From Maniac to Missionary

Who can be a missionary?

The Golden boy or girl of church and Sunday school?

Certainly.

What about someone broken,

someone who doesn’t believe in himself or herself.

Someone who knows they are a slave to sin.

Could they become a missionary, someday?

Today, we are going to follow Jesus and see what he does for a man, or a couple men, in a terrible state.

Let’s read from Mark chapter 5. This is just after Jesus rebukes the wind and the waves and they arrive on the south East shore of the see of gallilee.

Mark 5:1–3 GNB

1 Jesus and his disciples arrived on the other side of Lake Galilee, in the territory of Gerasa. 2 As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, he was met by a man who came out of the burial caves there. This man had an evil spirit in him 3 and lived among the tombs. Nobody could keep him chained up any more;

So this man who met Jesus had an evil spirit.

Just how bad off was the man?

Mark 5:4–5 GNB

4 many times his feet and hands had been chained, but every time he broke the chains and smashed the irons on his feet. He was too strong for anyone to control him. 5 Day and night he wandered among the tombs and through the hills, screaming and cutting himself with stones.

Wow, the man was pretty bad off.

Ripping off handcuffs and shackles,

Screaming, day and night

Cutting himself,

this guy is really messed up.

If we look over at Matthew’s gospel, chapter 8,

he reports the men were so violent, nobody could pass by there.

Luke’s gospel chapter 8 says that the man was running around naked,

for a long time,

they couldn’t keep clothes on him.

He was not the kind of guy you wanted skulking around your neighborhood!

Let’s read on about Jesus meeting with this man because this man seems to be the reason Jesus came here.

Mark 5:6–10 GNB

6 He was some distance away when he saw Jesus; so he ran, fell on his knees before him, 7 and screamed in a loud voice, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God! What do you want with me? For God’s sake, I beg you, don’t punish me!” 8 (He said this because Jesus was saying, “Evil spirit, come out of this man!”) 9 So Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” The man answered, “My name is ‘Mob’—there are so many of us!” 10 And he kept begging Jesus not to send the evil spirits out of that region.

I’m reading from the Good News Translation today, that is why is said MOB instead of LEGION.

And as we read on, we will see this is a very large MOB making a slave of this man. He was out of control of his life.

You may wonder, why the demons begged and pleaded so much, not to be cast out.

Perhaps this teaching of Jesus can shed some light on the subject

Matthew 12:43 GNB

43 “When an evil spirit goes out of a person, it travels over dry country looking for a place to rest. If it can’t find one,

We don’t know much about demons but being cast out put them in a dry and restless place or state.

Mark 5:11–13 GNB

11 There was a large herd of pigs near by, feeding on a hillside. 12 So the spirits begged Jesus, “Send us to the pigs, and let us go into them.” 13 He let them go, and the evil spirits went out of the man and entered the pigs. The whole herd—about 2,000 pigs in all—rushed down the side of the cliff into the lake and was drowned.

How many demons were in that poor man?

At least 2,000 one for each pig, maybe many more.

Why did the pigs suddenly stampede and die in the like?

Is that what the demons wanted?

Or was it an unexpected consequence that sent them out of this world after all?

. . . . . pause . . . . . .

I don’t know but it sure scared the men who took care of the pigs.

Mark 5:14–15 NIV

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.

Tell me, do fearful people often make the right decision?

No!

People like you and me, often make bad decision

stay in bad situation because

they are afraid of the unknown

and what they can’t control.

So these town folk come out and see the maniac, it sitting there

he is dressed

he is in his right mind

And they said, man we need a healer like you around!

loudly

Not at all, they were afraid and they said

spooky miracle man, you scare us,

go away

more or less that is what they said.

Was that the right choice

to send the guy who can fix the worst of the worst away?

No, but when we are fearful, we often make bad choices.

To some extent, this was a choice between, prosperity,

and getting things right.

You can’t always have the wealth of raising pigs

if you want to live in your right mind

Doing right, doesn’t always make your rich in money,

but there are other riches,

like a life without torment and grief from the bad influences in our lives.

