Jesus Casts Out Legion
Notes
Transcript
Good Morning
Good Morning
I’ve been reading a book on anti gravity. It is impossible to put down.
Why did the scarecrow win an award? He was outstanding in his field!
Today we are going to be in Mark 5:1-20. Last week we talked about Jesus showing that He is God. He calmed the wind and the sea by just speaking to them. We also saw the reaction to the disciples when they realized that God was in the boat with them. Today we are going to look at what happened when they got to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus is going to cast out a legion of demons.
Please stand as we read the Word of God.
1 They came to the other side of the sea, into the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him. 3 He lived among the tombs; and no one was able to bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces; and no one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and cutting himself with stones. 6 Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; 7 and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do You have with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” 8 For He had already been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”10 And he begged Him earnestly not to send them out of the region. 11 Now there was a large herd of pigs feeding nearby on the mountain. 12 And the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us into the pigs so that we may enter them.” 13 Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the pigs; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.
14 Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And then they came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had previously had the “legion”; and they became frightened. 16 Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Him to leave their region. 18 And as He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was begging Him that he might accompany Him. 19 And He did not let him, but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
Let’s pray
They finally make it to the other side of the lake. They had just survived a storm that they thought they were going to die in. They had been both physically stressed and mentally stressed. They had to row the boat across the lake. They were wore out. They thought that since where they were going was a gentile area that was prominently Greek, they were going to get some rest. Jesus had other plans. He was going to show them more of His power and authority.
When Jesus got out of the boat, it tells us that immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him. Well, there goes the rest that the disciples were hoping for! Mark tells us a little about this man with the unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs that were cut into the hills and mountains. The dead were not buried under ground like they are today. They would cut out a tomb in the side of a hill or mountain and put the dead in. This man was so unruly and destructive that he was not allowed to live in town. It tells us that no one could bind him anymore. They had put chains and shackles on him and he broke them. He tore apart the chains and broke the shackles into pieces. That is some serious strength! We also are told that he is constantly screaming in the tombs and mountains, and cutting himself with stones. We also can see in the parallel passage in Luke (8:27) that he had not had any clothes on for a long time. Being naked was a sign of depravity. In Genesis, the first thing that Adam and Eve did after eating the forbidden fruit was cover their nakedness. Then God made them clothes. We are to cover ourselves in clothes that are modest. In 1 Timothy 2:9
9 Likewise, I want women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or expensive apparel,
Women if you are not dressing modestly, you can not understand what that does to the mind of a man. I have images from 20-30 years ago pop in my mind that I have to fight to keep out. God made man a visual being, we are excited by beauty. Your beauty is for you husband and him alone. When you are not dressing modestly, you are sinning and even worse, you are causing men who look at you to sin. The Bible tells us that it is not good to cause someone else to sin. Luke 17:2 “2 It is better for him if a millstone is hung around his neck and he is thrown into the sea, than that he may cause one of these little ones to sin.”
Nakedness and dressing immodestly is a serious sin. Some of you may say that I am just an old goat what do I know. Nothing. I know that I still struggle with images popping up from decades ago. Women we men may not be able to remember what you said 5 minutes ago, but we never forget an image of a woman who is dress provocatively. We are called to be different than the world. In action and in dress. In everything we do. If we are doing something that the world is doing, it is more than likely not what God wants us to do. If you are more worried about what your friends are going to think than pleasing God, that is a dangerous place to be. If what your friends think is more important than what God thinks, you had better check you heart. That might be rocky or thorny soil in there. Rant over
Look at how this man who could not be bound even with chains, reacts to seeing Jesus. When he saw Jesus he ran up to him and bowed down before Him. Jesus subdued him without even speaking. Jesus has authority over everything and everyone, even the demons. Just like in the synagogue in chapter 1 the demons always cry out in a loud voice when talking to Jesus.
