2.6.11 2.5.2023 Mark 5.1-20 Beginning of Liberation.

Start:

Mark 5:1–20 ESV

1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. 14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Entice: Virtually every story in Mark introduces a feedback loop where “familiarity breeds contempt.” This is a familiar story, frequently preached. In fact, I remember in college, several of us working on what we called our “Pig sermons” together. Thankfully, I couldn’t find any of my old Pig Sermons.

This is one of the most familiar miracle stories in the Gospels and certainly the best-known exorcism. Yet that familiarity can obscure some important details which give the story greater depth. When we read scripture there are times when we need to be looking for and applying the right answers; “do this, don’t do that.” There are other times where our task is to discern and ask the right questions.

I think this text falls into that category of inquiry.

Engage: What can a text like this teach us about Jesus? What can we learn about our own Christian life? Do we learn something about our world and the spiritual debris we see around us?

Expand: This text is one of those that explains how to read, how to understand, how to draw conclusions from a Biblical story. This text also reminds us that not every text contains discernible, doable action items. There are not many “go thou and do likewise’s” here. There is one smidgen of implied guidance at the end, but mostly Mark records the story to remind us of the liberating power of Christ and His Kingdom.

This text also tempts us to focus on the wrong things. Whether or not demons did then and do now exist, their power in relation to God, etc. Until the last 300 years all cultures and religions accepted the reality of the unseen, spiritual realm. I don’t think that there is much reason or need to pull on that thread.

We should focus on the relationship between spiritual, physical, political, social, and cultural forms of oppression. They are all connected.

Excite: Empire is the marketplace of enslavement. Whether by demons, addictions, trauma, drama, riches, poverty, diversions, or perversions Empire enslaves and Kingdom shuts that marketplace down by the power of the

redeeming word

of the

Crucified Word

made flesh.

Explore:

The Kingdom story of Jesus is the beginning of liberation.

Expand: The elements of today’s story describe how the liberation occurs.

Body of Sermon: The first element is to Explore the

1 Details in the Word.

The Word became flesh, and His words are the Word, proclaimed and then recorded. The details of stories like this matter! We must read slowly with particular attention.

Unclean man.

possessed by an

Unclean spirit.

inhabiting an

Unclean place.

surrounded by

Unclean animals

likely there because of the corrupting presence of an

Unclean Empire.

Mark’s first readers, who were themselves Roman, certainly grasped the subtle criticisms of Roman Imperial power. Legion’s brought demons. The political and social oppression resulting in spiritual, demonic oppression.

Before we move on, I want to point a couple of other conclusions we can deduce from the text.

This demonized individual expected, watched for, and “feared” Jesus’ presence and power.

This is Gentile territory which can be deduced by the presence of the Pigs.

Additionally, we can deduce that there was a Legion or Legionaries stationed close by from the number of Pigs.

We can also conclude that the man was likely “outcast” before he was possessed given the dismissive, uncaring attitude of the locals.

That is the “How” of the story. The next element requires us to observe the

2 Demonstration of the Word.

When the Kingdom Word liberates, it

2.1 Removes Masks.

Jesus may have asked the demon’s name, but He knew the man and his need.

The Word in flesh removed the mask…

And the written Word does as well..

Hebrews 4:11–12 ESV

11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Next the Word

2.2 Restricts Evil.

Empire will always find someone or something to exploit. There is always another victim or another herd of pigs.

Once Jesus is risen…the real work can begin.

And of course, the Kingdom word of Jesus

2.3 Releases Captives.

All of us are liberated from the oppression of sin by a demonstration of the Word.

Removing our masks.

Restricting evil.

Releasing captives.

Hallelujah!

The last element is to Celebrate the

3 Deliverance by the Word.

Jesus liberates personally, locally, globally. The Word

3.1 Exposes Empire.

Have you ever been curious about the reaction of the people in the region to the miraculous delivery of the demoniac? They had been infected by Empire...

Australian poet Joel McKerrow puts it poignantly describing the

“far-reaching grasp of the empire

and its programme of consumer sedation, … “

To understand the freedom we enjoy we must grasp that there will always be townspeople, invested in Empire, who tell Jesus to get lost.

Deliverance also

3.2 Explains what has happened.

Clothed and in His right mind...

How much the Lord has done

…How he has been merciful.

Those who are delivered

3.3 Exalt Jesus.

Jesus tells the man to go tell other’s What God has done

He goes and tells them what Jesus has done!

Shut Down

I learned some things preparing to preach this text. Who would’ve thunk it!? After more than 40 years of this text it comes full circle. Let me tell you what I’ve learned.

We don’t need pig-sermons, we need Jesus-sermons

We need to learn how to read scripture.

My job is not to provide all the answers but to help you frame the questions.

We need to decide if we’re in this for damnation or deliverance.

Sometimes I can’t shake the thoughts of the townspeople, the stake-owners, the Empire-influenced who preferred pigs to people. And then I think of our contemporaries who really wish their enemies to perish rather than be redeemed. The only response to Empire is resistance.

The disclosure of the Word made flesh is found in the written Word. It continues to be real when we incarnate it in our lives. That means knowing the details. Understanding what is disclosed and accepting deliverance.

Our deliverance—and the random

demoniac,

alcoholic,

drug addict,

pornographer,

abuser,

and

abortionist.

Because if we only smell the graveyard reek of death on others and not on ourselves, we have entirely missed the point of this parable and we’ve wasted your time, my time, God’s time.