Jesus vs. Legion Mark 5:1-20 Justin Deeter February 27, 2017

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1 Jesus vs. Legion Mark 5:1-20 Justin Deeter February 27, 2017 It s interesting, that even though our modern world had dispensed with the idea of demons, we still seem to be fascinated with the idea. One horror movie after another are shown in our theaters, from older horror movies like The Exorcism and Rosmary s Baby to newer ones like The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity. However, this fascination has moved beyond just Hollywood entertainment, as the occult is on the rise in our country. For decades atheists and humanists have called for the destruction of religion, particularly Christianity. Yet, peoples interest in spirituality only seems to be increasing, and unfortunately the paganism is on the rise, including the occult and interest in the demonic. The church of Satan is a real organization growing in number. When it comes to the demonic, people tend to diverge onto two opposite but dangerous extremes. On the one hand, our materialistic age denies the reality of spiritual forces and considers Satan and demons old fables and myths, not suitable for the modern era. So they deny the existence of the demonic. On the other hand, there are those who develop an all to unhealthy obsession with 1

2 demons, attributing any little thing that goes wrong the demon. In C. S. Lewis book The Screwtape Letters he writes, There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve 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 and magician with the same delight. We must affirm, by the authority of God s word, that Satan and his demons are real. However, we need the Bible to help us rightly understand their place, and their subjection under the authority of the Son of God! In our passage today we will see Jesus encounter the Gerasene demoniac, who is possessed by a legion of demons. In the Gospel of Mark, we are currently looking at three events of Jesus life that highlight his power and authority. Last week, we saw Jesus power over nature as he calmed the storm on the sea of Galilee. This week, we see Jesus power over the spirits. Next week, we will see Jesus power over disease and death. My great hope this morning is that we would recognize the authority and power of Christ over the spirits. The Man Possessed (v. 1-6) When we last left Jesus and his disciples, they were on the boat after Jesus woke up and calmed the storm with a word of his command. The disciples 2

3 stand amazed at Jesus, fearful by the realization of the God in the boat with them who calmed the storm. We left off last week with a question, Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey him? They are about to find their answer, from the must unlikely of sources. As soon as they came to the other side of the sea of Galilee, the came into the country of Gerasenes. As soon as Jesus stepped off the boat, he was confronted by this man with an unclean spirit. This man had roamed among the tombs, living among the corpses of the dead. His community had outcasted him, and attempted to tie him up. His demon possession gave him Herculean strength, and no one could bind him. He wrenched apart any chains and shattered all shackles placed upon his limbs. The man stirred night and day around the tombs wailing and crying out in agony. There through his blood-curling screams, he cut himself with stones. Why was he doing this? It s difficult to ascertain. Perhaps he was engaged in some sort of demonic worship of self-mutalation. Perhaps the miserable man was trying to cut the demons out, freeing himself from the bondage of suffering. Or, and what I think is most likely, he s attempting to take his own life. You see, Satan and his demons hate God. Their great aim is to steal God s glory and dishonor him. Thus, Satan hates human beings. Human beings are made in the image of God, created to reflect the creator. Therefore, Satan wishes to destroy us. He was a murderer from the beginning (Jn 8:44). He and 3

4 his cohort tempt us to partake in self-destructive sins, and in the case of this demon possessed man, to tempt him to suicide. If as the early church father Irenaeus said, The Glory of God is man fully alive, then Satan s attack on man is an attack on God s glory. Here we see Legion takes a three fold approach to attack this man. First, you see the demons isolated him. Here he is roaming around the grave yard alone. We must state firmly, that when we are alone we are more susceptible to Satan s schemes. Temptation comes much more forcefully when your are alone and disconnected from other people. Be on guard and alert! When a lamb strays off from the flock, he s a perfect target for this sort of demonic temptation. That isolation throbs us with the suffering ache of loneliness. In your Christian life, I urge you to surround yourselves with strong brothers and sisters in the Lord who can strengthen you in the face of temptation. When you stray from the community of the Church you make yourself an easy target for the kingdom of darkness. Second, you see the demons tortured the man. As we read about this man s situation, how can we not pity him? Alone in the tombs, he wails and shrieks in misery. He s in pain and suffering, night and day. He cannot sleep he is in such anguish. The powers of the kingdom of darkness want us to suffer. They tempt us and lure us into momentary pleasures only to entrap us with terrible consequences. Many people believe the subtle lie of the enemy that God is a kill- 4

