As we come to God's Word, let me pray for us.
Father, as we prayed earlier in our service, so now we pray again.
Come, Holy Spirit.
Would you come as we read the Word that you have inspired and preserved through many ages
about our living Lord Jesus, would you come and help us to see you more clearly
and to understand your deep grace for us through your Word?
We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.
All right, Mark chapter 5, verses 1 through 20. Let me read for us.
They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.
And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him,
out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.
He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain.
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.
Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out
and cutting himself with stones.
And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him.
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.
For he was saying to him, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit.
And Jesus asked him, What is your name?
And he replied, My name is Legion, for we are many.
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 2,000, rushed down the steep bank into the sea
and drowned in the sea.
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.
And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.
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.
So if you were here in the fall when we began our series in Mark's Gospel,
you'll remember that Mark wrote his account of the life of Jesus
to answer a few key questions.
Who is Jesus?
Why did he come?
What does it mean to follow him?
And where we left off the story in November
was with Jesus demonstrating his unparalleled power
over the material creation.
At the end of chapter 4, we saw that with just a word,
he calmed a violent storm on the Sea of Galilee.
But here in chapter 5, Jesus and his disciples step out of the boat
to find a different sort of storm.
This storm isn't outside, it's inside.
They meet a man with a violent storm of chaos and destruction inside of him.
And what we learn from this encounter is that Jesus has unparalleled power,
not just over the material world, but over the spiritual world as well.
Mark shows us that Jesus is the Lord of all things seen and unseen.
Now, Mark 5 verses 1 through 20 is perhaps the most detailed account
in the Gospels of Jesus healing a person afflicted by demon possession.
So it's a text that brings us face to face with personal spiritual evil
and Jesus' encounter with it.
So as we consider this text together, let's consider first the reality of spiritual evil,
and then we'll look at the gravity of it,
and then finally Jesus' powerful victory over it.
So first, the reality of spiritual evil.
Look at verses 1 and 2.
They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.
That is the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, which was predominantly a Gentile region.
And when Jesus stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs,
a man with an unclean spirit.
So according to the Bible, there is such a thing as personal spiritual beings.
When God created the world, he didn't just choose to display his glory
through the manifold beauties of a material created order,
but of a spiritual created order as well.
Think of a great composer, right?
Great composers are masters of melody, of course,
but not just melody.
They're masters of harmony as well.
If you think of a piece of music, a great composer can make the notes sound interesting and beautiful,
not just going this way, right?
But they can make the notes sound beautiful and interesting this way, too, on a sheet of music.
So when God wanted to display his glory through the act of creation,
like a great composer, he wasn't just restrained to melody or restrained just to harmony.
His glory overflowed in a material and spiritual order.
He's the maker of heaven and earth, of all things seen and unseen, as the Nicene Creed says.
So according to the Bible, there is such a thing as personal spiritual beings,
angels created by God for his glory.
But among these personal spiritual beings, some rebelled.
And rather than worshiping and serving God, they stand opposed to God and God's kingdom.
The Bible has various names for these fallen angels, unclean spirits, demons, principalities and powers.
And at the head of their rebellion, one called Satan or the devil.
And rather than play the harmony of God's good creation, they seek to disharmonize and destroy.
So according to Scripture, according to Jesus himself, personal spiritual evil is a very real thing.
And for most times and places, this hasn't been a very controversial point.
But you know, maybe for you and me today, it's not so easy to believe something like that.
Maybe you have a hard time accepting this reality of spiritual good and evil.
Well, if that's true, let me offer a few things to consider,
things that have helped me wrap my mind around this reality.
First, we can sometimes think that belief in demons is sort of simplistic or naive.
But actually, you know, the biblical picture isn't simplistic at all.
It's actually quite robust.
You know, you read the Gospels and you'll see,
you'll see there an analysis of the human condition that takes into account the physical
and the emotional and the social and the structural.
None of these things eliminated or ruled out.
They all are considered and given gravity and weight and importance.
But the Bible acknowledges that there is also a spiritual dimension to reality.
We sometimes think that if we admit the reality of spiritual beings,
we'll have to put on blinders to every other aspect of reality.
But that's not true.
In fact, just the opposite.
The mindset that says everything must have a material cause,
that's actually the oversimplification.
Indeed, the Bible gives us a more robust,
a more sophisticated analysis of reality.
It refuses to oversimplify.
Second, we can sometimes think that belief in personal spiritual evil
is somehow primitive or narrow.
