Just prior to Chapter 5 Jesus calmed the wind and seas and the disciples said “Who then is this?” As the disciples approach land they find out in spades. In a way, all of chapter 5 involves people imprisoned and the ultimate action hero who comes to set them free. In verses 1 through 20 we have the incredible story of the man possessed by thousands of demons who was set free to share the gospel. In verses 25 through 34 we have the story of women imprisoned with a twelve year infirmity that is instantly healed. And in verses 21 and following we have the story of Jairus, whose daughter was held by the ultimate prison: death, whom Jesus raises.
It is the ultimate mission of our ultimate action hero to spring us all from the biggest prison of all: the prison of sin that keeps us away from God.
1
The area of the Gerasenes is on the south eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. It was part of the Decapolis, ten cities that were fairly independent of Rome and decidedly Gentile. The Scripture does not give us the reason why they landed there. We really don’t know if it was Jesus’ plan or if the boat was blown this direction by the storm of the previous night. But it doesn’t really matter.
2 Timothy 4:2 Proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or not
Wherever you find yourself that is your next assignment. This particular assignment was tragic and tough but well worth it!
2 – 5
Matthew tells us there were two men. It’s possible that only one did the talking, or that Mark (and Luke) focus on the worst of the two. This account should be absolutely astounding and revealing about the true nature of the master of this age and his tools: Satan and his demons. The world paints this picture of happiness through abandon and an “if it feels good, do it” mentality. The reality behind that mask is that Satan only wants to “steal, kill, and destroy” you.
But notice the life this man (or these men) lived: they spent their time in a graveyard, even as Satan is the symbol of death; he could not be restrained even as you cannot reason with or restrain evil, only destroy it; no one was strong enough to subdue him, even as we are not capable of battling this enemy of sin and death on our own; and finally we see him crying and cutting himself with stones. What complete misery this man must have been in. He would cry out, either out of pain or involuntarily and cut himself either as that is the nature of the demons: to destroy, or perhaps in some attempt to bleed them out. This man was unclean in three ways: he was a Gentile, he lived in a tomb, and he was demon possessed.
Powerful, unrestrainable and unreasonable power bent on evil and destruction. Into this man’s life comes an even more powerful Hero to rescue him.
6 – 8
Notice that as powerful as the demons are, they cannot help but kneel before Jesus, their creator. It’s possible that in the struggle for control the man himself came running but it was the demon who spoke. It’s possible too that the demon came to the shore to try and frighten Jesus away. Jesus told the demon to leave, and in response the demon says “what do we have in common?” (literally: “what to you and me?”). Satan and his demons have nothing in common with Jesus because in their rebellion they left all hope of ever being redeemed.
The demon uses Jesus’ full name, and the highest name for the Lord recorded in Mark’s gospel. “Most high God” was used in the Old Testament to signal God’s power over all idols. It was believed that by using someone’s full name you could control them. He was also trying to embarrass Jesus by calling Him the Son of God when it wasn’t time for Him to reveal that fully. Why had the demon not come out? Jesus was here dealing with multiplied demons who plead with Jesus not to “torture” or “torment” them. In Revelation 20 God will throw all of the demons in the Lake of Fire where they will indeed be tormented for all of eternity. They know their fate; they are merely trying to do as much damage as possible until they are arrested, and the sentence is carried out.
Jesus then turns the tables on this demon by asking its name:
9 – 10
It was believed that gods were regional and thus the plea not to send them out of the region. There is some evidence to that effect. Daniel 10:13 describes angels and demons as “princes” (Hebrew sarim: nobles). There, the “prince of the kingdom of Persia” is said to have hindered an angel from coming to Daniel until Michael one of the “chief princes” came to his rescue. So it is possible that demons claim some sort of geographical turf. Now the demon turns from defiance to pleading to negotiation.
