Mark 4:35-5:20
Dear RTB’ers,
Jesus calming the storm. At Avanza for many years we used the Jesus Storybook Bible (JSB) for devotionals with the kids. An interesting line comes from the JSB in this incident of Jesus calming the storm. The book has Jesus speaking His calming words, “Peace! Be still!”, and the wind and the waves calming down. Then the JSB goes on, that the wind and the waves recognized the voice of the One who had first created them when the Earth was created. They recognize His voice and obey Him. An interesting twist to this story!
As to the healing of the man with multiple demons, some interesting items:
- Jesus is now in Gentile territory, our first account of Him leaving Galilee or Judea
- There is more than one demon in this possessed man
- Jesus has a multiple-line conversation with at least one of the demons – Mark records four full sentences from one of the demons
- The herd of pigs – pigs were unclean for the Jews; they would not have been found in Galilee or Judea
- Two thousand pigs – that’s a huge herd!!
- Jesus tells the man to tell his story to his friends; in previous healings He has told demons or a healed person not to speak of Him or the deliverance (Mark 1:34, 1:44, 3:12); Bible scholars often refer to Mark’s “Messianic Secret”.
We will see more demons and unclean spirits as we continue in Mark’s gospel.
Blessings!
See also: