Reference: Mark 4:35-5:43
Recently, the youth ministry had a retreat. During the retreat, we did a bible study on the above reference. It was a very fruitful session where much was discussed and shared. I will attempt to summarise some of the learning points that I gleaned from the session.
The entire text can be broken broadly into 4 episodes. The calming of the storm, the healing of the demon possessed man, the healing of a sick woman and the raising of a dead girl.
Come to Jesus just as you are.
There is a familiar song that we all know that goes like this,
Come, now is the time to worship
Come, now is the time
to give your heart
Come, just as you are to worship
Come, just as you are
before your God
Come
I would like to focus on the line, “Come, just as you are before your God”. Over the above-mentioned 4 episodes, these people approached Jesus just as they were.
The disciples who had witness performed several miracles were in a boat with Jesus. When a squall came over them, they panicked. They went to Jesus almost accusingly saying, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drowned?” You might think, “How blinded these men were by their fear. Don’t they know that Jesus was the King of kings and the Lord of all? Surely a storm is nothing to him”.
In a present moment of need, doubt inevitably appears, especially when death is near. Past experiences are often thrown out of the window. What is admirable is that the disciples took their doubts to the only one they believed could save them. Even when we come to the Lord Jesus, he knows our doubt. He rebuked the storm but there was no rebuke for the disciples. He merely asked them why they were so afraid.
Are you in a situation where danger is near? Do you have doubts that Jesus does not care about your situation? Come to Jesus just as you are.
When Jesus got out of the boat, the demon-possessed man came to Jesus to meet him. The region he was in was called Gerasenes. This area had very few Jews and was largely inhabited by Gentiles. It was said that Jesus went out of his way to meet this man to heal him as after healing him, he returned to the other side of the lake. Though Jesus’ ministry was largely confined to among the Jews, the fact that he took this trip to heal this gentile man was remarkable. The man probably had never heard about Jesus and could not even set out to look for him to be healed.
Brother Xie Zhengyang