5 joy, and his Word keeps us from enjoying life. So they indulge in sex, drink, drugs, or pornography. Like the warning in the book of Proverbs against adultery, applies to the folly of all temptation, My son, be attentive to my wisdom; incline your ear to my understanding, that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge. For the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil, but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol; (Proverbs 5:1 5, ESV) Satan and his demons only wish you to suffer. They do not have your good in mind, and they will deceive you in any way possible as long as they can make you miserable. So, when you hear the faint whisper of their temptations, do not forget this. Third, you see the demons destroy the man. Here is their ultimate aim, destruction! They wish to destroy the lives of human beings, both physically and eternally. Whether they convince you to cut yourself with knives or hang yourself from your staircase, they plot your destruction! As haters of God, they hate God s image bearers. Satan in his murderous bloodlust only wants death. We must be on guard from Satan and his schemes. Such tactics go beyond the scope of this sermon, but I refer you to study carefully Ephesians chapter 6, where Paul tells us how to put on the whole armor of God! 5

6 Satan s attacks and demonic temptations are real, and you will face them. However, we must not think that every temptation to sin comes from a demon. Trust me, your heart is wicked and depraved enough to lead you into sin. Nor should we think that we are helpless victims when demonic attacks come. Demons can tempt us, deceive us, and trick us, but we are the ones that give into their temptations. The more we give into their temptations the more they oppress and take control. No one over drinks for the first time and instantly becomes a drunk. No one picks up a playboy and instantly becomes a sex addict. Yet, the more we give into that temptation, the more our sin enslaves us. And it is only by the power of God, that we can be liberated from such enslavement to sin! So, this poor demoniac runs to Jesus as soon as he gets on the boat, and surprisingly, falls down before him. The Man Freed (v. 7-17) Then the demon speaks through the man, 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). Here the disciples, freshly still in shock from the events on the sea of Galilee find the answer to their question. Who is this? The demon rightly recognizes that Jesus is the Son of the Most High God. Though the demon has good theology, the demon utters this title in an attempt to put Jesus under his control. As we 6

7 see Jesus interactions with these demons, there is an important lesson for us. You can be doctrinally sound, and yet condemned. You could be a right theologian and still be damned in your sin. Knowing the truth doesn t mean you have saving faith. After all, even the demons believe and shudder (James 2:19)! aas soon as Jesus sees the man, he begins to cast out the demon, and the demon pleads that Jesus doesn t. In the parallel account of this event in the Gospel of Luke, we get a little more detail, we are told the demon doesn t want to leave, because he doesn t want Jesus to banish him to the abyss (Luke 8:31). There in the abyss, the demons would be trapped until the final day of judgement where they will be thrown into the lake of fire. The demon cannot stand the thought of existence without a body to possess, and begs for Jesus not to cast them out. Jesus then asks the demon his name. He responds, My name is Legion, for we are many. Now, a Roman Legion consisted of 6,000 foot soldiers, 120 horsemen, and technical personnel. That s a massive amount of demons in this poor man. He is under terrible oppression from the kingdom of darkness. The legion of demons begs and pleads not to be sent out from the country, so they ask Jesus to be sent into a herd of pigs, numbering Jesus gives them permission to do just that, and they go into the pigs and they rushed down the steep of the bank and drowned in the sea. 7

8 Now, why would Jesus grant the demons permission to do this? Well, I think there are three different reasons. First, the pig is an unclean animal, forbidden to be eaten by Jewish law. By Jesus allowing the demons to enter the pigs, he s displaying how unclean, defiled these demonic spirit s really are. In other words, Jesus makes the point that the filthy hogs are the only suitable body for these wretched demons. Second, a herd of pigs this large was big business, and the town peoples (as we will see) will be devastated to learn that two thousand of their hogs just died! But, Someone was making money off of selling swine to the Jewish people, an unclean animal that was forbidden to be eaten by the Law. Jesus is perhaps condemning the economic sale of this unclean animal to the Jewish people. Thirdly, and I think the primary point of Jesus doing this, is that he is teaching us the ultimate aim of the demons death. The man was able to resist the demonic forces within him enough to keep from taking his own life. Though he cut himself, he had not yet killed himself. However, the bigs who have not the will power of human beings could not resist the demonic commands, and immediately the swine stampeded to their demise. As we ve already mention, the demons want only our destruction. They do it passively, through subtle temptation to sin, ever hardening our hearts to the Gospel, thus leading us to eternal destruction at our deaths. Or, they can do it actively, as our sin consumes us either by our self-destructive decisions, such as overdosing on drugs or by actively implanting suicidal thoughts into our minds. 8

9 Here then is the foolishness of those who wish to dabble in the mysticism of the occult. Many are tempted by the allure of demonic Ouija boards, the craft voodoo, zodiac signs, witchcraft, and seances yet, these only expose you to the demonic forces who destroys those who practice them. You must never even surround yourself to such pagan practices, for the kingdom of darkness wishes only to destroy God s image bearers, because they hate God. Here I must pause and make a seemingly random application here, but one that s important to make. Notice, that Jesus did not hesitate to save this one man even at the cost of two thousand pigs. As many are rejecting the Christian worldview and rejecting the divine image placed on human beings, many are beginning to think that animals have equal value to human beings. There are many today who in their zeal, fight for the rights of animals and combat their suffering, with more passion than their own fellow human beings. We live in a society that would gladly protest the euthanasia of dogs in a shelter, but whose mouths are shut to the thousands of human baby s aborted in the womb. Now, it is good for us to be good stewards of God s creation, and we should never mistreat or torture animals. However, we cannot ever say that the life of an animal is more valuable than a human being. Just recently I read a report that if given the choice between saving their pet dog and a human stranger from a 9

