Christian Compassion (Mark 5:1–20)

CPT: Jesus’ power and compassion in healing the man possessed by a legion of demons continues the theme of his powerful authority over creation and expresses the depth of his compassion on people.

Purpose: To drive a desire in the church towards a compassion for people.

CPS: We need the compassion of Christ.

Christian compassion looks beyond appearances.

Christian compassion results in godly action.

Christian compassion believes in God’s power to heal and transform anyone.

Introduction

We are people that need the compassion of Christ.

Compassion is an interesting part of being human. Anywhere that you go in the world, people want compassion. Compassion gives us a sense of connection with others. Because of our shared experience of being human, we have this emotion of compassion that connects us with others. When we have compassion, we see ourselves in others. We are willing to show love and kindness, even when people are in a difficult situation or have made mistakes.

Everyone wants compassion. Anywhere in the world, people realize that compassion is good. It crosses all kinds of cultures. Compassion is central to our political debates. Every argument seems to say, “You should have compassion for this group of people.”

Compassion seems to be in short supply. If you look at the history of the last 200 years, the worst moments in our history was when people lacked compassion. Whether you talk about slavery or holocaust camps, those were times when people were not treated with compassion. We need compassion.

Where does the need for compassion come from? If we are people made in the image of God, and we see a desire for compassion in all humans, we should expect to see a God who is full of compassion. When we look at Jesus, we see a God who is full of compassion. We need the compassion of Christ.

We are in the Gospel of Mark, Mark 5:1-20, page 891 in your pew Bible.

Scripture Reading (Pew Bible: Page 891)

Mark 5:1–20 CSB

1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him. 3 He lived in the tombs, and no one was able to restrain him anymore—not even with a chain— 4 because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had torn the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough 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 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before him. 7 And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you before God, don’t torment me!” 8 For he had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 “What is your name?” he asked him. “My name is Legion,” he answered him, “because we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region. 11 A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. 12 The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there. 14 The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs. 17 Then they began to beg him to leave their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him earnestly that he might remain with him. 19 Jesus did not let him but told him, “Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.

Pray

There are a few things to learn about Christian compassion in this text.

First,

Christian compassion looks beyond appearances to the person on the inside.

The text starts off:

Mark 5:1 CSB

1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes.

The other side of the sea: They’ve just crossed over the Sea of Galilee. They started on the western portion of the sea, and they ended up on the eastern portion. The western side is the more Jewish side of the sea. They get through the sea, where they faced a huge storm, and the Lord calmed the storm with his words.

Mark is continuing a theme of Christ’s power over creation. At the end of Mark 4, Jesus showed his power over physical creation, and in Mark 5, Jesus shows his power over the spiritual creation by casting out a legion of demons from a man.

They get to the region of Gerasenes. This is probably a modern day village on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee called Kursi. Today, the area has the Kursi National Park, an area by the Sea of Galilee, that has caves in the rocks, evidence of first-century tombs, and ancient ruins from an old Christian monastery where Christians used to worship at the site of this miracle from Jesus.

Let’s take a look at the description of this man:

Mark 5:2–5 CSB

2 As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him. 3 He lived in the tombs, and no one was able to restrain him anymore—not even with a chain— 4 because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had torn the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

What are some things we see about this man?

He was (v. 2) a man with an unclean spirit - This was a man plagued and tormented with evil spirits.

(v. 3) He lived in the tombs - He literally lived among the dead. In many ways, he was left for dead with the dead.

We don’t know if this is a Jewish or Gentile society. In Jewish society, it was common for the outcast to live in a place that was unclean. You see this with lepers, and with anyone who is an outcast. It is probably a Gentile region because of the herd of swine. Pigs were a part of the diet of Greeks and Romans. In either case, he is someone who is an outcast of society.

Luke adds an additional detail about this man. In Luke 8:27

Luke 8:27 CSB

27 When he got out on land, a demon-possessed man from the town met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes and did not stay in a house but in the tombs.

Picture of this man: He is dirty (living in tombs), disheveled, wearing no clothes or little clothing. He is someone who does not seem to be in his right mind.

He had supernatural strength: (v.4) He was bound in chains and shackles. The townspeople spent energy trying to subdue him, but they could not. He would break the chains with this supernatural strength.

They didn’t know what to do with him. They left him (with broken shackles?) for dead at the tombs.

(v. 5) Night and day… he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones: This man was in daily agony. His life was full of demons. He was an outcast. He was a man with no hope. He was cutting himself with stones. He wanted a way out. He was crying out. He wanted someone to help him.

The outside appearances of the man: On the outside, he was scary. I’m sure he scared people as he broke the chains! He was a man who was too far gone. He scared the living, so they left him with the dead at the tombs. He was dirty and disheveled. The people who would see him would not just walk the other way. They would run the other way!