11 – 13
This was Gentile area so it would not be unusual for them to herd pigs. Romans used pigs in their sacrifices. A typical herd was 150-300 head. Demons do not like to be outside of a host. We don’t know why that is. I suppose one could surmise that they lost something in the fall that gave them a sense of being clothed, some glory perhaps that departed when they rebelled against God?
Matthew 12:43-45 "When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it roams through waterless places looking for rest but doesn't find any. 44 Then it says, 'I'll go back to my house that I came from.' And when it arrives, it finds the house vacant, swept, and put in order. 45 Then off it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and settle down there. As a result, that man's last condition is worse than the first.”
For whatever reason, they ask to go into the pigs. The fact that there were 2,000 of them and all rushed into the water suggests two things: 1) There were at least 2,000 demons in the man (a Roman Legion is 6,000 soldiers) and 2) that the demons are and always will be bent on destruction. Notice Jesus gives them permission. For all of the enemy’s bluster, He too must submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The effect on the people who witnessed this is interesting.
14 – 17
Jesus valued one human life more than a giant herd of swine. The people apparently felt otherwise. They feared Jesus (“they were afraid”) but after seeing the man who had terrorized their town now safe and sound, and seeing all of the pigs lying dead in the water, decided they wanted nothing to do with Him just like the demons. Perhaps they valued pigs more than the man. Sometimes the price of deliverance is too high because it means giving up our old ways, changing our value system, and putting our lordship in the hands of another. Sometimes we would rather have survival strategies for dealing with our world as it is, however messed up, than risk siding with such a powerful person who can greatly rock our world. They might have thought Jesus was bad for business, or that perhaps He might next turn His attention to other things the people were doing. Their own “gods” could be controlled. Jesus could not, and that’s scary. Whatever the case, they missed the chance of an eternity to have Jesus heal and provide hope.
18 – 20
This man, who had known nothing but torment for who knows how long, sees the reaction of the people of the region and wants to go with the One who set Him free. It’s a completely natural reaction and a bit surprising that Jesus refuses. Why? We surmise that this man was a Gentile (though the text doesn’t tell us). Jesus will not stay here as He was sent (Matt 15:24) "…only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But He will leave a man behind who could very effectively witness to the Gentiles of the power and purpose of this Jewish Rabbi (to do battle and defeat the undefeatable, to heal and restore those in torment to sanity and peace). What better way to get the Gentiles ready for the likes of Peter and Paul!
So the man went away and immediately began proclaiming Jesus in the Decapolis, which bore fruit as many followed Him from that region (Matthew 4:25).
Conclusions
Who is Jesus? As C.S. Lewis says of Aslan (a type of Jesus) in The Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe: “He's wild, you know. Not like a tame lion.” "Ooh!" said Susan, "I'd thought he was a man. Is he--quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion." "That you will, dearie, and no mistake," said Mrs. Beaver, "if there's anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they're either braver than most or else silly." "Then he isn't safe?" said Lucy. "Safe?" said Mr. Beaver. "Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you."
Over and over in the gospels what we see is that Jesus is Lord. He is powerful and loose in the wild. He doesn’t come into a life to play nice; He comes to transform you radically. So how do you react when He wants to free you from things that hold you captive and make you do stuff you don’t want to do?
Do you try to contain Jesus, push Him away, negotiate with him or want Him to stay away from areas of your life? Do you react like the nearby residents who are more worried about keeping the status quo, even if it is a pretty sad state of affairs? My challenge to you is to let Him wild and loose in your life to break open the prisons, heal the sin, strengthen the weaknesses, repair the brokenness—wreak havoc if He needs to. Your freedom is worth His life. How much is it worth to you?
The common theme we are going to see in these three incidents of Jesus setting people free is that they bowed before Him. He is Lord. Will we let Him be Lord in all of our lives?
Jesus said: “I have come to set the captives free.” (Luke 4:14). We are all captives in one way or another whether to sins, or our past, or some weakness or plot of the enemy. Jesus can set you free—are you willing?
