From Victory to Victory-Mark 5:1-20

In last week’s message entitled “Trusting the One Who Calms the Storm” from Mark 4:35-41 we looked at the Biblical account of Jesus Calming an incredible storm on the Sea of Galilee with nothing more than the words; “Peace be still!”. We addressed the fact that Storms Will Come Into Our Lives and how passages like this one can serve as sort of a radar for us to assist us in preparing in advance for these storms. We noted that the very first thing we should do when we are faced with the storms of life is to do what the disciples did that night; We Need to Cry Out to Jesus In the Midst of the Storms, we were also reminded that we don’t need to sanitize our pleas to God, He already knows our thoughts, just cry out to Him from the depths of your heart. Another encouraging thing we can note from this Biblical account is that Jesus somehow was able to sleep through a violent storm, yet when those whom He loved cried out to Hi, He quickly awoke and acted. The next thing we looked at last week is the truth that God Has His Purposes In the Storms of Life. I have yet to meet anyone who loves going through the storms life inevitably brings our way, but as one purchased with the very blood of Jesus Christ, and based on what Scripture declares, I trust His perfect plan. Perhaps one of the most comforting lessons we learned last week is the fact that God does not promise His protection from the storms of life, but He does promise His presence in the Storms of life.

We continued by looking at the 3 times of storms the believer is faced with in life; The Correcting Storms, The Protecting Storms and The Perfecting Storms, and that as believers, one of the most important things we should be asking as we are faced with as well as after we have come through the storms of life is; How can I use this storm to point people to Jesus Christ? Or How Can I use this storm to encourage believers in their walk with God?

We closed out last Sunday morning with the amazing fact that of God’s Power Over the Storm. How He instantly calmed the winds and the waves with nothing more than 3 little words; Peace Be Still. That is the power of the God Whom we serve.

While what we looked at last Sunday was an incredible victory, I think that by the time we finish this morning, you will become convinced that in many ways, what we will look at in Mark 5:1-20 is even more incredible. With that in mind, will you please stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word? We will be reading the first 13 verses of Mark 5.

Mark 5:1–13 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. 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.

May the Lord as His blessing to the reading of His Word! Please be seated.

Do you remember a few weeks ago when we were in Mark 3, at the point where the religious leaders were accusing Jesus of operating under the influence of Satan when he was doing His miraculous deeds? Including the casting out of demons? Jesus clearly and powerfully corrected their error and in 3:27 said to them “27 But no One can enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless He first binds the strong man. Then indeed He may plunder his house.” The region Jesus and His disciples find themselves in in todays passage was a stronghold of the enemy. The 10 city region of Decapolis was a wicked and perverse area that had been a stronghold of the enemy for many decades.

In scene 1 of this morning’s message we see that Jesus was: Next Slide

Facing A Strongman On His Own Turf. Mark 5:1-5; Matthew 8:28; Luke 8:26-27

This particular Biblical account is found in Matthew, Mark and Luke, and when we combine the facts that we know from the 3 accounts. We learn several details about what is taking place. The first thing we find out is Jesus was facing: Next Slide

1. Not one but two men.

Mark and Luke only mention 1 man, while Matthew mentions a second man also. This is not a case of these Gospels contradicting one another, it actually probably deals with the target audience of the Gospels more than anything else. Matthew specifically targets a Jewish audience and his readers understood that the protocol among Jews was that the validity of a testimony required the testimony of 2 witnesses. Thus Matthew points out that there were 2 men there that day. Neither Mark nor Luke were concerned about that Jewish protocol. They were more concerned with the pertinent facts of the story, and while there may have been 2 men there that day, the 2nd man, while there, played no other role in the account other than his presence.

The next thing we find out is that the main character was: Next Slide

2. Possessed by multiple demons.

We find out in verse 2 that he is described as a “man with an unclean spirit”. Then in verse 9 he tells Jesus that he is called “Legion, for we are many”. A Roman legion consisted of just over 6,000 soldiers. We don’t really know how many demons he was possessed with, but we get the impression in verse 13 that there may have been 2,000 or more.

