circles a number of years ago.  And this writer claimed that demons were basically under every bush, could be in your house, even in your pets. I’m not going to mention the name of the book because I think for the most part it was a lot of hogwash and I don’t want to publicize it.  But I will say that other than the serpent in the garden, there is no example that I can think of that indicated a demon occupied an animal.  And I would suspect that at the fall, God restricted that possibility by cursing the snake and cursing Satan. So that’s why Jesus had to give permission to them to enter the swine. Otherwise they could have entered the swines bodies on their own.  So I don’t think we have to worry about our dog being demon possessed.  Though sometimes I do wonder about mine.

But the pigs response to being inhabited with evil spirits was to commit wholesale suicide. They rushed head long into the sea. Mark says they ran down a steep embankment and drowned that way. Because pigs can swim.  I remember reading a story about a surfer in Indonesia and a pig swam past him in the lineup headed straight out to sea.  True story. But these pigs were probably caught in the surf breaking against this steep embankment and were drowned.

Vs.14 Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And [the people] came to see what it was that had happened.  They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the "legion"; and they became frightened.  Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and [all] about the swine.  And they began to implore Him to leave their region.”  You talk about hard hearts. These people are more afraid of Jesus than they were of demons.

I think it was because the pigs represented a lot of money to the native population.  And they weren’t happy about losing their source of income. Seeing the demoniac delivered from demonic possession didn’t seem to impress them enough to repent of selling pigs to the Gentiles. They would rather deal with the demons and still have their herd of pigs. Money was more important than spiritual deliverance.

I would point out something else here.  Jesus had compassion on the demoniac.  No one in that town had showed compassion towards him.  They had only tried to have him locked up. But Jesus showed compassion.  You might say that Jesus made a special trip across the Sea of Galilee through a terrible storm just to deliver this one guy from demonic possession. I wonder how many of us would have compassion on someone that looked and acted like that guy?

I remember one day walking in Rehoboth and seeing a couple that looked absolutely demonic. I’m not sure they were, maybe there were really nice people once you got to know them.  But they had implants in the top of their heads to make horns.  They had surgery to split their tongues. And they had their ears cut to make them pointed.  And then of course all the other tats and piercings to go finish their look. I remember that I was completely shocked by their appearance.  And I had no intention of having anything to do with them. I stayed as far away from them as possible. But I wonder what Jesus’s response would be if he met someone like that? I think He might show compassion towards them. I suppose I should work on doing that as well.

Not only did Jesus show compassion on the demoniac, but He shows compassion on the townspeople who reject Him and ask Him to leave their town.  Vs 18 “As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him.  And He did not let him, but He said to him, "Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and [how] He had mercy on you." And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.”

Jesus had compassion on the townspeople who rejected Him, because He instructed the demoniac to go back home and be a witness and a testimony to the power of Christ to save. Jesus could have wiped out their swine herd, shook the dust off His feet and allowed the demoniac to become one of HIs followers - leaving the townspeople to be left without a witness to the gospel.  But instead, Jesus had the former demoniac go back home and be a witness to the saving power of Christ.

As I said earlier in my message, demonic control, or demonic influence can be exhibited in a myriad of ways. The demoniac was an extreme example, showing that the power of Jesus was greater than even thousands of demons. Yet Satan also works in ways much more subtle than that.  For one, Satan is the perpetrator of false doctrine.  The demonic influence you may be suffering from is that you have been deceived by false doctrine, maybe even to the point of worshipping false gods.  The power of Jesus Christ can deliver you from being decieved and set you free by the truth of the gospel.

Or maybe the demonic influence you are suffering from is that you are held captive by addiction.  Whether it is by drugs, or alcohol, or some sexual addiction or any other way the devil has held you captive to sin, Jesus Christ can set you free from that.  There is no power, no addiction, no evil, that Jesus cannot save from.  Jesus Christ came to save sinners. If you will recognize you are a sinner, then you might say He has made a special appointment this morning to show compassion on you, if you will just turn to Him and ask Him to deliver  you. 

Or maybe you are more like the townspeople, who found the gospel disruptive of their financial ambitions.  Perhaps your career, or your wealth is standing between you and surrendering to the Lord.  I would ask you this, “what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and loses his soul?"  I urge you to confess Jesus as Lord, and ask Him to make you a new creation, that you might have treasure in heaven.

Finally, for those who are saved, if we are to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, then should we not follow His model in showing compassion to those who have been held captive to Satan by his deceit and lies?  Let us go home and be a witness to our family and friends of the saving power of Jesus Christ, that they may come to their senses and be saved.