10 burning building, 40% of Americans would choose to save their pet. 1 That s an indicator that something is seriously wrong with our culture. Love animals, protect animals, enjoy animals but do not think for a second that any animal is worth the same or more than another human being, whether that animal is a dog, cat, a gorilla, or a pig. News quickly spread to the herdsmen and they spread it to the rest of country side and the city. Before long a crowd assembled, and they couldn t believe their eyes! There they saw Jesus, and the man, now freed from Legion, sitting and of sound mind, as the corpses of thousands of pigs bob on the bank of the sea of Galilee. The response to the crowd was identical to the disciples on the boat. They were afraid. The eyewitnesses told the whole story to the crowd of what had happened, And they beg Jesus to depart from their region. Why did they want Jesus to leave? Two reasons. First, they were afraid of this man who had the power to cast out this demon simply by his word. What sort of man is this? After all, the towns people had tried to subdue the man. They placed chains and shackles on him, yet he always overpowered them. The entire town had given up on helping this man, and just let him wander through the tombs in his misery. Then, Jesus as soon as he gets off the boat, casts out this demon with a word. Who has that type of power and authority? Thus the people were

11 afraid of Jesus. However, secondly, they were afraid Jesus would cause more trouble. Two thousand hogs just died, and Jesus the trouble maker was the one to blame. Not only were they terrified by what Jesus was capable of, they were afraid he d cause more damage to the economy of the city. What a truly astounding reaction to this story! Rather than rejoicing that their fellow man was now free from the powers of darkness and of sound mind again, they are worried about the loss of assets. They value their money more than this man. Rabbi, begone! Thy powers Bring loss to us and ours. Our ways are not as Thine. Thou loves men, we swine. Oh, Get you hence, Omnipotence, And take this fool of Thine! His Soul? What Care we for his soul? What good to us that Thou has made him whole, Since we have lost our swine? 2 No matter what they thought of Jesus, they wanted him gone, as they didn t want him to disrupt their lives. 2 Kent Hughes, Mark 11

12 The Man Commissioned (v ) Jesus completely changes this man. Before Jesus, he suffered in agony and isolation as the demons tortured him. After Jesus, he s been set free, healed from his sufferings. Now, he sits by the teachers feet, clinging to every word of Jesus mouth. Jesus can change your life as well. There is a lesson here, and one we shouldn t miss. No matter how vile you are, no matter how enslaved you are to your sin. No matter what addictions plague you, Jesus elevates you from the pit of your suffering. He liberates you from the bondage of your sin. He heals you, changes you, and makes you whole. Come to him by faith and receive the redemption for which you so desperately long! As the Scriptures tell us, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Cor 5:17). This Gerasene demoniac was certainly a brand new man, a new creation! Christ has the power to do that for you. Indeed, if you find yourself in bondage to sin this morning, he is the only one who can free you. As the towns people urge Jesus to leave their region, Jesus prepares to get back in the boat to depart for the next region. The man who had been possessed by the demons long to go with Jesus, but Jesus doesn t allow it. Though the Gerasene people didn t want Jesus, Jesus wanted them. So, Jesus 12

13 commissioned this man, Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you (Mk 5:19). The man, eager to obey the command of his Lord departs and tells everyone just what Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled! We don t know this man s backstory, but imagine what it would be like for him to return to home to see his friends, to hug his wife and children. The man they thought was mad, crazy, and lost to the demons now hugs their necks of sound mind. What a change, what a hope! If you ve been healed by Jesus and forgiven of your sin, then you must go and declare what God has done to others. If Jesus has changed your life, tell someone! As the power of Jesus has come into our lives, we declare to the world that he can do it for them too. Share your testimony with others about the power of God s work in your life. Do not be ashamed of who you used to be, after all Christ has forgiven you! Your story of God s work in your life may win over those who have yet to believe in Jesus. Final Thoughts We live in a society still very much curious about the demonic, but we must assert with the authority of God s word, that Jesus is Lord over the spirits. There is no contest between him and the demons. They submit to his authority and he casts them out by his mere word. The proper response to these glorious truths 13

14 this morning is to marvel at Jesus. Be amazed at his love for us and just how drastically he can change our lives. There is no sinner too corrupt, no one too addicted, no one too far gone. Even in the most hopelessness cases, cases in which other people have largely given up on, Jesus can step in and heal and provide a new life. He did it for the Gerasene demoniac, and he can do so for you. 14