Jesus Master over Fear.
 

Luke 8:22-39.

22  Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." And they launched out. 
23  But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. 
24  And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" Then He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. 
25  But He said to them, "Where is your faith?" And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!"

The Gadarene Demoniac Healed

26  Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. 
27  And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. 
28  When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!" 
29  For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. 
30  Jesus asked him, saying, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion," because many demons had entered him. 
31  And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss. 
32  Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. 
33  Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned. 
34  When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 
35  Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 
36  They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed. 
37  Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned. 
38  Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, 
39  "Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you." And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

If you have ever been caught in a very bad storm, it can be very scary.
I remember one day when my wife and I were working on a local market, when a thunder storm came over. It was a really bad one and the flashes of lightening were massive and lit up the whole sky.
The thunder claps were so loud and long, that it was really scary.
There was one lady who was absolutely terrified and she was screaming in terror. It was difficult to calm her down.

We have all probably seen on TV, the giant Tsunamis, the devastating Tornado’s and floods.
We were once on holiday in Ibiza, when an earthquake happened. We were sat on the balcony on about the sixth storey when the whole building began to shake. We watched as the sea just disappeared in the harbour and all the boats just dropped to the bottom.
Nature can be very terrifying.

In this chapter, we see one of these events, when a storm arose whilst Jesus and His disciples were out on the lake. We must keep in mind that these were well weathered fishermen.
 

22  Now it happened, on a certain day, that He got into a boat with His disciples. And He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side of the lake." And they launched out. 
23  But as they sailed He fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water, and were in jeopardy. 
24  And they came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing!"
 

Marks gospel describes the storm in chapter 4.
 

Mar 4:37  And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full. 
 

Some commentators suggest that this was no ordinary storm but a devilish storm.
Perhaps the devil, who is the prince of the power of the air, and who raiseth winds by the permission of God, had some suspicion, from something that Christ might have said, that he was coming over the lake now on purpose, to cast the legion of devils out of the poor man on the other side, and therefore poured this storm upon the ship he was in, designing, if possible, to sink the ship and prevented that victory.
 

Then Jesus arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm. 

25  But He said to them, "Where is your faith?" And they were afraid, and marvelled, saying to one another, "Who can this be? For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!"

The disciples were afraid, they had no control over the storm. They were trained in navigation and had knowledge of how to handle a boat but they had no power over the elements.
So, they called to Jesus.

Matthew Henry suggests:
The way to have our fears silenced is to bring them to Christ, and lay them before him. Those that in sincerity call Christ Master, and with faith and fervency, call upon him as their Master, may be sure that he will not let them perish. There is no relief for poor souls that are under a sense of guilt, and a fear of wrath, like this, to go to Christ, and call him Master, and say, “I am undone, if thou do not help me.”
Christ’s business is to lay storms, as it is Satan’s business to raise them. He can do it; he has done it; he delights to do it: for he came to proclaim peace on earth. He rebuked the wind and the raging of the water, and immediately they ceased.
 

The Gadarene Demoniac Healed.

Whilst we may not see much of this in our day, there is no doubt that these malignant spirits are many. They, that had taken possession of this one man called themselves Legion, because many devils were entered into him: He had had devils for a long time, 
 

26  Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. 
27  And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. 

This man was not just someone who was insane. He was possessed of many demons.
He had unnatural strength and could break the chains that bound him.
The demons recognised Jesus, What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? the demons that drove him, threw him to the ground.

28  When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!" 
29  For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness. 
30  Jesus asked him, saying, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion," because many demons had entered him. 

This was normal in Judaism. To be able to cast out a demon, the Jewish Excorcists believed that the needed to know the demons name.

There is debate on what demons actually are. Some say they are the spirits of fallen angels and others say the spirits of the hybrid race of the Nephilim, that were destroyed in the flood of Noah.
Their bodies being destroyed, they roamed around looking for a body to occupy.
This sounds more plausible, as we are told the angels that sinned are reserved in chains for judgement.

2 Peter 2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;

This could be why the demons begged Jesus not to cast into the abyss but to enter the bodies of the pigs.

31  And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss. 
32  Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. 
33  Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned. 
34  When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 

What a difference we see in the man. Clothed and in his right mind.
The man could not heal himself but Jesus had power over the evil spirits.

This is a type of salvation. Neither can we control our sin, being gripped in the hands of our father the devil but Jesus comes and sets us free from sin and death and clothes us in our right minds.

35  Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 
36  They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed. 
37  Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned. 

Why would they be afraid?

Part of their fear maybe, was the fact that their superstitions had been shattered, and they couldn’t understand what had happened.
According to their superstitions, the demons were greater than men, over which they had no control. They had a hard time accepting this.