Testing in a tempest, Mark 4:35-41

 

We come today to the end of chapter four, but the story of Jesus’s ministry does not stop there.  He is simply traveling from one place to another.  And He does so in this story by means of a ship on the sea.  It’s a simple story, but one which provided a teachable lesson for the disciples, and which should be a lesson for us as well.

It’s been a very long day of preaching and teaching and working miracles.  At one point the crowds were so large that Jesus and His disciples were not able to eat.  So  at the seashore of Galilee He asked that a boat be brought near the beach so that He could preach without being crushed by the multitude.  It’s interesting to picture Jesus sitting in a boat right off the shoreline and using it as a pulpit to speak from. Perhaps it was John and James’ fishing boat, or maybe Peter and Andrew’s boat.  It was probably not a rowboat though. It was a fishing boat that was large enough for a crew, perhaps all 12 of the disciples plus Jesus, and a large catch of fish as well, which would be a pretty good sized boat.

At any point, Mark says “On that day, when evening came, He *said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” First notice that it was evening.  It was getting dark. I’m sure you have all heard this story before and we know there is a storm coming.  To be at sea in the dark in an open boat, in the midst of a violent storm, would be especially terrifying.  A storm always seems worse at night.

But the other thing to consider is that Jesus knows what is going to happen before it happens. He knows it is night time. He knows that a fierce storm is coming.  And yet He is the one who orders the disciples to head out in their boat.  What’s coming was going to be a terrifying surprise for the disciples, but it was no surprise to Jesus. In fact, you might say that He would seem to be orchestrating it. Jesus could have said, “Fellows, I want to go over to the other side, but I know there is going to be a fierce storm tonight, so we will find shelter here and leave in the morning.”  But Jesus, in His divine omnipotence, does nothing like that. Instead, He says let’s go to the other side, knowing full well what is in store for them.

It’s hard for us to understand sometimes, but God often sends us tests in our lives.  It’s like a  good teacher that gives the students a test periodically.  Contrary to what the students might think, the teacher doesn’t give them a test hoping  to make the students fail.  But to make the students learn. James  1:2-8 says “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,  knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.  And let endurance have [its] perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him.  But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind.  For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord,  [being] a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.”

Notice James says testing produces faith that endures through trials, and enduring faith makes you complete in your faith, and in wisdom.  But a lack of faith is likened to being in a boat in a storm tossed sea that drives you this way and that way, so that you are unstable, and double minded. It’s interesting that Jesus uses a stormy sea and a driving wind to test the disciple’s faith.

Vs 36 “Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him.”  So they left the crowd on the beach.  Again and again we see Jesus escaping the crowds just when you would think that from a ministry point of view He should be capitalizing on the momentum. Instead, He leaves to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.  But I want you to notice something else here.  This storm that is coming is not the disciples fault.  This isn’t a Jonah situation here, where God sends a storm to punish someone who has made wrong choices.  The disciples are doing what Jesus told them to do. I think we are often surprised to find that when we are trying to follow the Lord, things seem to not always go the way we think they should.  Instead of smooth sailing, fair winds and following seas, suddenly the winds seem to turn against us.

So Mark says the disciples took Him just as He was.  I find that an odd statement. I can’t really be sure what to make of it.  But in light of the context, I would have to assume it means that as He finished preaching, sitting in the boat, they just pushed off shore and set sail for the other side.  They didn’t come to land and then make preparations for the journey.  They left without any food, without packing a bag, just took off with Jesus sitting in the boat having just finished an exhausting day.  You know, passages like this remind us that Jesus wasn’t some sort of superman in a physical sense.  He got tired, He got hungry, His body was just like our bodies, and subject to the same physical limitations.  He was fully man, and yet fully God.

And because of that physical body that was subject to being tired, Jesus was exhausted.  We read in verse 38 that Jesus had gone to sleep in the stern, with His head on a cushion.  That shows us a couple of things. One is He is supremely confident and at peace about what was about to transpire.  And second, as I said previously, He was subject to exhaustion just like any person would be who had been doing what He did that day.

Vs37 “And there arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up.” In the original language Mark uses a word that is best translated as a whirlwind.  A whirlwind is like a tornado, or a hurricane, with the wind going in a circular motion. From what I have read, the Sea of Galilee was ringed with mountains and the sea was 680 feet below sea level.  So due to geography there is some weird atmospheric thing that happens there occasionally due to the cold air in the mountains dropping down to the heated sea below which can cause very violent storms to occur. 

