Lesson # 13 | MARK 6:14-29 | THE DEATH OF FALSE KINGS

I.  Greetings:

 

II. Introduction:

            Q What happens when you cross powerful authorities?  Have you ever done so in your life:  a strong bully, a boss, a teacher, a strong parent, or even the police?

              An = The Proverbs have some insight in this regard:  Have three different people look up and...

>>>> Have someone read Proverbs 16:14, 19:12, and 20:2.

            Q What is the message here?

               An =  The message of the Proverbs is that if you anger the "king" or the powerful one then expect to get hurt.

              Lets look at someone who crossed an authority in Jesus' day.  This man corrected the morals of a king.

 

III.  The Setting:  The Uneasy Prince.  Mark 6:14-16.

>>>> Have someone read Mark 6:14-16.

            Q Who does King Herod think Jesus Christ is?

               An = He thinks Jesus is a man that was raised from the dead:  namely John the Baptist.

            Q Is such a viewpoint a bit unusual for a king?  Is not Herod a bit uneasy?

               An =  Most kings do not think that new popular leaders are recently risen from the dead.  This is even unusual for Herod.  Let me show you why. 

            Herod was known to be unsensitive and therefore disobedient to Jewish law:  for example, he built a city on a graveyard, so that all Jews who entered his city of Tiberias became unclean. 

>>>> See Leviticus 18:16 and 20:21. (perhaps have one person read out loud to the group both texts).  Herodias' husband was still alive.  John the Baptist was a truly righteous man, and Herod was clearly aware that he himself was not.

 

IV.  The Cost of Speaking the Truth:  Mark 6:17-20.

>>>> Have someone read Mark 6:17-20.

            Q Why was John arrested?

               An = John had been making comments on the immoral and illegitimate marriage of Herod to his brother Philip's wife:  Herodias.

            Q Why did John speak out against an obviously non-religious king?

               An = He took a stand for public morality, for loyalty to God's Word..

            Note:   What is interesting is that John seemed to have been arrested both for his own protection (probably from the angry Herodias) and to silence his preaching.

            Q What does 6:20 mean?  Why did Herod enjoy listening to the prophet?

               An =  William Lane notes that he was more weak than cruel.  Herod was open to the Lord, open to the truth.  Seldom do governors go to the jails to listen to prisoners.  Ask our own governor, it is seldom done.  There was no doubt something that drew Herod to John.  Something deep inside Herod's soul longed for the truth from this courageous and sincere man of God.

            Q Why did John's disciples not fight to protect him?

               An = True prophets do not have power, except that of holiness and righteousness.  John dies alone.  Jesus dies alone.   When Jesus was arrested He did not allow his disciples to be arrested with Him.  He was arrested and taken into custody alone.

            >> Have someone read John 18:7-9.

            Then quote Mark 14:50:  "Then everyone deserted Him and fled."

            The O.T. prophets did the same.  Their followers did not die with them.  Contrast David Koresh, Jim Jones, etc.  If you are going to lead in the great biblical tradition you cannot be like most modern leaders.  When you lead, do not acquire power, rather acquire influence. 

            Arthur Lynip once said:  "The `teacher-leader' should die for the student, or parishioner, but never the student for the teacher". 

>>>> Have someone read Mark 10:45.

            Note:  John is seen in his actions to prefigure the Lord. 

            Q Did Jesus' disciples get arrested and crucified with Jesus when they arrested Him?

               An = No they did not.  Jesus saw that they got away.  It sure would have been more comfortable to have been arrested with friends and admirers.  It would have been easier to not be sent to that unfair court scene alone.  It would have been easier to be crucified with friends who respected you instead of between thieves who began by throwing insults at Him.  Jesus was truly a man's man.  If you let Him influence you, you will become a different sort of person. 

            I am not impressed with religious jargon.  I am impressed with someone who has the courage and love to actually do what the Bible tells them to do.  Those type of people are impressive.

            Note: For some of you today, this dying alone may not seem relevant to most of you right now, but merely wait.  You will be in a position of authority and when you are threatened it will be shown who you really are by "who dies" figuratively when you are under attack.  When you are in charge you will be surprised at the amount of attacks.

            Real leaders speak out for the truth and are willing to pay the consequences.  They have true courage because they speak with authenticity and loyalty to what is right.  They know it may cost them.  They are not going to let others die or pay the price for their leadership.  They will pay their own bills.

