JESUS IS LORD OF ALL

MARK FIVE

SOW#200902 – February 08, 2009

The gospel according to Mark gives us the message that Jesus is Lord over the demons, disease, and death. First, His mastery over demons is shown in the account of the demoniac, and his name was Legion.

LORD OVER DEMONS

The Lord and His disciples were crossing the Sea of Galilee and a great storm threatened to sink the boat. Jesus, who was asleep in the hindermost part of the ship, arose and rebuked the wind and the sea and there was a great calm.

When they came to land on the other side they ran into a storm of a different kind; a storm that was raging inside of a man possessed with a legion of demons. This man lived in the tombs, and wore no clothes. He was fierce, and it seems a threat to the public. He was crying out at night in the mountains and all attempts to tame him failed. He would break chains and there was no way to bind him. He had super-human strength; he is Super Mugger. When Jesus asked him his name he said his name was Legion.

Now the word BESOUGHT is found four times in this passage regarding Legion. The first BESOUGHT is when the demons besought that Jesus would not cast them into the abyss or bottomless pit. Mark says that Legion saw Jesus from afar off and the unclean spirit cried with a loud voice. Now listen to these demons as they hiss at the Lord, “Torment me not.” Matthew adds the time element to this request, “Art thou come to torment us before the time?” When Jesus shows up on the beach the demons thought that He is going to start their torment ahead of time. The devil believes in Hell, and he knows it is just a question of time.

Another message the demons hiss is in regards to their number. Jesus asked him, “What is thy name?” He said,  “Legion for we are many.” There were many demons in this one man. This fact indicates how vast the number of evil spirits there are in the kingdom of darkness. Paul tells us in Ephesians 6:12, how we wrestle against a spiritual host of wickedness in high places.

The philosophy of the demons was the same as many we meet every day. They hissed, “What have we to do with Thee?” They want nothing to do with Jesus Christ either here, or in eternity. They hate angels, they hate the Church, they hate the Bible, they hate Jesus, and they hate the Christian.

The second BESOUGHT was a request to the Lord, if He was going to cast them out, to send them into the herd of swine. Jesus said unto them, “Go.” And they came out, and went into the swine: and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep into the sea, and perished in the waters.  This should have been proof enough for the people to know that when the devil gets into anything, he will destroy it. If the devil gets into a home, he will destroy it. If the devil gets into a marriage, he will destroy it. If the devil gets into a nation, he will destroy it. If the devil gets into a Bible College, he will destroy it. If the devil gets into a Family Camp, he will destroy it. History gives abundant evidence of this fact, but most of the time we ignore it.

This demon-filled man said that his name was Legion for we are many, and no man could bind him; no not even with chains and locks. He could break these restraints like spider-webs. People are breaking the chains of restraint today. A description of modern man is found in the second Psalm, “Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.” People are not going to be bound by any laws of God. The world today creates its own laws of morality. It is hard to understand these bleeding-heart liberals. They want to kill babies, yet they don’t want to execute rapists and murderers.

Mankind controlled by the devil lives like Legion among the tombs. It is impossible to drive around a city or countryside very long without seeing a cemetery. We always hear the hiss of the serpent in every funeral procession.

When the town’s people came out to investigate, they found the man sitting at the feet of Jesus clothed and in his right mind. In other words, it is spiritual insanity to live life in this world without Christ.

And now here is the third BESOUGHT. The town’s people wanted Jesus to leave. The reason was that Jesus is too expensive. I asked a farmer about the price of hogs. He said a good rule-of-thumb would be a hundred dollars for a pig just big enough to get to market. Now think of that. Two thousand hogs floating belly-up in the water would be worth about two hundred thousand dollars if they only weighed a hundred pounds. That was quite a jolt in the local economy.

It was nice of Jesus to make this demoniac a good citizen, but the price was too high. The demons always hiss when money is mentioned regarding the ongoing of the Church. They besought Him to depart from their borders. Jesus never stays where He is not wanted. What a haunting statement, “Depart from our borders.” Jesus Himself will use the same words some day to many when He says in Matthew 25:41, “Depart from Me ye cursed into the eternal fire.”

The fourth BESOUGHT was when Legion besought Jesus that He might be with Him. The parting word of the Lord to the man He delivered from the demons was a commission, “Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and had compassion on thee.” And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.

We Christians need to remember that Jesus has given us the commission to preach to a lost world until He returns, “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be damned.”

On that great day when the voice of the Master is calling,

And the gates of the city unfold

And the saints of the ages are thronging into the city of gold.

How my heart shall o’er flow with rapture

If some brother shall greet me and say

You pointed my footsteps to heaven, you told me of Jesus the way.

Jesus is Lord over demons and He is Lord over disease.

LORD OVER DISEASE

And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, when she heard of Jesus, she came in the press behind, and touched His garment, and straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up, and the Lord looked round about on her that had done this thing. The Lord looked on her with the look of compassion.

Actually Jesus looked on many people. He looked up into Heaven before He healed the deaf man when He returned to Decapolis when it was said, “He hath done all things well.” That was a look that healed.

When Jesus made the prediction that He would be crucified, Peter took Him and rebuked Him saying, “Lord, this shall never be unto Thee.” Peter had rejected the thought of Jesus dying on the cross. Jesus turned about and looked on His disciples, and rebuked Peter, saying, “Get thee behind Me Satan, for thou mindest not the things of God, but the things of men.” Does He not give that same look of rebuke today on those who reject His sacrifice on the cross?

