According to the National Retail Federation, Americans will spend a projected $8.8 billion dollars on the holiday called Halloween in 2019. Almost 30 million will dress up and the average person will spend over $86 to celebrate.
In fact, I have a neighbor who decorates more for Halloween than any of us for Christmas on my street. My family and I celebrated Halloween. Our kids have dressed up as Star Wars characters and pumpkins throughout the years. We have nearly always celebrated the day with some kind of Fall Festival or Trunk or Treat. As a child, I “trick or treated” my way throughout the neighboring streets in my little town in western Kentucky. So I am not about to demonize all the fun surrounding Halloween.
Yes, the roots of Halloween have to do with pagan rituals but today, it’s more a night to celebrate. No, not everything connected with the modern celebration is all fun and games. Any believer who is sensitive to the Holy Spirit will pull back on a number of elements associated with this celebration.
While many believers, refrain from any celebration of the holiday, I want to pause to consider this: Is There Such a Thing as Real Evil? In a time where we fantasize about goblins, witches, and zombies, there is a real supernatural evil and I want you to be aware of its presence.
I want you to meet the man whom history has called the Gadarene.
Today’s Scripture
They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.
14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. (Mark 5:1-20)
This is the longest account in the Bible of an exorcism of demons. Jesus no more than steps off the boat then He is confronted with a demon-possessed man. Mark tells us this in his quick action narrative by the word “immediately” in verse two. Mark has just finished telling the astonishing story where the winds and sea obeying the command of Jesus Christ. Now, he tells us the remarkable story where a man not possessed by one demon but a whole army of demons confronts Jesus.
This is Mark’s most spectacular exorcism as we learn the man is possessed by multiple demons, we learn the demon’s name, and we see the destruction of a herd of pigs. Mark is not alone in telling this story as Matthew (8:28-34) and Luke (8:26-39) includes it in his Gospel as well. But Mark devotes some 330 words to it where Matthew’s account is shorter, a mere 135 words.
1. A Description of an Evil Man
“And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.” (Mark 5:2-5)
Here we have a brief description of a desperate and evil man. He is described as unclean. This doesn’t mean he was dirty (though he probably was). It means he was ceremonially unclean for religious purposes. If you had contact with this man, you would have to go through certain ceremonial procedures before having contact with others. He was unclean because demons had “swallowed him up.” This man lived among cave tombs. So he was an outcast and lived an austere, embarrassing life.
His strength was such that not even chains could bind him. Today, we think of people being hauled off by orderlies in a straightjacket. This man’s strength was overwhelming: “for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces” (Mark 5:4). This verse gives us a snapshot of the complexity of evil. The multiple demons gave this man a strength that not even handcuffs and shackles could subdue him. In fact, this man’s strength is repeated twice in the text (verse 3 & 4). There was no limit to the damage he could create to himself and others.
In contrast to Mark, Luke mentions demons twenty-three times in his Gospel while most of Jesus’ demonic encounters are early in the Gospel (around the region of Galilee). So you’ll bump into exorcisms all over the place as you read through the gospels. The spirit world is minimized in the West today. We explain demons away with words and theories. At times, we call mental illness and perhaps, at times, rightfully so. Many have dismissed the biblical accounts where Jesus casts our demons as nothing more than simple superstitions. Rudolf Bultmann, a noted scholar of a liberal bent for New Testament studies in the middle part of 20th century, felt these accounts were the stuff of legend and hyperbole. Bultmann felt that no one can take advantage of modern medicine and technology and still believe in a world inhabited by demons. Yet, if you and I read this account while living in Third-world countries, we would have fewer problems with such accounts.
It is important to note two observations in regard to evil.
1.1 Evil Enslaves but also Empowers
“He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil” (1 Timothy 3:6).
For just a moment, let me pull back and look at the overall biblical portrait of Satan. Satan is not the opposite of God. Instead, Satan is the opposite of the angels, or more specifically Michael, the archangel. Satan is the leader, or the dictator, of the demons. But he is not anything close to godlike in his powers. Again, Luke writes to show us the superiority of Jesus over Satanic powers. Jesus regularly cast out demons. Simply a demon-possessed individual is where an evil force exercises control and authority over the person. Demon possession goes well beyond ordinary temptation.
“Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil” (Ephesians 4:26-27).
The anger that drives you to compete in your career to better yourself in the competition against others, also empowers you. But, it will also enslave you.
Evil is when you make anything more important than Jesus Himself. Evil is the pride in your educational accomplishments or your affluence empowers you to achieve. Yet, it will also enslave you. Chains, shackles, and handcuffs could not contain this man’s evil. The evil you toy with will empower you as it did this man – no one possessed greater strength than he. Yet, it will also enslave. The Bible describes evil as inside all of us.
1.2 The Gradual Nature of Evil
This man did not find himself among the tombs over night. Instead, he gradually was overtaken by evil. First, evil will empower you over time but it will surely enslave you. Second, evil is gradual. You can see the enslavement of the man to his evil desires in story. We are told that he continually cried out for help in verse five. His behavior was self-destructive as he often cut “himself with stones.” (verse 5).
This is the proverbial frog in the kettle. Do you know this story? Kids, don’t try this at home! How do you boil a frog alive? The idea behind this is you put a frog into boiling water, the frog jumps out. But if you place the frog in room temperature water and turn the heat up to a boil slowly, the frog is cooked to death. Evil will come over gradually if you’re not careful.
Just a few chapters later, Jesus encounters a young boy who is also demon-possessed. The young boy’s similar self-destructive nature is described in Mark 9:22: “And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us” (Mark 9:22). Only this boy self-destructive nature is owed to epilepsy (Matthew 17:15) rather than demon possession.
Back in chapter five, Mark’s vocabulary is raw and brutal. His description is more fitting for an animal than a human. The man among the tombs was insane… ostracized… and had totally destroyed his personality. His hair is wild. His wrists are bloody. His is enraptured in fury as his arms flail and his voice screams. He was a terror to himself and anyone around him. Even while he was living he was consigned to the home of the dead. Seeing this man coming near you would have been the scary equivalent of visiting a cemetery on a dark, Halloween night.
1.3 How Do I Open Myself Up to Demon Possession?
It’s very simple: “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8). The simple way to see your life influenced by demons is to invite them in. You can be demon-possessed by opening your life up to demons and evil by simple acts of sin. Sin is the breaking of God’s law but it is also the opening of your life’s door allowing Satan and demons to enter.
If you want Satan to enter your life, just go into unrepentant, habitual sin. If you want Satan to have influence over your life then start lying, cheating, and being dishonest in school and business. If you want Satan to have influence over your life then continue in pre-marital sex, pornography, homosexual sexual relations, and adultery. If you want Satan to have influence over your life then worship a false Jesus or engage in false religion. If you want Satan to have influence over your life then get drunk or get involved in idle gossip. Every person who has not experienced conversion is under the power and sway of Satan. Jesus owns Christians, not Satan. Satan cannot own the body and mind of a Christian, but he can influence you. When you engage in these things, then the love of God seems distant and you’re confused. Sin is not just breaking God’s rule, but it’s picking teams. Yet, when it comes to the forces of evil, God doesn’t have His hands tied and His back to the wall.
Back to our story now. Can you see the Disciples looking at the man? Then gawk at one another. They are horrified. They at once want to run away or go back into the boat. The best way to handle such a man is to avoid him. Make no mistake; this man is in a desperate situation. He is possessed by superhuman forces capable of catastrophic destruction.
And Jesus’ power to subdue Him is no less astonishing than when He calmed the winds and seas in Mark 4.
1. A Description of an Evil Man
2. The Description of a Divine Encounter
Verse six arrests our attention: “And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him.” (Mark 5:6)
The demon-possessed man runs to meet Jesus. What will he do? Will there by a physical fight? Will this man try to physically harm Jesus? Will the two men talk? Surely, the Disciples’ heads are spinning with questions. They still are attempting to process Jesus’ power over nature when they meet a man who explodes with terror for all near him.
The intrigue of verse six is only heightened in verse seven, as the man knows the identity of Jesus from a long ways off: “And crying out with a loud voice, he said, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me’” (Mark 5:7). The man runs to Jesus and falls down before him. From his knees, he cries out Jesus’ name and His title. And then he begs Jesus not to torment him.
