The Gospel of Mark records two events in chapters four and five, the calming of the sea and the calming of the Gadarene demoniac. We tend to view these events as separate. However, they are one continuous account. When the Lord Jesus calmed the wind and the sea, the people with Him could not understand such power exhibited by a human being and they were afraid. They asked, “What manner of man is this?” (Mark 4:41) These two events answer that question.
This journey across the Sea of Galilee was more than a boating across the lake. Let us look at the big picture. On the west, they were in the Promised Land, the land of Israel. They were to cross the watery deep. The Hebrew word for watery deep is tehom (Strong’s H8415 – deep, gulf, abyss). When they got to the east, the other side, they would be in enemy territory, the desert wilderness. The Hebrew word for desert wilderness is tohu (Strong’s H8414 – formless, waste, desert wilderness).
The Lord Jesus gave no reason for this trip, but He who created all things (John 1:3) had an objective. The words tehom and tohu are a clue. These words are found in the Genesis 1:2 which describes the dark, formless, chaotic deep of the world before the Lord brought order.
Scripture tells us that the deep is the dwelling place of leviathan (Strong’s H3882 – serpent, dragon), which will be punished in the day of the Lord (Isaiah 27:1). As they crossed the sea, the devil, serpent, dragon had to demonstrate that they were in his realm. But Jesus rebuked the wicked spirit with a simple statement. The Greek word Mark used here is epitimao (Strong's G2008). The Gospel of Mark uses epitimao throughout when the Lord Jesus is rebuking an evil spirit. Jesus rebuked the sea as an evil spirit! The spoken word of Him who created the sea and the deep were immediately obeyed as the command of a superior being.
There were other boats with Jesus and the Disciples (Mark 4:36). Mark identifies all these people with the pronoun “they”, and “they” were not expecting the wind and the sea to respond to a mere man. It scared them.
When they set foot on the eastern shore, they were in the land of Bashan, the former dwelling place of giants and the location of the “Gates of Hell” at the foot of Mount Hermon (Matthew 16:13-18 – Ceasarea Philippi is located at Mount Hermon). They were immediately met by an untamable demon-possessed man. He could not be restrained by chains. The residents could do nothing with him.
Just as wicked leviathan dwells in the deep, the wilderness is the dwelling place of the re-em (Strong’s H7214 – untamable wild ox – This word is frequently translated as unicorn in the Old Testament). The untamable man is a picture or type of the wicked, untamable land creature re-em.
Again, here the Lord Jesus exercised His superiority to the wicked spirits and commanded that they leave the man. Jesus tamed the spirit of the sea creature and the spirit of the untamable land creature.
When the local residents found the formerly demon-possessed man, sitting dressed and in his right mind (Mark 5:15), they too were afraid because they could not understand how a man could achieve this. But Jesus was more than a mere man. He was a man and He was God.
This trip across the Sea of Galilee was an exercise to demonstrate that Jesus, the Son of God, was superior to all other gods and spirits, whether from land or sea, whether in the Holy Land or enemy territory. In the process of calming the sea and the demon-possessed man, Jesus demonstrated what manner of man He was, and is. He is superior to all beings. He is God in the form of man.
How blessed we are that Jesus came to this world to redeem us and provide a way for us to be with Him forever. May His name be praised always!
This is a deep subject and I have merely given a short summary of the work of a Christian Brother. I pray that my efforts have resulted in your understanding of the purpose of the trip across the Sea of Galilee. For more detail, please see the video presented by our Brother at the following YouTube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raT4oLGn_zc