Text: Mark 4:35-41 and Mark 5:1-20
Events: The wind and waves obey Jesus, Jesus heals a demon-possessed man
Mark 4:39 “Peace, be still!” The word used for peace here is translated “hush”. Be still is translated “muzzled”. I like how the MSG bible puts the next phrase, “The wind ran out of breath and the sea became smooth as glass.” Whatever wind or wave we face today, God can silence all the noise that sometimes seems like it could drown us. Some of the things we face don’t need to be battled, they just need to be silenced.
Mark 4:40 “How is it that you have no faith?” The term Jesus used here for “no faith” can be translated to mean “little faith” or “undeveloped faith”. Fear can only thrive in the absence of faith. Our faith is not in circumstances, our faith is placed in the character and the nature of Who God is. But notice they addressed Him as Teacher. They still didn’t fully know who Jesus was.
Mark 4:41 “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” Jesus didn’t exert power to calm the wind and waves, He did it with authority, as indicated by the word “obey”.
Mark 5:2 “there met Him out of the tombs a man” In Matthew’s account, we read it was two men that came out to meet Him. Mark is probably focusing on the more violent of the two men.
Mark 5:6 “when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped Him” Though the physical strength of this man had progressively increased, evidently due to the demons’ increasing hold on him, the demons recognized Jesus as their superior. Spiritual authority trumps any other type of strength.
Mark 5:9 “Legion, for we are many” A legion of soldiers is anywhere from 4,000 to 6,000 Roman soldiers.
Mark 5:15 “sitting and clothed and in his right mind” There is somewhat of a parallel I see here in Jesus calming the wind and waives and healing this man. The crazy chaos of what was before was now calm and controlled.
Today’s Takeaway: Consider any situation that may be going on in your life that feels crazy, chaotic, noisy, windy, unpredictable, unsettled, restless, anxious, stormy. If it has any resemblance to any of those characteristics, what we have to recognize is that it is not of God. But if the enemy can get us so distracted thinking we need to be running all over the place, trying to put out every single fire that pops up, or trying to scoop the water out of our boats one bucket at a time, he knows we’ll end up exhausted, unproductive, frustrated and that we’ll take our eyes and energy off what we’re really here to do. Today, ask God to first give you peace about that situation. Ask that He would muzzle the chaos and noise so that you can hear Him better. And ask that He will give you the direction you need for your next steps.
Additional (optional) reading: The parallel accounts of these events can be found in Matthew 8:23-34 and Luke 8:22-39
Linda G Riddle 
Linda,
I really enjoy following all of your commentary during this study! Im wondering what you thought about the pigs in this passage. Why would Jesus choose to give the demons mercy and comply with their request to go into the pigs? Why would he basically take 2000 pigs away from the herdsman, probably creating a difficult situation for him financially and for the people who would have eaten those pigs? Kind of seems strange to me and I wanted to hear your thoughts on it.
Rachel
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Hi Rachel, Thank you for your question and kind remarks about the study! So glad you’re along for the journey.
Let’s look at this a little closer. In this interaction, what really stands out is the nature of the forces of darkness to steal, kill and destroy. (It’s not surprising at all, given what we see in our world today with cases of suicide, that once they went into the pigs, they chose to kill themselves.) I wouldn’t say Jesus was merciful to the demons. (Remember, one of His primary purposes for coming was to destroy the works of the evil one in the lives of mankind.) The demons were terrified that Jesus would send them to their eternal judgment immediately (listen to the words they spoke) however, Jesus knew it wasn’t time for their eternal judgment. So while He did not command the demons to go into the pigs, He did allow it. And I’m sure, had the demons not gone into the pigs, the people in this region would have been there next chosen target. (Lose an entire region of people, or lose pigs?) Certainly, this caused economic loss this caused for the owners, you’re right. Though swine were considered unclean animals and the law forbid Jewish people to eat them, notice, their interest was more on the herd instead of being rid of the obvious demonic force which was among them. Providing for the people would not have been an issue for Jesus at all. But they seemed indifferent to the tremendous power and miracle Jesus had just performed, which as Jesus said in other instances throughout the gospels that had they received the miracles with faith and belief in who He was, they would have turned to Him. But here, they did not. Rather than turning to Him in worship, they turned away and rejected Him. Hope this helps!
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