            Phony leaders, religious or otherwise, will act and speak courageously but let others take the blame or will get others to speak up for them, etc.  They will let others get all worked up and do the "dirty work". 

            Give an example of a good leader here if you can. 

 

V.  Sensuality and the Murder of the Soul. 

>>>> Have someone read Mark 6:21-29.

            Q Did Herod want to kill John?  Why then did Herod kill him?

            Q What led him to kill a holy man?

               An = Peer Pressure and Sensuality - 1) To be sure Herod was a weak man.  He lets his glands lead his life.   Sexual sensuality can lead us further down and away from God.  It can cloud our thinking and ability to see reality.   It will not lead us down to stupidity, even death. 2) Some people will give into peer pressure.  They will allow the circumstances of public acceptability make them do things completely against what they want and know to be right.   Give an example of a cave-in you know.

            Herod killed more than John that day. 

            Q Who really died the day of the banquet?

               An = He killed his openness to God.  Herod killed his own soul during that banquet.

>>>> End with reading II Timothy 2:9-13.

Lesson # 12 | MARK 6:1-13 | DEALING WITH REJECTION

I.  Greetings:

 

II. Introduction:

            All of us face rejection in one form or another in our lives.  It seems to be a part of life.  We need one another and get dependent on one another, and yet not everyone is very faithful or understanding.  Some of you today have even been rejected by the very people you would have least expected it from.

            Q  Who are the people who can hurt us the most if they reject us? 

               An = It is often those most close to us.

            Note:  We often feel horrible when we are rejected.  We usually become angry or we begin to blame ourselves.  We often think, if we were just somehow better, we would not be rejected.

            Q  Do you think Jesus, the perfect man, ever faced rejection? 

               An = Remember, Jesus was fully human as well as fully God, and so like all humans He too faced such things.  He too, experienced and faced rejection.

 

III.  Jesus is Rejected:  Mark 6:1-6.

   A.  The Stigma of Ordinariness:  An Excuse for Unbelief.

>>>> Have someone read Mark 6:1-3.

            Q  Why did they reject Jesus? 

               An =  See Mark 6:3 and >> re-read Mark 6:3 for them.  They did not recognize Jesus for who He was.  What seemed to throw them off was Jesus' ordinariness.  They failed to penetrate the "veil of ordinariness".  Jesus was a blue-collar worker. 

            Funny, some things never change.  People still look down on blue-collar workers, as simple ordinary folks.

            Q  Do you ever feel ordinary?  Is it wrong to feel so?

            Note:  In Jesus' time manual labor in the Greco-Roman world invited scorn. 

            In addition, "son of Mary" could possibly refer to charges of born out of wedlock. 

            Whether that was implied or not, it is certain His parents were not special.  They knew His family.  He could make no claim to fame from His humble, blue-collar worker, home.

            Note:  It is OK to be ordinary.  It is OK to be just you. 

            Note:  One more thought from these verses:  Do not be ashamed of humble beginnings.  Do not be ashamed of ordinariness.  Almighty God had ordinary, blue-collar, parents.  It seems to me that God could have given His Son any parents in the world, but He chose Mary and Joseph.

            Notice that Jesus will not be ashamed or embarrassed.  Let us see what He will say.

   B.  Jesus' Response:  Mark 6:4

>>>> Have someone read Mark 6:4

            Q  What is Jesus saying here?  What does He mean?

               An = The prophet is not heard at times because he is too familiar.  Jesus says the problem is not Him, but the hearers.

            RQ Do we do that today?  Do we miss the voice of God because it comes through a person or method too familiar to us?

               Note:  Do we fail to listen to what God really wants of us because the mouth piece is our parents, a relative, a person we know well, or even our children?  We need to be able to see the truth because it is the truth, not because the messenger is someone special, mysterious, fashionable, or politically correct.

            Truth is truth whether on the lips of Moses or Balaam' s donkey.

            Some of you are fighting the will of God and you invalidate the message because you can charge the messenger with ordinariness.

   C.  The Results of Their Rejection:  Ministry Hindered.  Mark 6:5-6

>>>> Have someone read Mark 6:5-6.

            Q  What does Mark 6:5 mean?  Why were there few miracles?

               An =  Why couldn't Jesus do more miracles there?  Let me suggest a few reasons. 

