Ray Vander Laan: The ancient land of Israel is a testimony and evidence of the greatness of what God did in that country, a testimony to the truth of the words that we find in the pages of the Bible. Jesus interacted with many different kinds of people in his ministry. He interacted with those who were satisfied with the Romans, those who resisted the Romans like the Zealots.

To the east of the Sea of Galilee were the pagans, those people who had really never been a part of the ministry of God or of God's word. Jesus also went there to confront, as it were, the very power of evil that existed in his world. 

We're in the Decapolis. In fact, this is the northern edge of the Decapolis. Decapolis, meaning the 10 cities. There were 10 cities making up a district of this country that had originally been founded by the Greeks. There are nine of them on this side of the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River and one to the south on the west side of the Jordan River called Beth Shean (Also spelled Beit She'an). They were very sophisticated cities.

To the Jewish mind, they were pagan cities. They were cities that had been founded by the pagan Greeks. They practiced the fertility cult. They considered the pig a sacred animal, which is kind of significant given what the Jewish folks thought about pigs and pork. That was unclean and kosher of course. And so, this part of the sea was basically considered to be pagan country.

The first thing I'd like to just deal with a bit here is why was this considered to be pagan territory? You know, if this was given to the Israelites tribes when they came into the land, how did it end up being pagan territory?

To the rabbinic tradition, the Decapolis - this area - was the place to which Joshua had driven out the seven nations of the Canaanites. And they believed those seven pagan Canaanite nations had been driven across the river and had ended up living here. And if you look in the book of Joshua, I'm reading in chapter 3. It reads like this. "This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites" (Joshua 3:10) Seven pagan nations that are going to be driven out.

You'll notice in Acts 13 (19), it says, "He overthrew" - God that is - "He overthrew the seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to his people as their inheritance."

Now I think that there's something in Jesus' ministry which indicates that he very clearly ministered both to the believing Jewish community on that side of the sea as well as to the seven pagan nations. And I'd like to suggest that his miracle of the feeding - the first of the 5,000, the second of the 4,000 - was a way, in a very Jewish way of communicating that he was the bread of life or he was the life giver or the second Moses who brought manna from Heaven to both Jew living over on the northwest side and to Gentile pagan living over here on the northeast side.

Mark (6:39-43) says Jesus directed them to have the people sit down. This is in the area of Capernaum. And he says, "'Have the people sit down in groups on the green grass.' So they sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking to Heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. They all ate and were satisfied and the disciples picked up 12 baskets of broken pieces of bread and fish."

Now I would suggest to a Hebrew mind in that culture, 12 always represented the tribes of Israel. And by Jesus picking up 12 baskets, it seems to me that the implication is that he was the Bread of Life in abundance to the 12.

Now, if we look at Mark 7 (31) you have the feeding of the 4,000. And here, he goes across the sea. It says, "He went through Sidon, down to Galilee, and into the region of the Decapolis." 

"He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. When he had taken the seven loaves and had given thanks, he broke them and gave them to the disciples to set before the people." Same way. They ate and so on. "Afterwards, the disciples picked up seven baskets of broken pieces that were left over." (Mark 8:6-8)

And I'd like to suggest that that's Jesus' way of communicating that he is the Bread of Life to the seven nations. So let's set the stage again. We're sitting here at the edge of the Decapolis. The cities are to the south of us. Jesus ministered over there across the sea on the northwest corner among mainly believing-in-God Jewish people. 

But he came across here on a couple of occasions to perform his work. And I think he was saying, "I am the God who feeds the 12, and I am the God who feeds the seven." And the seven, then, would fit very well here, because this is where the seven nations were. 

Now, let's set one more thing. To the Jewish mind, the rabbinic mind of the New Testament or the Pharisee mind of the New Testament, this was an unclean area. They considered it the place of the devil. Beelzebub lived here because of the pagan religions that they connected with the old Baal worship of those Canaanites. So they referred to it as "across the sea" or the Decapolis. 

"When evening came, he said to his disciples, 'Let's go over to the other side.'" (Mark 4:35) And I think that not only means, "Let's cross." I think it also means, "Let's go to this bad place." 

So you can imagine the disciples had thoughts crossing their minds, "Why would he want to go there?"

"Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along just as he was in the boat. There were also other boats with him."(Mark 4:36) Now remember, to the Jewish mind, the lake was also often seen to be the abyss, the power of evil. So these disciples are thinking we're going across to the territory where the devil lives, "and on the way, a furious storm came up and waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern sleeping. The disciples woke him and said, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" (Mark 4:37-38)

Now, I would suspect at that moment that they're also thinking, "That's what you get when you confront the power of the devil. You go to Beelzebub country and he's going to get us." And what is his power? The storm, thunder, lightning. "And the lake is going to swamp us and we're going to drown in the depths of the sea." And they're scared. 

"He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the waves, 'Quiet. Be still.' Then the wind died down and it was completely calm." Just like that. 

"He said to his disciples, 'Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?' They were terrified and asked each other, 'Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him.'" (Mark 4:39-41)

Now, my suggestion to you is that there's something more to that than just Jesus could control the power of creation. I'd like to suggest that at that moment, the wind and the waves represented, as well, the power of evil. And so I think it's safe to say that they were also thinking, "Even the demons do what he says. Even the evil power does what he says."

