Demons, Devils, Deliverance
Every thing you wanted to know about demons, devils, deliverance.
Jesus Heals Two Demon-Possessed Men
When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes, two men who were possessed by demons met him. They came out of the tombs and were so violent that no one could go through that area.
They began screaming at him, “Why are you interfering with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before God’s appointed time?”
There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding in the distance. So the demons begged, “If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”
“All right, go!” Jesus commanded them. So the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.
The herdsmen fled to the nearby town, telling everyone what happened to the demon-possessed men. Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone.
D. The King’s Authority over Spiritual Forces (8:28–34)
SUPPORTING IDEA: Jesus exercises authority and compassion to free people from demon possession.
8:28. Previously, Jesus had conquered disease and nature. Now he conquered demons.
Gerasa was thirty miles southeast of the lake, but it was of greater importance than Gadara—thus Mark’s use of its name. This entire region was predominantly Gentile, which explains the local residents’ ability to raise pigs (8:31–33). Some Jews did live in the region.
Three things in this verse would have shocked the first-century Jewish reader. First, Jesus purposefully entered Gentile territory. Second, he went to a cemetery, thought to be unclean because of the dead bodies, and also thought to be inhabited by evil spirits. Third, he was met by two men possessed by demons. Just as first-century people treated natural forces with greater respect than we do, they also respected more highly the forces of the spirit world. The concept of going face-to-face with demons was frightful to the first-century reader. These two men were so violent and dangerous that people avoided them.
8:29. We learn several things about demons in this passage. They immediately recognized Jesus for who he was. They knew there would be an appointed time for their judgment by Christ (25:41; Jas. 2:19; 2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6), and their eternal torture (25:41), but they clearly expected this to come much later.
Notice that only the demons spoke. The men probably had no ability to speak for themselves because of the power of the demons. This is an example of Jesus’ compassion for those in need who were not able even to call out for help.
8:30–31. Mark’s account revealed the large number of demons through the demons’ own confession (Mark 5:9), but Matthew alluded to the number of demons by referring to the large herd of pigs they would inhabit.
We learn at least three truths about these spirit beings from their request to go into the pigs. First, they either needed to inhabit a physical body or they found this preferable to existing on their own. Second, Jesus had the power to drive them out and leave them without a home if he so wished. Third, while demons are not physical beings, they seem to be bound by some of the same physical laws as physical beings (e.g., location has significance for them, and they can only be in one place at a time).
8:32. Jesus exercised his authority by forcing the demons to leave the men, and then he honored their request to enter the pigs. Notice once again the use of Jesus’ word as the vehicle of his authority. Matthew recorded only a single, concise command: Go! That was enough to defeat the powerful beings of the spirit world.
8:33–34. What we have not been told until now is that there were witnesses to this event—the herdsmen in charge of the pigs. Their immediate response was to run into town and tell others what had happened. Matthew mentioned that their report included the exorcism of the demons. This should have been evidence that Jesus was a powerful being. When the whole town came back to Jesus, their request for him to leave may have been out of fear of his power. They may have been angry over the loss of their property and the pigs. In any case, they did not recognize the Messiah-King.
8:28 Gadarenes: Other manuscripts read Gerasenes; still others read Gergesenes. Cp. Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26. • possessed by demons … so violent: Demon-possession was often accompanied by violence, revulsion at the presence of the Son of God (8:29), inability to speak (9:32; 12:22), blindness (12:22), seizures (17:15), and self-destructive behavior (17:15). With Jesus’ exorcisms, the power of the Kingdom broke into human history (12:28).
8:29 Those controlled by Satan immediately recognized Jesus’ true identity as the Son of God (see Mark 1:24) and answered the question asked by Jesus’ disciples when he had calmed the storm (8:27). Elsewhere, Jesus’ true nature and identity are acknowledged by the Father (3:17; 17:5), Satan (4:3, 6), humans (14:33; 16:16; 27:54), and Christ himself (11:27; 24:36; 28:19). • God’s appointed time is the final, eternal damnation of all who oppose God (see Jude 1:6; Rev 20:10).