I saw a man this past week that reminded me of this man at the caves. Our men met up for a bowling night this past Thursday. I was looking for a parking spot, and ended up parking my car at a parking lot in downtown. For anyone who has been in downtown recently, you know there is a growing homelessness problem. This guy came up to us, and his clothes were hanging off his body. His clothes were cut open, and hanging off of him. He was thin and moving rapidly. He was disheveled. He was asking for a dollar. “Do you have a dollar? Do you have a dollar?” In case you’re wondering, I did not give him a dollar. Not because I’m mean, but because after years of working with the homeless, I don’t want to encourage and facilitate a lifestyle that is dangerous to him.

He reminded me of the man in our text today by the caves. Many of you may have family members that society has written off. Maybe your family has written them off. They say, “They’re just too far gone!”

What’s interesting is the details that the text gives us about the man. We have details about his struggle. Why give us these details? He was crying out night and day. He was cutting himself with stones. The details help us see beyond appearances and look at his struggle.

How many of us wish that people would look beyond our appearances and see the man on the inside, the woman on the inside? To see that person that is struggling, maybe night and day. To see the person that is hurting themselves. The person that is crying out. We want someone to see us!

But the Lord sees. The Lord sees us in our pain. The Lord sees us in our struggle.

The prophet Samuel said this to Jesse as he was looking for the next king:

1 Samuel 16:7 CSB

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”

Humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart. The Lord saw this man. Society saw a scary man enraged with demons. The Lord saw the heart of a man struggling, crying out and desperate for help. The Lord saw this man.

What does looking beyond appearances to the person on the inside look like in our families? Think of your child with his or her bad behavior. Your child’s behavior has gotten too much. You don’t know why he acts this way.

In your mind, picture a basket. Take all of those bad behaviors that you don’t like from the child, take them off the child and put them in the basket. Take all of that anger. All of those outbursts. All of the tantrums, all of the bad decisions, whatever it is. Take those off the child and put them in the basket. Now, throw the basket away.

You are left looking at your child. What do you see? You see the child that you love.

The man at the tombs? He was someone’s child. Someone, at some point, loved that child. This was someone’s little boy.

The Lord takes all of those things on the outside, living in the tombs, disheveled, dealing with demons, all of those different things, puts them to the side, and sees the man on the inside. The Lord sees the person on the inside.

Christian compassion looks beyond appearances to the person on the inside.

Second,

Christian compassion requires godly action.

It wasn’t enough for the Lord to see the man. When the man stepped out of the tombs, The Lord didn’t push him aside. The Lord stepped into action.

In Mark 5, when the demon starts speaking to Jesus, notice the action the Lord had already done.

Mark 5:6–8 CSB

6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before him. 7 And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you before God, don’t torment me!” 8 For he had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

In the sequence of events, verse 8 describes what Jesus had already done. Jesus saw the man, and had already commanded the evil spirit to leave the man.

The conversation from the demon is a result of what Jesus had already done. Jesus commanded them to leave, and the run up to him and beg him for mercy.

Notice something about the demons. They intrinsically know something about God. They know that God is a God of compassion. They are taking advantage of the compassion of God. They say, “I beg you before God, don’t torment me!”

The demon describes himself as Legion, because there are many of them. This man was tormented by many demons.

They ask to go into a herd of pigs. Jesus, based on your compassion, let us enter the pigs. The Lord grants them permission to enter the pigs.

What’s interesting is that even in his power, the Lord is compassionate. The Lord is the perfect balance of power and compassion. He has the power to judge severely, and he has the compassion to act perfectly. His judgments is righteous and his actions are perfect.

The demons enter the pigs. (v. 13) There were about two thousand pigs. About two thousand pigs rush off the steep bank into the sea and become ocean bacon. It was a big carnitas soup.

We’re not sure why the demons went into the pigs. Perhaps by going into the pigs, it allowed them to continue on in the region once the pigs were dead.

In any case, it wasn’t enough for the Lord to see the man. He wasn’t going to leave the man in that condition.

The Lord had two things:

He had the power to make a real change in the man’s life.

He had the compassion to act on that power.

Sometimes we find ourselves in one of those two places.

You may have the power to help someone, but you don’t have the compassion to act on that power.

You may have the compassion toward someone, but you may feel like you don’t have the power to have any real effect. We want to help someone, but we feel powerless to do so.

We serve a God who has the power to change someone, and the compassion to act on that power.

The Lord calls us to a life of Christian compassion resulting in godly action. James talks about our need for godly action. Look at James 2:14-17:

James 2:14–17 CSB

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothes and lacks daily food 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, stay warm, and be well fed,” but you don’t give them what the body needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way faith, if it does not have works, is dead by itself.

He says, “I will show you my faith through the actions of my life.”

He says,

If there is faith in your life

If there is a touch of God on your life

If God has touched your life in such a way that there is a new life within you

Something will come bubbling up out of that new life within you. There is a supernatural touch of God within you. God has moved in your life in a way that he doesn’t move in someone who doesn’t have faith in Christ.

God is molding and shaping your heart in such a way that you begin to look more and more like Christ. The old has gone, the new has come, and the new is a heart of compassion.

I am going to love you. Why am I going to love you?

I love you because God loves you.

I love you despite your faults, because God loved me despite mine.