But, you know, if you were to travel to many,
if not most places in the world today,
Africa, Asia, Latin America,
you'd find there that the reality of spiritual evil is readily acknowledged.
And surely we wouldn't want to say that all of those cultures or places
are primitive or narrow, would we?
Are you willing to make that sweeping cultural judgment?
Perhaps it's our own culture that's made us narrow-sided.
Perhaps we need to be willing to learn from others.
But third, if we aren't willing to believe in the reality of spiritual evil,
we simply aren't equipped to deal with the depth of what's wrong in the world.
I think a lot of times we're afraid that believing the Bible on this point
will make us superstitious, that is kind of overly believing.
We fear that we'll end up with an overbelief,
an overbelief that everything is the fault of the devil or spiritual forces
and that we'll not take stock of the very real social or psychological
or material causes of brokenness in the world.
But what if there's an equal but opposite danger,
not of being superstitious, of being overbelieving,
but of being substitious, of being underbelieving?
You see, if we only think that the human problem is material or social or psychological,
if we don't see that there's also a very real spiritual dimension
and spiritual battle at work,
then we'll never get to the depth of what's wrong.
And if we never get to the depth of what's wrong,
we'll never get to the sort of freedom that we're longing for.
And as we see in our passage, that's what Jesus has come to bring,
real freedom and wholeness.
So we see first in our text the reality of spiritual evil.
Next, we see the gravity of it.
Let's pick up again in verse 2 and read through verse 5.
And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat,
immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.
He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore,
not even with a chain.
For he had often been bound with shackles and chains,
but he wrenched the chains apart and broke the shackles in pieces.
No one had the strength to subdue him.
Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains,
he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.
Now, many commentators have pointed out
that what the demons are working toward in this man
is the utter defacing of God's image.
Notice, he's among the tombs,
and he's crying out like an animal.
His humanity is being undone.
So we see here that Satan's goal is to dehumanize
and to denigrate, above all,
the one thing in creation that displays God's glory the best,
the men and women made in God's image.
He truly is the enemy of our souls.
And of course, part of what makes this event so memorable
to the disciples and part of why Mark includes it
in his account of Jesus' life
is because of how grave and desperate
this man's situation really was.
This was no minor spiritual attack.
This was a full onslaught of spiritual darkness.
In fact, as we learn in verse 9,
a whole host of demons had been afflicting this man.
Legion, after all, was the name of a Roman military unit
that numbered upwards sometimes of 6,000 troops.
So just as the Roman legions had conquered
and oppressed the whole of Palestine during this time,
so this demonic legion had conquered and oppressed this man.
But you know, when we read of how grave
and desperate this man's condition was,
we need to be careful.
We need to be careful not to think
that this extreme case has no relevance for us.
Perhaps you've never encountered demonic activity
in such a blatant form.
If not, be thankful you haven't.
But that doesn't mean you and I are immune
from very real spiritual battle.
In 1 Peter 5, 8, the apostle Peter reminds the whole church
to be sober-minded, be watchful.
Your adversary, the devil, prowls around
like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
In Ephesians 6, 11, the apostle Paul tells every Christian
to put on the whole armor of God
that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
In fact, when we look at this man's condition in Mark 5,
we see there, yes, an aggravated and extreme form,
but we see there two strategies
that Satan uses against every person.
Notice first how the man seems to have supernatural strength.
Chains and shackles can't hold him.
No one has the strength to subdue him.
But what's become seemingly true of this man
through demonic activity
is also a picture of how Satan tempts us to think
in everyday temptation.
Think about what's going on
when you experience temptation.
Isn't it as if,
isn't it as if your internal talk
is saying something like this,
I can do this.
I'm strong enough to handle this.
It won't hurt me.
After all, I deserve this.
Satan wants us to think that we're strong,
that we have the power in ourselves
to do what we choose and want to do.
And he wants to hide from us
the holiness and authority of God.
Will we end up breaking chains and shackles?
Probably not.
But Satan wants us to act
as if we are the authority
that we have the strength and power
to do as we wish.
But as we see here,
temptation and sin
always leads to loneliness and to death.
This man lived among the tombs.
Satan promised him power,
but what was the return?
The return was like a living death.
But notice the second thing in verse 5.
Night and day among the tombs
and on the mountains,
he was always crying out
and cutting himself with stones.
On the one hand,
Satan is a tempter,
trying to get us to believe the lie
that we're strong,
autonomous, self-reliant.
But on the other hand,
Satan is an accuser.
That's literally what the word Satan means,
the accuser.
He accuses us of all our guilt
and failure,
and we end up miserable,
torn up inside,
hating ourselves.
