1. Where do these events occur? Is the location significant? Why or why not? (vv. 1, 11, 14, 20)
2. What do you think life was like for this man? (vv. 2-5)
3. Can the demons answer the disciple's question in Mark 4:41? (v. 7)
4. What is the demon's reaction to Jesus? What does that tell us about Jesus? (vv. 6-8, 10, 12-13)
5. What was the reaction of the townsfolk in the Gerasenes to Jesus? Why? (vv. 15-17)
6. What is the reaction of the man to Jesus? (vv. 18-20)
7. What is my reaction to Jesus?
8. Why does Jesus command the restored man to speak freely? (cf. Mark 1:43-45)
9. Earlier in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus had explained that he has come to ‘bind the strong man’ and rob his possessions (Mark 3:23-30). What is the relationship between Jesus’ earlier teaching and this event?
Note: After a day of teaching the crowd from the boat at the water's edge, Jesus tells the disciples to go across to the other side. Understandably, he falls asleep in the boat. On the other side of the lake lay the Decapolis (the ‘Ten Cities’). These were gentile cities, (hence the herd of 2000 pigs). The man in the tombs was thus a gentile. Jesus refuses to take him with them, probably because his ministry was to the Jews (Mark 7:26-28). However, this man, redeemed from what is closest to hell on this earth, is sent back to his family and neighbours to tell them how much Jesus did for him, and how the Lord Jesus had mercy on him. If you are a Christian, you have the same commission. May we do it with the same willingness (v. 20).
I believe that there are angels and demons. There is a devil. There are spiritual realities, good and evil, that I cannot see. I think that such beliefs as mine are becoming more popular.
Generally, modern Australian, indeed Western, society is skeptical about such things. Post-Christian modern culture rejects such things. They seem difficult to verify. They elude modern scientific enquiry. In short, such things seem ‘pre-scientific’ and ‘superstitious’. We save them for creepy movies like ‘The Exorcist’ and ‘Omen’.
It is interesting, however, that with our society’s movement toward new age spirituality, that it is becoming more acceptable to express belief in angels, demons, and the demonic. On ABC Local Radio I recall James Valentine dealing with death, and he invited a Tibetan Monk to speak. After the interview, the Buddhist monk in a matter of fact way said that after the interview he was going to a ceremony to cleanse an area from demons, and this was received at least with politeness as a response.
In some societies and in some religions, the demonic holds a great fear over people. In Buddhism and Islam, there is an appreciation of these things. Muslims call them ‘jin’ from which we get ‘genie’, like “I Dream of Genie” or “They’ve let the genie out of the bottle.” We as a society have invited people from these cultures to our country. In other societies like ours, there is no fear or acknowledgement of the demonic. It is an irrelevance. Probably Satan and his demons like it that way, because an unexpected enemy who is not believed to exist is more dangerous than one known and feared.
In our reading, we see our Lord Jesus face to face with the demonic world.
Jesus has been moving around Galilee, preaching, healing the sick, and driving out demons. After teaching the crowd using parables, Jesus tries to get away for a while with his disciples. He sets out from one side of Lake Galilee to the other. He is moving from the Jewish side of the lake to the gentile side. But there is no rest, seemingly, for Jesus. For everywhere he goes he takes God’s creative order with him. En route he calms a storm, and when he reaches the other side, he is confronted by a poor man in great need of restoration. Verses 1 and 2:
1They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes[1]. 2When Jesus got out of the boat, a man[2] with an evil [lit unclean] spirit came from the tombs to meet him. (NIV)
All through Mark chapters 1 to 8, we see Jesus as one who preaches the kingdom and casts out demons. So I guess we shouldn’t be surprised about the welcoming committee.
Now Jesus has seen all this before. He dealt with this problem in the Capernaum synagogue (Mark 1:21ff). He also drove out many more demons that night (Mark 1:34). He is used to the evil spirits falling before him (Mark 3:11).
But here Mark slows us down. He wants to give us a description of this poor man’s tortured life. Matthew tells us there was also another man.[3] Perhaps the man in Mark was the main speaker for both.
Has anyone ever said to you, “I think hell is on this earth; all the suffering and pain we experience, hell must be here”? Now, my first response is to say, “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” And that would be true. For no matter how black our world becomes, God is still here. Repentance and forgiveness is still available. And God causes his sun to shine on the just and unjust. None of these things will be available in hell.
But when all those qualifications are made, we can still say that this man’s life is a picture of hell on earth. Verses 3 to 5:
3This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. 4For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No-one was strong enough to subdue [or tame] him 5Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. (NIV)
Perhaps this was the description by the townspeople. It seems to be a hopeless case, humanly speaking. All human treatment and responses had failed.
