Jesus and Demons Part 2
Eric Durso
The Gospel of Mark • Sermon • Submitted
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Last week we introduced our text, this week we’ll get into the details. Last week, studied what the Bible says about Jesus and demons. We came up with 8 truths: 1) demons are powerful, 2) they are numerous, 3) they are influential, 4) they are destructive, 5) they interact with humans, 6) they hate Christians, 7) Jesus has authority over them, and 8) Jesus will one day judge them.
We need a worldview shaped by Scripture, and Scripture reveals to us that there is an unseen spirit-realm that often collides with the visual physical realm in which we live. And this section of Scripture is important because it shows us this reality and demonstrates Jesus’ power over it.
We read it together last week; let’s read it again as we begin our study. Mark 5:1-20.
We’re going to break our text into four parts to help us see what’s happening. 1) The mission, 2) the maniac, 3) the meeting, and 4) the marvel.
The Mission
Let’s start with the mission in verse 1: “They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.” As we read our Bibles, it’s tempting to skip details, thinking they’re incidental and irrelevant, especially geographical details. But sometimes these are the details that are necessary for grasping the significance of the event.
They came to the other side of the sea, that would have taken about 1-2 hours without a storm. With a storm interrupting their movement, much longer. Mark 4:35 says it was evening when they left. We know it can’t be pitch black for two reasons, 1) the demon-possessed man saw them coming (vs. 6) and 2) the herdsman were eyewitnesses of the event (vs 14). My guess, then, is that it’s early the next morning, still a bit dark.
They arrive in the “country of the Gerasenes.” In Matthew, it’s called the Gadarenes. Both are correct, because Gerasa and Gadara are both cities of the Decapolis (vs 20). The Decapolis is a region East of the Sea of Galilee that in the 4th Century BC was conquered by Alexander the Great and settled by the Greeks. That is to say, it was not a place with a heavy Jewish population, hence the thousands of pigs on the hillside. No Jew would have raised pigs, they were considered the filthiest animals and they were not permitted to eat them.
This is a region where Greco-Roman paganism was prominent. One truth important to remember here is that false religions are rooted in demonic activity. Paul’s writings make it clear that there are demons behind false idols. Greco-Roman paganism held a belief in spirits, in strange mythologies about gods, and that’s the local belief of the region he’s coming into.
Additionally, take a look at verse 10. The demons beg not to be sent “out of the country.” Apparently, these demons wanted to continue their devilish work there in the region, having dominated it for perhaps centuries.
Jesus doesn’t shy away from dark places. Jesus isn’t afraid of demon-infested lands. Jesus goes right into the heart of a spiritual dark area. The Christian church ought to imitate this impulse to be fearless before the dark places.
Do we share Jesus’ heart? His boldness, to enter such a place? Parents, are we raising our children in such a way that they have such a high view of Jesus, that they are not afraid of darkness? Or are we teaching them, by our example, that we avoid scary and dangerous things at all costs?
Christian families ought to foster courage and bravery, not timidity and fear. Christians reject the “safety-first” life. It is cowardice. Instead, we are “glory-first” men and women. We live for God’s glory, live or die, safe or dangerous.
A few years ago a young man named John Allen Chau decided to travel to what he considered “Satan’s last stronghold on earth.” The North Sentinel Island. It has essentially remained untouched for hundreds of years. Any time people from the outside world have tried to enter in, the Sentinelese people have responded with murderous violence. That’s where Chau wanted to go. And he did. And within hours of his time, he was murdered by them.
I wonder how you respond to a story like that. The secularists in our world called it failed colonialism. Some Christians called him irresponsible. But others - whom I happen to agree with - honor him. He’s imitating his savior.
You see, there’s something worse than death, and that’s a wasted life. A life lived in bubble-wrap. A life of no risks. A life that values safety above faithfulness, comfort above obedience, or convenience over sacrifice.
By God’s grace, church, let’s defy the “safety-first” sham. It’s no Christian way to live. We’ve been given a global mission, we serve a sovereign God, and he has given us the promise of an unstoppable church. We will all die anyway, in exactly the way God decides, but we will all rise at the glorious resurrection of the dead. Let’s be fearless.
I pray - and I invite you to pray with me - that we would see members of our church raised up from here who are willing and eager to go to dark places, just like Jesus. And that we as a church would be willing and eager to send them, even to places that might cost them everything.
The Man (2-6)
Right as Jesus steps out of the boat, “immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.” On the east side of the Sea of Galilee there’s a section where the shore immediately starts climbing up and makes a kind of small mountain. Many peoples used the sides of mountains and caves as tombs and graves for the dead.
