Biblical Places Spiritual Spaces Sea of Galilee

Sea of Galilee

The Sea of Galilee from Mt Arbel

The Jordan River flows into the Sea of Galilee from the North

And flows out from the South at Yardinet

It's the place where many come to be baptized.

Craig Englert and Michael commissioned our three Miskito leaders of our school project in Nicaragua here in 1997. Augusto, Onofre and Truman.

We have a tile display of Mark 1:9-11 describing Jesus' baptism in the Miskito language.

Mt Hermon sits on the north side of the lake, and its 9400 feet summit collects much snow which eventually finds its way into the Jordan River and underground steams which feed the lake.

Mt Hermon rises to 9400 feet north of the Sea of Galilee

 Cold winds from Hermon sweep down into the below sea level bowl, stirring up waves that can suddenly wreak havoc even today on fishing boats and windsurfers. Mt Arbel is on the west side of the lake, providing a spectacular view of most of the lake.

This sweet water source is a centerpiece of Biblical history, especially during the time of Jesus. He chose the ‘headquarters’ of his ministry to be Capernaum, a community on the northwest side of the harp, where the Romans had their tax collecting station for all the traffic on the main road from the Mediterranean coast to Damascus, and on to the Euphrates river. This was where over 60% if the recorded words of Jesus were spoken, and where many of his ‘sign & wonders’ took place.

Mark is writing his biography of Jesus to tell his audience who Jesus is. From the Biblical texts we know that Mark is the same John Mark who runs from the Garden of Gethsemane when Jesus is arrested (Mark 14:51-52), and then deserts Paul and Barnabas on their first mission trip (Acts 13:13). Later, and they planned their follow up missionary trip, Paul refused to have Mark be part of his team because of that failure (Acts 15:37-39). Years later Paul asks Timothy to bring Mark to him, because for “he will be helpful to me in my ministry.” (2 Timothy 4:11). Thus, we have our first principle for this study:

Principle: Your failures do not disqualify you from ministry but are often the starting point for your most effective season of ministry.

According to Church history, Mark helped establish a church in Alexandria and later worked with Peter among the Gentiles, possibly in Rome. Mark displays Jesus of a man of action, something that would appeal to a Roman audience. He uses the word ‘immediately’ over 30 time in his Gospel, 11 time in the first Chapter. There is no birth narrative in Mark. Jesus hits the ground doing amazing things. Much of his information in his Gospel comes from Peter, as we will see in this account.

Let’s take a look at one day in Jesus’ ministry that is centered around this lake.

³⁵  On that day, when evening came, He (Jesus)said to them, “Let us go over to the other side.” ³⁶  Leaving the crowd, they took Him along with them in the boat, just as He was; and other boats were with Him. ³⁷ And there *arose a fierce gale of wind, and the waves were breaking over the boat so much that the boat was already filling up. ³⁸ Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹ And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm. ⁴⁰ And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?” ⁴¹ They became very much afraid and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?”

While crossing the lake, a storm suddenly engulfs the disciples in their boat, and they are in danger of sinking. They panic, as Jesus is asleep in the stern.  Like them, we often think that Jesus is asleep when we encounter the storms of our life, and we forget who He is, and that He knows our situation. Thus His response: “Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith?”

With a word, Jesus calms the storm.  Mark wants us to know that Jesus has power over nature and can control the natural elements.

Principle: Jesus is in control of every situation that we find ourselves in, and has the power to turn it in whatever direction He wants, for his own purposes. He wants us to know that He has our best interests at heart in the middle of every storm.

¹  They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. ² When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, ³ and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; ⁴ because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones.

 ⁶ Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; ⁷ and shouting with a loud voice, he *said, “ What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” ⁸ For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country.

Mark wants us to understand some dynamics of the spiritual world, and how those rebellious angels often behave, and how they affect us.  Jesus gives us a clear understanding of this ‘Legion’ that is inhabiting this man living in the tombs and hills of Gerasene. Matthew records Jesus saying:

⁴³ “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.” Matthew 12:43-45

From this we see that ‘unclean spirits (rebellious angels Revelation 12:7-9):

1) exist inside and outside of humans,

2) can travel;

3) make decisions;

4) communicate with other unclean spirits;

5) have varying degrees of evilness.

These particular unclean spirits seem to think they have a right to be in this region, but understand the authority of Jesus. The next details of this story help us understand why.

 ¹¹ Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. ¹² The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” ¹³ Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.

¹⁴ Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion”; and they became frightened.

¹⁶ Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. ¹⁷ And they began to implore Him to leave their region.

These were Gentiles who did not understand who Jesus was, nor where they interested in finding out. They were just fearful and wanting the situation to go away, being comfortable in their present lifestyle.