8:31 The demons were no match for Jesus’ authority; they desperately begged to avoid imminent doom.
8:32 Jesus’ word had sufficient authority to expel demons. • drowned: Jesus had begun to defeat the enemy (12:28; Luke 10:17–20; Rom 16:20; Col 2:15).
8:34 The tragedy of the incident is that those who witnessed the Son of God’s power to give salvation feared having their world upset, so they rejected him.
8:28–34 Jesus briefly visits Gadara and heals two demon-possessed persons. His miracle there demonstrates His power over evil and the spiritual realm. It also creates such a stir that He is forced to leave.
Gadarenes AYBD
1. Jesus went where no other men would go
a. Among the evil-possessed
b. Among the dead
c. Among the violent
28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
c. Among the violent
d. Among the defiant
29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
e. Among the malicious—the devourers—the destroyers
2. Jesus saved those whom no other men could reach
a. The power of His word: Go
b. The result: Demons were exorcised or driven out
3. Jesus was rejected by covetous men
a. The covetous heard about the loss of their property (the pigs)
b. The covetous felt nothing in common with Christ: He had destroyed their property
c. The covetous rejected & expelled Him
F. Jesus Casts Out Demons: Saving Men, 8:28–34
(8:28–34) Introduction—Evil Spirits—Messiah: Jesus was doing two things in this experience.
1. Jesus was demonstrating His power to deliver men from the darkest forces imaginable—men possessed by devils (demons, evil spirits). He wanted the world to know that He had now combated and conquered the forces of evil.
a. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ep. 6:12).
b. On the cross, Christ “spoiled principalities and powers”; Christ “made a show of them openly, triumphing over them” (Col. 2:15; see He. 2:14–15). What this means is …
• that the depth of evil was openly seen by taking the life of God’s Son
• that by suffering death on the cross God’s Son openly showed just how evil the principalities and powers are
But contrary to what they expected, while He was on the cross, Christ bore the sins of the whole world, triumphing over the forces of evil (1 Pe. 2:24; see DEEPER STUDY # 2—Ro. 8:3; see Mt. 5:17–18).
c. He was “raised from the dead, and placed at [God’s] own right hand … far above all principality and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but in that which is to come” (Ep. 1:20–21).
d. He now proclaims the most glorious hope for man.
“All power is given unto me in heaven and earth” (Mt. 28:18).
“[He] is the head of all principality and power” (Col. 2:10).
e. Why does He not just take over now? Why has He not assumed His sovereign reign over the universe yet?
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pe. 3:9; see these verses 3:3–4, 8–18).
2. Jesus was demonstrating that He searches for men everywhere. He wants all men to be saved, even those who are the most wild and mean. And He wants everyone to know that He is out to save all, even the worst of men. Therefore, He set out to save two men who were as possessed with devils as could be. We may avoid the wildest and meanest and have little to do with those in bad conditions, but Christ longs to save them.
1. Jesus went where no other men would go (vv. 28–31).
2. Jesus saved those whom no other men could reach (v. 32).
3. Jesus was rejected by covetous men (vv. 33–34).
DEEPER STUDY # 1
(8:28–34) Evil Spirits—Demons—Satan: the Bible teaches that there are beings in the spiritual world who are evil just as there are men in this world who are evil. The Bible calls these beings evil spirits. Note that the very word evil is used in their name which describes exactly what their nature and mission are. Evil spirits apparently have a leader called the evil one. He is sometimes called by other names describing the terrible work he is out to do in defiance of God (see DEEPER STUDY # 1—Re. 12:9 for more discussion).
a. There is the fact that so many who did so much evil were nurtured in the arms of a mother or someone else who did care. Mental illness points out deviations from healthy rearing. But realistically, the deviations can come nowhere close to matching the terrible atrocities. And the deviation from normal behavior does not always vary that much until the terrible atrocity is committed.
b. A human being who is mentally ill cannot move among sound people for too long without being found out. True mental illness cannot fake that much and that often. Its behavior deviates often enough that others know that a person is acting extremely abnormal. A mentally ill person can be detected and reached out to by caring people.