The next thing we find out about this man; Next Slide

3. He had superhuman strength.

In Matthews account we discover that he was “so fierce that no one could pass that way” In Lukes account we find out that the men from the nearby city had, in the past, tried to “seize him” and place him “under guard”, “bound with chains and shackles”, but he had the power to break them. And in Mark 5:3 & 4 we find out that that “No one had the strength to subdue him”.

So, here Jesus is, with His disciples, in a territory new to them, facing two demon possessed men, one possessed with as many as 2,000 plus demons, that had superhuman strength. By all human accounts, He was in over his head.

Moving forward we find out that: Next Slide

4. He lived naked among the tombs.

We discover these facts in Luke 8:27; Matthew 8:28 and Mark 5:2.

The next key we find out about this man, and I believe this was not only the most important thing in the eyes of Jesus, but also the purpose why they had sailed to this exact place, and that is: Next Slide

5. He lived in constant torment.

Looking back at Mark 4:35, we see Jesus tell His disciples “Let us go across to the other side.” Simply put, Jesus was following a Divine appointment. God the Father had seen this tormented man, perhaps more important, He had heard his cries. Moved with compassion, God directed Jesus to pursue this lost and tormented man to rescue him.

Look at Mark 5:5, we read there that “Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.” As a former youth pastor and a father, I have learned fist hand what is usually taking place when an individual cuts themself. One thing that is happening is that they are trying to exercise some sort of control over their life. Another thing, and perhaps the most significant is, they are crying out for help.

I believe that is what we see happening with this man here. The demons that possessed him controlled him almost completely, about all he could do was cut himself, just to prove that at least he had some control, but it was also a cry for help. And God heard his cry. Please don’t miss this truth, because God always listens to and hears those who cry out to Him. One of the things he loves to do most is to Rescue The Perishing, and that is exactly what is taking place in this account.

Moving to scene 2 in this mornings message we see: Next Slide

The Strongman Under Siege. Mark 5:6-10; Matthew 8:28; Luke 8:28

We find out in verse 6 “And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him.” Mark writes “he saw Jesus from afar”. Had that been you of me and we were seeing Jesus from afar, we would have noticed a group of men securing their boats along the shoreline. We probably wouldn’t have noticed many specific details about these men, outside of surmising them to be fishermen. But it seems clear that the demons that possessed this man, had capabilities of seeing into the spiritual realm. Kind of like Frodo’s ring in J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord Of The Ring. Anytime Frodo put on the ring, his eyes were opened to a realm he couldn’t otherwise see. When these demons looked at these fishermen, they knew that the very Son of God was in their presence. Next Slide

1. The defensive position.

Chances are their rushing down to Jesus was not to worship Him, but more of a taking up a defensive position to hold down Satan’s turf. But as they approached Him they had no choice but to bow down before Him. The Greek word Mark uses here meant to pay “homage to men or beings of superior rank”. While they may have wanted to defend their turf, once there, the character and power of God the Son put them on their face before Him. They were facing a Being they had no power to defeat. As a result: Next Slide

2. They move from a defensive position to a pleading cry.

In verse 7 we read “7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? ” By the way title “Son of the Most High God”, was rarely used by Jews in their reference to God, it is generally used by those that have no or little devotion to God. It is often used by those that worship other Gods. They didn’t use this name to indicate a reverence to Jesus and God, it was actually the opposite.

From a pleading cry the tables turn and: Next Slide

3. The Tormentors become the Tormented.

At the end of verse 7 we read “I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” My how the tables had turned! For years, maybe even decades, these demons had tormented this man. Driven him from the city he loved, from the home he loved, from the family he loved and that loved him back, to the desolate hillside to live among the dead in the tombs. Now they were facing “the Son of the Most High God” and they were in over their heads. The thought of what they may be facing was tormenting them, then: Next Slide

4. The Merciless requested Mercy.

Looking at this account in Luke 8:31, we discover that in facing the Son of the Most High God, they understood that they could soon face the abyss, the bottomless pit, a place they were powerless to escape. They pleaded for mercy from Jesus.

That moves us to scene 3 in this mornings message: Next Slide

The Strongman Is Banished. Mark 5:11-13; Matthew 8:30-32; Luke 8:32-33

In their pleas for mercy, the demons pleaded that Jesus would instead allow them to enter into a herd of around 2,000 pigs. Jesus permitted this and moments later that herd of pigs rushed to their death into the Sea of Galilee.

