Pig Lessons (Mark 5:1-20)
There is an old story about a village that bought a fancy tower clock. Some time after it was installed, a visitor to the town discovered that all the people were sleeping during the day and working at night. When he asked them about this, they answered, “We have the most unique town in America. After we got our new clock, we began to notice that the sun kept rising earlier and earlier every morning. Finally the daytime hours were dark and the night hours were light. We are petitioning the President for special recognition as the only town in America with such a situation.”
What actually happened was the new clock began running slower and slower, all because sparrows were roosting inside it. And the sad fact is the people allowed themselves to be controlled by this manmade device without even checking it out. (Ruth Ann Ridley, “Learning to Live in the Limits,” Discipleship Journal, Jan/Feb 1983)
Now, that’s not unlike many people today. They unthinkingly allow themselves to be controlled by outside influences, whether it’s some “clock,” the world around them, or even Satan Himself. Then they wonder why their lives are so messed up.
What then is the answer for straightening out the mess? What can we do to make things right, or better yet to keep from being deceived in the first place?
Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to Mark 5, Mark 5, where Jesus deals with a man who is totally messed up with demonic influences.
Mark 5:1-5 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, 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. (NIV)
Now, according to the Talmud, which is an ancient commentary on the Old Testament Law, there were four characteristics of madness: walking [outside] at night; spending the night on a grave; tearing one’s clothes; and destroying what one was given. This man demonstrated all four characteristics. (Lane, p.182)
But he was more than insane, he was demon possessed! This man had allowed Satan’s legions to control his life, and it drove him mad.
Mark 5:6-7 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 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)
Or better, “I implore you BY GOD not to torture me.”
Mark 5:8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!” (NIV)
The demons in this man recognize Jesus’ superior power. He is kneeling before our Lord and begging not to be tortured, not so much the man himself, but the demons in him.
Mark 5:9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” (NIV)
Now, a Roman legion in Jesus’ day was about 6,000 soldiers. In other words, thousands of demons had entered this man and made his life miserable.
Mark 5:10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. (NIV)
They feared not having a definite place to stay.
Mark 5:11-13 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 evil 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. (NIV)
These pigs teach us a very valuable lesson. They clearly demonstrate that Satan is a destroyer. These demons had already destroyed a man’s dignity, his sanity, and eventually they would have destroyed his life¸ had Jesus not stopped them. Instead, they drive 2,000 pigs over the cliff, killing them all.
To Satan, a man is no different than a pig, just another animal. & If we surrender our lives to Satan and sin, we end up living and dying like animals (Wiersbe).
Jesus said, “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 10:10).
So, if you want a full life, then trust Jesus with your life, and DON’T LET SATAN DESTROY YOU. DON’T LET THE DEVIL HAVE THE LEAST BIT OF CONTROL EVEN OVER A SMALL PART OF YOUR LIFE. DON’T GIVE HIM EVEN ONE INCH, BECAUSE IF YOU DO, HE’LL END UP TAKING ALL NINE YARDS AND RUINING YOUR LIFE.
We don’t know how this man in Mark 5 ended up having so many demons in him – thousands of them! But we do know that such demonization is no accident. Demons don’t enter a person unless that person deliberately opens himself up to demonic influence.
In the Old Testament, the account of King Saul’s life shows us that little acts of rebellion invite evil spirits into our lives (1 Samuel 13:13-14; 15:22-23; 16:14). & In the New Testament, Ephesians 4 teaches us that unresolved anger gives Satan a beachhead in our lives, from which to wreck havoc (Ephesians 4:26-27). We don’t have to give Satan much of an opportunity, but if we give Him just a little bit, he will jump right in and take over.
Dale Hays, in Leadership journal, describes a trip he made to Haiti where he heard a Haitian pastor illustrate the need for total commitment to Christ.
He said, “A certain man wanted to sell his house for $2,000. Another man wanted very badly to buy it, but because he was poor, he couldn’t afford the full price. After much bargaining, the owner agreed to sell the house for half the original price with just one stipulation: he would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door.
“After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So first the owner went out found the carcass of a dead dog, and hung it from the nail he still owned. Soon the house became unlivable and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail.”
The Haitian pastor concluded, “If we leave the Devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ’s habitation.” (Dale A Hays, Leadership, Vol. 4, no. 2; www.PreachingToday.com)
Have you given Satan just one small peg in your life? Have you opened yourself up to demonic influence even through little acts of rebellion or unresolved anger? If you have, then I beg you, deal with that rebellion; deal with that anger before things get worse – much worse.
Charles Kraft says, “Demons are like rats that are attracted to garbage. The problem is the garbage, consisting of things like our persistent sinful behaviors, our reactions to our emotional wounds, and sinful generational influences and patterns. These are the issues for which we are responsible. When we deal with them, when we get rid of the garbage, then the rats won’t have anything to feed on, and it’s easy to make them go away.” (Stephen Seamands, Wounds That Heal: Bringing Our Hurts to the Cross, Intervarsity Press, p.93; www.PreachingToday.com)
Get rid of the garbage in your life and get rid of the rats. Ask Jesus to help you clean out the sin and anger that’s there. Then you won’t have to worry about opening yourself up to demonic influence, which will absolutely wreck your life. If you want a full and abundant life, then don’t let Satan destroy you.
More than that, DON’T LET SOCIETY DETAIN YOU. DON’T LET THE WORLD AROUND YOU TIE YOU DOWN. DON’T LET YOURSELF BE CHAINED WITH ITS SELFISH AND GREEDY ATTITUDES.
The people in the village were not concerned about the demonized man in Mark 5. They were concerned only for themselves. They were concerned only for their own comfort and income. They put the man in chains to try and keep him away. & When Jesus healed him, they were more concerned about the loss of their pigs than they were the health of the man.
