Jesus Casts Out Legion

Mark 5:1–20 ESV

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 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. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 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.” For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 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. The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 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. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 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.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

## Introduction

* Continue four vignettes in Mark 4 and 5

* Jesus calms the storm

* Jesus casts out demons

* Jesus heals the sick

* Jesus raises the dead

* Our story today is Jesus casts out demons in Mark 5:1-20

* Lot of text; so in summary

* Jesus had come from the other side of the Sea or Galilee at evening time

* As soon as his foot touched the land

* The demon possessed man

* ::Need to deal with demons and possession::

* Stephen King’s baboon and imagery

* Yes, physical realities

* No to demon under every rock

* Yes to reality of spiritual beings and possession/oppression

* His condition was progressing (bad to worse)

* Futile restraint attempts had been made

* He cut himself with stones

* He was alone

* Screaming in the hills

* Lived in the tombs

* Harassed passers by

* The stuff of nightmares

* Sees Jesus from _afar_

* Runs to Jesus and falls at his feet begging that he leave them alone.

* Request denied, Jesus casts the demons out of the man. The demons enter a herd of pigs which run to their drowning deaths.

* The locals hear about it, see the now healed man sitting there, and look at Jesus. They decide they want nothing to do with him and beg him to leave.

* He does, but leaves the delivered man behind as a witness.

* Jesus crossed the sea for this! (He immediately returned.)

* Key Question

: Why did the man come?

* Note

* Saw Jesus from far off

* Wanted nothing to do with Jesus

* Contrary to sense (from the demon perspective) ran to Jesus and bowed

Four things we will look at today

Jesus demonstrates that he has divine authority and power

People are brought to a crisis of decision

A man is delivered

A witness is commissioned

Jesus Demonstrates Divine Authority and Power

* The power of the enemy is real

* “We are Legion”

* Power of demons

* Thousands of that kind of power

* Whatever else they were or did, they manifest superhuman strength in this man

* More than just adrenaline

* Chains broken and shackles wrenched

* The Bible doesn’t describe play actors

* Demons are Subject to God’s Sovereign Plan

* Demon possessed man sees and hates but comes anyway

* All things ultimately serve the plan and purpose of God

* Demons are Subject to God’s Sovereign Power

> James 2:19 (ESV)

James 2:19 ESV

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

* Demons believe and bow but hate

* Demons beg

* Demons are Subject to God’s Sovereign Decree

* Jesus simply commands

* Demons flee

* Demons are Subject to God’s Sovereign Design

* They had invested quite a career destroying this man

* With one word, Jesus undid their life’s work

> Jesus stepped off the boat with a purpose. It wasn’t an accident that he met the demon possessed man. It wasn’t a contest of powers to free him. When Almighty God speaks, demons cower and flee.

People are Brought to a Crisis of Decision

> When God acts, people are brought to a crisis of decision. It isn’t really ever gray. It is simply accept or reject.

* Society was powerless to deal with the essential issues

* Natural means and strength could not subdue much less deliver.

* There is good to be done, but only God can deliver

* Their efforts were actually more damaging than helpful.

* Strength or no, injury incurred.

* External constraints of internal turmoil is futile and injurious

* /Essential/ change is needed

* That isn’t tautological

* Down to the being—the essence

* God demonstrated his power

* Contrary to the claims of men

* The whole pigs thing (visual confirmation)

* Society was more comfortable with the tortured man than with Jesus

* He was the one in howling misery—not them

* They undoubtedly thought that he had made his choices (self righteousness)

* He wasn’t hurting anyone else

* One could certainly avoid any loss or discomfort from him

* His behavior was manageable in their society

* Some were excused by his condition

* Some were employed by his condition

* Regardless, he was “manageable”

* The Lord Jesus walking around was not manageable

* Maybe they had been spooked by the storm

* Unbelief of His goodness

* Unbelief of His purpose

* Rejection of His dominion

* Society rejected Jesus and condemned the tortured

* They begged Jesus to leave

* How strange is the consonance of their voice to that of demons!

* The demons had begged

* Now the people asked for the same thing for the same reason

* How many more might Jesus have healed and delivered had he been welcomed to stay?

> Before we judge those people too harshly, how often do we look to powerless solutions for those who need radical God-given deliverance? How often are we unmoved by the desperate, broken, oppressed, and yes possessed because they fit our societal views? How often do we reject the Lord and the radical life change his Lordship demands? Jesus is powerful to save and deliver. Do we welcome him?

A Man is Delivered

* On that day, a man was delivered!

* It’s important to not skip past this amazing point

* Jesus pushed back against sin, death, and hell

* Restored to home, friends, and family!!

* He had been living through hell

* The enemy brings hell on earth

* The self destruction (cutting himself).

* The isolation and loneliness.

* The despair and agony.

* The dehumanizing shame and exposure

* The Lord mercifully delivers

* Lord

* How often some recoil

* But he is good

* Mercy

* Mercy is not earned

* Mercy is not owed

* Mercy is graciously given

* God recreates and liberates

* _Clothed_ and in his right mind. (Holistic)

* His affections are radically transformed.

* He now wants to be with Jesus.

A Witness is Commissioned

* Yearning for proximity is the appropriate impulse of the delivered

* The man begged

* Right mind

* This is worship and is /appropriate/

* Witness is the will of God

> Go home and tell your friends.

* Called to community and restoration. “Go home to your friends.”

* Called to witness the goodness and mercy of the Lord.

* quantitative

* qualitative

* The delivered experience and witness; God is glorified

* Worship

* Witness

## Closing

::Questions posed in intro and answered in closing::

* Why did the demon possessed man encounter Jesus?

* (Luck or chance?)

* (Will power?)

* No, God’s grace and mercy.

> That man came because he had a divine appointment with a loving, sovereign Savior who, by delivering him from hell on earth, would manifest his glory in him, and spread his goodness through him.