I love you despite what you have done, because God loved me despite what I had done.

There is a God that saw me in my pain and in my struggle. He saw me when I was hurt, when I was angry, when I was cutting myself and doing terrible things. He saw me when I had no hope, and he loved me.

Because there is a God that loved me that much, I’m going to love you.

When Christ touches your life, there is a real, radical change. And that change on the inside results in a life on the outside that reflects the reality of that change.

That’s not to say that you will do everything perfectly. It’s not to say that you won’t have an off day where maybe you didn’t use the best words.

It is to say that you are not the man or woman you used to be. God is making you into someone new. You are someone in progress.

I’ve said that I want to get some Catalyst t-shirts that say, “In progress.” I’m not a good t-shirt designer. If someone is a good t-shirt designer, send me a design for an “In progress” t-shirt.

Then, when someone sees the Catalyst t-shirt that says, “In progress,” they’ll ask you, “What does in progress mean?” In progress means that God is working on me. Let me tell you what God has done in my life.

In progress means that we are bothered by a life of sin. When we see sin in our life, we repent. In progress means that, as God is working in my life, that work is coming out in the things I say and the things I do.

As Christians, we are people in progress.

Christian compassion looks beyond appearances.

Christian compassion results in godly action.

Third,

Christian compassion believes in God’s power to heal and transform anyone.

There is a verse in this text that really sticks out to me. It might be one of my favorite verses. It’s in Mark 5:15:

Mark 5:15 CSB

15 They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.

They saw the man that had been demon-possessed. They knew who he was. They knew his lifestyle.

They knew that he lived in the tombs.

They knew that he would cut himself with stones, that he would cry out night and day.

They knew how they tried to shackle him, and he would break the shackles.

They knew they couldn’t subdue him.

They knew they were scared to death of this man, and that they left him for dead.

Here was the man, sitting there at the feet of Jesus, dressed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.

There’s nothing more powerful than the testimony of God in your life. There’s nothing more powerful than to see the work of God in your midst, to know what God has done in your life.

The more you give yourself over to the healing and transforming power of the Holy Spirit of God, the more people will be shocked. They will say that is not the same Jason, the same John, the same Maria that I used to know. That is not the person I grew up with.

There is a change in their life. What is going on? There is something more powerful at work. There is something bigger here.

What is that bigger thing in your life? You can say like that man at Jesus’ feet, and like Paul said in Col. 1:13:

Colossians 1:13 CSB

13 He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.

God has rescued me. God is powerful to change a life.

The man at the tombs knew the power of God to change a life. And he was thankful. He was thankful for what God had done. He was thankful that Jesus saw him in his hurt and in his pain and transformed him. He wanted to be with Jesus. He says, “Jesus, let me be with you.”

What did the Lord tell him? This is interesting.

Mark 5:19 CSB

19 Jesus did not let him but told him, “Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.”

He tells him, “Go.” Go home to your own people. Go tell your family. Go tell your friends. Go tell people what God has done for you. It says he went out in the area and proclaimed what Jesus had done for him. And they were all amazed.

Christian compassion believes in God’s power to heal and transform anyone. The Lord says, go and tell the good news of what Jesus has done in your life. There is power in what God has done in your life.

Sometimes we wonder, “God, what do you want me to do in my life?” God has placed you in a context. He has placed you in a family. He has placed you in a community. He has placed you around people, and he says, “Go. tell people about the mercy of God in your life.”

It’s good to remember what God has done in your life. It’s good to review what God has done. It builds this belief with you that says:

I know what God has done for me on the cross.

I know the reality and power of the resurrection of Jesus.

I know the power of God to change a life.

I’ve seen what he has done in my life, and I know what he can do in your life.

That belief drives a compassion within me. Some of us may have family members or friends, people who are running around living a life in pain, in a struggle, doing things that we used to do.

There’s a compassion within me that drives me to tell you about Jesus. I get that you don’t want God telling you what to do. I understand that. For many years, I did the same thing.

But let me tell you, I know who God is. I’ve seen him work. I know of his transforming power. I know that if you trust in Jesus, if you believe in him, he will change your life.

Compassion drives me to tell you about Jesus. There is nothing more compassionate, more merciful, more gracious, than to tell someone about the good news of Jesus Christ.

There is a reason for the hope in my life. There is a reason I sit here clothed today and in my right mind. It’s not the result of some self-help guru trick. It’s not because I’m trying to live my best life now.

The reason for hope in my life is the life that Jesus gives. The life that Jesus gives is the best life that anyone can have. God can heal and transform anyone who puts their faith and trust in Jesus.

Conclusion

Christian compassion looks beyond appearances.

Christian compassion results in godly action.

Christian compassion believes in God’s power to heal and transform anyone.

Conclude - We need the compassion of Christ.

Prayer

Last Song

Doxology

Numbers 6:24–26 CSB

24 “May the Lord bless you and protect you; 25 may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.” ’

Jude 24–25 CSB

24 Now to him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish and with great joy, 25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.

You are dismissed. Have a great week in the Lord!