Now the man who was freed from bondage that day

the former maniac, as some translations call him

He wanted to be with Jesus, and maybe later he got to but

for now, Jesus wanted him to be a witness

Jesus wanted him to be a missionary

to his home and too his people

Mark 5:18–19 GNB

18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had had the demons begged him, “Let me go with you!” 19 But Jesus would not let him. Instead, he told him, “Go back home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how kind he has been to you.”

This man, a babe in Christ was sent to witness to all that Jesus had done for him.

Do you think anybody would listen to his testimony

Do you think he did more than just talk to his family

Yah, he spoke to a lot of people.

Mark 5:20 GNB

20 So the man left and went all through the Ten Towns, telling what Jesus had done for him. And all who heard it were amazed.

He went out to all 10 of the Greek cities

to all the Decapolis ( Deca 10 polis City )

In one money Jesus changed this man from Maniac to missionary.

Plain Truths

How many plain truths can we conclude from this story of Jesus encounter with this out of control man?

Here are some truths John Piper lists

I The Demons know who Jesus is

We can see that in 7 where posessed man said

The New International Version Chapter 5

What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?

The Demons know Jesus has absolute power over them and can determine where they go.

Which explains the begging and pleading for permission to go into the pigs.

The Demons know in the future they are due for final torment and are concerned Jesus might be starting that now.

Revelations fills in some of the details about the end, but yes, that does seem to be the demons concern as they rudely are submissive and begging of Jesus.

The Herd of Pigs near by tell us, this is a non-Jewish community

The Jews, the chosen people thought they were the only ones God cared about, but they were wrong.

This kind of cross cultural interaction prepared the disciple for Jesus final words.

Matthew 28:19–20 NIV

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

2,000 pigs is a large herd. The mans problems might seem huge to us but Jesus had no more problem with them.

It’s the same with the problems in our lives.

The Demon pleadings - shows how they hated being roaming around without contact with flesh and blood.

Running

There is a lot of running in this passage.

The Demonic ran to Jesus

The pigs ran into the sea of Galilee

The herdsman ran to town to report what happened. They talked mostly about the changed man, not the pigs.

and the towns people nearly ran Jesus off when they asked him to go.

Afraid

Many are afraid of God, afraid to walk into a church

Many people begin to come in contact with Jesus and his power and

they react like Peter who at the miraculous catch said

Luke 5:8 NIV

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”

but sometimes when we feel the most like running,

we need to stay put and let Jesus do His thing.

Only Jesus can heal and cleans so completely.

In 2002 Bill Bright wrote that

Dwight L. Moody grew up in Chicago.

His dad was only 41 when he died leaving a wife and 9 children.

The creditors came and took everything they could, even the firewood.

At 17 Moody had a good job selling shoes.

His Sunday school teacher lead him to the lord in the back room of the shoe store.

Dwight heard a Bible teacher say,

"The world has yet to see what God can do with a man who is totally surrendered to Him."

The young Christian said to himself,

"I want to be that man."

Dwight L. Moody became one of the greatest evangelists of all time, long before radio and television.

When the searching eyes of the Lord found Moody, they found a man whose "availability" far surpassed his "ability."

But God can do a lot with a little if He has all there is of it.

If He has all of that man, women or child

Do you know what he did with some of the money he earned?

He rented pews and filled then with people he invited to church.

Eventually he wanted to preach and when he gave his first sermon, this is what Bill Bright says happend.

one of the deacons assured him that, in his opinion,

Moody would serve God best by keeping still.

Another critic praised Moody for his zeal but

Pleaded with him, saying that he should realize his limitations and not attempt to speak in public.

"You make too many mistakes in grammar."

Moody patiently made reply to the man's concern:

"I know I make mistakes, and I lack many things, but I'm doing the best I can with what I've got."

He then quietly looked at the man and searchingly inquired,

"Look here, friend, you've got grammar enough. What are you doing with it for the Master?"

God is looking for people today who will decide to take what they have and totally commit it to be used for the Master. Perhaps He had plans for your and me.

https://www.crosswalk.com/faith/spiritual-life/dwight-l-moodys-inabilities-1196091.html 6/19/2021