Matthew adds “before the time” in Matthew 8:29. The demons even invoke the name of God in order to attempt to control Jesus. Yet, when confronted with the Son of God, the demons cower in fear. In verse seven, we learn that the demon knows the identity of Jesus.
Mark had earlier introduced his readers to another demon-possessed man: “And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God’” (Mark 1:23-24)?
On both occasions, the demons know the identity of Jesus without any introductions. Jesus asks the demon his name not because He doesn’t know but because we don’t know the demon’s identity. How can you explain this other than a supernatural presence of evil centered in Satan himself?
Keep reading in verse 9: “And Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘My name is Legion, for we are many’” (Mark 5:9)?
The demons speak instead of the man. Now, movies go crazy here and I can imagine what this may sound like as well as you can. While Hollywood can add their special effects, this is real.
They are Legion, which is a military term borrowed from Latin. A legio designated the largest troop-unit in the Roman army, some 5,600 soldiers. The demon’s name is a graphic description of the multiple possession of the man. This is a chilling reminder that the person before Jesus is great in power, great in number, and great in destruction. Jesus is not confronted with one demon but an army of them. Yet, the demons offer no challenge to the authority of Jesus but only plead with Him for mercy.
Notice the man fades into the story’s background while demons carry on the conversation with Jesus. Only when Jesus has thrown the demon out of the human, will Jesus begin to speak to the person.
“And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, ‘Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.’ So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea” (Mark 5:10-13).
No one could question the divine transformation as they saw two thousand (2,000) pigs run off into the sea and drown. This was a visible demonstration of the Son of God’s power.
The narrative poses a moral question. Two thousand pigs represented someone’s source of income. The loss of two thousand pigs was economic catastrophe for someone. Yet, the story never addresses this problem. We are never told the reaction of the pig farmer.
On another occasion, Jesus encounters a man who has a withered hand. And Jesus’ heals the man. Only Jesus’ performs the miracle on the Sabbath. According the religious of Jesus’ day, this was a “no-no.” Jesus’ reply is instructive for us: “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:11-12). Just as it was with the religious rules of the Sabbath, so it is with the economic prosperity of others… Mark intends for us to realize that the rescue and restoration of one person is more important than the loss of income.
“The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs” (Mark 5:14-16).
I have been to a small cliff on the northwest section of the Sea of Galilee that purports to be the very place where these pigs may have run off the cliff. We cannot be sure but it fits the story of Mark’s gospel. I remember now reading this story with some of you while we were there.
When the herdsmen run to the nearest city to tell others, a crowd gathers. Instead of celebrating the man’s transformation, the crowd that has gathered asks Jesus to leave. They are afraid of Him. If you asked them, many people throughout North Texas would love to see a miracle testifying to the power of God. Today’s story is a cold shower for religious pipe dreams. It wasn’t the dead pigs that scared the crowd, but the man sitting in his right mind (see verse 15). God’s power is scary for many.
“And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region” (Mark 5:16-17).
The crowd of people asks Jesus to leave and Jesus does so without contesting their desire. Jesus simply leaves as he reenters the boat.
“As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him but said to him, ‘Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.’ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled” (Mark 5:18-20).
Jesus commands this man and is for the first time talking to the man and not the demons. He commands him to share what Jesus did for Him. Perhaps He commanded this man to share because of His absence. On other occasions, Jesus commands others to silence. Yet, this man is commanded to share. While the people wished to banish Jesus, Jesus is nevertheless present in the message of the Gospel. Soon His followers will tell the message of Jesus just as this man did.
I need to pose two questions that are in your minds:
2.1 What is Demon Possession?
The Bible describes demon possession always as a demon having a personality, which is distinct from the host. The demon controls the person’s (host’s) personality. In numerous passages describing Jesus’ power over demon, the person is given little attention in the story.
Demon possession is alien occupation. It’s deeper than psychological problems. I am reluctant to publically identify a laundry list of examples of demon possessions. I would say that you see demon possession when you see a manifestation of evil that is so in your face and is so controlling of a person’ life. When you encounter such evil powers, the Bible says you overcome with the Gospel: “And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:11).
It’s the Gospel that overcomes demons. And the usual way, demons are killed is not in some sensational thing you see on religious television.
