Mark Explained Part 1 | Who Jesus IsSample

Day 6 | Mark 5 | Hope

Mark chapter 5 today, and it’s time to bring some hope. Hope is the confident expectation that good is coming. 

Mark 5 has three stories, and each one begins hopeless. Three people, desperately in need. And in all three cases, the world had given up. 

When is a person beyond hope? When do you give up? When is the disease too much? When is the mind too far gone? 

Hope is amazing. Hope is like a shot of adrenaline for your soul. Hope can get me through anything. And Lord knows we all have those days when we need some hope. 

Now context is key here. Chapter 4 ended with the disciples out at sea with Jesus. A storm hit. The disciples thought they were dead. The storm was furious and the boat was ready to go down. And they found Jesus…. sleeping! “Don’t you care if we drown?” 

Ever ask Jesus that question? Jesus gets up, rebukes the storm, and it was completely calm.

The disciples are amazed! But what catches me is Jesus question: 

“Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” (Mark 4:40).

All along, the whole storm was about their faith. See Jesus gave them a word - we’re going to the other side. But it took faith to believe it. 

At one of the hardest points in my own life - storm after unending storm - God used that very story to give me a word, "I won’t get you out, but I will get you through." 

And true enough, the storms never died, but He keeps getting me through. He knew that what I really needed was faith. And Jesus knew the disciples would need faith too - faith enough to have hope for a hopeless man. 

That brings us to chapter 5, verse 2:

"When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit (that means demon) came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the 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).

This man was demonized. He was mentally ill to say the least. Most of us would just call him crazy. And after enough years, most of us would call him hopeless. The guy lives in tombs. For some reason demons are all about death. Whether it’s music, games, movies, art - they want your mind living in the tombs. 

This man is a cutter too. And he’s strong enough to tear apart chains. Just give up on the guy. Have you ever tried to help someone who is mentally ill? If you do, you’re a hero in my book. It’s hard. It takes patience. It takes hope. 

Zach Martinez is a dear friend of mine. Zach was a sixties child. Abused as a kid, he tried acid at 19, and he was wide open to the occult and darkness. He opened - and darkness entered. He held it together enough to work, even marry and start a family. Zach fought in Vietnam, and was awarded a Purple Heart. But the darkness wouldn’t leave. 

When do you give up on a man? A year? Two years? Five? They all passed, and Zach’s mind was filled with evil thoughts 24/7. He was in and out of the hospital. He could carry a conversation, but always his mind was full of thoughts of hurting himself, his wife, his kids. It never left him.

When do you give up hope? When is the damage so bad that God can’t possibly work all things for good?

Zach held a job in those years - even had Christian coworkers. Genuine, born-again believers. In his years of torment, not once did one of them even try to share the good news of Jesus. No one told him about the rescuer of souls.

I wonder about this demonized man in Mark 5. How long before his parents gave up? What did his old friends think? But then, what really matters is that Jesus showed up. 

When Jesus arrived, the man ran to Him - but it’s the demons talking first. A bunch of them. They call themselves Legion. Now there’s a lot to this story, but I’ll let you read through it. In the end, Jesus casts the demons out of the man - and into pigs. And the pigs jump in the sea! Wild!

The pig owners go tell the townspeople, and the people come to check it out. And in verse 15:

"When they came to 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" (Mark 5:15).

Check it out. The man is dressed and in his right mind. Amazing…

Zach told me the story of Valentine’s Day, 1980. Ten years of darkness and insanity had passed. His wife handed him a Valentine’s Day card, an walked out, broken. 

When is it time to give up?

Zach was alone. That very day, he found a Christian tract that he’d stolen from his mom. He could feel God’s hand pulling the darkness out from his heart. He was saved that day. He knew it. He felt God’s touch, and he knew he was going to Heaven. 

His wife stayed. But time passed, and two years later, his mind still wasn’t healed. 

Why? Why couldn’t God just heal him?

Well, back in Mark 5, Jesus moves on. He sends the man - set back in his right mind and, thankfully, dressed - back to his home. 

“Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you” (Mark 5:19).

But the disciples have more ministry ahead. They cross the lake again, and on the other side - two more hopeless people. First a religious man with a dying daughter. Then an older woman who had been bleeding for twelve years. She spent all her money on doctors - but no help. When Jesus stops for the woman, precious time is lost. Men come to tell the father, “Your daughter is dead. Why bother the teacher any more?”

In other words, time to give up hope.

Now I’ll to let you read those stories. But if you’ve heard them before, slow down - and put yourself in their shoes. Would you hold out hope?

But I will finish Zach’s story. In 1982, after 13 years mentally ill - the last two as a born again Christian - Zach resigned himself to the facts. He had to go back to the hospital. Perhaps God would use him there to share Jesus. 

Well, God did use him there - but not as a patient. When he finally submitted everything, God healed his mind. Today, Zach is whole. He is a dear friend, and one of the most stable, clear minded people I know. For many years, Zach served as chaplain in numerous mental hospitals. He even drove across the desert with me - just to visit my Dad, when my Dad struggled with bipolar disorder. I love my Dad, but it was hard to hope. Zach gave me hope. 

I asked Zach one time if it was worth it. 13 years of darkness and anger. He didn’t hesitate. “Without a doubt. I can go in there and say, ‘I know what you’re going through.’” He shared the gospel every time, and week after week, people came to Christ. He always focused on forgiveness.

We got talking one time about compassion and caring and such, and Zach said to me, “All that stuff is alive for me, because of what I went through.”

Zach’s favorite verse to share is Revelation 21:4.

‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” (Revelation 21:4-5).

Now there is a reason to hope.

Thanks for joining us for today's audio guide. You can find this chapter and hundreds more on the Through the Word app and website. And remember, faith comes by hearing, and hearing through the Word.

You can find audio guides for this chapter and hundreds more on the Through the Word app and at throughtheword.org.