"That's Not My Name!"

“That’s Not My Name!” (Part 1)

K. Adrian Scott

April 12, 2026

Contextual Introduction.

The four Gospel accounts in the New Testament, Mark being one of them, and the life of Christ particularly, is the joyous picture of divinity (or the nature of God) wrapped up in humanity. Let us remember, the Gospels are not stories of people coming to God, but rather, the stories of God coming to people in Christ.

The location of the story in our text was in the region called the Decapolis or “free cities” in ancient Judea and Syria including the modern country of Jordan. One of those cities was Gerasa, who like the other cities were steeped in. both Greek and Roman culture. In other words, Jesus is in Gentile territory. Gerasa, now called Jerash, is nestled in a valley surrounded by hilly and wooded areas and was a charming little town. But there was trouble in Gerasa.

Saint Mark introduces us to a man of Gerasa who had an ‘unclean spirit’ -

v. 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” (v.2, ESV).

No rest for the Savior!

Under the influence and because of the possession of unclean spirits the first thing our text says about him is that he lived and roams around the graveyard during the day and night. This is unusual, for sure. This man’s behavior is odd, and it is due to the evil or unclean spirits that are controlling everything about him, so he is simply being obedient to these deviant spirits.

Here is something for us to consider: wouldn’t Christ’s Church be even more spiritually potent if God’s people would be as obedient to Christ as the unconverted are to obeying Lucifer? I certainly believe so.

Well, Satan who is manipulating these demonic spirits has no good intentions for this man. In fact, the demon’s intentions are to destroy this man, to drive him out of his mind and drag him to the lowest depts of degradation, and humiliation, and while doing so, deprive this man of any semblance of a normal life including real human relationships or at least human interaction. This man is a person who is obviously alone with not one single person to care for or comfort him; not because they did not want to, but because he was unpredictable and perceived to be dangerous, and with good reason.

May I remind you that John’s Gospel says this, “the thief (referring to Satan) comes only to steal, and kill and destroy” (John 10.10).

It is sadly interesting to see the complete and utter control Satan has over this person who at one time most likely had a job, a career, a furnished home, clothing, friends and perhaps even a family. But this person whose name we do not know has been stripped of everything and everyone in his life. His mind is gone, and his personality is gone, has been stripped of him. Who this man was intended to be as a person is all gone and now, he is reduced to being among the walking dead!

Note: By not telling us the man’s name, it is as if the Lord was protecting this man’s privacy and what is left of his dignity!

This event that Mark has recorded helps us to have some insight about the many people in our current society who are being led down the road to sadness, sickness, and eventually self-destruction. Some of us may know a person or two during our lifetime that we have witnessed being robbed of their personality, good judgment, their honor, integrity, and eventually even their family and friends.

Satan does not care if a crystal meth habit causes someone to lose their job, their home and after using meth it causes a twenty-five-year-old to look like a fifty-five-year-old. Satan does not care if a person’s career is destroyed by alcohol abuse, a pornography or gambling addiction.

Satan, the author of evil, is out recruiting his own disciples every day, and he has one objective; he wants to destroy your life. He loves to see brilliant young minds confused by the twisted things they read, or distorted by drug abuse, or unable to have healthy relationships with the opposite sex because of an addiction to porn. Satan throws the vulnerable down into the dark pits of evil like Joseph was where there is little hope of rescue and a disappearance of one’s wholesome aspirations.

Question: Who else could or would do this to another human being but Satan?

In the previous chapter four, nature is out of control, now in chapter five a human being is out of control! This man is out of self-control for sure and out of society’s control at the same time.

Vv. 3-5; “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.”

In addition to this peculiar behavior of roaming the graveyards, he would scream or cry out loudly and terrify many of the people who lived in Gerasa, and he was also known to cut himself with sharp stones and mutilate his body. Additionally, this man was gifted unusual strength by the demons. None of this is normal.

I wish I had a little more information about him. Where is his family? His friends? What happened to his job? What were his dreams? What went wrong and how did he get in this condition?

Some of our finest minds and great personalities self-destruct before our eyes due to unresolved anger issues, unaddressed emotional problems, dishonesty, behavioral misconduct, substance abuse or even a general lack of self-esteem and ambition.

Haven’t you ever met someone with a pretty face but an ugly disposition? They have a well-tuned athletic body but a bad heart. Someone with a firm handshake but at the same time had sticky fingers; or in other words, they steal.

I believe it is very possible that there are many more demoniacs than we care to know about, but at the same time not as many as some religious groups would have us to believe who think everything is the devil’s fault while some of our problems are due to poor planning, late planning and poor time management. There is no doubt about it that far too many in our current society fit the description of being “out of control.” And such were some of us - “out of control.”

Note that verse 3 says, “no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain.”

Everyone in the village was deemed useless when it came to getting this man under control! He was uncontrollable. Not his acquaintances or the legal authorities were successful in helping get this man under control.

Do you have any idea what the recidivism rate is the state prison system? 68% of inmates are rearrested within three years and up to 83% within nine years!

Society to this date has not been very successful helping those whose lives at some points were deemed ‘out of control.’

So, we see those legal and legislative restraints, moral restraints, and even religious restraints are not enough by themselves to bring about a change of heart and attitude, much less the conversion of the soul of a human being. Society, or this world by itself cannot regulate one’s mind, control one’s will, and certainly cannot bring a person to repentance. We all need a Jesus intervention! Educational reforms, tax reforms, welfare reforms, the “Great Society” legislation, the “new deal” under Roosevelt and even the “Reagan Revolution” could not and cannot in and of themselves, restrain a person who is being controlled by our Lord’s adversary, Satan. Societal reforms have their place, but it does not and will not take the place of personal, spiritual regeneration. This man in Mark 5 as well as all the unregenerated or unconverted in society needs a genuine encounter with Christ! I say again, we need a Jesus intervention!

Vv. 6-7; “And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 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” (ESV).

First, the possessed man falls on his knees before Jesus. This is a sign of submission, reverence, and this posture is also often a prayer posture! Ephesians 3.14 says, “I bow my knees unto the Father.” Mark 1.40 says, “beseeching him, and kneeling down to him...” In Acts 20.36 it reads, “he kneeled down and prayed...” Here is some scriptural evidence that the demons possessing this man recognized the person and authority of Christ and had the man kneel before the Lord!

The Proposition.

Do you recognize the authority of Jesus? Here is the truth – Don’t you see here that Scripture is testifying that Jesus’ authority and power is superior to that of our enemy Satan? And if so, are you willing to bow down before the Lord Jesus right now as Lord of your life and Savior of your soul?

Are you willing to give up control of your life right now and trust Christ as the head of your life? In a moment of honesty, can’t you see you are not able to fix what is truly wrong in your heart? Unlike this man, you may have a lot of friends, live in a better neighborhood and have a sound and prosperous career, but that has little or nothing to do with the condition of your soul. It is possible to have a good life that is filled with all the trappings of success, but you are not at peace with God, and neither is your soul contented.

The Close.

In Luke 16 there was a man in the Bible who was rich, but he ignored God during his life. So, he died but went to the place of torment. In the meantime, there was a man who was poor regarding the things of this world who died, and he went to paradise. Now, it is important to know that the Bible does not teach we have to be poor to go the heaven or the presence of the Lord when we die. But what is more important to you, riches on earth but poor in the afterlife? Or, having less in this life but being rich in Spirit for all eternity? Some of us are blessed with both! Which predicament would you rather be in?