So the wind has come rushing down from the mountains and into this sea, kicking up tremendous waves, and the boat was being swamped.  Waves were breaking over the sides and it was filling up with water.  it’s ironic that this test for the disciples comes in the form of something that I’m sure they thought they were well qualified to handle.  After all, they were professional fishermen who had made their livelihoods plying this sea.  They had years of experience with boats and dealing with bad weather.  And yet to their strength comes this extreme trial that shows them just how weak and insignificant they are.  I don’t know if you have ever been in severe weather before, like a hurricane or a tornado, but when you experience that you are keenly aware of just how massively powerful nature can be, and how powerless and insignificant man is.

But these were sea faring men with years of experience dealing with storms and waves. It’s funny how God tests us in our strong areas, and not our weak ones.  Satan on the other hand tempts us in our weak areas.  But God tests us in our strong areas.  The areas of our life we take the most pride in.  The areas we think we don’t really need God’s help in.  For some of us, it’s our business acumen or ability to make money.  For others it’s our body, maybe our physical strength or our good looks.  It can be a lot of different things.

I remember a time when I was around 40 years old. I was in the prime of my life. I was doing very well in my antique business.  I had learned more about my particular antique specialty than most of my competitors which enabled me to be very successful.  I remember one day answering my mother’s criticism who was comparing me to my brother who was working a job and getting a salary of about $50,000 at the time, and I said that I could make $50,000 standing on my head.

About a year later, a whirlwind came out of nowhere and completely overwhelmed my life in every respect.  In that storm that seemed unrelenting and which lasted about three years, I lost my health and my business, went completely broke, and almost lost my mind in the process.  But as I was just telling someone the other day, if God had not put me through that trial, then I probably would not have been where I am today in my walk with the Lord, and I doubt very much that I would be a pastor.

Well, the disciples were overwhelmed in the storm as well.  They were justifiably terrified and realized that there was nothing they could do to stop the storm or keep the boat from capsizing and sinking.  Amazingly though, Jesus was still asleep in the stern. Vs38 Jesus Himself 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?”

Luke’s account makes it clear that the men were very frightened.  Fear causes men to do and sometimes say terrible things.  Panic causes men to do even worse. Sometimes when a trlal causes fear in a married couple, it makes them turn on one another.  I think the tendency is you don’t think your spouse is hurting as much as you are and so you want to hurt them yourself.  Your spouse seems too comfortable with the situation. I think the disciples were both terrified and panicking.  And in their fear, they turn on Jesus who is at such peace that He could sleep through this terrible situation.

The different gospel accounts include more things that were said, but I think Mark focuses on something here which is very important.  When trials come, when things don’t turn out like you planned, when all around your soul gives way, the temptation of Satan in that moment is to say that God doesn’t care.  God is uncaring, unloving, impersonal.  He doesn’t care about you.  He could help you if He wanted to, but the fact that He doesn’t seem to be doing anything, is evidence that He doesn’t care.  You’re on your own. And so you get angry at God, you turn away from the Lord at the moment when you need Him most.

But the purpose of the trial from God’s perspective is to get you to turn to the Lord. To trust Him more. To love Him more.  To commit your life to Him completely.  God uses trials a lot of times to get us to move away from our independence, our self reliance, our pride, and trust completely in His sufficiency and in His plan.

So in vs39 we read, “And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, ‘Hush, be still.’ And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.”  Jesus is the One who created the wind and the sea.  He created the weather.  He created the elements.  In John 1 it says of Jesus, “and without Him was not anything made that was made.”

It’s interesting that Jesus spoke the world into existence, and He speaks now to rebuke the wind. The wind stopped immediately, and then He speaks to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the sea instantly became dead calm.  You know as someone who is a surfer, I’ve learned that the wind produces waves.  Many times the storms can be hundreds of miles away and yet we are getting waves sent from that storm to our beaches.  Yet Jesus immediately causes the sea to become dead calm after just stopping the wind.  From a natural point of view, the waves should have continued for quite a long time afterward.  But Jesus stills the wind and the waves simultaneously.

And then after speaking to the wind and the waves, Jesus speaks to the quaking hearts of the disciples. Vs. 40, “And He said to them, ‘Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?’ One thing I want to point out is that Jesus doesn’t rebuke the disciples for their accusation that He didn’t care about them.  I think His compassion for them overrides any desire to rebuke them.

