0958 Mk.5.1-20 The Awesome Power of Jesus Pt.2
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· 1 viewThe news spread - such a big thing happened & it gained plenty of attention. Driving out the legion of demons in the man demonstrated the authority of Jesus & even though the people of the Gerasenes begged Jesus to leave the area, the incident with the pigs made all this very public & highlighted the fact that this Jesus is anything but an ordinary person.
Notes
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Demon possession for some, brings a prickly feeling up the back of their necks
To others, demon possession is nothing but a myth
Some of these doubters, however, who do not believe in demons, nevertheless, believe in God
Q. To me, if you’re going to believe in God, what is so unbelievable about demons & demon possession?
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To accept that God exists is surely to accept the reality of the spiritual realm & a realm that is not perfectly understood
Our problem, of course, is that we are good at understanding the laws of physics, but we aren’t able to experiment with test tubes & the like, with the spiritual realm - It is beyond our understanding
The best we can do is accept these truths via the revelation of God’s word
Yet, there are many recorded accounts of demon possession throughout the history of the world & just because we haven’t, personally, witnessed one, does not mean they don’t happen
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Interestingly, the Scriptures hint at this very lack of understanding when Jesus says to His disciples that this kind - this kind of demon - can only come out by prayer
28 When He came into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not drive it out?” 29 And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”
Q. What’s with the different kinds of demons? What is their differences and how come Jesus shows great awareness of their differences?
Well, we do know why, but this narrative to His disciples reveals an innate knowledge of the spiritual realm by Jesus
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The other question/s surrounds how a person ends up demon possessed in the first place & is there any chance of it happening to me
Well, I think I have covered that last question well & truly in other sermons, but to reiterate, it is not possible for a Christian to be possessed by demons
Whilst the Bible doesn’t directly deal with question of whether a Christian can be demon possessed, there are passages like this one that I believe do speak to the issue on a broader level
18 We know that no one who is born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
Specifically, “He who was born or begotten of God keeps him” - that is Jesus Christ who is resident in the Christian keeps the Christian from Satanic control
As the next verse suggests, the world - those outside of Christ - are under the dominion of the evil one
1. Condition of the Demoniac Mk. 5:1-5
1. Condition of the Demoniac Mk. 5:1-5
As we come to this passage today, it is another passage that speaks to the awesome power & authority of Jesus
What we need to realise is that Jesus is now in Gentile society
He is on the east side of the Sea of Galilee & is no longer in Israelite territory
This should be evident from the 2000 odd herd of pigs which no pure living, self-respecting Jew would own, since pigs are regarded as unclean by Jewish law - it’s carcass could not be touched, nor could the animal be eaten
7 and the pig, for though it divides the hoof, thus making a split hoof, it does not chew cud, it is unclean to you. 8 ‘You shall not eat of their flesh nor touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.
This makes the story of the Prodigal son stand out, for when he rebelled & ran away with no money to his name, he longed to eat the food that was given to the pigs under his care
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Jesus & His disciples get off the boat & immediately come across a demon possessed man
This man, at times, seemed ok but then he had these wild moments where even chains & shackles, could hold him
That is not normal - a normal man could not break chains & shackles as it says in this passage - that the shackles (metal) were broken in pieces
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Demon possession is not insanity, although, the demon can cause that
Demon possession is not some chemical imbalance in the brain
I fail to see how any human condition could break iron chains & shackles
Even drug induced men, though, abnormally strong could not account for this kind of strength
16 And the man, in whom was the evil spirit, leaped on them and subdued all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.
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Demoniacs would have been ostracised from society
They often inhabited tombs which, in this case, were subterranean (underground tombs) giving them some shelter
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This man must have really suffered
He had a legion of demons in him & demons always promoted self-harm
We see that night & day he was screaming among the tombs & gashing himself with sharp stones
This poor man, what a horrible life he was forced to live with not just one demon, but a multitude
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Demons induce self destructive behaviour on their victims
22 “It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!”
26 After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!”
Likewise, this poor woman who had been physically sick & bent over was due to the work of a demon
11 And there was a woman who for eighteen years had had a sickness caused by a spirit; and she was bent double, and could not straighten up at all.
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Now it doesn’t say how or what led this man to end up demon possessed
However, it usually, could only come from worshipping false gods/idols
It was common for pagans, in the sense of non-worshippers of Yahweh, to be involved in pagan & occult worship
You can see this kind of practice happening in Baal worship in Israel - that of slashing themselves until they bled
But this was also common all around the known world
28 So they cried with a loud voice and cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them.
Yes, it was to manipulate the god to act on your request, but it shows something of the type of worship that it involved
We’ve all seen those scenes where a pagan priest is in a frenzy while worshipping the false god or idol
Yes, it was in Indiana Jones but there is no reason to doubt that it happens - it is well accepted & missionaries in particular know of Shamans & Witchdoctors who take possession of demons
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Perhaps this man got possessed from worshipping pagan idols
Getting mixed up in these corrupt practises that opened the door to demonic activity
But another point is worth mentioning
It seems as though demonic activity was more heightened in the time of Jesus - owing to the fact that the “strong man” (Satan) is being bound & his property plundered
So it is no doubt that Satan had his army on the march with the coming of Jesus
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Although this man was full of demonic evil, Jesus saw through all that, to the man who was there
Mark 5:19 (NASB95)
19 ...“Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.”