            1)  Miracles without faith would reduce Jesus to a "pagan" miracle worker, not a redeemer.  He would be like a Santa Claus, not the One who was there to bring them to a whole new standard of living, a whole new conception of life, a higher value system.

            2)  There were no limits to His power, but the privation was due to their unbelief, it excluded them from the full dynamic disclosure of God's grace.  Miracles are not here to impress us but lead us to faith in the Son of God.

            Q  Is God's full disclosure of grace blocked here?  Is it blocked in us? 

            Q  Is there blessing from God that others can receive but not us?

            Q  Is our church or nation rejecting Jesus?  How? 

               An = Again, see Mark 6:3.

   D.  Jesus' Rejection Is Forewarning of Our Own.

            Note:  Even Jesus was rejected, we must expect the same where the gospel advances.

            Q  Did Jesus stop?

               An = No, and the proof is in 6:6b and 6:7. 

            1)  He kept preaching, Jesus did not quit His ministry at this point.  He kept on preaching, kept on teaching.  He did not give up on those who rejected Him.

            2)  He sent out the twelve.  He starts a whole new strategy and multiplies and expands the work.

 

IV.  Sending Others:  A Response to Rejection.  Mark 6:7-13.

   A. The Sender Gives Authority. 

            Note:  When Jesus was rejected He did not give up.  He kept preaching, and He began a new tactic:  He sent others besides Himself to preach.

>>>> Have someone read Mark 6:7.

            Q  In Mark 6:7 what did Jesus give the disciples?

               An = He gave them authority over demonic powers.

            Q  Did it really happen?

               An = It did and the proof of their received authority is in 6:12-13.

>>>> Read Mark 6:12-13.  They preached repentance, cast out demons, and healed the sick.

            Q  Do we do this today?  Do we see miracles and even want to preach repentance?

            Note:  Remember He who sends has power.  If it is truly Him that sends us, then we need to remember that He can give such authority.

   B. The Manner of the Sending:  Mark 6:8-11

>>>> Have someone read Mark 6:8-9.

            Q  What does this mean?  List the things He says to do.

               An = Take nothing for the journey except a staff:  no bread, bag, money, or extra clothes.  In other words travel light.  Go expecting God to provide for you.

               Note:  They were to have light resources.  Perhaps our willingness to be vulnerable leads to power. 

            Q  Are all modern missions today to be like this one?

            Note: According to verse 7, they were sent out in twos.

            Q  Why do you suppose He did this?            

               An = I would think it would be easier to have someone with you on such a risky adventure.  It is easier to handle tough times with a good friend or a good spouse.  Perhaps another part of the answer is found in Deuteronomy 17:6. 

>>>> You read to them Deuteronomy 17:6.  There were two of them witnessing to them.  Maybe they would be heard or listened to better because there was two of them.

>>>> Have someone read Mark 6:10-11

            Q What does 6:10 mean?

               An = Perhaps it refers to stability?  See how the disciples too were going to experience rejection, see 6:11.  However, they were to be:  1)  above suspicion and therefore not out for money, 2)  free of all care, 3) to understand they needed not resources, but His power.              Jesus had told them that all they needed was Jesus' commissioning, and they had lacked nothing.  What this also could imply is that we error when we commission ourselves or think the commissioning of man can be more important than the true commissioning and authority from Jesus Himself.

            Q How are we not vulnerable today? 

               An = Do we feel like we have to have all the resources lined up and under our control before we do what God has called us to do?  I know I am very often like this.  I want some measure of control over the future of my efforts at ministry.

            Q What is the Lord saying to us today?

            Q Do we want His authority?

            Note:  If we do we must also accept His vulnerability.

Lesson # 11 | MARK 5:21-43 | DEALING WITH THE UNCLEAN

I.  Greetings:

 

II.  Introduction:

            Note:  The rest of chapter 5 is basically narrative stories about Jesus. 

            Note:  I think most of us have learned by now that you do not really know a person by their words, only by their deeds.  Some of you in the next few weeks and months will be making some crucial decisions in your life whether you are aware of that now or not.  Many of you know what God would want in those situations.  But to follow God.... 

            Can I be happy and do God's will?  If I let God control my life, if I really ask Him to be "Lord" what will He do with me?

            RQ  What is God really like?

            Note:  The answer is most clearly found in Jesus.  Watch Jesus and if you like Jesus, you will like God.