Now, maybe you may be thinking, wait…how is the strongman being banished here? The demons just went from the man to the pigs and the pigs went into the sea! Well many theologians and Biblical scholars belief that when the pigs rushed into the sea, both they and the demons that had entered into them perished in that sea, and in perishing in that sea, the demons, in turn, were cast into the very abyss they were trying to avoid. Kind of an “Out of the Frying pan and Into the fire” type of experience.

In Scene 4 we see: Next Slide

The Unwitting Missionaries. Mark 5:14-16; Matt. 8:33; Luke 8:34-36

The herdsmen of the pigs were suddenly out of work! They rushed into the city and began to spread the news of what had taken place. Suddenly the city streets emptied as the townspeople headed out to see with their own eyes what had taken place. Once there, they saw this man, one whom they had at one time feared greatly, clothed and in his right mind.

In scene 5: Next Slide

Rather than rejoice at his deliverance, they rejected the Deliverer. Mark 5: 17; Matt. 8:34; Luke 8:37

In stark contrast to the delivered maniac, the response of the sane people tragically illustrates sin’s power over the lost. It blinds them to the truth and causes them to hate it and reject all evidence of it. They obstinately cling to their false illusion of well-being because love of iniquity dominates them. Jesus had performed an undeniable miracle that clearly manifested His absolute power over the supernatural realm and to deliver people from the forces of hell. (John MacArthur)

And they turned their back on all of that and asked Him to leave. Sadly, Jesus complied, because while: Next Slide

He knocks on many doors, He doesn’t knock any door down.

Jesus gets into the boat and prepares to leave.

Which brings us to scene 6: Next Slide

From Maniac To Missionary. Mark 5:18-20; Luke 8:38-39

While the sane people rejected the Deliverer, this former maniac embraced Him!

In verse 18 the delivered man pleads with Jesus that he might join Him. I am guessing that to the surprise of he and Jesus disciples, Jesus said “No”. In God’s perfect plan, rather than take him with them, He place His call on the life of the transformed maniac, the call of a missionary. Perhaps he was initially disappointed, but soon, he was sharing his story of transformation everywhere he went. Jesus instructed him to go home and tell his friends and family “how much the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” This man didn’t just stop with his family, he brought his story all over the Decapolis.

You know: Next Slide

We All Have a Story To Tell.

In many ways, this is where the rubber hits the road for us. Many today would have told Jesus; “Wait, don’t send him out yet. Take him with you. Spend time training him. Helping him get familiar with Scripture. Teaching him how to overcome obstacles.”

Jesus immediately sends him out, knowing that just as He was with the disciples in the boat during the storm the night before, He would also be with this transformed maniac. Graciously, God provides us with a vivid picture of what happened as a result of this transformed maniac’s declaration of “how much the Lord has done for (him), and how He had mercy on” him. We will find out the details later on in our look at the Gospel According to Mark but if you look ahead to the tail end of Mark 7 and into Mark 8 and the same account in Matthew 15, you find out that when Jesus returned to this region, just a few months later, a huge crowd assembled to experience a Touch from the Masters Hand and to be fed both physically as well as spiritually. Keep in mind that in this mornings passage the people asked Him to leave their region, but later they were ready and welcomed Him.

The truth is, if God can do this kind of work through a transformed maniac who was Scripturally illiterate, there is little He can’t accomplish through us. While we should all seek to study and learn the truths of God’s Word, our current Biblical knowledge, or lack there of, should not prevent us from telling others of “how much the Lord has done for us, and how He had mercy on us”.

While this transformed man could not answer the questions of the critics, he could boldly proclaim “I may not know much about God or His Word, but what I do know I proclaim to you. I once was lost and now am found. I once was in total bondage to the god of this world, but now I am free. Let me show you my scars...

If you were once lost, once in bondage to the power of the god of this world, if you have scars, both physically and spiritually from the life you left behind, you have a story of transformation to tell. Go out and proclaim that story to a world lost in darkness and in slavery to the god of this world.