Mercy is a great word
Grace is God’s unmerited favour & mercy is doing for others what they cannot do for themselves
2. Dialogue with the Demoniac Mk. 5:6-13
2. Dialogue with the Demoniac Mk. 5:6-13
Q. Have you ever had to have an uncomfortable discussion with someone you know you had to have, but didn’t want to have?
Especially when you are at odds with this someone over some issue
It’s uncomfortable & tense - which is what you have when good confronts evil or when the light confronts the darkness & when truth confronts falsehood
When you have demons coming in to contact with Jesus, you have such uncomfortable moments - even when watching on
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In this demoniac, there seems to be a war going on - between the will of the man & the will of the demons
You would think that the demons would want to avoid Jesus but here the man runs to Jesus when he sees Him from a distance & he bows down before Him
Perhaps, word about Jesus has spread about Him being a powerful healer & miracle worker who is also able to expel demons
Or perhaps, it was just the Lord’s presence that the man felt with the demons within
The demons knew who Jesus is & the man seems to know the thoughts of the demons
But what the man does & what the demons are doing are at odds with each other
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The man bows in reverence & Jesus discovered that the man was demon possessed & He commanded the unclean spirits to leave the man
The demons are shouting with rage “what do we have to do with you”
You can see by their reaction that they are consciously acting & are sick & bent with evil intent
Obviously, as I mentioned before, they seek to kill & destroy their victim
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Q. What it is that makes these spirits spew rage & destruction?
They know they are doomed & headed for judgement, but they don’t care
This is the very nature of evil - it refuses to acknowledge the truth even in the face of judgement
It has a stubborn self-will that acts on its own impulses with no regard to any other authority other than their own
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We see here two spiritual powers in confrontation with one clearly more powerful than the other
11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are the Son of God!”
This demoniac that has been living amongst the tombs has special knowledge of Jesus
With all that Jesus was doing, His disciples were blockheads & took ages to identify Him as the Son of God
Yet these demons identified Him straightaway
They also are living with the expectation of judgement - “do not torment me” they say, & in Matthew’s Gospel, the parallel passage adds: “Have you come here to torment us before the time” - that is, the appointed time of judgement
Not only is Jesus superior to demons, but His relationship with them is one of hostility
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The use of a name, as I have mentioned before, is a way of gaining control over someone
This is why the demons were quick to say...
24 saying, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus of Nazareth? Have You come to destroy us? I know who You are—the Holy One of God!”
Knowing the person’s name - as in “You are the Son of God” - was a way to try & gain power over that person
The demons even try to bind Jesus with an oath to leave them alone
“I adjure you by God, do not torment me” ESV
In other words, swear by God, that you won’t torment me
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This is unusual since it is the exorcist that binds the demon with an oath to come out
13 But also some of the Jewish exorcists, who went from place to place, attempted to name over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.”
The demons try to preempt Jesus by binding Him with an oath - which of course was never going to work
When Jesus asked their name, they had no option but to reveal that they were a legion of demons
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A Roman legion was comprised of 6000 troops, but it may not mean that there are 6000 demons in this man
There are 2000 pigs that the demons request that they be permitted to enter & when they do, they run down a steep bank into the sea
It may merely indicate an army of demons that act in unison together like a Roman legion acts in unison
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10 And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country.
Q. What is it about not leaving the country?
This is a difficult one
Matthew 12:43–44 (NASB95)
43 “Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. 44 “Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came
It was well understood that demons inhabited deserts (waterless places) & tombs & want to be embodied
Unfortunately, we don’t know why
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But in this case, Jesus grants the demons request & they do not leave the country & they are permitted to enter the pigs as requested
But what is odd is that the pigs all end up drowning anyway
Q. What is going on here? I think there are 2 possibilities to consider
The demons knew they would destroy the pigs
2. The demons did not know they would destroy the pigs
The demons seek to destroy their host & we saw that that is what they seek
On the other hand, they seek to inhabit a body
To be honest with you, I don’t know & I have not come across a satisfying answer
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However, let’s not be concerned about that because I think the purpose of this is elsewhere
Firstly, for the city & country
The news spread - such a big thing happened & it gained plenty of attention
It demonstrated the power of Jesus & even though the people begged Jesus to leave the area, the incident with the pigs made all this very public & highlighted the fact that this Jesus is anything but an ordinary person