Principle: We will meet many who are comfortable in their self-centered lifestyle, who do not want to be taken out of their comfort zone, even when they experience the presence of God which provokes fear instead of awe.

¹⁸  As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. ¹⁹ And He did not let him, but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” ²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

We can almost see the disciples standing behind this man signaling to Jesus “No, No! Don’t bring this pig eating pagan back to Capernaum with us!”

Instead, Jesus appoints the very first missionary in His ministry- a man who had no formal Bible training, just a profound experience with God. This man became a very effective witness for Jesus, and was well used to bring many into the Kingdom.

Principle: While we often think we need formal preparation to become a witness for Jesus, all that is required is an experience with God and a commission from Him to spread the Word.

Principle: Often those we think to be the most unlikely missionaries turn out to be the most effective.

The disciples and Jesus get back in the boat and return to Capernaum.

²¹  When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore. ²²  One of the synagogue officials named Jairus came up, and on seeing Him, fell at His feet ²³ and implored Him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death; please come and lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live.” ²⁴ And He went off with him; and a large crowd was following Him and pressing in on Him.

Jairus had seen Jesus perform miracles, and was desperate to have Jesus intervene in the health of his daughter. Although Jesus was probably ready to return home to rest, He accepted this interruption to his schedule. On is way to Jairus’ house, he had another interruption.

 ²⁵ A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, ²⁶ and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse— ²⁷ after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. ²⁸ For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” ²⁹ Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.

After 12 years of dealing with a health issue, this lady was desperate, and fought through the crowd to get to Jesus, thinking that “If I can just touch Him, I know I can be healed.’ She was right. Jesus sensed something extraordinary had happened.

³⁰ Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” ³¹ And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” ³² And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. ³³ But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. ³⁴ And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”

Jesus forced this lady to publicly confess to the crowd what had happened. He wanted her and the others to understand the dynamic of faith in our relationship with God.

Principle: It is beneficial to us and those around us to tell them the great things that God has done in our lives.

Tell of His glory among the nations,
His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. 1 Chronicles 16:24

Capernaum and the Flying Saucer Church built over the 5th Century octagon church built over the First Century fisherman's house. 

 Ruins of the 5Th Century Church

 Capernaum homes (Insula) 

Mark wants us to know that in addition to Jesus having power over the natural elements, he also has power over sickness.

Principle: Jesus can heal any disease, as He desires, when He desires.

 ³⁵ While He was still speaking, they *came from the house of the synagogue official, saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?” ³⁶ But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid any longer, only believe.” ³⁷ And He allowed no one to accompany Him, except Peter and James and John the brother of James.

 ³⁸ They came to the house of the synagogue official; and He saw a commotion, and people loudly weeping and wailing. ³⁹ And entering in, He said to them, “Why make a commotion and weep? The child has not died, but is asleep.” ⁴⁰ They began laughing at Him.

But putting them all out, He took along the child’s father and mother and His own companions, and entered the room where the child was. ⁴¹ Taking the child by the hand, He said to her, “Talitha kum!” (which translated means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). ⁴² Immediately the girl got up and began to walk, for she was twelve years old. And immediately they were completely astounded. ⁴³ And He gave them strict orders that no one should know about this, and He said that something should be given her to eat. Mark 4:35 - 5:43

The word ‘astonished’ in the Greek is exístēmi; sometimes translated ‘amazement’.

To remove out of a place or state. In the NT applied only to the mind, meaning to be out of one's mind, beside oneself; in a neut. or pass. sense, to be transported beyond oneself with astonishment, to be amazed, astounded

Principle: Often God wants to take us out of our minds and into His.

Mark wants us to know that in addition to having authority over the natural elements and sickness, Jesus has authority over death.

Principle: Jesus is our Lord, the active creative force of God and the embodiment of God’s wisdom.

Mark is telling us this story for a reason. Not only is Jesus Lord over the storm, sickness and death, we see him being interrupted by the storm, by the demon possessed man, by Jairus, and by the bleeding woman. It was because of these interruptions that God presences was felt, and His power displayed.

There is a reason that when asked by his disciples to teach them to pray, he told the to daily ask God to interrupt our plans, and let His will be done in our lives.

Pray, then, in this way:
‘Our Father who is in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰ ‘Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹ ‘Give us this day our daily bread.
¹² ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
¹³ ‘And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from  evil. Matthew 6:9-13

Recognizing who oversees your life and giving honor to Him is the starting point to a successful day. Asking Him to let His will to be done in our lives is an invitation for Him to guide our day for His purposes, even if it interrupts our plans. As Solomon wrote in Poverbs:

The mind of man plans his way,
But the LORD directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9

May we glean many lessons for our ministry from this day on the Sea of Galilee.