            Q  What is the best way to know what someone is really like?

               An = Watch them in action.  Actions speak louder than words.

            That is what we are going to do today:  WATCH JESUS.

 

III.  The Chance of Success:  Mark 5:21-24. 

>>>> Have someone read Mark 5:21-24.

            Q  What does verse 21 and verse 24 report about the crowds?

               An = Jesus has drawn large crowds.  Jesus has a measure of success at least in numbers of people being interested in what He is doing.  He is popular.

            However, Jesus is not popular with one part of the society....

               Q  How many of you have done youth work, or been in charge of a ministry?

            Q  How important is it to please powerful parents?

            Note: Jesus is already in trouble with some of the scribes from Jerusalem (3:22).  They are already against Him, to heal a synagogue official's child would help Jesus.  Jesus has crowds but He does not have the approval of a part of the leadership class of His society.

            Note: In the Middle East, and in some parts of the West, children are their parent's life.  To help the child is to bless the parent.

 

IV.  Interrupted by Losers:  Mark 5:25-34

>>>> Have someone read Mark 5:25-28

   A.  Jesus' Curious Speech:  A Crazy Question, Mark 5:25-30.           

            Note:  We know Jesus was in a crowd.  In 5:24, we know there was a large crowd and it was pressing in on Him.

            Q  How did the disciples react to Jesus' wanting to know who touched Him?

               An =  It is truly ridiculous to ask, "who touched me," when people are completely thronging You.

            Note:  She was considered in a continual period and therefore unclean for the past 12 years. 

>>>> Turn to Leviticus 15:25-28 and have someone read these verses.

            Q  How do you think she felt about herself?

            Q  How do you think her standing was in the community?

>>>> Have someone read Mark 5:29-30

            Q  Why did she touch Him? 

               An = See Mark 3:10, 6:56

>>>> Read to them Mark 3:10 and 6:56.  She wanted to be healed and she believed that if she touched Him she would be.

   B.  The Motives For the Curious Speech:  Mark 5:31-34.

>>>> Have someone read Mark 5:31-34

            Q  Why did Jesus ask who touched Him?  What was He after? 

               An = It seems rather ridiculous that He asked such a question.  Look at 5:31! 

>>>> Have someone re-read 5:31.  They certainly did not think Jesus's question was a good one.

            RQ  Did bringing to the public's attention that He was defiled work to His advantage?

            Note:  This public exposure must have terrified the woman.  From a certain point of view, what He did was unkind.  Imagine being forced to confess you defiled a popular rabbi?  Imagine the condemnation He could be calling down on her to further erode her already low standing in the community.

            Jesus is not always, to outward appearances, a nice man.

            Note:  Perhaps He called her out to further bless her, not immediately to please her.

            1.  She had reached out in faith to God.  He let her know that is what the touching really was for her.  He interpreted her action for her, to inform her, to teach her.

>> Re-read 5:34.

            2.  In His speech of verse 34 she was informed how to find God again.  What had saved her was faith, not magic.  It is faith the Lord wanted, not groupies thronging leaders for miracles. 

            3. She would have many more needs in her days to come, and now she knew how to get a hold of the Lord again.  She now knew how to establish a relationship with Him.  Jesus was giving her God's phone number:  faith.

            4.  He called her daughter and told her to go in peace.  He let her know He was not angry.  His parting phrase surely communicated that He was not mad she had defiled Him. 

            Q  Is it important to let people know we are not angry? 

            Q  Why? 

               An = Think of the times when you wondered if an authority important to you was angry with you.  It is important to let people know what will hurt them, but it is also important to let people know when you are not angry.  Give some examples from your own life?

            Note:  The words "go in peace", literally mean "go in shalom".  "Shalom" or "Peace" in Hebrew means more than just absence of conflict, it means completeness, harmony.  He tells her:  "All is well, you are not only at peace, but in harmony with Me, with God."

            Note:  In the Old Testament the "Peace" offering is called in Hebrew the "Shalomim".  The offering symbolizes that you, your neighbor, and God are in harmony, at peace with one another, in sync with reality.  It is often called the "Communion Offering".

 

V.  Back to Jarius and the Chance of Success:  Mark 5:35-43. 

   A. The Proposal of Sleep:  The Hiding of Power

>>>> Have someone read Mark 5:35-36.