Another time Jesus looked round about on His disciples and said, “Behold, My mother and My brethren! For whosoever doeth the will of My Father who is in Heaven, he is My brother and sister, and mother.” That was the special look we have for loved ones of our family. Every Christian can sing: “I’m so glad I’m a part of the family of God.”

Another time Jesus looked round about Him in anger was on the Pharisees because of their hardness of heart. One might wonder if Jesus still looks on those today in anger that hear the gospel preached and will not accept how He suffered for them on the cross.

Then there is the look of Jesus in the early part of His ministry when Andrew brought his brother Simon to Jesus. Jesus looked upon him and said, “Thou art Simon the son of John: thou shalt be called Cephas which is by interpretation Peter.” Jesus looked on Peter and saw an Apostle. What does Jesus see as He looks upon you? I think I can say Jesus looked on me and saw a preacher.

At last this woman had found the right Doctor. She had found the Great Physician. Some doctors today specialize. Jesus is a specialist in everything.

He is a good chiropractor. One time a woman was bowed together for eighteen years and could not lift herself up. He laid His hands on her and immediately she was made straight and glorified God. One adjustment was all that was needed. He was a great Ophthalmologist. One time He healed a man from blindness who was born blind. He was a good Psychiatrist, with one look He could tell what they were thinking; He knew their thoughts. With the woman in this case He demonstrated that He was a great Oncologist, or blood doctor. First John 1:7 states, “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin.” He was also a wonder Podiatrist when He caused a man to walk after being lame for thirty-eight years. Now this case would be a real test for the Great Physician; sick for twelve years and no one else could heal her.

This woman reminds me of many who are spiritually sick. They try all kinds of spiritual doctors, and get worse all the time instead of better.

Some people depend on Doctor Feeling to pull them out of it; I overheard people talking at a nearby table in a restaurant, and one of them was evidently a preacher. I heard him tell the others that the Lord had told him five things He wanted him to do after the first of the year. I wondered at the time, how did the Lord tell him? Did He call him on the phone? Did He fax him a message? Or did He just holler it down to him from Heaven? I suppose if someone had asked him, he would have said he just felt the Lord was talking to him. Doctor Feeling is a quack.

Some people spend all they have on Doctor Denomination. I heard one man pray in a church service, “O Lord, there are over three hundred denominations in the Christian religion and I thank you for every one of them.” Jesus prayed that they all might be one.

Then there are some that worship Doctor Baptism. Some depend on being immersed in water as the only step in the plan of salvation. The command that was given to the believers on the Day of Pentecost was, “Repent and be baptized”, and it was to be done in the name of Jesus Christ, by His authority. Many have heard those words and have turned a deaf ear to the ‘repent’ part.

At the point of obedience, Jesus will say to you as He said to the woman with the issue of blood, “Thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.” Jesus is Lord over demons, He is Lord over disease, and He is Lord over death.

LORD OVER DEATH

Just before the woman with the issue of blood was healed, there came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw Him, he fell at His feet, and besought Him greatly, saying, “My little daughter is even now dead: I pray Thee, come and lay Thy hands on her, and she shall live.” And Jesus arose and followed him and so did His disciples.

There are many who belong to the Jairus club; their thought of their mortality and salvation never comes to mind until the sudden death of a friend. They may never show any interest any other time, but when a loved one dies many will turn to a preacher.

Many times it is a sad state of affairs when the good intention is never redeemed until the day when the family calls on a preacher for the memorial service. It has been said that the most popular question that is asked more times every day is, “What time is it?” The best answer to that question is in Hosea 10:12. The prophet said, “It is time to seek the Lord.”

What would you think of a doctor who examined you and knew that you had cancer, but to make you feel good told you that you were in the best of health? People may not want to hear the truth, but they need to hear it anyway. They expect you to preach their loved one to the front-row of Heaven with a crown on his head and a harp in his hand, regardless of his relationship with Christ.

It was at this time the woman with the issue of blood had interrupted the trip to the house of Jairus. What a tense moment it must have been for Jairus. His daughter was even now dead and this was no time for delay.

Jesus told Jairus, “Be not afraid, only believe.” When they arrived on the scene and saw the preparations being made for the funeral, Jesus informed them that the child was only asleep, and they laughed Him to scorn.

Only believe, and taking the child by the hand, He saith unto her, “Talitha Cumi, Damsel: Arise!” And straightway she arose and walked for she was twelve years old. He commanded that they should give her something to eat.

There is a good reason that Jesus commanded that they give her something to eat. At one of the appearances of Jesus in Luke 24:41-42 after His resurrection, the disciples thought He was a spirit. And while they still disbelieved and wondered, He said unto them, “Have ye anything to eat?” And they gave Him a piece of honeycomb, and broiled fish. And He took it and ate it before them. The disciples knew then that His resurrection was for real. When Jesus arose from the dead that is a good thing for the Church to remember; whenever there is a baptism and a person is buried with Christ and raised to walk in a newness of life, give them something to eat. Give them the Word of God, and feed them the bread of life in the teaching and preaching of the Word of God.

By taking food there was no doubt that He was not just a spirit, but in fact a resurrected body. So they gave the resurrected child something to eat. And when she came out of that room, eating a cheeseburger in one hand, and drinking a milkshake from the other, no one laughed. There was no question asked about it. Everyone knew this was the real deal. Lord over demons, disease and death. Jesus is Lord of all.