Sharon Reformed Presbyterian Church · Sermon study sheet

Go Home & Tell of God's Mercy

Bryan Schneider · November 12, 2022

Mark 5:1-20

sharonrpc.org/sermons/go-home-tell-of-god-s-mercy

Summary

Jesus deliberately crosses the sea and confronts a man whose bondage appears beyond all human restraint, showing that no realm is outside his authority.
The demons recognize Jesus as the Son of the Most High God and bow before him, yet accurate knowledge and compelled submission are not the same as saving faith and love.
At Jesus' command the legion departs, and the man once isolated among the tombs is found clothed, in his right mind, and sitting with Jesus.
The townspeople respond to Jesus' power and the loss of the pigs with fear and ask him to leave, exposing a heart that values the familiar order more than the presence of the Savior.
The restored man wants to remain physically with Jesus, but Jesus sends him home to his friends as a witness to the Lord's mercy.
Christian testimony does not require hiding every scar; those who knew the old life are meant to see and hear what Christ has mercifully done.
Believers remain near Christ through the Spirit's ordinary means and through honest fellowship with his church while they bear witness where he has placed them.

Where have I assumed that a person or situation is beyond the reach of Jesus' authority and mercy?
Do I merely know correct things about Jesus, or do I receive him with faith, love, and willing obedience?
What familiar comfort, cultural expectation, or material interest might make me resist the disruptive mercy of Christ?
How has the Lord restored what sin, isolation, or bondage had disordered in my life?
Who among my family and friends needs to hear a humble and truthful account of what Christ has done for me?
Am I trying to conceal every mark of my former life, or can those scars become evidence of the Savior's mercy?
Am I staying near to Christ through Scripture, prayer, the sacraments, worship, and accountable fellowship in his church?

Legion: The name given by the unclean spirits to stress their great number and the depth of the man's bondage.
Son of the Most High God: The demons' truthful title for Jesus, whose divine authority they cannot resist even though they do not love or trust him.
Saving faith: Receiving and resting upon Christ with trust and love, not merely knowing true facts about his identity.
Mercy: The Lord's compassionate deliverance of one who could not free or restore himself.
Testimony: A truthful account of what the Lord has done, offered so that others may hear of Christ's mercy.
Ordinary means of grace: The Word, sacraments, and prayer through which Christ ordinarily nourishes his people in communion with himself.