Expelling The Enemy Series

The Healing Touch of Jesus

Expelling the Enemy  

Mark 5:1-20

Introduction

In our text today is a frightening scene that demonstrates the power of our enemy and also the power of Jesus. There are likely many questions we have for this text that are unanswerable.

This has been a long night for the disciples. At the end of Mark 4 when the evening came, Jesus told them to get in a boat and go to the other side. It was here that so furious a storm came that the disciples thought the might die. Mark 4:39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. This left the disciples in awe - even the wind and the waves obey him!

If the disciples thought they were terrorized on the lake, they were about to face another terrorizing encounter.

Mark 5:2-5

When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For 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 him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

Notice that in this moment only Jesus gets out of the boat! Barclay: “It was part of the lake-side where there were many caves in the limestone rock, and many of these caves were used as tombs in which bodies were laid. At the best of times it was an eerie place; as night fell it must have been grim indeed.” Jesus was stepping into an unclean place. This is not Jewish land; the people were not Jews. They were keeping pigs -Jews regarded as unclean. Graveyards were considered places of contamination. For a Jew, contact with the dead, or with graves, made you unclean. “The man who rushes out to meet Jesus is about as unclean as you could get” (Wright). In this dark and frightening setting we learn three realities.

1. There Is An Enemy (Mark 5:6-10)

Mark 5:6-10

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God’s name don’t torture me!” For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!” Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

This man was suffering from a powerful demon living in him. Swindoll: “…This time in Israel’s history was marked by unprecedented demonic activity; more people than ever had become demonized - personally enslaved by a demonic spirit.” I think of demon possession as something that happened in 1st century - but I do not discount the work of Satan today. 

The Bible is clear that Satan is active in our world today. 

John 10:10 “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”

John 8:44 “…He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

1 Peter 5:8 “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

This text tells us some things about the enemy:

-He is strong - he is able to captivate this man. He does not come out when Jesus first instructs him to.

-He hurts - this man is cut, tortured, isolated.

-He is an army - “Legion” - 6,000 Roman soldiers

-He claims a territory

-He is aware of the identity of Jesus

2. There is A Savior (Mark 5:11-15)

Mark 5:11-15

A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When 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.