Sacred Invitation -

Mark 5:1–20 NIV

1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!” 9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. 11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” 13 He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. 14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. 18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

In today's world of Smart Phones, tablets and instant Internet access, there are many things that we can "know." If someone asks the questions, "how long is the Verrazano Bridge," a nimble person with a 4 G connection and an Iphone can ask Siri, "How long is the Verrazano Bridge," and they will get an almost instantaneous response. In fact, last Saturday we were having a conversation with my Dad and we were remarking about some of the older coaches in college basketball, specifically Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewski. My dad says - well google it, and I did. In just a matter of seconds we had to answer to our question. In case you were wondering Coach K is 74 and Coach Williams in 70.

But if we had sitting here an 85 year old retired construction worker that spent 2 years of his life building the Verrazano bridge in his 20s we would get the right information, but we would also get it with great passion.

There is a popular miracle story that precedes this one in the Gospel of Mark—the calming of the sea. You may be familiar with the story. Jesus falls asleep on the boat, and a great storm overtakes it. The disciples are terrified and wake him. Jesus rebukes the wind and commands the sea, “Peace! Be still.” And the storm ends.

The disciples are terrified and ask each other, “Who is this? Even the winds and waves obey him!”

That is an important question. Who is this? It is a question we might be asking ourselves today, although maybe not for the same reasons and not in the same way.

And so, on the very heels of this question, we come to today’s text, which features a man possessed by demons, living in tombs, in a gentile land. This man with self-inflicted wounds upon his body approaches Jesus as he steps out of the boat, and almost as an answer to the question still hanging in the air around the disciples, he shouts out, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?”

So who is this? Jesus, Son of the Most High God. Let’s dig in to what we can learn about this Jesus in today’s passage in Mark 5.

I don’t know about you, but when I see verses like verse 1, I tend to read over them. It’s like, ok, so it happened there. However, I am learning that there is often much we can learn from some of these simple statements we tend to gloss over. It is important for us to recognize what is actually taking place here. Jesus and the disciples are entering gentile land. Mark notes that it the the region of the Gerasesnes, Matthew calls it the Gadarenes. Regardless, it is the fact that they are entering gentile territory that is important.

In fact, Gerasa was part of the Decapolis, making it a central part of the Greco-Roman world. Mark wants to make it clear that Jesus’s mission is clearly expanding to those outside Judaism. Jesus’s mission and Jesus’s upcoming suffering and sacrifice are to provide the opportunity for everyone to be restored to relationship with Christ. The sacrifice of Jesus was to be for everyone, a theme we see often throughout Jesus’s ministry to non-Jews.

Not only are they in gentile territory, we see a man with an impure spirit, coming from the tombs to meet Jesus. Now this would frankly terrify most Jews. The man lived in the tombs, among the dead. He would be unclean and cause those who interacted with him to be unclean, as Jews were not supposed to touch dead bodies.

Not only that, he cuts himself with stones. Leviticus 19:28 forbids “cutting your bodies for the dead.” Self-injury was often a sign of worship in other religions. A Jewish audience would hear that he cut himself and have another reason to consider the man unclean.

If that wasn’t enough, there are pigs. Even though the Jews might view the demons entering the pigs as a good thing (since the pigs are already unclean in Jewish eyes), the very presence of a herd of pigs in this story would unsettle the Jews. Moreover, it is yet another reminder that they are in gentile territory.

And to top it all off, he was naked. Public nakedness was a shameful thing in Jewish culture and another signal to Jews that the man was unclean.

This man would have screamed unclean! Good Jews would have run the other way. They would have been uncomfortable even hearing a story like this, but we see Jesus act differently. We do not see Jesus run away, we do not see Jesus avoid him, we do not even see Jesus tell him to clean himself up or put clothes on. Instead, Jesus engages with the man and the demon. This would have made Jesus unclean, however, what we see is actually something quite opposite. Instead of being made unclean, Jesus makes the man clean and heals him from this possession.

Jewish law is clear that in order to remain pure and holy, one must not only avoid doing things that would make them unclean but also avoid touching and interacting with unclean people. This is why those deemed unclean had to leave communities or announce their uncleanness to passersby.

Jesus breaks an expected boundary in multiple ways. First, rabbis are not expected to enter gentile areas. Then a demoniac approaches him, and instead of ignoring the man, Jesus engages him.

Jesus does not become unclean by this encounter but instead has the power to make the man clean. This detail is important because it connects with the stories following this one.

In the following verses, Jesus raises a dead girl to life—by touching her, which Jews were not supposed to do or they would be unclean. However, instead of becoming unclean, Jesus raises the girl to life.

While he is on his way to heal the dead girl, Jesus also heals a woman who has been hemorrhaging blood for more than a decade. Jewish women who were bleeding were viewed as unclean. Men couldn’t even sit on chairs that menstruating woman had sat on, within a certain amount of time, or they would be made unclean. But when the bleeding woman touches Jesus, he is not made unclean; she is made well.

Jesus is redefining the boundaries of holiness. They are no longer about avoidance. Jesus longs to see all people restored to wholeness and life, regardless of where they currently are.

Who is he? Who can calm the wind and waves? He is also the one who has the power to restore people to a place of wholeness and community.

Someone who was viewed as unclean and unwanted, both by Jews and gentiles, becomes restored to the community. This is a very clear image: the man physically lived outside the community, and now is drawn into community. He was also separated from himself in many ways, and was given wholeness and clarity of mind.

There is powerful use of military language in this story, which can mean a few different things, but it seems to point to the power that Jesus has.