The Jews in the Talmud had four characteristics of madness: first, walking at night; second, spending the night on a grave; third, tearing one’s clothes; and fourth, destroying what one was given. This man has done it all.
He lives and wanders amongst the tombs. These were in caves in the hills. Was he driven there by the townspeople or the demons? We don’t know, but probably both.
He cannot control himself. The demons give him superhuman strength. He is a brute beast who cannot be tamed. And we see him in great pain, crying out day and night, cutting his own flesh with stones, self mutilating. In our own society, people self-mutilate in an attempt to relieve their great emotional and psychological pain. They cut themselves because the physical pain distracts from the horrible mental pain. Likewise, this man cuts himself because of the torment he is in. Alternatively, it is possible that he cuts himself in forced worship of the demons, as the priests of Ball did (1 Kgs 18:28).
Here is a man being destroyed, being consumed, with no one to help him. But now help is at hand, for the one who commands demons has come.
Verses 6:
When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. (NIV)
The man sees Jesus from afar. He runs and falls on his knees, worshipping Jesus. But it is at this stage unwilling homage, the unwilling homage that one day every knee will offer Jesus from the pit of hell. And here we are given a picture of what such a confession will be like on the last day. Verse 7:
He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” (NIV)
Here is the man in irresistible homage of Jesus. Just as the demons do, he acknowledges Jesus’ divine sonship. And as is typical, the voice recognizes Jesus as “Son of the Most High God,” a gentile way of referring to the God of Israel. He asks, “What do you want with me?” What business do you have with me? In other words, mind your own business, Jesus! You have no right yet to torture me.
Matthew’s Gospel here adds, “before the appointed time.” In other words, it is not yet the final day of judgment when the devil and his angels will be thrown in the lake of fire to be tortured for ever. Don’t send me yet to the eternal punishment prepared for the devil and his angels.
But it is clear that it is the demons, not the man speaking. Verses 8 to 10:
8For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!” 9Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” 10And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. (NIV)
It is interesting that the demons knew Jesus name, but that Jesus asked the for the demons’ name. By naming Jesus, the demons hoped that they would have power over him. And when Jesus asks the name of the demon, in all probability, the demon is evading a specific name. The demons are hoping for the cover of anonymity.
“Legion, for we are many”, they say. A legion was a military unit of 4000 to 6000 men. Basically, a military division of demons had taken control of the man. And they didn’t wish to be sent from the host to which they had become accustomed.
The demons might play a little game with their name, but there is no battle, no struggle, just Jesus as Lord and master, and the demons in submission to him. He is Lord of all, even of Satan and his angels.
It looks like the demons are negotiating with Jesus, but Jesus is in control. We see this in verse 11 to 12:
11A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” (NIV)
The demons have invaded this poor man. And if they must leave him, they desire another host. Perhaps the demons needed somewhere to go. Perhaps they want to incite the owners of the pigs to curse God. Either way, they ask permission to possess the pigs. It is a permission that Jesus grants. Verse 13:
He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
Here we see the destructive force of the demons, for they exist to destroy God’s creation. And we might ask, “Why does Jesus allow the pigs to be destroyed? Why does Jesus’ consent?”
It seems to me that we have yet another kindness to the man: the floating carcasses of the pigs will reassure the man that he is liberated from the torture he previously endured. The time of his possession is no more. In Jesus’ sight, the restoration of one poor demon possessed man is worth more than two thousand pigs. People are more important than animals.
But the sign of a river full of pork will not just be for the man who had been demon possessed. The pigs had owners. And Jesus was being very generous with their property. Well, it was with his own property, really, for as creator of the universe, Jesus lent them the pigs for a time, until he had need of them. Verses 14 to 15:
14Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. (NIV)
The disciples crossing the Lake were afraid at the storm, but they were absolutely terrified at the Jesus who calmed it. Undoubtedly the townspeople were afraid of the uncontrollable man, but now they are terrified by Jesus, who calmed the man. What their chains could not do, Jesus did. No longer would the man roam through the graves, crying in pain and cutting himself, but now he was sitting down. He was no longer naked like an animal, but clothed. He was no longer demented by the demons, but right minded.
Friends, here is a picture of each one of us who have come to Christ. We might not have descended the abyss into which this poor man was thrown. But each one of us had our time with the world, the flesh, and the devil. As Paul says:
As for you, you were dead in your transgression and sins, when you followed the ways of this world, the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the Spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them […] (Eph 2:1-3 NIV)
But what God has done for us in Christ has been no less of a rescue then what Jesus did for this tortured gentile demoniac. For as Paul says:
He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col 1:14 NIV)
Here is the miracle of rescue from demons that every Christian has experienced. For every Christian has been brought out of the dark kingdom, into the beloved Son’s kingdom. Nothing less is required for anyone to become a Christian.
