Following Jesus (5)
Scott Bayles, pastor
Scripture: Mark 5:1-20
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 1/29/2017
For the past few weeks, we’ve been following in the footsteps of Jesus through the Gospel of Mark.
Thus far, we’ve witnessed the baptism of Jesus. We’ve seen a man lowered through the ceiling so that Jesus could heal him. We’ve watched as Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath in defiance of the religious elite. And last Sunday, Mark 4 ended with the story of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee. Terror struck his follower—many of whom were veteran fishermen. They looked around and found peril. They looked within and found panic. But they failed to look to Jesus and find peace. Even in the midst of the storm, they could have had faith in Jesus’s plans, presence, and power and so can we.
That brings us to our passage for today. Mark 5 tells of a man possessed, a legion of demons, and a herd of suicidal pigs. Before we dig into this story, let me point out that the Bible treats demon possession as a real issue. This man is not just deranged or suffering from mental illness nor is this encounter just symbolic of evil in the world today. The Bible presents demon possession as a sober reality.
Unfortunately, most Americans’ demonology is shaped primarily by the 1973 cult classic The Exorcist or the CW’s wildly popular series Supernatural, neither of which are very consistent with a biblical worldview.
I like what C.S. Lewis wrote in the forward to his satirical novel, The Screwtape Letters: “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”
So, with that thought in mind, if you have a Bible or an app on your phone, open up to Mark 5, which begins with these words: “So they arrived at the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus climbed out of the boat, a man possessed by an evil spirit came out from a cemetery to meet him” (Mark 5:1-2 NLT).
Matthew tells us that there were actually two demon-possessed men here in this Gerasene graveyard. Mark just focused on the one doing all the talking. But, I see a progression in the rest of this passage that can be summed up in three words—destruction, deliverance, and deployment. These three words encapsulate the experience of these demon-possessed men. Their ordeal begins with destruction.
• DESTRUCTION
It seems many today don’t give the devil his due. In fact,
ILL. I read a story about a church where Sunday morning services were going very smoothly when suddenly a flash of light and smoke appeared in front of the pulpit followed by a loud "BOOM". When the smoke cleared, the astonished congregation saw a red figure complete with horns, pitchfork and tail. Immediately, panic set in. People crowded through the doors, trampling each other in their rush to get away. Satan watched the retreat with great glee, but his mood was disturbed by the sight of one man still lounging comfortably in his pew. "Do you not know who I am?” Satan thundered. The man's reply was nonchalant, "Sure I do." Satan was puzzled. "Do you not fear me?" The man replied, "Nope." Satan stammered, "Why not?" The man snorted, "What for? I been married to your sister for 35 years!"
It’s easy for us to make light of Satan when our mental picture of him is a caricature. But what Mark describes here is no laughing matter. He writes:
This man lived in the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. Whenever he was put into chains and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones. (Mark 5:3-5)
It was still dark when they landed on the shore of a cemetery and as soon as Jesus disembarked this wild man ran up to him. This had to be an eerie experience for the disciples as their nerves were already shot from the storm on the lake. Luke tells us that he didn’t have any clothes on and that he was “driven by the demon” (Luke 8:29). He made his dwelling among the dead. He was defiled, depraved and desperate! Satan loves to distort and destroy the image of God in people and that’s just what he did to this man.
Satan had wrecked him and society couldn’t reform him. His problems couldn’t be solved by social programs or a psychologist. Self-help programs didn’t help because he was self-destructive. Nothing could restrain him. His lifestyle was destroying him. And he never stopped crying and cutting himself. In short, he was hopeless and helpless, isolated and empty, trapped and tormented…and he needed someone to deliver him.
This is what Satan does in our lives—whether it’s through possession, oppression or a willing surrender to his influence. It’s not likely that any of us would ever be possessed by a demon; it’s not as common as Sam and Dean Winchester would like us to believe. In fact, I’m convinced that God allowed situations like this in an isolate part of the world, during the New Testament just so that Jesus could demonstrate his power over Satan.
But notice how the demons respond to seeing Jesus. Mark writes: “With a shriek, he screamed, ‘Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?’” (Mark 5:7 NLT).
This was a shriek of fear and rebellion against Jesus. Just like this demon, many in our society are screaming at God, the church, and Christian values, “Why are you interfering with me? Get out of my life!” When people reject Jesus and his authority, they put themselves on the side of demons. The more we allow sin and Satan to get a foothold in our lives, the more destructive he can be.
Never underestimate Satan’s destructive power. The Bible calls him “the destroyer” (Revelation 9:11) because that’s what he does. The worst part is that he gets us to do it to ourselves. The two men in the Gerasene graveyard were no doubt extreme example of what Satan can do, but Satan would do the same to each one of us if he could. Thankfully, their story doesn’t end here.
Fortunately, these demon-possessed men experience deliverance.
• DELIVERANCE
These demons instantly recognized Jesus and called him by name. So Jesus responds by demanding the demon’s name. And the demon replied, “My name is Legion, because there are many of us inside this man” (Mark 5:9 NLT).