Legion—the name of the group of demons inside the man—is a word used to describe a division of the Roman army made up of about six thousand soldiers.

Jesus “orders” the demons with the word used for military command.

The pigs rushing into the sea is the same language used for troops rushing into battle.

The imagery shows how powerful the opposition to Jesus is, yet the way the story is told emphasizes the strength and power of Jesus.

The disciples and others are questioning who Jesus is, but the demoniac instantly recognizes Jesus as the Messiah, running to him and calling him “Son of the Most High God.”

This story again answers the question, who is he? Even the wind and waves obey. Even powerful demons obey. Even the Roman military, by implication, is powerless before the Messiah.

Jesus, the Son of the Most High God, longs to bring us into wholeness and community too.

During Lent, we have time to reflect deeply on the ways that we have been separated from God and from community. At times these reflections make us feel unworthy. We sometimes look at our sin and think there is no way that God would want us.

We are reminded that God is God with us. God goes to where we are, wherever that might be, to illustrate his love for us. While it might have been shocking to the Jewish listeners to witness the Messiah behaving in ways they didn’t expect, it is in God’s character to love that much.

God longs for us to view holiness as love-centered instead of law-centered. We, like the Jews, can get caught up in marking boundary lines. But when we are motivated by love—when we are holy—the love and grace are more infectious than uncleanness of sin.

We must be focused on our love for God and others instead of on rules.

Others are longing, this season and always, for a God who loves them and will go the distance for them, who has the power to save them too. We are the ones who carry that message with our presence, our care, and our love.

CONCLUSION

Who is this man? Waves and wind obey him. Demons are commanded with power. And we are all set free to live lives of wholeness and community.

One afternoon author Patsy Clairmont found herself on an airplane, sitting next to a young man. She writes, "I had already observed something about this young man when I was being seated. He called me "Ma'am." At the time I thought, 'Either he thinks I'm ancient, or he's from the South where they still teach manners, or he's in the service.' I decided the latter was the most likely, so I asked, "You in the service?" 

"Yes, Ma'am, I am." 

"What branch?" 

"Marines." 

"Hey, Marine, where are you coming from?" "Operation desert Storm, Ma'am." 

"No kidding? Desert Storm! How long were you there?" I asked. "A year and a half. I'm on my way home. My family will be at the airport." I then commented that he must have thought about returning to his family and home many times while he was in the Middle East. "Oh, no, Ma'am," he replied. "We were taught never to think of what might never be, but to be fully available right where we were." 

Focus on the Family, July, 1993, p. 5.

Sometimes I think we get so focused on the idea that the Lord is returning, and don’t get me wrong he will return one day, that we lose focus on what our mission is in the here and now. We can see from today’s passage that even though Jesus knew what was coming and that he was going to return to the Father, he still ministered to people, no matter where they were from or who they were or what situation they found themselves in.

Whatever is trapping us, whatever is keeping us away from wholeness and community, Jesus desires to set us free and he also desires to set those around us free too. We are the ones who are able to share this message of hope and love with others. We are to be the ones who don’t run from those the world despises. How different would the account of the demon possessed man be if Jesus had fled and not engaged with him? It would not likely be an account that inspires hope, that’s for sure. Instead, just like Jesus embraced the man, we embrace others because we know that love transforms people in the most powerful and beautiful ways. It restores all of us to community again.

My challenge for us this morning as we transition to a time of communion together is to take account of what we are doing to share the message of hope and love with others. How are we doing? Do we really believe in this Jesus that changes lives as radically as the demon possessed man? Do we really believe in such a miracle working God and believe that he can still work in miraculous ways today in the here and now?

Offer opportunity to embrace this miracle working God in a personal way.........

PRAY PRAYER OF REPENTANCE AND CELEBRATION

RITUAL

The Communion Supper, instituted by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is a sacrament, which proclaims His life, His sufferings, His sacrificial death, and resurrection, and the hope of His coming again. It shows forth the Lord’s death until His return.

The Supper is a means of grace in which Christ is present by the Spirit. It is to be received in reverent appreciation and gratefulness for the work of Christ.

All those who are truly repentant, forsaking their sins, and believing in Christ for salvation are invited to participate in the death and resurrection of Christ. We come to the table that we may be renewed in life and salvation and be made one by the Spirit.

In unity with the Church, we confess our faith: Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. And so we pray:

PRAYER OF CONFESSION AND SUPPLICATION:

Holy God,

We gather at this, your table, in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ, who by your Spirit was anointed to preach good news to the poor, proclaim release to the captives, set at liberty those who are oppressed. Christ healed the sick, fed the hungry, ate with sinners, and established the new covenant for forgiveness of sins. We live in the hope of His coming again.

On the night in which He was betrayed, He took bread, gave thanks, broke the bread, gave it to His disciples, and said: “This is my body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”

Likewise, when the supper was over, He took the cup, gave thanks, gave it to His disciples, and said: “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in remembrance of me.” Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

And so, we gather as the Body of Christ to offer ourselves to you in praise and thanksgiving. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us and on these your gifts. Make them by the power of your Spirit to be for us the body and blood of Christ, that we may be for the world the Body of Christ, redeemed by His blood.

By your Spirit make us one in Christ, one with each other, and one in the ministry of Christ to all the world, until Christ comes in final victory. In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.

EXPLAIN ELEMENTS

The body of our Lord Jesus Christ, broken for you, preserve you blameless, unto everlasting life. Eat this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.

The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, shed for you, preserve you blameless unto everlasting life. Drink this in remembrance that Christ died for you, and be thankful.

CONCLUDING PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING AND COMMITMENT

And now, as our Savior Christ has taught us, let us pray:

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.