But He does want to teach them. And so He asks them two questions.  The first is “why are you afraid?”  Luke makes it clear in his account that the disciples were afraid during the storm, and even more afraid after Jesus stilled the storm.    So Jesus says, “Why are you afraid”, not “why were you afraid.”   As if to say, doesn’t this teach you that your Master is not only very powerful, but also that He cares for you and loves you?  Perfect love casts out fear.  Therefore shouldn’t you respond not in fear but in childlike faith?

One thing that I ended up having to deal with as a result of my trial by fire that I mentioned a moment ago was severe anxiety.  I developed crippling anxiety attacks that I could not control and which took control of my life and greatly contributed to the loss of my business and so forth. I often claim that I started the whole anxiety attack thing years before it became  well known.  Back then no one knew what it was.  But at it’s root was just fear. And to some extent I still deal with it even today.  I think many of us deal with fear.  The psalmist David dealt with fear.  That’s one reason I am so drawn to the psalms. But fear comes when you realize something’s happening beyond your control.  The answer to fear comes when you realize that God is in control and your life is in God’s hands.  And you can trust Him with your life.

And then Jesus’s second question speaks to their lack of faith.  “Do you still have no faith?” He says “You still have no faith” even though they had seen Him perform hundreds of miracles.  Even though they had followed Him for some time now and heard His message of the gospel, had heard His claim to be the Son of God.  Yet their faith had not endured in the midst of  the storm.  

You know, when everything works out the way we want, when God seems to answer our prayers just as we desired, when our finances and health are good, when our families are safe and sound, then we think our faith is good, don’t we? But when trouble comes, when God doesn’t seem to care, when God doesn’t split open the clouds and immediately come rushing to our help, when our prayers don’t seem to be answered, then does our faith endure? Do we lose faith when God seems to be asleep and our boat is sinking? I think Jesus orchestrated this trial to teach the disciples and to teach us, that God is in control and He is not surprised by any circumstance or situation in our life.  He is not surprised or scared of any storm.  He is the Master of life’s storms, and He will use them for His purposes and bring us through them to a greater knowledge of Him, and to a deeper, enduring faith, that we might be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

But Mark finishes this account with the perspective of the disciples, in vs 41 "They became very much afraid and said to one another, ‘Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?’”  They were still learning who Jesus was.  It’s one thing to hear about God, but another to have a personal experience with Him.  I think this storm helped them to see through the veil of flesh that covered Jesus of Nazareth so that they saw a glimpse of the glory of the Son of God.  Only God can command the weather.

So the disciples ask a question that we should be asking as well, “What kind of a person is this, that even the weather obeys Him?  Only God causes storms and only God stills storms.  And so the answer must be that Jesus is the Son of God. That is the faith that we must have, the faith that saves us.  Trust in who He is, and what He has done, and what He has promised.  That is saving faith. 

Hebrews 11:6 says “And without faith it is impossible to please [Him,] for he who comes to God must believe that He is and [that] He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”   And without faith it is impossible to be saved.  [Eph 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, [it is] the gift of God;  not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

But even when we are justified by faith, it is necessary that we continue in faith, and endure in faith, that we may be perfected in faith as we walk by faith and not by sight.

The Parables of the Kingdom, Mark 4:21-34

Last week we looked at the parable of the sower.  And Jesus indicated in explaining that parable it provides the key to understanding all the parables.  I think that is because Jesus uses some common symbols or figures in that parable which he interprets privately to his disciples, and so we can use that interpretation in other parables which use the same symbols or figures.  That hermeneutic  principle is called “expositional constancy.”  It means that the meaning of symbols or figures used in one scripture tend to mean the same as similar symbols or figures in another scripture.  I think it’s safe to say that this principle is generally true when it does not go against scripture.  But it’s always best to interpret scripture by scripture.

So beginning in the fourth chapter of Mark, Jesus gives a series of parables in his teaching to the multitudes.  And according to vs 34, it says that “He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was explaining everything privately to His own disciples.”

Now we need to understand that Jesus wasn’t speaking in riddles. And He wasn’t telling morality tales, kind of like the folk tales that we tell our children.  But He was speaking the truth about the kingdom of God, or you might even say proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom of God in such a way that it was veiled to the unbelieving heart.

Jesus speaks in this way to them because they had already rejected the truth.  They had rejected the obvious truth that He was the Messiah, even the Son of God.  They had attributed His words and His works to Satan.  They had blasphemed against the Holy Spirit.  And so they are now addressed in parables, so that “WHILE SEEING, THEY MAY SEE AND NOT PERCEIVE, AND WHILE HEARING, THEY MAY HEAR AND NOT UNDERSTAND, OTHERWISE THEY MIGHT RETURN AND BE FORGIVEN.”