A Roman legion consisted of 6,000 highly trained soldiers, implying that this man had an army of evil spirits inside him. I can only imagine the anxiety and anguish they inflicted on him. It’s no wonder he cried out and cut himself night and day. But then something strange and revealing happens.
Mark says, “And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area” (Mark 5:9 NIV). Luke elaborates on this, saying they “begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss” (Luke 8:31 NIV). The Abyss is described in Revelation as the deepest, darkest pit of Hades. Jude describes it a prison of darkness where demons await the Day of Judgement. In Revelation 20:3, we discover that Jesus has since locked and sealed the Abyss until the Day of Judgment.
The point is—these demons are terrified of Jesus. They knew they were outmatched the moment he set foot on the shore. An entire army of evil spirits cowered before Christ. They didn’t prepare for battle; rather, they fell to their knees and begged for mercy. This underscores the reality that even demons are not atheists or agnostics. As James says, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder” (James 2:19 NIV).
This is where the story gets even stranger. Mark writes:
There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby. “Send us into those pigs,” the spirits begged. “Let us enter them.” So Jesus gave them permission. The evil spirits came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd of about 2,000 pigs plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water. (Mark 5:11-13 NLT)
This passage raises a whole classroom of questions. Why did Jesus grant their request? Why did the pigs immediately run off the cliff to their doom? What happened to the demons after the pigs drowned? Did they find someone else to torment or did they wind up back in the Abyss? And was this the first recorded case of deviled ham?
Whatever questions we might have, one thing is clear—Jesus demonstrated supreme authority and ability. These demons couldn’t do anything without his permission. We make a mistake when we imagine Satan and Jesus as two equal and opposite forces. They aren’t! Satan may seek our destruction, but Jesus brings deliverance!
As news spread, people from the nearby town and surrounding countryside rushed out to see what had happened. Mark writes, “A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons. He was sitting there fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid” (Mark 5:15 NLT).
Put yourself in this man’s shoes for moment. For a long time, this man was driven by demons, dysfunctional, depressed and a danger to himself and others. But then he met Jesus and everything changed. Through Jesus, he experienced deliverance. Jesus still delivers. He still changes lives.
It doesn’t matter what demons you wrestle with—factual or figurative—Jesus can set you free. Maybe you’re wrestling demons of abandonment, abuse, or addiction. Maybe you face debt, divorce, drunkenness or depression. “You have bills you can’t pay, grades you can’t make, people you can’t please, whiskey you can’t resist, pornography you can’t refuse, a career you can’t escape, a past you can’t shake, and a future you can’t face.” And the reality is—by ourselves, we aren’t strong enough to defeat our demons. But a legion of demons trembled at the sight of Jesus and fled at this command. He delivered these two demoniacs in a seaside cemetery, and he can deliver us too.
Finally, after undergoing destruction and deliverance, these once-possessed men enjoy deployment.
• DEPLOYMENT
After what happened, the towns people panicked. They could handle a couple of demon-possessed people living in the graveyard, but a man who could cast out demons and drive a herd of pigs into the sea terrified them. So the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and just leave their little community alone.
Being the gentleman He is, Jesus respected their wishes. Then we read:
As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. But Jesus said, “No, go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been.” So the man started off to visit the Ten Towns of that region and began to proclaim the great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at what he told them. (Mark 5:18-20 NLT)
It’s interesting that Jesus honored the request of the people to leave them alone but denied the request of a disciple who wanted to spend time with Him. It’s because Jesus had a greater purpose for him. Jesus sent him out on deployment—a man with a mission. He had a story to tell—the most dramatic before and after story ever—and he would be more effective sharing his story at home than out on the road with Jesus.
Think about that. If he went with Jesus and told strangers about all that Jesus did for him, people could dismiss him as a liar or a lunatic. But if he went home to his own family, friends and neighbors—people who knew him and knew what he was like before—and told them about Jesus, those people would be amazed and more apt to believe. He could reach a whole community with the message of God’s goodness and grace, where previously Jesus wasn’t welcomed. The Ten Towns became his mission field.
No one is ever saved to sit. Once you’re saved, you have a story to tell.
The question we have to ask is—what am I doing to expand God’s kingdom? What has Jesus done in my life that’s worth sharing with someone else? Who am I able to share my story with that maybe no one else can reach?
You may not be a Bible scholar or apologist, but you are an authority on your own life. Many people who won’t read the Bible or set foot in a church or sit through a sermon, will listen to an honest personal story. By sharing your own “before and after” story, you build a bridge that Jesus can walk across from your heart to someone else’s.
Conclusion
Like these possessed men, anyone who has experienced the ravages of sin knows how destructive Satan can be. But like them, we can experience deliverance through Jesus. It may not be as immediate or dramatic as it was for these men, but Jesus can set us free from a life of sin and self-destruction. And then, we too, must deploy into our own communities and families to share what Jesus has done in our lives. That’s what it means to be a follower of Jesus.
Invitation
If you’re ready to put your faith in Jesus and begin a lifelong journey of following in his footsteps, let me invite you to come forward now, while we stand and sing.
