Intro: A man often walked through a cemetery on his way home. One night, though, unaware that a new grave had been dug in his path, he tumbled in. For some time he struggled to get out of the 7 foot deep grave, but finally gave up and settled down for the night.
An hour later, a farmer out possum hunting came walking through the cemetery and he too fell into the grave. He began a desperate attempt to get out, unaware that there was anyone else in the grave. The first man listened to him for a few minutes, then reached over in the pitch darkness and laid a hand on his shoulder. "You can’t get out of here,” the man said to the farmer. But the farmer did.
To the Jews of that day, even to touch a grave was to be unclean for 7 days. (Numbers 19:16)
The demoniac of Gerasenes didn’t just wake up one morning and say: "Hey, I’m demon possessed." This wasn’t something he was born with. OR something that he just came down with (like the flu or a cold).
Somewhere in this man’s life, he made a conscious decision that he wanted to be free. He wanted to be free of God’s influence. He wanted to be free from restrictions & responsibilities of life. He wanted to be free to do what he wanted to do.
And now, as a demoniac, he’s become free… No shackle can bind him, no chain can hold him. He’s no longer bound by social conventions that tell him how to dress and or how to behave. He has no responsibilities to society - because society no longer wants him.
He has become totally free…
But his freedom cost him more than he could’ve ever imagined it would.
Illustration: For the Christian, there are two extremes that must be avoided with reference to satanic activity. As C. S. Lewis aptly put it:
There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the 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, can be hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.
Charles Colson, Against the Night, p. 46.
(v. 1-6) The demonic was out of control physically and mentally, and had a mixed response to Jesus. School shootings; terrorist attacks
The encounter is explosive. The disciples’ boat beaches near a graveyard and a herd of pigs. Both are ritually and culturally unclean for Jews. As Jesus steps out, a crazy man storms out of a cavern. Wild hair. Bloody wrists. Scratched skin. Fury encased in flesh. Naked bedlam. Arms flailing and voice screaming. The apostles gawk and gulp and put a foot back in the boat.
He had an inner spiritual problem. The people tried to help him by restraining him physically when his problem was spiritual. All laws and regulations can do is treat the outer man, it just affects the behaviors without touching the source. No laws could change this man. No code of moral standards could free him. Most of us know what Christian behavior is and is not. But I am saying that a list of laws won’t change your heart, and that’s the part that needs changed.
In verse 3 the text says, “no one could bind him ANYMORE.” Apparently at one time they could subdue him but as he all he did was grew worse, so much worse that he was a hopeless situation. I believe that back in chapter 4 when Jesus said, "Let us go over to the other side", He knew exactly where He was going and who was there. I believe He heard him crying.
We see from verse 8 that Jesus first commanded the demons to come out of the man. Through this we get a glimpse into the unseen world of the spiritual war going on all around us. For just a few minutes the invisible conflict becomes visible and we are offered a position over looking the battlefield. We hear nothing from the disciples throughout this encounter. I pitcher them standing and watching this whole event with mouths and eyes wide open. But really, they did the best thing they could’ve done by setting back and letting Jesus fight the battle. The worst thing they could’ve done would’ve been to grab a hold of the demoniac and try to wrestle him down. If he could brake chains then he probably would’ve broke some bones.
Illustration: When Jimmy Swaggart defied the orders of the Assemblies of God to refrain from preaching for one year, he assured the public that he was free of moral defect, for, he said, Oral Roberts had cast out the demons from his body over the phone. Oral Roberts confirmed Swaggart’s report, insisting he had demons and their claws deeply embedded in Swaggart’s flesh. Now that the rascals were gone, Swaggart and Roberts asserted, Swaggart could get on with preparing the way for Christ’s return. Evidently, personal responsibility for sin can be dismissed by blaming it on an external force. Yet Flip Wilson’s famous quip, "The devil made me do it" is hardly comedy when we’re talking about the biblical view of sin. The Agony of Deceit by Michael Horton, Editor 1990, Moody Press, pp. 132-133.
(v. 13) Water in the Bible represents the Holy Spirit. Yet dryness represents one who is void of the Spirit of God. Dry places are a type of spiritless people - God’s Spirit does not dwell in them. David said, "The rebellious dwell in a dry land" (Psalm 68:6). This is true of the believer who has neglected the Lord: he has become "dry," empty of all things of God. And dead, dry churches and Christians become the dwelling places of unclean spirits. Demons roam about them, looking for rest - because dryness opens one up to demonic harassment.
Illustration: A fellow who had been reared in the city bought a farm and several milk cows. In the feed store one day he complained his best cow had gone dry. "Aren’t you feeding her right?" asked the store owner. "I’m feeding her what you’ve been selling me," said the man. "Are you milking her every day?" "Just about. If I need six or eight ounces of milk for breakfast, I go out and get it - I just let her save it up." The feed store owner had to explain it doesn’t work that way. With cow’s milk, like God’s presence, you take all that’s there, or you eventually have nothing.
(v. 17) Two thousand dead pigs and a man who had the power to break chains setting subdued in the presence of Jesus was enough to frighten the local yokels. It would seem that these people had no Messianic expectations, and therefore wanted nothing to do with One Who had such awesome power, a power over which they had no control. The people at this point were closest to grasping how powerful Jesus was. To truly understand the power of God is a frightening thing.
And since Jesus never goes where he isn’t invited, he steps back into the boat.
Illustration: Fear - President and Mrs. Benjamin Harrison were so intimidated by the newfangled electricity installed in the White House they didn’t dare touch the switches. If there were no servants around to turn off the lights when the Harrisons went to bed, they slept with them on.
Jane Goodsell, Not a Good Word About Anybody, Ballantine.
(v.18) The towns people wanted Jesus to leave and the freed demonic want to go with Jesus. Can you blame him? What chance will anyone with that type of reputation have? Who would hire him, who would trust him? Isn’t it a shame that we are so quick to forget the good things people do, but yet never forget the bad? Yet it’s so wonderful that the all-knowing God of heaven has the ability to forget our sins when we confess and repent.
But does Jesus allow him to come along? NO! Strange way to treat a new believer, don’t you think? Why wouldn’t Jesus take him along? ? Simple. He had greater plans for him. “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you” (v.19).
There it is. The commissioning of the first missionary. One minute insane, the next in Christ. No training. No teaching. All he knew was that Jesus could scare the hell out of hell and apparently that was enough.
But even more surprising than the man who was sent is the fact that anyone was sent. I wouldn’t have sent a missionary to some peoo9le who had just given me the boot, would you? A plague perhaps, but not a missionary. But Christ did. And Christ does. He still sends the message to the unworthy. And he uses the unworthy as messengers.
