Follow the Savior, …Despite the Perils – Mark 4:35-5:20
4 (35) On that day when evening came, he said to them, Let us go over to the other side of the lake. (36) So leaving the crowd, they took him with them, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
(37) A fierce gale of wind came up on the lake, and the waves began to break over the boat so much that the boat was now filling with water. (38) But he was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They roused him and said, Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing? (39) He awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, Peace, be still. The wind ceased and there was a great calm. (40) Then he said to them, Why are you afraid? Do you not yet have faith? (41) Then they became exceedingly 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 stepped out of the boat, there immediately met him from out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, (3) who lived in the tombs. No one could any longer bind him, not even with a chain. (4) He had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he ripped the chains apart and broke the shackles into pieces. No one had the strength to tame him. (5) He was always in the tombs and in the mountains, crying out night and day, and cutting himself with stones. (6) When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and worshiped him, (7) crying out in a loud voice, What do I have to do with you, Jesus, you who are the Son of the Most High God? I beg you by God, not to torment me. (8) The demon was saying this because Jesus said to him, Come out, you unclean spirit, come out of the man. (9) Then Jesus asked him, What is your name? And he replied, My name is Legion; because we are many. (10) He requested that Jesus would not send them out of the country. (11) Now there was a large herd of swine feeding on the hillside. (12) They made the request, Send us into the swine, so that we may enter into them. (13) And he gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits came out of the man and entered into the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank and into the sea. The herd numbered more two thousand; and they were all drowned in the sea.
(14) Those who had been tending the swine fled, and reported this in the town and in the countryside. Then people came out to see what had happened. (15) When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed with demons sitting there, dressed and in his right mind—the very man who had the legion of demons—and they were afraid. (16) Then those who had witnessed it told what happened to him who had been possessed by demons, and they also reported what happened to the swine. (17) Then the people began to request Jesus to leave their region. (18) As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons requested to be with him. (19) But he would not permit him to do so; rather, he said to him, Go to your home and to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you. (20) So he went his way and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
Now proceed to the next section of this study, entitled, Exploring the Passage.
