From Madman to Missionary

Introduction

Through the last two thousand years or so, millions upon millions of people, who studied this book, who studied the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, have had their lives transformed from the old life of death and sin, to a new life in a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Today we are going to look into Mark, chapter five, at an account of one of the most remarkable transformations ever made, the transformation from a Madman to a Missionary.

Lets look first at:

The Madman:

Mark 5:1–4 (ESV)

1 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.

The country of the Gerasenes was located east of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had been speaking to large crowds on the west bank of the Sea of Galilee and now moves to the east side of the sea for a respite from the force of the crowds. As they are crossing over the sea, a storm blows up and almost swamps the boat. In the previous chapter, chapter 4, we see the well-known account of Jesus calming the sea.

So now, they have reached the country of the Gerasenes. The population here was mostly Gentile, so they would have identified with Greek culture more so than Jewish culture.

We have a description of man who lived among the tombs. Notice the Scripture identifies him as a man, not a demon, although he was certainly possessed by demons.

He lived among the tombs. This would have been an area where people usually did not go in casual travel, just as most of us probably would not choose to hang out at a cemetery if you could help it.

When I think of this area if the tombs, I am reminded of a house in a neighborhood close to where I used to live as a kid. The house was dark and unkempt, and the story that went around among us kids, was that a witch lived in that house. We would always try and avoid going down that street, especially after dark, and if by chance we did have to go down that street, we walked on the far side of the street as we passed by.

No doubt the people of the Gerasenes had the same reservations about going anywhere near the tombs where this man lived.

Here was a man who because of his proclivities, could not live among the civilized population. He was forced to live in this area not normally frequented by the population. He was a man who was avoided by people and found himself alienated from society.

This man was possessed of an unclean spirit, or possessed by demons, but scripture tells us that everyone who is without Christ is controlled to a certain extent by Satan:

Ephesians 2:1–2 (ESV)

1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—

If you are child of God, you have no reason to fear being possessed by demons. A born again, blood bought, filled with the Spirit Christian, cannot be possessed by demons. The Holy Spirit and demons cannot dwell in the same body.

The Madman’s Misery

Verse 5 says:

5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

The Gerasene demoniac is the very picture of a sinner, lost without Christ. It is a depiction of a life out of control: isolation, violence, painful cries, self-destructive behavior, and powerlessness of neighbors to intervene, heal, or help in any way.

He lived among the tombs. He lived among the dead. How relevant this is to the story. He lived among the dead as all do who do not have Christ.

Colossians 2:13 (ESV)

13 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,

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!”

Three things indicate that the demon possessing the man was fully aware of Jesus’ divine origin and superior power:

First, he knelt before Him, not necessarily in worship, but in homage.

Secondly, he used Jesus’ divine name, perhaps an attempt to gain control over Him.

And he brazenly appealed to Jesus not to punish him.

The words, Most High God, were used in the Old Testament, often by Gentiles, to refer to the superiority of the true God of Israel over all man-made gods.

9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”

Jesus asked, “What is you name” in an attempt to relate to the man on a human level. At this point the demons form the answer.

By Roman count a Legion could be as many as 6000. The exact number is not given here, but we can assume there were many evil forces acting on this man. You might ask, “where do all these demons come from?” Well, I can’t necessarily support it with scripture, so this is just my opinion, but I believe the demon ranks are made up of those angels that choose to follow Satan when he was cast down.

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.

How ironic is it that the demons who did not wish to be banished from the country and instead drowned in the sea?

The Madman’s Miraculous Transformation

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.

What a difference we see here from when Jesus first arrived. Here was a man who was a terror to society, a man who ran around unclothed, screaming, a real threat to anyone who was in his presence. A man who could not be controlled by any physical means that they had tried, and now the people now see him clothed and in his right mind and it scares them.

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.

Here we see the reaction of the world to Jesus. They would rather have their pigs than have Jesus. Jesus is bad for business. That is the way the world looks at Jesus today. Jesus is bad for business.

When I was a police officer, some of the merchants in town would be very uncomfortable with a marked police car sitting in front of their business. They said it was bad for business.

And Jesus is bad for business. He is bad for the multi-billion dollar entertainment industry, bad for the movie business, bad for the music business. He is bad for the restaurant and bar business. He is bad for the politicians who are pandering votes.

And you know, a lot of times, He is bad for the church business. If all churches really taught Jesus, and if all pastor’s really preached Jesus, there would be no millionaire preachers, there would be no 100 dollar blessing lines. There would be no prosperity gospel that teaches we can manipulate Jesus in order to obtain the things in life that we desire.

Yes Jesus is bad for business, but Jesus has always been bad for business if your business is one which does not honor God.

As our last point, let’s look at:

The Madman’s New Mission

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.”

It is understandable that this man would want to follow along with Jesus. Imagine the relieve this man must have felt to be released from the demons that had possessed him for so long, making his life a living nightmare.

At first glance, we may have difficulty understanding Jesus’ decision to forbid this man to go with Him. Instead, Jesus lays a commission on the formally demon possessed man.

He gives him instructions to go among the people, the people of his community, the people who formally feared and avoided him, and tell them about Jesus.

Imagine how much more effective this man’s testimony would be among the people who knew his history, compared to his testimony given to someone with no first hand knowledge of this man and what he had been through.

20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

And his message was effective. If anyone ever had a testimony, this man certainly did.

I want to read you a poem by a long departed minister named Joseph H. Odell

Rabbi, begone!

Thy powers Bring loss to us and ours.

Our ways are not as Thine,

Thou lovest men, we—swine.

Oh, get Thee hence, Omnipotence!

And take this fool of Thine!

His soul? What care we for his soul?

What good to us that Thou has made him whole?

Since we have lost our swine.

And Christ went sadly,

He had wrought for them a sign Of love and hope and tenderness divine—

They wanted swine.

Christ stands without your door and gently knocks,

But if your gold or swine the entrance blocks,

He forces no man’s hold—he will depart And leave you to the treasures of your heart.

No cumbered chamber will the Master share,

But one swept bare

By cleansing fires, then plenished fresh and fair

With meekness and humility and prayer.

There he will come, yet coming, even there

He stands and waits and will no entrance win

Until the latch be lifted from within.

Conclusion

Today we have looked at a story of man who was possessed of demons, ostracized by society, tortured from within, and living in desperate circumstances among the decaying bones of the dead.

But in the grand scheme of things, he is not so much different from anyone who is trying to navigate this world without Jesus. Anyone, without Christ, will one day find themselves in desperate circumstances. If not here, as is likely, then certainly on that day of judgement.

That’s why it so important to demon-proof your life, and the only way to do that is to trust in Jesus and be filled with the Holy Spirit.