1 (8:28–31) Jesus, Mission: Jesus went where no other men would go.
a. Jesus went among the evil possessed. These two men were as possessed with evil as any have ever been. (See Mark and Luke to have a complete picture of their plight.) They were so possessed and acted so insane that no man would dare reach out with a helping hand. In fact, no man dared go near them. Yet God cares for all and cares equally. He cared for these as much as He cared for any
And He wants His people to care and to reach out to all no matter how bad their condition. Christ was to demonstrate such care for all succeeding generations, so He went where no men dared to go. He went among those who were the epitome of men possessed with devils.
b. Jesus went among the dead. Note two things.
1) These men lived among the tombs, in the grave yard.
2) These men represented the living dead—all men without Christ are “dead in their sins.”
2) These men represented the living dead—all men without Christ are “dead in their sins.” The difference between the two possessed men and all others is that they were the picture of the worst of the living dead. They show just how far away some can slide from God and from their families and friends. They can be so possessed with evil that they are completely cut off from both God and man, living as though among the dead (see Ep. 2:1–3; 5:14; Col. 2:13).
“It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found” (Lu. 15:32).
“But she that liveth in pleasure is dead while she liveth” (1 Ti. 5:6).
“And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead” (Re. 3:1).
“The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead” (Pr. 21:16).
(1) Where the depth of evil can lead: among the dead.
(2) How far a person can go in giving himself over to evil or devils: he can literally ruin his life. We all know some who have given themselves over to evil so much that they have fallen into the pits. They have become so cut off from others that they live as among the dead.
c. Jesus went among the fierce. Some men are dangerous; they are so given over to evil that they are a threat to everyone. The two possessed men were exceeding fierce. They threatened any who passed by.
Thought 1. Why were the two possessed men fierce? Why do men become fierce and dangerous?
(1) Some give themselves over to evil step by step. They grow more and more evil. They walk so long in pride and envy, selfishness and lust that they rebel against giving of themselves. They react with malice and revenge against any who wish equal treatment. Sensual stimulation and material things—wealth, recognition, and power—and things within the world become the ambition of their lives, and they focus their attention accordingly. They walk so long therein that they become obsessed and possessed; they react with anger against any position or relationship that does not grant their desire.
(2) Some become so self-centered and selfish, walking so long therein, that they react violently if they do not receive the attention and recognition they desire or get what they want. They behave so selfishly that they become possessed with devils.
(3) Some give themselves over to evil so much that they become possessed with evil. They are capable of acting and reacting so coldly that everyone becomes nothing but pawns to do their bidding. If anyone expresses a different position, they become an immediate threat.
(4) Some are ignored, neglected, rejected, and abused so much that they withdraw and become subject to being possessed with the negative reactions of evil: self-centeredness, self-pity, anger, hostility, malice, bitterness, revenge, and on and on.
When the heart is not filled with God, it is filled with self and evil, and it sometimes becomes angry and fierce against people and positions. There is no exception; everyone without God experiences some anger and fierceness during their journey without God. Some go so far as to become possessed with an evil spirit of fierceness.
d. Jesus went among the defiant. Men rebel against God; rebellion in God’s eyes is defiance, that is, rejection of Him and His will. These men rebelled and were as defiant as men can be. Note three facts.
1) They protested Jesus’ presence: “cried out” in defiance against His presence. How many of us protest and have times that we do not want His presence?
2) They recognized Him as the Son of God. They recognized something that many today refuse to acknowledge.
3) They acknowledged a day of torment, of judgment yet to come. They did something many try to deny.