However, for the disciples, those that have ears to hear, He helps them hear the truth of the parable.  Jesus said, He who has ears to hear, let him hear.  Those whose spiritual ears have been opened let them hear the spiritual truth which Jesus has instilled in the parable.

In the next parable Jesus actually addresses that point of spiritual truth being hidden to those that are spiritually blind.  Jesus says in vs 21 And He was saying to them, "A lamp is not brought to be put under a basket, is it, or under a bed? Is it not [brought] to be put on the lampstand? For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has [anything] been secret, but that it would come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”

Now unfortunately, we do not have the privilege that the disciples had in hearing Jesus explain this parable to them privately.  But I think we can determine what Jesus is saying, by remembering what He has taught us thus far in the previous parable.  But one advantage we do have is we have the complete scriptures and in particular what the Apostle Paul had to say in 2Co 4:3-4  where he says, “And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing,  in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

Jesus said of Himself that He was the light of the world.  John 8:12 “Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”  And the Apostle John, who introduced Jesus in his gospel as the word, then changes metaphors and says Jesus is the light.  John 1:9-12 “There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and those who were His own did not receive Him.  But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, [even] to those who believe in His name.”

So keeping all that in mind, let’s think about the parable again about hiding a lamp under a basket.  If the Word is the lamp, if Jesus is the Word made flesh, the light shining in the darkness, then Jesus is speaking of Himself and His gospel.  He was not manifested to be put under a basket or under a bed. In other words, Jesus did not come to be hidden, but to be revealed.  He came that the truth of God would be manifested to the world. That the gospel of the kingdom would be proclaimed to the world.

“Nothing is hidden except to be revealed, nor has anything been secret, but that it should come to light.”  I think Jesus is speaking of His gospel, which on the one hand is being manifested to those who have ears to hear and eyes to see, but on the other hand is being hidden to the unbelieving. Those Pharisees that thought that they could see, the truth had been veiled to them.  As Paul said in 2Cor. 3:14-16 “But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ.  But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart;  but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.”  But there is coming a day when that which is hidden will be fully revealed from heaven in flaming fire.  And then everyone in that day will confess that Jesus is Lord, and every knee will bow. But that confession will not be for their salvation, but for their condemnation, because they did not receive it by faith.

That’s why Jesus reiterates again the saying in vs 23 "If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” If you are spiritually deaf, you are unable to hear.  But if you have been given spiritual illumination then you can understand the gospel and be saved.

Jesus explains that principle further, perhaps alone with the disciples, by saying in vs 24, ”Take care what you listen to. By your standard of measure it will be measured to you; and more will be given you besides. For whoever has, to him [more] shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”

I think a more modern day paraphrase might say, “Listen carefully, because what you hear you will be judged by.  You who were given the privilege of hearing the truth, if you do not understand it, but choose to reject it, then you will receive the full condemnation that you deserve because you had the opportunity, but you rejected it.

So what is this “standard of measure” that Jesus refers to by which you will be reciprocated?  I think the standard of measure is your faith. Jesus often said to people, “O ye of little faith” or of another “What great faith.”  By the standard of your faith you will be given.  So whoever has, that is whoever has faith, more shall be given.  More spiritual illumination.  More spiritual truth by which we can grow and be useful to the kingdom.  But to those who are unbelieving, who had not faith, then what they had will be taken away from him. They will lose everything, even lose their life.  And especially for the Pharisees who were the main culprit in rejecting Jesus Christ, what they had was their religion, their system of laws and ceremonies and rituals and the temple service and all the trappings of Judaism.  And because they rejected Christ, they would lose it all.  The temple would be destroyed in 70AD.  The sacrifices would be offered no more. The cult of the Pharisees and Sadducees would be destroyed and scattered to the four corners of the world. 

The next parable the Lord gives is found starting in vs 26 And He was saying, "The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil;  and he goes to bed at night and gets up by day, and the seed sprouts and grows--how, he himself does not know.  The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. But when the crop permits, he immediately puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Well, let’s start to understand this parable by trying to find similar symbolism with others before it.  And we can do so immediately by the picture of a man sowing seed. Jesus said in regards to the parable of the soils that the seed was the word of God.  If that is the same here, then it helps us tremendously to understand the parable.  I believe it is a simple illustration of a man who sows the word of God, and yet does not have any control over how it’s received, or whether or not someone becomes saved.  We are given the mandate to take the gospel to the world, to proclaim the gospel, to preach the word, to sow the seed, but we are not given the responsibility for how it is received.  That is the hearer’s responsibility to receive the truth, and the Lord’s responsibility for spiritual growth.

