What are you afraid of?

Mark 4:35-5:20 from the daily reading in the One year Bible

³⁵ On that day, when evening came, He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶ Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. ³⁷ 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. ³⁸ 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?” ³⁹ 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. ⁴⁰ And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” ⁴¹ They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

5 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. ² When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, ³ and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; ⁴ 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. ⁵ Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. ⁶ Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; ⁷ 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!” ⁸ For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹ Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. ¹² The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” ¹³ 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.

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. ¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. ¹⁷ And they began to implore Him to leave their region. ¹⁸ As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. ¹⁹ 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.” ²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

In both of these accounts, in today’s text we see fear. In both there is an element of fear regarding the circumstances and there is also fear after Jesus changes the circumstances. In the boat, on the stormy sea, the disciples feared for their lives. The text says:    And He(Jesus) got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. ⁴⁰ And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” ⁴¹ They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”   What was this fear the disciples had after being delivered to safety and security?  We need to remember that this account happened fairly early in Jesus ministry. The disciples had seen Jesus do some miracles of healing, they had heard His teaching, but even they, His closest followers were just beginning to really know Him. The psalmist says: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments (Psalm 111:10) Proverbs 1:7 also says: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction. The fear the disciple had was a fear that would lead them to wisdom and knowledge. They asked “who then is this”.

In the second account we see that the demons knew very well who Jesus was.         Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; ⁷ 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!” ⁸ For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country.     The demons feared Jesus because they knew Him. They knew He had authority over them. James 2:19 says:  You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. The demons know and demonstrate the truth of Philippians 2:10,   at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  They fear the Lord because they are opposed to Him though they know He is Lord.

We see still another example of fear displayed in the people of the region. The text says: 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. ¹⁵ 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. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. ¹⁷ And they began to implore Him to leave their region.      These people were uncomfortable, fearful of the change Jesus would bring. Even though they saw that it was miraculous and good, they were fearful because it was new and different. Many today have this same fear of Jesus. They see the wonderful transformation He has caused in the lives of others, deliverance from legions of demons, yet they like the people of the region of Gerasenes, are fearful of what might change in their own lives if they allow Jesus to remain. For them their fear does not produce wisdom and knowledge. Their fear causes them to remain where they are comfortable, not coming to the knowledge of who Jesus really is, knowing that if they come to know who He is it will require change. It’s hard to believe what some people will hold onto;  pain, suffering, addictions even sickness because they are more comfortable with what they know than with what things must be let go.

 Jesus changes things. The knowledge of who He is requires that we change. The paradox we face is in the fact that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge. Certainly as long as we are on this earth we will never fully know Him. We can never fully comprehend who Jesus is and how great the depth of His love for us is. One of my favorite lyrics in any hymn is: “when we’ve been there 10,000 years, we’ve no less days to sing His praise”. The revelation of who God the Father and Jesus Christ are is never ending. Since then are knowledge is incomplete, we should have a fear of the Lord. Yet the paradox is that we are told we should: come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) Boldly, not fearfully. We come boldly because though we are still learning all of who He is, we come to accept who we are in Him.  Romans 8:14-17 says:    For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with.      2 Corinthians 5:17 says:  if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.     If we will embrace the new things Christ brings to us and in us, then we can come boldly into His presence. In His presence we come to know Him more. If on the other hand, we like the people of the region of Gerasenes, fear change, choosing to hold onto the things we are comfortable with even though we have seen the miraculous deliverance of Jesus, we separate ourselves from Him, never fully knowing who He wants to be for us.

The choice is ours. Romans 14:10-11 says: For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 11For it is written, "AS I LIVE, SAYS THE LORD, EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW TO ME, AND EVERY TONGUE SHALL GIVE PRAISE TO GOD."    We can choose to know Him now, as Lord and Savior, the one who died for our sins. We can know God the Father as Abba, Daddy, and as His children come boldly into His presence. Or we can remain far off, asking Jesus to leave us alone, not knowing Him until we know Him as judge.

What are you afraid of? The angel of God said: “Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; ¹¹ for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:10-11)

Thank You Heavenly Father, Abba; Lord Jesus Christ my Savior and precious Holy Spirit. Amen.