Mark 5:14-17 hose 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. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. (NIV)
You see, the pigs represented a considerable income for the town. They raised the pigs to be sold at market in this Gentile section of the country. But when Jesus’ actions destroyed their lucrative source of income, they feared further losses should Jesus stay. That’s why they asked him to leave.
Again, the pigs teach us a very important lesson. Not only do they teach us that Satan is a destroyer. They teach us that the world is selfish & self-centered.
Warren Wiersbe says, “The destruction of the pigs revealed the spiritual condition of the people of that district: they would rather have their swine than have the Savior! Money was more important than the healing of [this man] or the salvation of their own souls” (Wiersbe, Bible Exposition Commentary).
You see, Jesus was coming to town to be a blessing to them. He could have healed more people, brought the good news of the Kingdom, and pushed away a lot more darkness. But the people would rather have their pigs than the power of Christ at work in their town, so they beg Him to leave. They were chained by their own self-interest & greed, and so are many people today.
On New Year’s Day a few years ago (2002), pedestrians robbed the body of a Las Vegas woman killed after she was hit by three vehicles. Las Vegas police said the first two vehicles that struck 42-year-old Lynette Spiller drove away. Then while Spiller’s body was pinned under the third car, people combed through her purse, wallet, and backpack. Detective Doug Nutton said one person later gave police Spiller’s identification card, saying it had been found elsewhere. Police said Spiller was jaywalking, but the drivers of the first two cars could be charged with felony hit-and-run. (“Passers-By Rob Dead Woman,” Associated Press, 1-03-02)
They didn’t want to bother with the problem. & Others took advantage of the problem.
We say to ourselves, “How terrible!” But it’s no more terrible than people ignoring the needs of others or even exploiting those needs to fill their own bank accounts.
Whenever money becomes more important than meeting the needs of people, or whenever money becomes more important than enjoying the presence of Christ, then we have chained ourselves with the selfish and self-centered attitudes of the world.
Please, don’t miss out on all that Christ wants to do for you and through you by putting your money ahead of Him. Please, if you want to enjoy a full and abundant life, then don’t let Satan destroy you, and don’t let society’s attitudes detain you.
Instead, TRUST THE SAVIOR TO DELIVER YOU. DEPEND ON CHRIST TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR LIFE. RELY ON HIM TO CHANGE YOU FROM THE INSIDE OUT.
That’s what Jesus did for the demonized man in Mark 5.
The only thing society could do was chain him up and lock him away, but even that didn’t do any good. Jesus, on the other hand, changed him from the inside out. On the outside (vs.15), he was “sitting there, dressed and in his right mind.” But on the inside, there had been a real change, as well.
Mark 5:18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. (NIV)
It’s the same language used in Mark 3:14 where Jesus appointed 12 as apostles to be “WITH HIM.” This man wanted to be “WITH Jesus” in His inner circle as one of His apostles. Unlike everybody else, this man wanted to get as close to Jesus as possible, but Jesus had other plans for him.
Mark 5:19-20 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.” 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)
“The Decapolis” is a Gentile region east of Galilee which includes 10 cities. & There, God used him to open people’s hearts to the Savior for when He later came to that same region. In Mark 7, Jesus goes into “the region of the Decapolis” where He heals a deaf man and gets a much better reception than what he got this time (Mark 7:31-37). At that time, Mark 7:37 says, “People were overwhelmed with amazement. ‘He has done everything well,’ they said. ‘He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.’”
When all society could do was chain a crazy man up, Jesus changed him from the inside out and then turned him loose to open the way for further ministry in his own community.
And Jesus can do the same for you and me. He can change us from the inside out and use us for His glory right here in our own community.
The movie, A Walk to Remember, based on the book by Nicholas Sparks, illustrates how one person’s life can impact an entire community. Jamie Sullivan (played by Mandy Moore) is the high school daughter of a widowed pastor in the small town of Beaufort, North Carolina. Though the “in-crowd” ridicules her for her conservative appearance and values, Jamie resolves to be her own person. The high school yearbook calls attention to her primary ambition in life: “To witness a miracle.”
Jamie is dying of leukemia. When Jamie befriends Landon Carter, one of those who mock her, her father and Landon’s friends are concerned. But Jamie pours her life into Landon, helping him study, rallying him to memorize his lines for a school play, and introducing him to the wonder of astronomy. During this period, Landon falls in love with Jamie.
Eventually they marry, but after a mere three months, Jamie dies. In honor of Jamie, Landon decides to attend college, where he distinguishes himself as a capable student. After graduation, he returns home to Beaufort. The first person he wants to see is Jamie’s father.
As the two sit down, Landon announces he’s been accepted into medical school.
Landon reaches into his backpack and pulls out a book of poetry and quotes that had originally belonged to Jamie’s mom. It’s one Jamie had given to Landon when she had been sick.
Landon says to Reverend Sullivan, “I want you to have it,” and handed him the dog-eared volume. Then Landon says, “I’m sorry she never got her miracle.”
The minister looks straight at Landon and says, “She did. It was you.” (A Walk to Remember, Warner Brothers, 2002, rated PG, written by Nicholas Sparks and Karen Janszen, directed by Adam Shankman, 3-minute scene beginning at 1:34:35)
Do you want to witness a miracle first in your own life and then in the lives of others?
Then trust Christ with your life. Let Him have full control. & Let Him do what only He can do for you. Let Him change you from the inside out. & Then let Him use you to open the way for Him to change the lives of others.
Don’t let Satan destroy you. Don’t let Society’s attitudes detain you. Instead, let the Savior deliver you and use you for His glory!
