Mark 5:1-20
Last time, Jesus silenced a storm on the Sea of Galilee and left his disciples asking, "Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him." This week, we find out where that boat was headed — and why.
The other side of the sea was the wrong side of everything. Gentile territory. A graveyard. A man no chain could hold, no person could reach, and no community could tolerate. He lived among the dead, screamed through the night, and cut himself with stones. If you were advising Jesus on where to spend his time, this would not make the list.
And yet Jesus steered straight for him.
In this sermon from Mark 5:1–20, we walk through one of the most dramatic encounters in all of Scripture — a Legion of demons, two thousand pigs, a terrified town, and one man sitting clothed and in his right mind at the feet of the one who sought him out. We look at the four layers of ritual uncleanliness Jesus willingly walked into to reach this single soul. We sit with the three beggings in this passage and what they reveal about the nature of salvation, rejection, and hell itself. And we land on the remarkable commission Jesus gives to the man he just rescued — not "come follow me," but "go home and tell them."
He was the least likely missionary to the least likely region. And they were all amazed.
Main Idea: Christ's love is so powerful, it seeks us out in the darkest corners of the world, and redeems the darkest corners of our souls.
You may be more put together than this man. Your sins may be more socially acceptable. But the darkness has its chains on you just the same. The good news of this passage is that Jesus crossed a sea for someone everyone else had written off — and he has not stopped seeking the ones the world has given up on.
East Brainerd Baptist Church
1047 Graysville Road, Chattanooga, TN
Join us Sundays at 11:00 AM — we would love to worship with you.
We are a church that loves the Word, loves Chattanooga, and is learning week by week what it looks like to follow a Savior who goes out of his way for the ones everyone else walks past.