"When he got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came out of the tombs to meet him. The man lived in tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills, he would cry out and cut himself with stones." (Mark 5:2-5)

So here comes Jesus. The disciples are thinking, "Jesus, we don't want to go to this place. This is an evil place."

He says, "Let's go."

So they go. What happens? A storm. "Told ya. Shouldn't be here."

Jesus says, "Now, wait a minute. Where's your faith? Quiet." And they're amazed. This guy's even bigger than the storm. Even the power of evil can't touch him. So they land and what happens? Here's this fearsome person that nobody can control, that runs around dangerous to the society. They can't even chain him, because he breaks the chains. And the disciples have to be thinking, "Out of the frying pan, into the fire." 

"When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, 'What do you want with me? Jesus, son of most high God, swear to God you won't torture me.'" 

"For Jesus was saying to him, 'Come out of this man, you evil spirit.' Then Jesus asked him, 'What's your name?'" (Mark 5:6-11)

"'My name is Legion,' he replied, 'for we are many.' And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside." 

Why pigs? The pigs at that point represent the sacred animal of the fertility cult. So here are the very symbols: the lamb to the Jew is the pig to the fertility person.

"The demons beg Jesus, 'Send us among the pigs. Allow us to go into them." That's appropriate. "He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about 2,000 in number, rushed down the steep bank, into the lake, and drowned." (Mark 5:10-13) And Luke calls it, "into the abyss". 

So the lake takes on the symbolism, and just like Elijah takes the Baal prophets and kills them at the Kishon River - the symbol of Baal - the pigs are drowned in the abyss, the lake - the symbol of the abyss. 

"Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came out to see Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there dressed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs as well." (Mark 5:14-17) Then this verse - "Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their area."

I'd like to have you notice first of all, that Jesus deliberately, consciously, in a very planned way, goes right to where he finds the evil and confronts it. I think that's part of what we're called to do as Christians. I don't think we wait for evil to come to us. He didn't wait for the demon-possessed man to row across. He didn't wait for the storm to die down to go out there. He went and found it. 

And as we think about our world-changing call from God where we're supposed to impact culture, I would like to suggest that as Jesus did, we need to find where the power of evil is in whatever aspect of life we're involved in and confront it. I don't think we can wait for it to come to us.

The second thing is, when you come and live out your faith, you can expect people to resist and resent and not to want to have anything to do with you. So the people pleaded with Jesus to leave, because there just is no way that those two things can live together.

But then, let's go on, because the best is coming yet. "As Jesus was getting back into the boat," -- he's finished. That's all he did. He came over here to heal one man. "Jesus was getting back into the boat. The man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him." "Please take me with you. I don't want to be here anymore. I'm different now. I've been changed." 

"Jesus did not let him in the boat. He said, 'Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.' So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and all the people were amazed." (Mark 5:18-20)

Now you talk about a tough mission field. Here's a guy that 15 minutes ago had been possessed by a demon. Now, all of a sudden, he's the only missionary in the area that, to them at least, represented the most pagan place you could possibly be. That's a pretty incredible calling. 

But what I like about it is that Jesus says, "Your message is simple. You don't have to go to school. You don't have to have a seminary degree. Just tell them what happened." That, I think, people, is the key to the confrontation with evil is to be able to simply tell what God has done in your life and mine.

Let me just pick up with one verse that comes after this demon-possessed man. I should make clear, he's in the Decapolis. Matthew 15 (29-31) - "Jesus left there, went up into the hills, and sat down. Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the dumb, and many others and laid them at his feet. And the people were amazed when they saw the dumb speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel."

Apparently, that man had been a pretty good missionary. Because when Jesus came back here, there was a whole crowd of people that are coming to find out who this Jesus was. 

I find that pretty incredible that all these people apparently listened to this one man and his story - by the power of God - and made a difference in their lives. And I think that's the good part about this faith lesson. God calls us to be his people in a culture that doesn't hold his values. This area of the Decapolis became the strongest part of the early Christian community in this part of the world. In fact, at all the major church councils where decisions were made that established our creeds, decisions were made that even put our Bible together, decisions were made that helped to develop our theology at its earliest point. In ever one, there's a bishop mentioned who comes from [inaudible 00:15:54] to those councils. 

And it's really fascinating to me how through the ministry of one person, this area became a central focus of the mission, the work, the life of Jesus Christ. Questions? Observations?

Participant: I think when I look in our world today, the people who make the greatest impact for Christ are those that are the most impassioned about it and not necessarily the most knowledgeable. I think that's something that we can all carry back too, that we may have the knowledge and have grown up in it and have a lot of answers to give to people. But unless we communicate that with a passion and the way that he's worked in our own life, we're not really going to make an impact that we need to make.

Ran Vander Laan: And God says, "You're call is to bring my values to confront the evil values, the bad values, the negative values of the culture you live in. What you need to do is just go and show people what's happened to you. 



Modifié le: lundi 1 juin 2020, 20:23