Refreshing Stories from the Bible - Demon Possesed Man

Mark 5:1–20 KJV 1900

1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. 2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 4 Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. 6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, 7 And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. 8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. 9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. 10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. 11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. 12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. 13 And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. 14 And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. 15 And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. 16 And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. 17 And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. 18 And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. 19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. 20 And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.

Introduction

Our account tonight contains some of the most frightening language found in the Bible. If it could be accurately portrayed on video I believe most of us would be highly disturbed if we could bear to watch at all.

It deals with issues we don’t like to reminded of as reality. This and other stories in the Bible serve to remind us of the depths to which mankind will fall without the grace of God in his life.

There is also great refreshment when we realize that, no matter how far we fall, Jesus is able to lift us out.

The chapter opens with Jesus and his disciples completing a trip across the Sea of Galilee, as they arrive in the country of the Gadarenes. vss. 1-5

They had been in a horrible storm the night before, and it is probable that, since they left in the evening, it is now early the next morning.

Immediately upon exiting the ship, Jesus and His disciples are met by a man coming from the tombs.

As the weary disciples secure the boat, they notice this man coming out to meet him.

By this point, they are used to being continuously thronged by people wherever they went.

However, it is immediately apparent, that something is wrong with the man who is running towards them.

For starters, he is obviously naked.

As we all know, this was no ordinary man, but this becomes even more clear as we read Mark’s description.

In verses 3-5 Mark describes this man’s current existence.

He was unable to exist as a functioning member of society, living instead among the tombs.

He was violent and dangerous, yet no chains could hold him.

Despite all efforts to rehabilitate this man or heal him, no one could tame him.

His time was regularly spent roaming the mountains crying and cutting himself.

These are the actions, according to the Bible, of a man with an unclean spirit.

I believe this man experienced moments of lucidity where the reality of his existence tormented him.

His cries were due to the constant torture he experienced.

This was a man who at one time had a home.

He had friends.

His self-abuse appears to be a feeble attempt to rid himself of his torment.

Upon reaching Jesus and the disciples, this man throws himself on the ground at Jesus’ feet and the Bible says worships him.

There is quite a bit of disagreement over what is happening here in verse 6.

Some say this action is the result of the demons being forced to fall at Jesus’ feet.

To this I must ask, why would the demons approach Jesus at all?

Would they not rather have run from him?

This was not as other cases where demoniacs were brought to Jesus by family members.

This man approached Jesus on his own.

Others (such as Matthew Henry) have suggested, and I tend to agree that this offering of worship is the result of this man’s knowledge of who Jesus was and his desire to be freed from the nightmare that was his life.

In Mark 3:8 we know that people from this area had knowledge of Jesus, is it possible that word had reached even this man of Jesus’ power?

Or, was there something in the reactions of the demons inside him at the sight of Jesus that convinced this man that the spirits feared Jesus.

If the demons were afraid of this stranger, then maybe He could help get rid of them.

I believe this second explanation is more appropriate due to the fact that it establishes a desire within this man to be free.

Thus Jesus is not approached by a man who is content to dwell with demons.

Instead Jesus is faced with a man desperate for relief.

Whatever the case, I can assure you that the man laying prostrate on the ground before Jesus was the tortured, desperate shell of a man.

Jesus immediately goes to work addressing the needs of this man. vss. 6-12

It is incredible to witness the power of our Savior over the spiritual war that rages even as we speak.

In verse 7, Mark records the response to Jesus’ command in verse 8.

Jesus has commanded the demon to come out of the man.

The demon responds by loudly resenting Jesus’ involvement in this situation (What have I to do with thee?).

Satan’s forces are powerless against the might of our God.

All they can hope for is to do as much damage as possible with the limited time they have.

This demon knows that Jesus’ presence and command spell the end of it’s time torturing this man.

The demon is furious that it’s work has been interrupted, and there is nothing it can do about it.

The statement could be restated as, “Why do you care what I do to this one man? How does that affect you? Why couldn’t you just leave me alone?”

Despite it’s objections, this demon knows it must obey Jesus.

Now, with the knowledge that this man will soon be free from it’s control, the demon begins to look to it’s future.

Being faced with the Son of God, this demon is concerned that it may lose it’s freedom to roam the earth.

Jude 1:6 tells us that some demons are chained up until the Judgment Day.

Jud 1:6 “6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”

The demon tries to force Jesus not to send him into the darkness.

When the disciples cast out demons they did so in the name of a higher power, Jesus.

It appears that the demon thinks it can force Jesus’ actions by appealing to what it sees as a higher power, God.

This, we know, has no power over Jesus.

In verse 9 Jesus then asks the question what is thy name?

Although it is unclear who this question was addressed to, I imagine this poor man trying to answer only to be overtaken by the demon.

As he weakly struggles to get out the words, “My name is…” The demons voice takes over and reveals to the onlookers a rather scary fact.

He says his name is Legion: for they were many.

This man was possessed by not just one, but thousands of demons.

A Roman legion consisted of at least 6,000 men.

The demons begin, in verse 10, to literally beg Jesus not to send them out of the country but to allow them to go into a great herd of pigs that were nearby.

A quick word on this. Have you ever thought about how odd it is that there would be a herd of pigs in the Jewish countryside?

Jews weren’t allowed to eat pigs, so why would they need around 2,000 of them??? They weren’t making footballs out of them.

The people of this area of Israel had given themselves over almost completely to Greek philosophy and culture.

They had abandoned the law and Jewish customs for a Hellenized lifestyle.

This is possibly the reason why the demons didn't want to leave this country.

There were plenty of apostates that they could influence.

