8: Calming the sea & healing the man with demons — Mark 4:35-5:20

4³⁵ On that day, when evening had come, he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side.” ³⁶ And leaving the crowd behind, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was. Other boats were with him. ³⁷ A great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. ³⁸ But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹ He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. ⁴⁰ He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” ⁴¹ And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”

5They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. ² And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. ³ He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; ⁴ for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. ⁶ When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; ⁷ and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” ⁸ For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”
⁹ Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” ¹⁰ He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹ Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; ¹² and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.” ¹³ So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea. 

¹⁴ The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. ¹⁷ Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. ¹⁸ As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. ¹⁹ But Jesus refused, and said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.”
²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed. NRSV

Get into the Word:

1. What does Mark describe next? What happens to the disciples? How do they react to the situation? How does Jesus respond? What does he say to the disciples [see Notes]? What does this tell us about Jesus? About the disciples?

2. What happens when Jesus gets to the other shore? Who meets him at the shore? Where does he come from? How does the man behave? Why does he act like this?

3. What does the man say to Jesus? Why do you think he said these things? How does Jesus respond? How does the spirit answer Jesus question?

4. What does the spirit propose to Jesus? Why would it suggest this? How does Jesus answer the proposal? What happens next?

5. How do the people react to all these developments? How might you have reacted if you had been there? What do the people ask of Jesus?

6. What does the now-cured man want to do? What does Jesus say to this? Why do you think Jesus gave him this direction? What is the result?

Get Personal

What storms have come up in your life recently? How did you respond to the situation? How did you ask God for help with the problem? How did God help you to relax and trust him for the outcome?

(cross-references to Matthew and Luke are given in brackets)

4:35-41. Calming the storm — Luke includes this incident although he does not refer to any crowd or other boats, [Luke 8:22-25]. Luke says the disciples shouted Master, Master, we are perishing instead of the question about Jesus not caring about drowning. Also, Luke says Jesus asked only, Where is your faith? He also reports the disciples were afraid as well as amazed.
Matthew’s version of this incident actually comes earlier in Jesus’ ministry and another healing at Capernaum. It is similar to Mark and Luke, but Matthew says the disciples told Jesus We are perishing, and that Jesus rebuked the disciples with why are you afraid, you of little faith?, before he calms the storm, [Mt 8:23-27]. Matthew also says the disciples were amazed at Jesus’ power over natural forces.
4:41. Filled with great awe — the disciples may have been impressed but they missed the point that only God can start and stop storms: He made the storm be still, and the waves of the sea were hushed, [Psalm 107:29]. Jesus has now demonstrated his authority over illness, “demons,” and nature.
5:1. The demon-possessed Man — Luke’s version of this incident is very similar to Mark’s, including the spirit’s challenge to Jesus, the name legion, the

spirits going into the pigs, the response of the people, and Jesus’ instructions to the cured man, [Luke 8:26-39].
Matthew puts this encounter in Gadara, actually a different town in the same region. Also, Matthew reports that two demon-possessed men confront Jesus, [Mt 8:28-34]. Matthew includes the pigs and the people begging Jesus to leave, but omits most of the detail that is in Mark.
5:11-12. Pigs — Mosaic law forbid eating pork, so Jews would see nothing wrong with evil spirits choosing pigs as their new host.
5:4-5. Shackles, chains, stones — both abnormal strength and self-wounding are often associated with someone who is “possessed.”
5:9. Legion — evidently many demons possessed this man (which explains the use of “we”).
5:12. Swine — pigs were “unclean” according to Mosaic Law [Lev 11:7]. The demons did not want Jesus to send them someplace where they had no hosts; but note that they knew they had to obey Jesus.
5:17. Beg Jesus to leave — Jesus had just caused a severe economic loss and done something the people did not understand.
5:19. Go home — Jesus directs the now-healed man to tell others about this miracle.