This man was always crying out,
cutting himself with stones.
Satan tries to hide our view
of the mercy and love of God
so that we end up
racked with self-loathing
and despair,
crushed by our own failures.
Do you see either of these dynamics
in your own life,
in your own heart?
On the one hand,
do you hear the talk that says,
do what you need to do.
You deserve it.
Nothing can stop you.
On the other hand,
do you hear the voice that says,
you're worthless.
After all you've done,
anyone could have done that
better than you.
And if we're honest,
we've heard both of those voices.
We've all been in the grip
of spiritual war.
And we all know
just how powerful
the temptation
and the accusation can be.
And what we see
in this poor,
afflicted man in Mark 5
is ultimately
where this road
would lead for all of us
if left to run its course.
It's the road to death.
But in the face
of the reality
and the gravity
of spiritual evil,
what Mark wants us
to see above all else
is Jesus
and his victory
over spiritual evil.
Let's pick up in verse 6.
And when he saw Jesus
from afar,
he ran and fell down
before him.
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.
For Jesus was saying to him,
come out of the man,
you unclean spirit.
And Jesus asked him,
what is your name?
He replied,
my name is Legion,
for we're many.
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 Jesus gave them permission,
and the unclean spirits
came out
and entered the pigs.
And the herd,
numbering about 2,000,
rushed down the steep bank
into the sea
and drowned in the sea.
Note the contrast
between these verses
and the end of verse 4.
Before Jesus arrived,
no one had the strength
to subdue him.
They tried chains,
they tried shackles,
perhaps to prevent the man
from hurting others,
perhaps to prevent the man
from hurting himself,
and none of it worked.
But then Jesus arrives.
Others had tried
to tie him down externally,
but Jesus liberates him
internally.
And at last,
this man knows
real and true freedom.
And notice,
in this encounter
between Jesus
and the unclean spirits,
there's no contest.
Jesus commands
a whole host of demons
to take flight
as easily as a child
running into a flock
of pigeons.
Poof, they're gone.
In fact,
this legion of demons
can do nothing but beg.
Did you notice
how many times
the text says that?
The demons beg Jesus
not to torment them.
They beg Jesus
to let them enter
the herd of pigs.
There are a whole army
of spiritual evil,
but before Jesus
they can do nothing
but get down
on their knees
and beg.
And when we compare
this account
to other ancient
exorcism accounts
outside of the Bible,
we see something
pretty interesting.
You know,
in other ancient accounts
the people trying
to cast out evil spirits
always sort of call
on a higher power.
The exorcist always evokes
the name of a greater deity
so that they can overcome
the power,
the lesser power
of the evil spirit.
But is this how Jesus works?
No.
Jesus doesn't call
on a higher power.
Never.
In fact,
for Jesus
it doesn't matter
whether it's one demon
or a whole legion
of demons
with his own word.
He puts them in submission
and drives them out.
But of course
there's a curious detail
here,
isn't there?
Jesus' victory
over spiritual evil
and this man's
spiritual freedom
comes with a strange cost.
because Jesus
doesn't just send
the demons fleeing
he permits them
to enter a herd
of pigs
and the demons
subsequently destroy
the whole herd.
Now this is a strange
detail to be sure
and most readers
of Mark's gospel today
sort of scratch their heads
and a lot of us think
oh man
those poor pigs
what did they
ever do wrong?
Right?
But consider what
consider what this
what this would have meant.
consider first
what it tells us
about the demons.
On the one hand
the destruction
of so large
a number of pigs
shows us just how many
demons there were
in this man.
Legion indeed
not quite 6,000
but a frightening host
nonetheless.
On the other hand
the destruction
of the pigs
shows us the destructive
nature of demonic power.
The thief comes
to steal, kill
and destroy
as Jesus says
in John 10.
And here is yet
another proof
of Satan's evil
intent to ruin
God's good creation
not something
to play with.
But consider
what the destruction
of the herd of pigs
would have meant
for the man himself.
You see
the destruction
of the herd
was evidence
that these destructive
forces had been
removed from him
once and for all.
I mean
who knows how long
this man had suffered?
Who knows how long
his fellow townspeople
had lived in fear
of him?
But now
lest any doubted
there was proof
that something radical
had cleansed him
and set him free.
As tangible
and as evidenced
as the missing herd
of pigs
on the hillside.
But consider
what this would have
meant for Jesus.
On the surface
the magnitude
of the miracle
that Jesus had just
performed.
The magnitude
of what Jesus
had just done.