15 They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion”; and they became frightened.
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What we should understand here is that this is not some psychological phenomena with the man, but a matter of an alien occupation by demons
Once the demons are out of the man, Jesus is able to address him in his own right
3. Release of the Demoniac Mk. 5:14-20
3. Release of the Demoniac Mk. 5:14-20
On one occasion, Jesus requested a rich young ruler to follow Him
But his wealth & prestige hindered him from becoming a personal follower of Jesus
For various reasons people reject Jesus for a life they consider the good life
I well remember the inner conflict that I experienced in coming to Christ
I had run out of excuses & in the end I just had to surrender
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As I mentioned before, its difficult to see what was going on with the pigs all drowning, but I think it becomes clear in the last verses of this passage
After hearing about the man now in his right mind; after hearing about the herdsman losing all their pigs & relating it as the movement of the demons from the man into the pigs, the city & country people become frightened
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Perhaps, the great loss of a herd that was so large was the concern that the people had
It was the financial issue that caused them to beg or implore Jesus to leave the region
I’m sure they wouldn’t object to the man being restored to normality, but the loss of financial investment is another matter
Perhaps, they anticipated more losses with Jesus staying in their region, so they begged or implored Him to leave
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Yet, that some word is used of the former demon possessed man
The people were begging/imploring Jesus to leave, but the formerly demon possessed man was begging/imploring Jesus to take him with Him
What a contrast: the people beg Jesus to leave, the man begs that he remain with Jesus
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This is why the pigs figure so prominently in this account
This was another opportunity for a manifestation of the Son of God to those who would see
Unfortunately, the city & country people missed it due to their entanglements in this life
They are akin to the seed that was choked - the world & worldly interests had too much of a hold on them
Instead of giving Him the keys to the city, they give Him the cold shoulder
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This same choice of money over Jesus happened when Paul drove a demon out of a young girl who was prophesying & bringing her masters’ profit
19 But when her masters saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the market place before the authorities,
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You can see the intense gratefulness of the man in wanting to stay with Jesus
Here’s a man who spent endless nights screaming from the torment of demon possession, now liberated & in his right mind
But Jesus doesn’t accept him into the inner circle of the 12 apostles
Although, this man found mercy from the Lord, it was not the Lord’s purpose to use him in a role with Jesus
He had another ministry for this man
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That ministry was to proclaim what great things the Lord had done for him & how he was shown mercy
In other words, to go & tell the story of his demon possession & how Jesus had driven the demons out of him
The “splash” created by the testimony of the man will become more effective in revealing who Jesus is, than the splash created by the pigs in the Sea
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There is an interesting difference from this miracle in Gentile territory to what happened within Israel
In Israel, when miracles happened, Jesus told the person to be quiet
42 Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cleansed. 43 And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away, 44 and He said to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.”
But in Gentile territory - here in the Gerasenes - he is not only allowed to tell the story, but is indeed commanded to
“Go back home & to your people & report to them what great things the Lord has done for you & how He had mercy on you”
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You see, in Israel, they had certain political aspirations for the Messiah
Israelites were thinking - let’s overthrow the Romans; Let’s liberate the land; Let’s bring in the kingdom
But Jesus had a different mission & that mission was not what the Israelites had anticipated nor could they accept
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Remember how the apostle Peter was so caught up in the Political liberation mindset
After Jesus had told His disciples that He would go to Jerusalem & suffer, die & would be raised 3 days later, what did Peter say to Him?
Let me interpolate… “Lord, are you out of your mind - this is not to happen - God forbid if this ever should happen. Get rid of that kind of thinking this instance” - that was crudely put, the words of Peter
Jesus, however, rebuked Peter for putting man’s plans ahead of God’s
Even on the day of His arrest, Peter was still thinking of fighting with the sword as the means of bringing in the kingdom
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Yes, they were knuckleheads, but you & I probably wouldn’t have been any different
It was so contrary to what they thought God would do - that is why Jesus had to reveal the secrets of the kingdom to those who would listen
The kingdom does not come with those expectations
Which is why it was dangerous for those who were healed to spread the news that Jesus is the Messiah
Otherwise, the people would be wanting to proclaim Him king & the authorities would be all over Him way before it was the right time for Him to suffer & die
But in Gentile land, such messianic expectations were not a problem & so the man could proclaim the news of Jesus freely
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With the man in his right mind spreading the word, everyone was amazed or marvelled
I love it when I get an upgrade on my computer or phone or gadget that makes the old one seem so redundant
This man’s testimony is a testimony of an upgrade
Q. How would you respond to the man’s story?
This man had a transformation to his life - an upgrade - that even Hollywood couldn’t imagine
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The people of the Gerasenes preferred pigs to people, their financial security to the transformation of a life
But this is what Jesus does to those who receive Him to themselves
It might not be the removal of demons, but it is certainly the removal of all obstacles that hinder a relationship & walk with God
But it will take courage - courage to pursue a faith that is put in Jesus
Q. Have you done that?
Q. Are you able to say that you have fully given over your life for Jesus to transform?