Legion vs Jesus

English Standard Version Chapter 5

5 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 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. 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. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 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.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 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.

14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 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. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 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.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Opening Remarks

It’s been around a month since we last opened up Mark’s gospel together. Buky preached on the account of Jesus calming the storm on the sea of Galilee. To refresh your memory, Jesus had been teaching on the other side of the sea of Galilee and after finishing His teaching He instructed His disciples to cross the sea sometime during the evening. A great storm enveloped them in the open water, so great that the disciples, many of whom were seasoned fishermen were frightened for their lives and woke Jesus who was asleep in the stern of the boat in a panic. Jesus calms the storm with a three word command and the disciples we are told were filled with great fear. Who is this, they say, that even the wind and the sea obey him?

Today we consider verses 1 through 20 of the 5th chapter, and I want to show you that this account of the deliverance of the Gerasene demoniac carries in itself a very similar message to the account of Jesus calming the storm on the sea. Both accounts feature a power clash between Christ and an environment of chaos; one on the sea (very often the sea in scripture is an allegory for chaos) which is an external type of chaos, and the other Jesus encounters the internal chaos of a man who has been possessed by demons. Both accounts feature frightened onlookers. We might think that the natural response to witnessing one of Christ’s miracles would be joy, but both the disciples in the boat and the locals who witnessed the exorcism were greatly afraid, we read that the Gerasenes even asked Him to leave. And what I want to show you today is that though both accounts give us great personal encouragement that Christ calms the chaos in our lives, and He certainly does, this is not the main message of these passages. The main message is higher and greater than that; Mark wants us to see Christ as the Son of the Most High God, He wants us to see Christ as the God man, the logos in human flesh, the order in the chaos, the one who is Lord over all creation both physical and spiritual.

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.

But first we’ve got to touch on some apologetics. You see, sceptics make a big deal about this passage, they say that there is an inaccuracy here, that Mark get’s the geographical location where this all happened wrong. Mark and Luke say that the exocism took place in the country of the Gerasenes, Matthew says it took place in the country of the Gadarenes. So which is it? One must be wrong surely. Also the town of Gerasa is 30 miles inland to the south west of the sea of Galilee, so is Gadara. Sceptics like to joke that maybe the pigs flew to the sea of Galilee. So is this genuinely an error in the Biblical text or what? Often when we hear of a supposed error like this at first we can feel overawed by it, but in this case we needn’t be:

All three gospel accounts that mention this story say that it occured in the country of Gerasa, or the country of Gadara, meaning in the region of these places. These were two of the nearest towns, there is no contradiction or error here.

Another interesting development is that archaeologists uncovered a small settlement on the eastern shore of Galilee in the 1970’s called Gersa. It is the only place on the eastern shore where there are cliffs that extend down towards the sea. It is very likely that this is the town where the miracle took place.

This location was in a region called at that time the decapolis, literally in Greek that means 10 cities. These 10 cities were Greek settlements, so the region on the eastern shore of the Galilee where Jesus is in this passage was predominantly gentile, hence the pigs that were being kept on the cliffs, these weren’t kosher animals, Jews couldn’t keep them.

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. 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 true Markan style we’re told that a man meets him IMMEDIATELY from the tombs. A man who has an unclean spirit an πνεῦμα ακαθαρτω. The Greek tells us that the man fell at Jesus’s feet, the word used is προσκθνειν, the same Greek word used for worship. The man was likely naked and in a frightful state, clearly he was ostracised from his community.

I want for you to understand this from a Jewish perspective here. We know that according to the law of Moses coming into contact with anything unclean made you unclean for a period of time. This whole place that Jesus and His disciples have travelled to is unclean! Firstly it’s a gentile settlement, secondly there are pigs nearby, thirdly they are approached by a man with an unclean spirit who has come from the tombs, where he has been living beside the dead. To your average Jew of that day this was an absolute no-go zone, but Jesus marches in!

This is the beauty of the gospel right here. There is no other God that willingly steps out of glory down into all the gloom and filth of human sinfulness to rescue His people.

There are some who think that their sins are too dark even for Jesus to save them, well look at this poor specimen here. Can you get any more far gone? Out of his mind, running naked through the wilderness cutting at himself with rocks screaming like a lunatic. If Jesus can reach this demoniac, He can reach anyone!

I want for us to understand a few things about the study of demonology here also, that is the study of demons, their nature, their activity. We want our understanding of the demonic realm to be shaped by the word of God don’t we? Not by hollywood! There are a number of things we can understand about demons and their aims and objectives from this passage that are important for us. Not that we over focus on the demonic realm, but that we are educated about it.

6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 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.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 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.

We are told that the man has an unclean spirit, and indeed not just one but many. Jesus asks the demon for it’s name, a sign of authority over it, the demon responds with the word Legion, saying ‘for we are many.’ A legion of soldiers was around 5600 men. So what can we deduce?

That it is possible for demons to posses an individual, to use someone as a host so to speak. Moreover that it is possible for one host to have multiple demons possessing them, though I thing this is an extreme case, I don’t think there are many who experience this level of demonic torment.

Secondly that It is possible for a demon to communicate with others through their host, this isn’t the stuff of fiction, it’s real. I have heard stories from people in this church who have experienced.