What Jesus seems to be teaching is that the Spirit of God is the active agent in salvation.  He causes the seed to germinate, to grow into faith. He is the One who illuminates the spiritual heart of a man so that he can believe and be saved.  But as Jesus said elsewhere, “you will know them by their fruits.”  When you see the spiritual life that comes as a result of the sowing of the word, then you know that you have gained a harvest of souls.  The emphasis is an extension of the previous parable, that what the Holy Spirit does in the heart to receive the word, the Holy Spirit does in the life as it grows in faith.  As the King James reads in Eph.2:1, “and you hath He quickened, who were dead in your trespasses and sins.”

The third parable of the kingdom of God is given in vs 30 And He said, "How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it?  "[It is] like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil,  yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR can NEST UNDER ITS SHADE." 

So here Jesus tells us from the outset that this parable is a picture, or illustration of the kingdom of God. Once again, there is a seed involved. The seed we have already learned is a picture of the word of God. But now Jesus gives a more definitive seed.  A mustard seed. One other thing we are also told is that the mustard seed is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil.  

The only way to understand that is to consider that the proclamation of the gospel started out very small.  John the Baptist, one man crying out in the wilderness, “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand.”  And then Jesus appears, as John disappears, and He began to preach the gospel of the kingdom, primarily in Galilee. Such humble beginnings.  In light of the size and scope of the world, it was surely the smallest of seeds.

And yet, by the power of the Spirit, the tree grows and spreads throughout the earth.  The gospel of the kingdom is taken unto the ends of the earth. And that would seem to be in line with most commentator’s interpretation of this parable.  But Jesus doesn’t stop the parable at that point.  He adds some more details which are not so easily understood.

The details he adds is that this mustard seed produces a large tree, and forms large branches. The problem with that is that normally a mustard seed produces a large bush, not a large tree with large branches.  What Jesus seems to be describing here is something abnormal. You might even say monstrous. And that’s further illustrated by another troubling detail.  That Jesus says the birds of the air come and nest under it’s shade.

The reason that is troubling is because in the previous parable of the sower, Jesus said that the birds of the air represented the devil and his angels.  So if we stick with the principle of expositional constancy, then we have to wonder what the devil is doing in the kingdom of God.

The answer is that the mustard tree represents the church, which grows larger than is normal so that the devil and his angels nest in it’s branches. It’s a picture of the church that has abnormal growth, that is larger than it should be, that has actually become a haven for false teaching and demonic influence.

To substantiate that interpretation, I would ask you to consider Matthews account of the same parable in chapter 13. And what you find there in chapter 13 is that directly before the parable of the mustard seed is the parable of the wheat and the tares.  And in that parable Jesus says,  "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. But when the wheat sprouted and bore grain, then the tares became evident also. The slaves of the landowner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' And he said to them, 'An enemy has done this!' The slaves said to him, 'Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?'  "But he said, 'No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. 'Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”'"

Now that parable should be easy to interpret.  But to make it even easier, Jesus explained it for the disciples in Matthew 13: 37 And He said, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man,  and the field is the world; and [as for] the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil [one;]  and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.  "So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at the end of the age. "The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then THE RIGHTEOUS WILL SHINE FORTH AS THE SUN in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

And then in Matthew 13, directly following the parable of the tares is the parable of the mustard seed, and then following that Jesus gives another parable about the church which is in the same vein as the others, showing that corruption will swell the ranks of the church.  He gives the parable of the leaven. Matt. 13:33 He spoke another parable to them, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three pecks of flour until it was all leavened." Expositional constancy in this case indicates that leaven is always a picture of sin in the Bible.  Many commentators interpret this parable as the one instance in the Bible which pictures leaven as a good thing,  as a picture of the church in a positive light.  But I believe it should be understood to be a warning about corruption and false teaching in the church.  

So in Matthew, there are three parables together that I believe Jesus was teaching the same principle, which is that the devil is going to infiltrate the church and cause it to grow larger in appearance than it actually is.  But the Lord knows those that are His.  These parables are really a warning to the church, to listen carefully,  to take care what you listen to. 

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount,  "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn [bushes] nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven [will enter.] Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’”

Let us pray that God will give us ears to hear, and eyes to see, that we might believe the truth and be born again of the Spirit that we might be the children of God and that we might bear fruit.