            Note:  Notice, the parents are no doubt starting to panic and go into terrible grief.  Jesus authoritatively tells them not to panic, to not fear, to "just believe".

            Note:  He has a problem with the parents because of the defiling woman's interuption.  Being kind to a humble woman cost Him time that could have gone to important societal people.  Jesus seems to be willing to get into trouble with the powerful to take time for what the world considers as unimportant poor people.  This is consistently who Jesus is.  If you want God to deal only with your kind you will be disappointed with the Lord.  If you are not part of the important classes in your society, this is good news.  You matter to Him no matter what your social standing is. 

            If you are going to be in ministry, in the manner Jesus was in ministry, if you are going to be a Christian, "like Christ", then this needs to be a practice you should be involved with.  This should be the practice your church or group is involved with.  This is the price you should be willing to pay.

>>>> Have someone read Mark 5:36-40

            Q  Notice Jesus said the dead girl was asleep, why did Jesus say that? 

               An = Sleep was a metaphor for death in Hebrew society.   For example, let me give you a quote from Paul, who was a Jew, and naturally used this metaphor for death in one of his writings.  >> Have someone read I Thessalonians 5:10.  So when Jesus said she was asleep it could have been taken literally, which could mean she was sleeping, or it could be taken metaphorically, that she was dead.  Jesus was deliberately ambiguous.  He had a reason.  It is tied to something else he did.  Jesus could be implying that the girl is not dead but rather that the girl was just in a comma.  Strange.

            Q  Notice, in verse 40, He allowed in only the parents and three disciples, why did He do this?

               An = He seems to be deliberately trying to hide what He is about to do.  He only let five people into the room where the dead girl lay.  He wanted no one else to see what would happen.  Why He is doing this will become clearer as we read on.

   B. The Display of Power:  Resurrection from the Dead.  Mark 5:41-43.

>>>> Have someone read Mark 5:41-43.

            Note:  Jesus touches her.  Again Jesus has seemingly become defiled.  However, Jesus takes her by the hand.  Jesus is more interested in ministry than being picky about certain rules.

            Note:   He gave her something to eat!  Jesus is a practically loving person. 

            He certainly showed that He was carefully concerned for the child's welfare and not merely interested in using her as a tool for His displays of power. 

            Note:  This could be also the reason He let it seem that the girl was just in a comma, just asleep and not dead.  This could also be the reason He allows only the parents and His closest disciples to see what He did.  He forbids the girl's healing to get noised about.  He does not use this girl as a publicity piece.  He lets others assume she was merely in comma.  He refuses to let the crowds make a spectacle of this little child.

Lesson # 10 | MARK 5:1-20 | POWER CONFRONTATION

I.  Greetings: 

 

II.  Introduction:  I ate lunch with a gentleman who has just returned from Malaysia.  He ministered to, and was ministered to, by the Christians among the Ebond tribe there.  He spoke about how young missionaries would go into a "long-house" and before they could witness, there would often be a power confrontation between them and the tribal Shaman.  The power of Jesus had to be seen as superior to the power in the Shamans before those present.  After such a power confrontation, they would then listen to the Christians.

            Q  When the issue of demonic possession of someone today comes up, what do you think?  What runs through your mind?

               An =  For some of you discussion of demonic power may seem a bit unusual, but it is discussed as a real condition in the Gospels, and it is a real condition encountered by and daily dealt with, in the third world and here in America. 

            Lets see what the Gospels have to say about such powers and their relationship to Jesus Christ.

           

III.  The Condition:  Misery and Sorrow.  Mark 5:1-5.

>>>> Have someone read Mark 5:1-5

            Note:  The description portrays the function of demonic possession:  "to distort and destroy the image of God".

            Q  Is more space given to this description than to the actual exorcism or healing itself?

            Q  What are the actual things done to this man?

               An = He had to be constrained and he often cut himself with stones.  The description clearly stresses that this man was miserable, ostracized from society, and willing to inflict harm upon himself.  It is not a pretty picture.

            Q  What does Satan do to a human being?

               An =  He gets human beings to hurt themselves.  That is the devil's trade mark, his M.O.  Remember this is a dramatic illustration of what the devil can do, but he can get us to hurt ourselves in less dramatic ways.  It is obvious in the drug addict, but just as true in the gossiper or an anoretic.

 

IV.  Healing/Encounter:  Mark 5:6-9.

>>>> Have someone read Mark 5:6-9.