Jesus allows the demons to enter into a herd of swine. vss. 13-17

The demons exit this man’s body and enter into the heard of pigs.

The forces of Satan can only destroy whatever they touch, and these pigs are no different.

Imagine the sounds that came out of these pigs as they are unnaturally possessed by the demons.

The herd ran violently into the Sea of Galilee where they are all drowned despite the fact that pigs are actually very good swimmers.

The pig farmers rush to the nearby city to tell what has happened.

These pig farmers are, no doubt, pretty worried.

They just watched a huge financial investment inexplicably run off the cliff and drown.

They don’t want to get blamed for this.

The people of the city came to the seaside to see what had happened.

When they get there they no doubt see the shore strewn with the bodies of their dead pigs.

As they scan the beach they see a boat and some men that they don’t recognize with one man that they do recognize.

Or, at least, they think it’s a man they recognize.

They can hardly believe their eyes as they see this man who was formerly possessed with demons.

He is totally transformed.

The uncontrollable man that they had known is now sitting, clothed, and in his right mind. vs 15

In verse 16 the story is told to the people of how the demons from this man had gone into the swine.

The things that these people have seen cause them to be afraid of Jesus.

Not only because he had so affected this man.

But also, because, in their eyes, he had cost them so much money in the loss of their pigs.

What else would this Jesus do to upset things?

This causes the people of the city to demand Jesus’ departure from their shores.

Jesus obliges their request.

After all, He will not stay where He is not wanted.

Despite their rejection, Jesus does have a plan for this region.

As Jesus gets back in the boat, the former demoniac asks Jesus to allow him to join His group of travelers. vss. 18-20

Jesus refuses His request, and instead gives the man a mission.

Jesus asks him to go home to his friends.

Go home, and tell them what He had done for him.

Which is exactly what this man did.

How could he not?

He has been set free from the oppression of Satan.

How could he not tell people about Jesus.

You know, it’s interesting, before Paul ever set out to preach to the Gentiles, this man was preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles of the Decapolis.

God obviously used this man, and there are two reasons that I believe we can see this.

First, and most obvious, the passage tells us that due to this man’s testimony all who heard him, marveled.

The second is not as sure but is interesting enough to think about that I wanted to share it with you.

We must first remember that Mark was not a disciple, thus he was not present for this encounter.

Everything that Mark wrote was rehearsed to him by an eye witness, probably Peter.

However, as I was studying this passage I learned that the manner in which this is written lends credence to the idea that this account was received directly from the former demoniac.

There are five words used in this passage that Mark only used here suggesting they were not in his normal vocabulary.

Also, the description of the demoniac in vss 3-5 are given in a manner that suggest a first hand knowledge/experience.

How amazing to think that 30 years after these events, Mark may have found this man and received his account of how Jesus had liberated him from bondage and changed his life forever.

30 years later and he’s still doing what Jesus told him to do.

Telling people about Jesus, and what He did.

That’s what this whole story is about, Mark records this incredible display of Jesus’ ability to not only liberate but also to use those formerly oppressed by Satanic forces.

Mark’s readers in 60 AD needed desperately to hear this, as they were getting saved out of pagan lifestyles.

They would have difficult habits to break.

Deep seated sins that they had grown up with threatened to enslave them to sin.

Mark wanted them to know that not only was Jesus able to deliver them from the power of their sin, but he could also use them to help others experience the same.

Tonight, we still need to hear this.

It doesn’t matter what is in your life (past or present), Jesus is the answer to liberating you from your sin.

Tonight with this many folks here, chances are there are some teenagers, singles, moms, and dads who are struggling to be free from the grip of sin.

You can be saved and still serve sin.

It may even be a specific sin that you struggle with time after time.

As you look back over the past weeks, months, or years, your memory is plagued with moments where you allowed this sin, this vice to control you.

It could be drug addiction.

It could be alcohol.

A secret affair, pornography, gambling, or any number of things.

It may not even be something that, if everyone in the room were to know about it, people would think that much less of you, but it tortures your conscience.

Hateful or unkind words toward a loved one.

Bitterness towards an authority figure.

Unwillingness to forgive someone who has wronged you.

No matter how “big” or “small” the sin, all sin has the ability to cripple us spiritually.

The good news is that, just like in our passage, Jesus has the power to liberate us from the hold that sin can have on our lives.

He’s still the answer.

We preach that Jesus is the only answer for salvation from the payment of our sins, but He is equally the only answer for freeing us from the power of our sins.

Unfortunately, too many Christians are willingly living their lives as slaves to sin.

Not only is Jesus desirous and capable of freeing us from the power of sin, He also seeks to use us to help other be free from their sin.

If any man had reason to believe that he was unworthy of God’s use, it was this man.

Yet Jesus, Himself, commissioned this man to have a part in spreading the name of Jesus to those who had never heard.

Our own feelings of worth and ability rarely match up with Jesus’ estimation of us.

This man had two things that qualified him for the work of the Gospel.

A testimony of how Jesus had changed His life.

A heart that was willing to obey Jesus.

You may have some skeletons in your closet, but if Jesus could use this man, He can use you.

If you’re saved, then Jesus has indeed changed your life.

It’s up to you to determine if you are willing to obey.

If you are, then Jesus has the power to use you.

Conclusion

You see, as I said at the beginning of this message, our passage shows us what happens when a human life is given over to sin.

But it also shows us the power Jesus has to transform a life as He liberates men from sin and commissions them to a new purpose for living.

If you’re here tonight and you’ve been saved, but you still find yourself yielding to sin, you must remember the fact that you belong to the one who has the power to liberate you from the hold of sin.

If you have been liberated from the power of sin, then you have a responsibility to use that liberty to help other experience the same deliverance you have been given.