So this man has been haunting these tombs, and we’re told from the beginning he has an unclean spirit. Mark goes into more detail than Matthew or Luke, who both record this event. Matthew mentions that there are two men, but Mark only mentions this one because apparently he’s the prominent one. Look at Mark’s description:
Verse 3: He lived among the tombs. This could indicate an obsession with darkness, with death, with morbid thoughts and actions.
Verse 3-4: He has super-human strength. He can’t be bound. Apparently, people had tried to bind him but every time they’d chain him he’d break the chains - one word contains the idea of tearing them, another the idea of smashing them. He’s a maniac with overwhelming strength who would smash and tear at the chains until they broke.
Verse 5: He experiences uncontrollable rage. Every night and every day he’s roaming the area, “always crying out” - I wonder if the herdsmen could hear the shrieks in the night, and “cutting himself with stones.”
Luke includes the detail that he’s naked, which make indicate another form of perversion as he refuses to clothe himself. The man’s appearance must have been hideous and grotesque. He probably had open wounds all over his body; he’s a blood mess. Pulled out hair, scabs. His stench was probably foul.
It’s important for us to remember that this man is a picture of humanity without Christ. Ephesians 2:1-3 says that Satan maintains influence over all those who have not received Christ as their Lord and Savior. All humanity begins spiritually dead, enslaved to sin, without any ability to fix the problem. This man is experiencing the agony of hopeless, the misery of being enslaved to an evil beyond his control.
If you are not a Christian and you’ve joined us this morning - I am thankful you’re here. And I have a question for you: do you know the agony of hopelessness?
Have you experienced the misery of being enslaved to an evil beyond your control?
Let me tell you, every Christian here knows that feeling. In fact, it was the agony of hopelessness and the misery of being enslaved to sin that brought us to the end of ourselves. The reason we embraced Jesus as Lord is because he has demonstrated himself to be able to provide hope: hope of deliverance, hope of salvation, hope of sins forgiven; and he is able to free you from your slavery to sin and wickedness - just as he did this man.
This man is enslaved to his sin, and dominated by demons. He is one of the most helpless and hopeless cases in the Bible when we meet him. But he is delivered.
The Meeting (7-13)
And in verse 6 he sees Jesus from afar and he runs toward him. It’s probably the early morning. And you’re stepping out of the boat, you’re thinking, “Man, I’m glad that storm thing is over.” And this ghastly figure comes running toward you.
“He ran and fell down before Jesus. 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.’”
There are some odd features here. He runs up to Jesus and tells him to leave him alone. The words convey that he’s yelling at the top of his lungs. Why are you here? What do you want from me? Again, strange, because Jesus didn’t seek him out, he came to Jesus. It’s like pushing someone and saying, “Why are you trying to pick a fight?”
Of course, the demon knows exactly who Jesus is. He not only calls him by his name “Jesus” but also says, “Son of the Most High God.” This is a title of divinity. The demon then goes on to beg, ironically, in the name of God, not to be tormented.
This filthy man has rushed upon Jesus, he’s on his knees before him and he’s recognized that Jesus has true authority over him. Jesus is the superior power here, and the demon knows it.
Jesus doesn’t jump back in the boat, like many of us would. He’s fearless. He’s compassionate. Then, strangely, Jesus asks for his name. The demon’s reply is “My name is Legion, for we are many.” A legion was a Roman military unit of 6,000 soldiers. And this is where you get all kinds of strange grammar. Notice, “My [singular] name is Legion, for we [plural] are many.” Even verse 10: “And he [singular] begged him [singular] not to send them [plural] out of the country.” This probably indicates that the demon speaking was actually a ranking demon with all thousands of minions underneath him there with him.
That’s quite the bulwark for the forces of Satan. That’s formidable. Thousands of demons? Demons are not omnipresent. They cannot be everywhere at once. But they’re also not spatial, as we understand it, so apparently it’s possible that many of them - perhaps thousands - can occupy the same place at the same time.
Verse 12: “they begged him, saying, ‘Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” It’s a bizarre question, and from this some have speculated whether demons prefer people and things to inhabit rather than floating around in the air. We don’t know. But they want the pigs.
The simplest explanation is that the demons wanted to continue doing what they had been doing. They wanted to continue harassing and destroying God’s creation.
Verse 13: “So he gave them permission.” Fascinating, isn’t it? Jesus grants demons permission to go into the pigs.
Demons cannot do anything without Jesus’ permission. This is like Job, isn’t it. In Job 1, Satan is talking to God and says, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side?” Satan thinks the only reason Job fears God is because God has given his safety and prosperity. God has put a hedge of protection around him. But Satan wants God to remove the hedge and remove his blessing.