            Note:  "Most High" is not a messianic title, but a divine title.  Through out the Scriptures this particular title is often found in the mouth of Gentiles.  In Mark the title is often an indication of syncretistic (all religions can be mixed) understanding.  The Bible is famous for being monotheistic, there is only "ONE" Lord.  Maybe that is why Jesus does not want testimony from demonic forces.  They tell the truth, He is the "Most High", but subtlety lie by indicating He is one power among many.

            Q  Does Jesus struggle?

               An =  Despite the strong adjuration (word of power countering Jesus' command) of the demons, they must leave. 

            Q  Is this a manual on how to do an exorcism?  How quickly is it described?

              An = Jesus merely said, "come out".  The emphasis is not on how to do this but on the amazing power of Jesus Christ to free someone of possession.

            Q  Are there other, not so obvious, ways to be in the grip of the devil?

               An = You may not be so obviously bound with demonic possession, but if you are bound by sin, you are in the grip of the devil.

            Q  How about the possession of materialism, is that being in the grip of Satan? 

               An = Perhaps, the false god of material well-being, of being an American success!  I believe more people in America are diverted from the things of God by materialism than by anything else.

            Q  To say being caught with money is being in the grip of Satan, is this too strong? 

            Q  What story did Jesus tell about Hell?  What put that man in hell?

               An = In Hell the man described there in Luke 16 was a rich man.  >>>> Turn to Luke 16:19-31.

 

V.  The Aftermath.    Mark 5:10-17.

>>>> Have someone read Mark 5:10-17.

            Q  What strikes you most here?

            Note:  The fate of the swine demonstrates what would have been the eventual fate of the man, destruction.

            Q  Why the death of the pigs?

               An = 1. the demon's time had not yet come.  They can be destructive, but not to this man.  2.  Jesus does not worry about pigs or economic ramifications that are entailed with this man's release, it is him he cares about.  Another example of this is in Acts 16:16-24, financial gain (especially from pigs or spiritualism) does not take precedence over a human's need.

            Q  What did the people see in 5:15? 

               An = The demon possessed man was seated, clothed, and in his right mind.   A possible point from some scholars is that in the ancient world, clothing a man was a sign of adoption.  A more secure conclusion is that the man's humanity was restored.

            Note:  Can Christians be possessed?  The text does not answer that question here.  What we do know for certain is this:  suffering and distortion of humanity comes from demonic possession.  Jesus' power stops both.  No matter the depth of the oppression or depression we know Jesus can heal.

 

VI.  The Commission of a Task:  Mark 5:18-20.

>>>> Have someone read Mark 5:18-20.

   A. The Role of Fear. 

            Note:   The text presents a sharp contrast between the man and the crowds.  He was no longer afraid, but they are.  The man is delivered from fear.   Often when someone is delivered it brings fear, unless you are the direct recipient of the touch of Jesus.  It may seem overwhelming to you as it did to these people who saw this crazy, oppressed man set free.

   B. The Role of Limits.

            Q  Why did Jesus refuse to take him?

               An =  My heart always goes out to this guy.  To be around Jesus, or one who is powerfully filled with Him, is where I always want to be.  However, the commentators point out that we must be able to hear God's "No", and then we can do His work.  Often the great characteristic of seriously mentally ill people is they cannot not hear a "no".  They may not be possessed, but they cannot accept limits. 

            The exorcism is only the beginning.  The beginning of true healing, after the exorcism, is to be freed from the grip of sin.  We need to stop being our own god.  We must be able to accept a no to our plans and desires and obey God's plans, for He is the true God, not us.  When we can accept a "no" from God we are beginning to reverse the Fall of mankind.  We begin to actualize our salvation.  Notice though that Jesus does not just say no....

   C. The Role of Tasks:

            Q  What does Jesus give this man?

               An = He says no but gives a task.   Part of the dignity of being a human is having a task to do. 

>>>> Have someone read Genesis 2:15.

            Q  Can the command go "to your people" mean family?

               An = We need to witness to our own when we receive mercy.

            Q  Is it easier to witness to "others" or our own?

               An =  Whether hard or easy when we receive mercy, we need to witness.

            Q  Did the man obey?  Did he learn to not get his way, and still be free?

               An = >>>> Re-read Mark 5:20.

"So the man went away and began to tell in the Decaplis how much Jesus had done for him.  And all the people were amazed."