The Sin of losing our Spiritual Balance
Setting the stage
The story of Jesus controlling a physical storm is followed by a story of him controlling a spiritual storm. He heals a man who is possessed by a host of demons.
Jesus and his disciples meet a man whose life is a living hell. He is possessed by so many demons that his nickname is ‘Legion’—a legion being 6,000 Roman soldiers! These demons give him incredible strength. He is a terror to all, and a danger to himself. He lives, desolate and abandoned, among the tombs.
The evil spirits in Legion recognize Jesus. Jesus commands them to leave the wretched man and permits them to go into a large herd of pigs. The pigs stampede down a steep bank into the sea, where they are drowned.
When the local people see what has happened, they stop being afraid of Legion and start being afraid of Jesus. They beg him to leave their region. Legion wants to become a disciple, but Jesus sends him home to his family.
The region of the Gerasenes is hard to place. There is a town called Gerasa, but it is about thirty miles away from the lake. Perhaps Mark is thinking of Gadara, which is only six miles from the lake. The Decapolis is the Greek name for a group of ten towns on the east bank of the Jordan River.
Jesus is stronger than a horde of devils. While Satan inflicts torment and destruction, Jesus brings sanity and peace. Pigs are, for the Jews, unclean animals—so the unclean spirits are banished to live in unclean beasts. The herd destroys itself, just as Legion had been doing under the influence of the demons within him.
A full Roman legion had 6,826 men.
Here in Decapolis pagan influence was strong and the owners of the hogs cared more for the loss of their property than for the healing of the wild demoniac. In the clash between business and spiritual welfare business came first with them as often today. All three Gospels tell of the request for Jesus to leave. They feared the power of Jesus and wanted no further interference with their business affairs