2.2. Isn’t a Belief in Demons Primitive?
Educated, contemporary people come to the Bible and think that a belief in demon or demon possession is primitive. Such archaic thoughts need to be discarded because of modern psychiatry and modern medicine. Now we understand diseases, mental illness, and conditions such as epilepsy. People in the Bible didn’t understand such things and attributed all of the unknown to demons. They were simple and naïve and we are educated. Yet, such a view fails to take into account the Bible’s nuanced approach to the medical understanding of the day:
Look carefully at Matthew 4:24: “So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them” (Matthew 4:24). Matthew shares Jesus’ wide-ranging healing power over all who were brought to Him. This is a rather complete list of illnesses. It is obvious from this account that they knew the difference between epilepsy and mental illness. The Bible understands the difference between mental illness, epilepsy, and demon possession. So my answer to the question, “Isn’t a belief in demons primitive?” is no. No, a belief in demon is not something to be discarded with the advent of modern science and medical technology. If we are honest with ourselves, evil is still very much present with us today. Modern technology aside, evil is just as supernatural as it was in Jesus’ day.
3. How Do You Defeat the Evil in Your Life?
3.1 How It’s Not Done
In Luke’s second volume, the book of Acts, Luke writes about seven Jewish exorcists who decided to make some extra money by going around and casting out demons. Demons and demon possession is rare when you exit the Gospels and enter into the remaining pages of the New Testament. But these seven Jewish exorcists see Paul do it and figure they’ll give it a try. Watch carefully how not to do this:
“Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, ‘I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims’” (Acts 19:13).
Notice the demons reply back to these men: But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you” (Acts 19:15)?
Because the demons did not recognize their authority, here’s the result: “And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.” (Acts 19:16) Now, I’m not an expert of fighting and all things of the World Wresting Entertainment, but when you enter a fight with clothes on and leave without clothes… I’ll let you make the call. These men fundamentally failed to take into account they must cast out demons not for entertainment… …but they must do so from a life that has been transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. To cast out demons, you must do so in the name of Jesus and under the authority of Jesus Christ.
3.2 How It’s Done
“And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right…” (Mark 5:15).
The change had taken place. This man was not the same. Jesus had dealt with evil exactly where it was – in our hearts. The Jews thought the biggest problem of the day was the Romans. Jesus invaded Roman territory (outside of Judea) and instead of killing them, He healed one of them. Jesus knew evil was out there (in the Romans) but inside of us.
The line between good and evil is right in the middle of the human heart. Jesus’ power over the demons needs your attention.
Throughout the writings of the Ancient Near East, you find numerous accounts of exorcism. Scholars have discovered in Egypt Greek documents purporting to be magical formulas. This magic consisted of convoluted formulas and spells designed to overtake demonic opponents. Jesus does none of this. Watch His words in verse thirteen: “So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out, and entered the pigs, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea” (Mark 5:13).
There is no hint of magic in the text nor is there a spell spoken. Only the supernatural authority of Jesus is on display. With Jesus there is no elaborate protocol. His power over the demons doesn’t arrive because of certain words He utters. His power over the demons isn’t in words but in Himself. He calls on no higher power. He never says, “By the most high God…” His very word is power. Jesus’ power is naked, raw, divine power. Jesus doesn’t work up a sweat and He doesn’t roll up His sleeves. He is the higher power. He is power Himself.
When an army of demons meets Jesus, there is no struggle. There is another day coming when Jesus will finally defeat all demons and all evil forces. The destruction of the demons into the sea, point to the end time judgment of all Satanic and evil forces: “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while” (Revelation 20:1-3).
Evil is real no matter what you may think of Halloween. Evil is no read herring but it is something that you must confront.
The evil in you can be defeated by Jesus today. Jesus is present here this morning. He is present in the message of the Gospel.
The Gospel is not something you do. The Gospel is an act Jesus did. The Gospel is the actions of Jesus when He lived sinlessly, died and rose on Easter, and provided a perfect substitute for your evil. Jesus is here to rescue you just as He did the man in today’s story.
By the end of the Gospel of Mark, Jesus takes the place of the man who was possessed. By the end of Mark, Jesus is without clothes. By the end of Mark, Jesus is bleeding. By the end of Mark, Jesus is in the tomb. Jesus wipes out evil without wiping out us. When you see how much it cost Jesus, you’ll see how He can heal you from your evil. You’ll see His love for you.
