In chapters 4 and 5, Mark tells us three extraordinary stories of miracles that only God could do, and we find Jesus doing them. We saw, last week, that Jesus spoke to the storm, and it immediately stopped. Only God could do that. Today, we move to the second proof – the deliverance of the possessed Gentile. Let’s begin by reading Mark 5:1-20. From this passage, see two points: the impossible deliverance and the diverging responses.
First, from verses 1-13, see the impossible deliverance. In verse 1, Mark tells us that Jesus and his disciples sailed across to the east side of the Sea of Galilee, to the region of Gerasene. This city was part of a larger region known as the Decapolis. The area was despised by Jews because it was ruled and inhabited by Gentiles, and all of their bad habits came with them. We see some of these bad habits in the story. In verse 12 we find that there is a large herd of pigs nearby. Pigs would never be allowed within Judea, as the OT law forbade eating them, and by the time of Jesus, pigs had grown to be a symbol of defilement. We also know that it is a Gentile region because of the severity of the demon possession that Jesus confronts. This is the point that Mark wants us to feel. We are hit with it from the very start of the story, as we are told, in verse 2, that as soon as Jesus stepped out of the boat, a naked man comes running out from the tombs to confront him. This land is hostile to God from the very first foot of sand. This is the way the ancients understood the power of the gods. Gods were regional powers, not universal. The gods of the Greeks only ruled over Greece. The gods of Egypt could not pass the Red Sea. In our modern times, our views aren’t much better. Many Americans, and even Christians, hold to a Dualist view of God. Dualism holds that God and Satan are two equal and opposite powers that need each other to exist. As the Noah Kegan song says, “I need you like God needs the Devil.” Or, like the popular TV show, Good Omens, portrays, there is no clear line between angels and demons, or good and evil. We tend to think that Satan is just the equal and opposite force to God’s goodness.
But this is not what we find with Jesus. As this demoniac comes running towards Jesus, Jesus rebukes him and commands the demon to come out. There are three aspects of Jesus’s power over Satan that we should notice here. First, in verse 6-7, we see that the possessed man falls down and begs something of Jesus. He begs, “Do not torment me.” In the same story from Matt. 8:29 and Luke 8:31, we get a full picture of this conversation. The demon asks Jesus, “Have you come to torment me before the time? Do not cast me into the abyss.” These statements are loaded with meaning. For one, they tell us that God has appointed a time when the power of Satan will come to an end. In Rev. 20:10 we are told of that time when God will bind Satan with a giant chain so that he might not harass the people of God anymore. It also tells us that God will in fact torment Satan and all those who worship him. In Rev. 14:10-11 we are told that all who worship Satan will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb, and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever. Lastly, the demon asks Jesus not to throw him into the abyss. The abyss is the final judgment reserved for those who rebel against God. Satan, Hell, Death, and all who follow him, at the end of time, are thrown into an abyss of fire. These statements are not the requests of an equal power, but the pleas of a fearful enemy with no power to bargain, only to plead upon the mercies of the one who has all authority.
Second, we see the power of Jesus in the asymmetry of this confrontation. In verse 9, Jesus asks the demon his name, and he responds, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” This poor man had been possessed for so long, and under such rejection by his people, that demons continued to possess him to the point that they could not be individually named. In the Roman army, a legion of soldiers was 6826 men. Now, whether the demon was being literal or just using this as a way to say that there were innumerable demons in this man, we can’t say. But, what we can say is that, at face value, this isn’t a fair fight. Jesus is one man. If he is just a devout man, this is an impossible task. If he is just a spirit-filled man, this is certainly unbalanced. But Jesus is so much more – he is the divine Messiah, God with us. So, this legion of demons doesn’t put up a fight. All they can do is beg.
Third, we see the authority of Jesus in the permission he grants. The demons beg Jesus not to send them to Hell, but rather, let them possess a herd of pigs. In verse 13, it says that he gave them permission, and they left the man and took the pigs, then ran screaming off a ledge into the ocean. See in this that the demons could not make a move without Jesus’ permission. Even in their acts of evil, God is still in control of the demons. We see this in Job 1, as Satan comes to God and asks that he might torment Job. God must grant Satan permission before he can harm Job, and even then, God places limits on the torment. Oh, take comfort in this, brothers and sisters. We worship a God who has all authority, and so even the torments of Satan are within his control. This means that even those torments come to us with a purpose, and God will use them to form us into the people he would have us to be.
This brings me to my second point: The diverging responses. In verses 14 thru 20 we find two different responses to this amazing authority of Jesus. First, we see the response of the farmers and the villagers. Upon seeing Jesus cast out the demons, the suicidal pigs, and the freed man, now clothed and in his right mind, the farmers run to town to gather a mob against Jesus. This mob comes and begs Jesus, like the demons did, to leave the region. Oh, so often, this is the very response we see to the power of Jesus. When confronted with King Jesus, many people would rather not have him at all than to kneel to him as king. Or, they would rather imagine Jesus as a kind friend, a help in times of trouble, an encourager in times of despair. But, to say that Jesus is king would mean that we are called to serve him, and many cannot abide that. So, they would rather beg him to leave than invite him to abide.
But, there is another response. In verse 18, we see the response of the man who was set free. He too comes to Jesus and begs, but he does not beg deliverance from Hell or for Jesus to go away. Rather, he begs to go with Jesus. This, friend, is the only right response to the power of Jesus. Today, won’t you beg to go with Jesus? Won’t you beg to be set free from the power of Satan? Won’t you beg for him to abide with you?
Brothers and sisters, this freed man also serves as an example for us to follow. Jesus tells him to stay and gives him an assignment – “Go home to your friends and tell them of what I’ve done for you.” The response of deliverance is to testify to the goodness of God.
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