We can see that just because someone acknowledges God and who He is, doesn’t mean that they are saved. The demons acknowledge who God is and they don’t believe. There has to be actions that match the words. The demons have perfect theology. They know exactly who God and Jesus are and they know there is an abyss that they are doomed to be cast into. We can see this in the Luke version of this story. The demons actions are opposite of what God commands us to do. They try to kill and destroy, where God commands us to love and build up. They torment people and we are to help them. They want to take as many people with them to the abyss, we want to make heaven crowded. The demons acknowledge who God and Jesus are but they reject them. If we are not doing what God commands us to do, then we are rejecting Him also. We see that Jesus talks to the demon and asks what his name is. Legion. A legion of Roman soldiers was up to 6,000. That means that there could have been up to 6,000 demons in this poor man. No wonder one could bind him. I can’t image the torment that this man must have been going through with that many demons. Some may say that it is bad with one or many. It all the same about of bad. I say that if you are walking down the street and someone beats you up and then later down the road a group of 20 people beat you up, it is much worse. That many demons would have been horrible to deal with. We can see that they had complete control of the man. We don’t know how long he had been demon possessed, but it was probably for a long time. He probably couldn’t remember the last time that he was in control. What a horrible life to live.
The demons were begging Jesus not to send them out of the country. They asked to be sent into the nearby herd of swine. So Jesus gave them permission and they entered the pigs and the entire herd rushed down the steep bank and into the water and drowned. There is a theological word for what just happened. Suey side!
Why did the demons want to enter the pigs? Why did Jesus permit them to? I don’t know whey they wanted to other than they do not like not possessing someone or something. Jesus let the enter so that there was a visible sign that the demons had left the man. Also so that when the pigs died, the man that was possessed would know that they are gone.
We see that the herdsmen ran and told the people in the city and the ones in the country. They probably didn’t want to be blamed for the pigs dying. When everyone arrived and saw Jesus and the formerly possessed man sitting clothed and in his right mind, there reaction is different than what I would have expected. They begged Him to leave the region, not just the city, but the region. They were ungodly people who were frightened by Jesus and His power. They loved their sinful life and didn’t want Jesus to change any of it. I would have thought that after having to deal with legion for as long as they did, they would have been grateful and praise Jesus for what He did. But they didn’t and Jesus will not force Himself on anyone, so He gets in His boat and leaves.
The man that was healed wanted to go with Jesus, but Jesus would not let him. He told him to go home and tell everyone about all the great things that God has done for him and how He had mercy on you. So the man went away and began to proclaim Jesus in the Decapolis ( 10 city area) what all Jesus had done. This man was the first person Jesus had sent out. He was the first missionary. We will see later on that Jesus will return to this region and people will bring their sick to Him to be healed. The missionary was successful in spreading the good news.
The main take away I want you to see is that no matter how bad you have been, Jesus can and will forgive you if you truly want Him to. I promise none of you have been living naked in a cemetery yelling and screaming day and night. So you are not worse than this man that Jesus saved. But if you have been doing these things, the good news is that He will still save you. You can never sin more than Jesus can cover. All you have to do is repent and believe! It truly is that simple.
Also, you do not have to have training to go and tell people about Jesus. This guy did not have any training. He just told people about what Jesus did for him. That is what Jesus wants us to do. This guy would say, i had a pretty bad past! Look at me now! I was the guy in the tomb! I used to use this excuse to not share about Jesus. I just need a little more training and then look out. The problem was that I always needed a little more training. We don’t need training to tell people what Jesus has done for us, how we are different now! The bigger problem is if we are not different!
Let’s get out there and tell Duncan, Comanche about our Jesus. What He has done for us, how we are different. Then let’s show them how we are different than the world. So them the love that Jesus showed on the cross. The love that sacrifices all.
If you haven’t repented and believed in Jesus, what are you waiting for? Are you like the people of the area, who love their sinful life and don’t want Jesus to change them? If not then repent and believe and feel the love of our King!
Let’s pray