And what does God do? God allows him to ruin his stuff, but not touch him. You see, God gives Satan permission, but with a boundary. You can do this, but not this. As Luther said, “The Devil is God’s Devil.”
So what happens? The legion leaves the man, and enters these 2,000 pigs, and immediately the pigs storm down the side of the steep bank right into the sea and they all die. Why did the demons do that? They did to the pigs what they were doing to the man. They are destroyers.
Now why did Jesus allow them? Two reasons. 1) At this point, it’s actually not yet time for the judgment of demons. The demons all know its coming. But it’s not yet. And 2) Jesus knew that by casting the demons into the pigs it would be a visible, tangible, obvious demonstration of his power. It’s one thing to heal a man - he had done that many times - but what was so amazing about this one is that the thousands of pigs demonstrated the greatness of his power to the pagan observers.
With a word, Jesus demonstrates his power over the demonic evil in this man. There are some problems that cannot be fixed by more education or better medicine.
Church, how big and powerful is the Jesus you believe in? Parents, what are your kids learning about the greatness of Jesus?
Jesus, by his word, overthrows a demon army, and delivers a man enslaved to evil forces. Jesus has the power to do this in your life.
Jesus has the power to live a sinless life. Jesus has the power to die a substitutionary death - that is, a death that pays sin’s penalty for his people. Jesus has the power to conquer death.Jesus has the power to deliver all who trust in him from the powers of darkness. Come, like a like, to him. Like a helpless and humble sinner, come to him. He gives grace to the proud, he’ll deliver the helpless. Come to him, he and he alone can deliver you. Like this man.
The Marvel
The response of the herdsmen is not one of gratitude or thankfulness for helping this guy out, or getting rid of their demon problem. They come and see Jesus, they see the demon-possessed man totally delivered, and verse 15: “they were afraid.”
What is this response? The disciples saw Jesus calm the storm and they were “greatly afraid.” These people hear about Jesus conquering demons and they’re “afraid.” The bottom line is this: Jesus is demonstrating so great a power, so great an authority, that people don’t know what to do with him. He’s dangerous. They beg Jesus to leave.
Now Jesus acquiesces to their request. He starts getting back into the boat.
But look at the man. He’s “clothed and in his right mind.” We don’t know who clothed him. But could you imagine the shame he might have felt? It would be like waking up from a nightmare, except it was true, and there you were, naked and ashamed. You would have been embarrassed. But someone - maybe the disciples - clothes you. Cleans you up.
And as Jesus is leaving, the man starts begging. I would too. After going through what he went through, I wouldn’t leave Jesus’ side. He saved me. He delivered me. It’s the right impulse.
“Please let me go with you!” This is fascinating, church. That word “begged” is used three times in these verses. Everyone is begging Jesus. The demons beg Jesus not to send them out of the country. He doesn’t. He herdsmen beg him to leave the country. He does. He does what the demons beg, he does what the people ask. But he does not do what the man wants.
The herdsmen got what they wanted: Jesus to leave - to their soul’s eternal regret. And the man didn’t get what he wanted - to his eventual great reward. He got to be used by God to bring the good news of the power of Jesus to a community that had never heard it before.
Up to this point, Jesus has continue telling people who experience his miracles to be silent. Here, he says, “Have at it, son. Go for it. Go home. Tell your mother and your father. Tell your brother and your sister. Tell the friends you abandoned long ago. Tell them what I did.”
Why couldn’t he come? It was much more strategic for him to go home. Everyone who saw him slip into insanity and demonic possession will know something incredible has happened to him, and he will tell them about a man named Jesus.
And so he did. This is what we marvel at. Verse 20: “And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.”
No one is hopeless before King Jesus. He cannot be stopped. He is strong to save, and will not cease to redeem and deliver his people. Go down through the history of the church and mark this truth: no sinner is too lost, no transgressor is too far gone, no soul is too bad, no person beyond the power of King Jesus to redeem. What Jesus did here is what he’s been doing for thousands of years, and he will do it today.
Your sins that condemn you will be washed away. The demons that oppress you can be banished. The guilt that weighs you down like a burden will be cast down. You see, a thousand demons were cast out of this man, he is delivered completely. Can’t Jesus save you?
Scriptures tell of Saul, the church-hater, converted by Jesus and made Paul, the church planter. Church history is filled with them. Augustin, Luther, Calvin, Spurgeon, Newton - all men lost, all men tormented by sin, all men humbled, and all men transformed by Jesus.
And if you were to look around this room you’d see it again: trophies of grace. Living proof of Jesus’ power to save. Lost people found, drug addicts set free, broken people restored, all by the power of Jesus.