Jesus Confronts 6,000 Demons Series

GOSPEL OF MARK: GOD’S SERVANT IN ACTION

JESUS CONFRONTS 6,000 DEMONS

A. Mark 5:1-20 (READ) (“LEGION” = 6,000)

ILLUSTRATION:

One night when I was a kid my little brother Johnny and I were riding with my older brother Alvin and a friend of his down a country road when we came upon an old CEMETERY. Alvin stopped the car and asked his friend, “Isn’t this the CEMETERY that has the blue light that jumps from headstone to headstone?” His friend Jimmy acknowledged that it was. So, Alvin

suggested that we get out of the CAR and check it out.

I don’t know if you’ve been to a CEMETERY at NIGHT, but it’s just a little CREEPY—especially for a KID. There was just the MOONLIGHT. We all got out of the car and started walking a little way into the CEMETERY looking for a BLUE LIGHT jumping around. Then Alvin said to

Johnny and me, “You two go look over on that side, and Jimmy and I will check-out this side.

So, Johnny and I reluctantly took a few steps to the right when suddenly Alvin and Jimmy, who were five-years older than me, took off RUNNING to the CAR. Now, they were hoping to get to the CAR and TAKE OFF before we got there, but let me tell you, in a moment of FRIGHT—a FAT BOY can RUN pretty FAST.

B. Throughout Mark’s GOSPEL we have seen Jesus confronting DEMON-POSSESSION.

1. The first confrontation that Jesus had with a demon-possessed man was in a SYNAGOGUE—a place of WORSHIP (Mark 1:21ff), and here we find Jesus CONFRONTING a demon-possessed man at a

CEMETERY.

a. The Devil doesn’t care WHO you are or WHERE you are, his INFLUENCE is wide-spread.

b. In fact, every time we are TEMPTED, we feel the DEVIL’S INFLUENCE.

COMMENT:

We all STRUGGLE with SIN. Satan is out there trying to DESTROY us, and he will ATTACK us where we are most VULNERABLE. We know that PAINFULLY well.

2. But there are times when Satan moves into one’s LIFE and causes even the most GODLY person to

commit VILE acts.

COMMENT:

Do you think King David, a man after God’s own HEART, ever IMAGINED that he would COMMIT ADULTERY and then CONSPIRE to have his lover’s HUSBAND KILLED so he could

take her for his WIFE?

Do you think the Apostle Peter, one of Jesus’ BEST FRIENDS, ever IMAGINED that he would OPENLY DENY even KNOWING Jesus the night He was TRIED and EXECUTED on the CROSS?

3. Have you ever COMMITTED a SIN of which you are DEEPLY ASHAMED and you just knew that

you, of all people, would never even DREAM of doing anything like that, but you did? (Yea, me, too.)

COMMENT:

In our STUDY this morning, we will see the EFFECTS of Satan’s INFLUENCE in a man’s life. Whether by DEMON POSSESSION or INTENSE TEMPTATION, Satan and his FORCES of

EVIL can INFLUENCE us do some of the most UNGODLY THINGS.

But we will also see that regardless of how POWERFUL Satan is, Jesus Christ is infinitely more POWERFUL John writes, “. . . the One who is in US is more powerful than the one who is in the world”- 1 John 4:4b. This INFINITE TRUTH is seen ever so clearly in our text this morning.

MESSAGE:

ILLUSTRATION:

Dusk was quickly approaching. Jesus and the apostles were in their BOATS crossing the Sea of Galilee. Just moments before, “Jesus had CALMED a FIERCE STORM that had FRIGHTENED the DISCIPLES, some of whom are SEASONED FISHERMEN, who thought

they were going to DROWN”- Mark 4:35-41.

The BOATS sale closer and closer to shore as the SUN sets in the DISTANCE. The water is GLASSY SMOOTH, having just become that way at the spoken WORD of the Son of God. The DISCIPLES are probably deep in their own THOUGHTS, still mulling over the AMAZING

MIRACLE that has just taken place.

Suddenly, the quiet LAPPING of the WATER on the SHORE is interrupted by a PIERCING SCREAM coming from the CEMETERY. It sounds HUMAN and yet, UNEARTHLY. Seemingly, out of nowhere, a WOUNDED, NAKED MAN—HAIR MATTED, EYES WILD, BROKEN CHAINS RATTLING from his WRISTS and ANKLES—runs up to

Jesus on the SHORE and THROWS himself down at His feet.

“What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” He SHOUTED! “Swear to God that you won’t TORTURE me.” “What is your NAME?” Jesus asked. “My name is LEGION,” he replied, “For we are MANY.”

COMMENT:

Here was a man whom had Satan’s DEMONIC FORCES take over his life, causing him to

be an OUTCAST living in the TOMBS outside of TOWN.

What do you think he was like before the DEVIL took over? Jesus talks about his “FAMILY” in v. 19. Could he have been a loving HUSBAND and a caring FATHER at one