The man wanted to go with Jesus but Jesus said go home and tell what God has done for you.

38  Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, 
39  "Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you." And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
 

When we are set free from sin and death. When we believe on Christ, each one of us has a testimony, all different. There are others like each one of us. They need to hear about what Christ can do for them.
The first place we should go is to our own house and tell them about the Lord. Then continue to spread the message of salvation.

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Remember from our last lesson, how Jesus came teaching about the kingdom of God.
All His stories and His parables were concerning the kingdom.

We can have victory over fear by applying logic.
Someone who has a fear of worms and will not even walk past one on the path, is an illogical, irrational fear.
There is no way that the worm can physically harm anyone, it can never rise up and attack or bite, so that fear is irrational.
However, a rabid dog can. Therefore, a fear of passing by such an animal is logical and rational. Again you can apply logic in that situation and go a different way.

Wikipedia: Fear is an emotion induced by perceived danger or threat, which causes physiological changes and ultimately behavioural changes, such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat.
Fear in human beings may occur in response to a certain stimulus occurring in the present, or in anticipation or expectation of a future threat perceived as a risk to oneself. The fear response arises from the perception of danger leading to confrontation with or escape from/avoiding the threat (also known as the fight-or-flight response), which in extreme cases of fear (horror and terror) can be a freeze response or paralysis.
In humans and other animals, fear is modulated by the process of cognition and learning. Thus, fear is judged as rational or appropriate and irrational or inappropriate. An irrational fear is called a phobia.

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Whatever it was that Jesus did, whether healing the sick, raising the dead,  rebuking the weather or casting out demons. It was all to teach something about the kingdom of God.

All these events show Jesus concern for the outcasts of society.  Jesus heals a leper.  Jesus heals a Gentile, the servant of the centurion.  Jesus heals a woman.
No one is outside of the gospels reach.

So, what was the purpose of these miracles, healings and exorcisms? 

In one sense we could say that Jesus healed the sick and cast out demons because of His compassion.  Matthew 14:14 says, “And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick.” 

That is certainly one reason why Jesus healed.  However, the main motivation in Scripture given for why Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, or performed any kind of miracle was to reveal something about who He was. 

In the Gospel of John the miracles are signs which point to the deity of Jesus.  In Matthew 9 Jesus heals a paralytic to show that He has the divine power to forgive sins.  In Matthew 8:17 we are told that Jesus healed the sick and cast out demons in order to fulfil  Isaiah 53:4. 

 

Mat 8:16  When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick: 

Mat 8:17  That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. 

Isa 53:4  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. 

That is the text which is quoted here.  Matthew clearly sees the healings and exorcisms as Messianic miracles, miracles which revealed Jesus to be the promised Messiah of the Old Testament.
 

One of the greatest fears of man, is of death. Death is inevitable, it happens to us all.

Did you know there’s a difference between fear and fearfulness?

On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be much of a difference, right? But when you peel back the layers and dive a little deeper, you discover there’s actually a huge difference. 

You see, fear is the raw, instinctual, and natural emotion we feel when threatened or under duress. It’s a reaction to perceived danger. Everyone feels fear; it’s completely natural and unavoidable. It’s something that comes in a moment and can be overcome, dispelled, and cast out. 
 

Fearfulness is the state in which we linger in fear and allow fear to dominate and consume our lives. It takes the natural emotional response and turns it into a lifestyle. Fear is a feeling; fearfulness is a mindset. 
 

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

All fear is not bad. There are some fears that we should be glad that we have.

The fear of danger is that which protects us.
However there are fears that, as Christians, we do not need.

We need have no fear of death itself, we need have no fear of God except fear in the sense of wonder and awe.
Part of understanding the love of God is knowing that God’s judgment fell on Jesus at the cross so that we can be spared: “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). Jesus’ sacrifice propitiated (appeased) God’s justice and won His good favour 1 John 2:2. Jesus spoke often of His mission: “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him” (John 3:17).

The only person who must fear judgment is the one who rejects Jesus Christ: “Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (verse 18).

Our fears of danger are good and can be dealt with by making logical and rational decisions.
With our irrational, illogical fears, we need God’s help. Sometimes these are a result of psychological damage. Past trauma but can be overcome by prayer and counselling.

The knowledge of the teachings of scripture can allay fear of death and hell. A fear of loss of salvation can be dealt with by reading and trusting in the promises of scripture.

John 10:28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
Joh 10:29  My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. 

Joh 10:30  I and my Father are one. 

Jesus used His parables and His actions to show this very fact. That He truly is the master over fear.

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