Thirdly, that a demons objective is always to bring pain, harm and damage in every way possible; mentally, physically, spiritually, economically, theologically, any which way they can. This poor man had been driven mad, his behaviour was violent, his appearance frightening and he was in great distress. <PERSONAL STORY> Another clue from this passage that demons are out to cause damage is the fact that once they were permitted to enter the pigs the pigs rushed down the hillside to their death. Those 2000 pigs would have been worth a lot of money, they were an important part of the economy in that region, the demons knew this and clearly wanted to go out with a bang. In our culture today it has become popular to dabble in the spirit realm, to play around with the demonic realm. People kid themselves on that they are in control but they aren’t, they are the ones being played around with. You can’t play with fire and not get burnt, you can’t play around with demons and not get hurt.

Fourthly, the name Legion tells us something, it tells us that demons are not lone rangers, they are organised into ranks, there is a structure, a system of reporting, they are part of a military unit with a commander; Satan. Knowing this, how much more should we seek to form ranks with our Christian brothers and sisters and not be lone rangers ourselves, throwing up walls of prayer in defence against enemy attack.

Fifthly - This legion of demons clearly wanted territorial occupation of the region they were in. They begged Jesus not to send them out of the country. The demonic realm seeks to have dominion over specific geographical regions, cities and even nations. It is naive to think that this isn’t happening today, that there is warfare being waged on a spiritual level for this city, for this nation. So how do we win the war? How do we ensure that the devil doesn’t run amock?

Well this leads to the sixth point - Humanistic efforts to fix demonic problems are of no use. We read that the people of the region had indeed attempted to control the demonised man, they had bound him with chains, they had put him in fetters but he had broken through them, the demons had given him superhuman strength. I don’t think for a second that behind every societal ill, every sickness, every evil there is a demon hiding but I do believe it’s clear that some are caused by demonic powers and Mark wants us to know that against demonic power there is only one name that triumphs and that is The Lord Jesus Christ.

The demons are clearly petrified of Jesus, they beg Him not to torment them. Evidently they knew who He was too, they call Him Son of the Most High God. They beg Him not to send them out of the country and ask Him permission to enter the herd of pigs after leaving the man. This dialogue between Christ and Legion is not one between equals, it’s not even a fight, it’s complete submission, complete domination. There is only one name which causes every demon to tremble; Jesus Christ. And it is He who dwells within every born again Christian today! That is why I believe it is impossible for a Christian to be possessed by a demon, how could a demon overcome the Spirit of the Lord! I believe it’s possible for a Christian to come under spiritual attack, even to be oppressed by demons for a time but never possessed, never mastered, because He who lives in us is greater than he who is in the world. Wherever the Kingdom of God extends the kingdom of darkness falls.

The pigs...

There are some who call themselves revivalists who teach that whenever revival comes, wherever Christs Kingdom advances that businesses will prosper, that there will of necessity be financial prosperity. Though I think there may be some truth to this I do find it interesting that Jesus arrives in the region of the Gadarenes frees one poor soul, destoys a lucrative business and leaves! I mean, obviously Jesus didn’t actually destroy the pigs, the demons did, but it does show you where Jesus’s priorities lay, He cared about this one man more than anything else. Never get this crooked; revival is about souls saved, revival is about God glorifying Himself in the saving His children.

The Demoniac

When the locals see the pigs running off the cliff edge they are enraged, when they see the man who had been demonised sitting, clothed and in his right mind they are afraid. Who is this man, Jesus?! The man who they had made chains for, the man who had terrorised their neighbourhood was now completely transformed and all it took was one encounter with this mysterious man named Jesus.

It only takes one encounter with Christ to transform a life, just one. No matter how broken, dark, sinful, demonic a person might be, they only need one encounter with Christ, no one is too far gone for Him.

The man wants to travel with Jesus, but instead of swearing Him to silence as He has done so far, Christ sends Him back to his people to share the good news of all that the Lord has done for him and of how He has had mercy upon him. We are told that the man went into the Decapolis and did just that, and that the people were amazed! This gentile man, this demoniac, was the man appointed by Christ as the first evangelist. He is restored to his people, his friends, his family. This is the holistic work of salvation that Christ works in us, He delivers us from sin, He delivers us from the power of satan, He gives us a new purpose, He brings restoration, He brings hope.

Later in Mark we read of Jesus heading back to the Decapolis, this time, instead of sending Him away they are astonished beyond measure and declare ‘He has done all things well’. Who knows but perhaps the drastic change in reception was in some part due to the preaching of the man Jesus set free on the shores of the Galilee? God loves to use the most broken, miserable sinners to break ground for His Kingdom.

So what’s the big picture; well, demons are real, they are active in the world today and they come to cause damage, to do harm. But they are no match for Jesus Christ, just as He calmed the storm on the Galilee with three words, He dealt with a Legion of demons without so much as a struggle. Those who are in Christ need fear no demon. Furthermore, Christ, the Lord, the logos, the Holy one is willing to step into the darkest, most unclean, inhospitable places to rescue just one of His sheep. One soul is worth dying for to Him.

Pray.