Well, it might be well and good for Jesus to be doing community service, but all this wasted pork was expensive. Verses 16-17:
16Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man – and told about the pigs as well. 17Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. (NIV)
And with these words, the townspeople were effectively saying to the man, “You are not worth many pigs.” And they were also saying to Jesus, “You are too expensive. You are bad for business.”
Many people do a similar thing to Jesus now. Jesus demands too much. He is too costly. Friends, we must understand that Jesus is indeed costly. He freely saves us, just like he saved this poor man, and he does so because of his grace as a gift, but to follow him will continue to cost us daily. Following Jesus costs us money, time, pains, difficulties—though these costs are far outweighed by the eternal benefits. But that is not the saddest thing in this account. It was not that they asked Jesus to leave that was so tragic, but that Jesus did what they asked and left them. Jesus honoured their refusal. For that is his way. Is that not hell? For hell is Jesus’ honouring the lifelong refusal of people to embrace his costly salvation, and to be left utterly without him and all his good gifts. “You don’t want me and my costly salvation?” Jesus says, “Fine, you will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of my glory when I come to be glorified among my holy people and marveled at among all those who believed.”
Son, have mercy on us. Grant that we not refuse you who speak to us. Grant rather that we learn from the rescued man’s response.
It is this quietened, calmed man, once more dressed and in his right mind, who shows us how we should respond to Christ’s salvation. Verse 18:
As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. (NIV)
This is a natural response of thanks. This gentile man pleads with Jesus, that he might be with him. For Jesus had clothed him, and to clothe someone was the way that you adopted someone. Here was gratitude. He wanted to be a disciple, to go with the saviour, and to get away from all the bad memories. But Jesus would not let him. Verse 19:
Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” (NIV)
Jesus says to him, “You cannot come with me. I have work for you to do. Go home. Go to your family. Go to your people. Go to those around you, and tell them what the Lord has done. Tell them about his mercy.”
You cannot have the comfort of my physical presence. But you have the comfort of my mercy. Now testify to your people about my mercy.
Now, this is very interesting, because up until this time in Mark’s Gospel, Jesus bids people to be quiet about what he has done for them (Mark 1:25, 44, 3:12). And afterwards he also does the same and quietens those he heals (Mark 5:43, 7:36, 8:26). But this man was a gentile going to gentiles. Jesus taking him with him would have impeded his work with the Jews, for whom he came. But while Jesus did not let the restored man come with him, through the man Jesus was announced to the ten gentile cities in that region. Verse 20:
So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. (NIV)
Notice how the man proclaims what “the Lord” had done for him. He proclaims what the Lord had done by proclaiming what Jesus had done. He proclaims the Lord’s mercy by proclaiming Jesus’ mercy. This man had made the equation that, Jesus is Lord, the foundational Christian creed. And that was the thing he announced to his family, friends, and people in the ten cities of the gentiles.
The man desired to be with Jesus. Instead he announced Jesus as Lord to his people. But the man’s desire to be with Jesus is a bit like Paul’s desire as he looked to his possible martyrdom. As Paul looked ahead and saw his impending death, his desire was kindled to be with the Lord.
Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far […]
Yet there was so much work to be done. The churches were in their infancy. The Lord’s mercy and what the Lord had done had not gone out. And so he said,
[…] but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith. (Philippians 1:22-25 NIV)
Paul looked ahead and saw how much better it was to be with Christ, yet he saw it was more necessary to remain.
How about you? Do you desire the better thing, to be with the Lord? You do well. This is every Christian’s hope. But do you see how necessary it is not to be with the Lord, but go back to your people? You are needed. It is more necessary for you to remain in the body. There is work to be done. There is still your people who need to know how much Jesus has done for you, how he has had mercy on you. The man not just went to his family, but to his people. He interpreted “your people” widely—the ten cities. What of you? What work has the Lord got for you? Long for heaven, yes, but see also the needs around you. Heaven can wait!
Let’s pray.
[1] Mark wrote ‘Gerasenes’ to refer to the town by the lake. ‘Gadarenes’ was a region about 6 miles from the city. It would be a bit like we might say, “You are entering Canterbury territory” when you go to Kingsgrove North, even though Canterbury a number of kilometers away.
[2] Matthew has “two men.”
[3] Matthew reports two demoniacs (Matt 8:28-34), while Mark and Luke record only one (Luke 8:26-39).