BEMA Episode Link: 101: The Other Side
Episode Length: 39:56
Published Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2019 01:00:00 -0800
Session 3
About this episode:

Marty Solomon and Brent Billings continue in Matthew’s narrative by jumping to the gospel of Mark, traveling to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

Discussion Video for BEMA 101

BEMA 88: Setting the Stage

Transcript for BEMA 101

Notes

*Note: The following notes are handwritten by me, Adam, and I reserve the right to be wrong.

  • Mark 4:35-5:20
  • 88: Setting the Stage Presentation
  • Crossing to the other side
    • Fear of the “other side” especially the Bethsaida boys.
    • “Just as he was” may imply tension between Jesus as the disciples.
      • I said, “Get in the boat!”
      • Why use a boat when we can walk? It’s not that far of a walk.
      • See the map.
    • Fear of the abyss.
      • Bodies of water are NOT living water.
      • Bodies of water represent chaos.
      • Anytime we get on the water, a storm comes up.
        • Creation
        • Jonah
        • This story to the other side
        • Jesus walks on water
      • Fishing off the shore is different from going across the entire lake.
  • The storm on the water
    • Remez to Jonah
      • Reference to ships?
      • Jesus is sleeping on a cushion–Jonah was sleeping on a cushion
      • Jesus took his disciples to the Gentiles–God took Jonah to the Gentiles in Nineveh.
      • Jesus tells the waves to stop.
        • “Be quiet! Calm Down!”
        • Why say it like that? It’s in the text.
        • Psalm 107: 23-32 (bonus: reference to ships?)
      • Are the disciples idiots or do they catch the references?
        • Who is this man that the wind and the sea obey him
        • Psalm 89:9 (Who is like this? Who is like the Lord?)
        • Marty thinks they know their text so well that they get it and are reciting text back to their Rabbi.
  • The otherside, the land of the who? The Gerusemes, Gaderenes, Gergesenes, or Gerruseme?
    • We don’t know who this verse refers to.
    • There is exactly one place on the sea where there is a cliff.
      • The pig farmers will leave their pigs and immediately run into town.
      • If they go Gerusa, that’s a 60 mile round trip.
      • If they go to Gadera, that’s also a 60 mile round trip and in the other direction.
      • If they go to Gergesa, but we have never found any place with that name.
      • What is a more possible options is that it’s referencing the Gerruseme and the Greek Translators did not know how to translate that when it was translated.
        • Gerruseme refers to the cast out ones.
        • Seven nations from Joshua 3:10: Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites, and Jebusites.
        • Those seven nations became known as the Geruseme or “the cast out ones.”
        • Ted: The only way that we’ll be complete is when we include the Gentiles as well.
          • Re: the number seven being a reference to Gentiles and completeness.
  • The possessed man
    • The possessed man immediately runs to them.
    • Marty thinks we’re talking about Hippos and/or Susita.
    • Mental illness versus demon possession.
    • Brent: Mark does not mention the man’s nakedness. Is that referenced in another Gospel?
    • Reference to Legion: The name of the demon/s or the Roman Legion?
      • Just north of Susita was where the 10th Roman Legion was stationed.
      • The legion’s image was the bore.
      • Connection between the pigs and the symbol of the Roman Legion?
      • The demons ask Jesus not to send them into the abyss and instead into the pigs. So he does what they ask and then the pigs sent themselves into the abyss anyway.
    • The men run away to the town (Hippos or Susita).
    • The men from the town meet Jesus and ask him to leave.
      • We don’t want the Kingdom of God
      • It will be disruptive and ruin everything.
      • Same for our society?
    • Jesus tells the man no when asked if he could join Jesus and his disciples. Why?
      • Jesus: No… Go and tell others about what the Lord has done for you.
      • This man is NOT theologically trained and Jesus sends him away anyway.
      • Marty will argue we should know our text better BUT even when we don’t, a story is still enough.
    • All you need is a story.
      • The man does what Jesus asks.
      • In all Gospels, Jesus only shows up here twice. When he meets with this man and when he feeds the 4000.
      • The man tells his story and. it. worked.
      • Not only is the 4000 impacted but hundreds of years later, this place becomes Christianized.
      • The Bishop of Hippos, according to church history, penned the Nicean creed either by himself or as part of a group.
      • All of this because a single, untrained man shared his story about interacting with Jesus.

Questions

  • Key Takeaways
    • Context of where he’s at, what it means to be on the other side of the lake, the Geruseme, the Gaderenes or whoever, and other pieces of historical context.
      • It is a stunning, shocking move for Jesus to deliberately take his disciples to the other side of the lake.
      • Most Jews wouldn’t be caught dead there.
    • The significance of your story and not your training.
      • The demon possessed man had no training.
      • He tells his story.
      • He influenced thousands in Hippos and its bishop who contributed to the Nicene Creed.
    • The idea that we would have to follow Jesus where we ourselves wouldn’t be caught dead, talking to people we find disgusting, to bring kingdom to those who “aren’t in” (as it were thinking back to the sermon on the mount).
  • Head
    • Historical context.
    • Decapolis.
    • Was it the Gerusemes, Gaderenes, Gergesenes, or Gerruseme?
    • The passages that precede and follow this story?
    • What about Jesus falling asleep and its significance to Tanakh and specifically Jonah as he’s on his way to minister to Gentiles, who are clearly a group that the disciples, like Jonah, would not have wanted to go meet with?
  • Heart
    • Your story is enough.
      • What is your story?
      • Some people think their story is pretty normal.
      • Some think they don’t have a story.
      • Everyone has a story…
  • Hands
    • How do we tell our story well?
      • How do we tell an effective story?
      • Do we ramble?
      • This is how I tell my story.
      • This is the important aspect of my story, how Jesus moved/s.
      • How can we be prepared to tell our story well? How can we improve our story?

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