Driving out
a whole legion
of demons.
That is made visible
by permitting
the destruction
of the herd.
You know
it's one thing
to see one man
put in his right mind
as we see later
in this passage.
It's another thing
to have seen
2,000 animals
crash into the sea.
So this allows us
to see the magnitude
of what Jesus
has just done.
But consider
a little deeper
what the destruction
of this herd
might have meant
for Jesus.
In the first century
a herd of pigs
meant a lot of money.
The people
made their living
from agriculture
after all.
And a whole herd
of pigs
was very valuable.
When the pigs
went charging
over the cliff
the townspeople
were not thinking
oh no
the cute pigs.
Right?
They were thinking
oh no
we just lost
a ton of money.
Someone just
drained our bank account.
So what Jesus
is demonstrating
is that all
the wealth
in the world
doesn't compare
to the worth
of one human soul.
Better
to lose the pigs
and gain the man.
But look even deeper.
In permitting
the destruction
of the herd
Jesus asks
the townspeople
to bear
a bit of a cost
for this man's
restoration.
But don't you see
the even bigger story
that's being played
out here?
Conquering evil
vanquishing
the destructive
powers of darkness
silencing
the accusations
of the evil one
none of this
would come
without an even
greater cost.
It would take
more than the cost
of a herd
of animals
maybe a few months
or years wages
to really conquer
the powers
of darkness
it would cost
nothing less
than the death
of God's own son.
A cost that he
was willing to pay
in love
for you
and for me.
You see
by the end
of Mark's gospel
Jesus
will take
this man's place.
Jesus will be
handed over
to the Romans
and their legions.
Jesus will be
shackled
condemned
and hung up
to die on a cross
amidst the cursed
and the unclean.
He will cry out
his body torn
by the stones
of Roman whips
and Satan
will exhaust
his destructive
evil on Jesus
and his body
will be laid
in a tomb.
Satan will do
his worst
against Jesus
but he will
not win
because by dying
Jesus paid
the cost
for every sin
and every failure
of everyone
who will trust
in him.
And on the third
day
Jesus rose
to prove
that the payment
was made in full
that Satan
was now powerless
and that no
accusation
could ever be made
against his beloved
people ever again.
The victory
at last
had been won
once
and for all.
And if you really
take this victory
seriously
then things
start to change.
Notice first
how the townspeople
respond to Jesus.
It's surprising
isn't it?
In verse 17
they beg him
to leave.
But maybe
it's not that surprising
when you think about it.
After all
Jesus'
redemptive program
had just been
massively costly
to them.
Some folks
just lost
a lot of money
so that one person
could be restored
to the community.
Now according
to the world's economy
that's not a decent
exchange, right?
That's not a profitable
rate of return.
But in Jesus'
economy
things are different.
When Jesus Christ
enters your life
and when the gospel
really starts to take
root in a community
the priorities
will be changed.
Jesus doesn't just
let things remain
the way they are.
The status quo
gets upset.
The old way
of doing things
gets upset
by a new way
of doing things.
There's a new kingdom.
There's a new economy.
There's a new approach
to wealth
and who's important
and who's not important.
Just like he did
with the garrison
social and economic
status quo
if you welcome Jesus
into your life
he will completely
rearrange your normal
way of doing things.
He will change
our priorities
and he will become
our ultimate allegiance.
And as we cling
tighter to him
and as he takes
more and more control
of our life
we start to become
a lot more open handed
with the other things.
But that means
some people
will tell Jesus
to leave.
We'd rather control
things our own way.
Thank you very much.
Sadly that's what
happened on this day
in Mark 5.
But not for everyone.
If you see that
his power is not out
to enslave you
or oppress you
but that it comes
to liberate
redeem
and restore you
when you see
that his power
was displayed
ultimately on the cross
because he loves you
then your response
will be totally different.
When you see
that God loved us
at infinite cost
to himself
then you'll want
to make him
your Lord.
Who else
could lay aside
their infinite power
and privilege
and wealth
who else would do
that to rescue us
when we had done
nothing to deserve it?
And if you see
his power displayed
on the cross
instead of telling
him to leave
you'll want to be
with him forever
and tell everyone
you love about him
just like this man.
You'll want to give him
control of your life
so that his power
will remake you
and reorder your life
into something beautiful.
And like this man
Jesus will dignify you
by sending you
on his mission.
The man after being healed
says Jesus
let me be with you.
Right?
Which reminds us
of an earlier passage
in the gospel
when Jesus calls
the apostles
and said
I'm calling you
to be with me.
And the man says
Jesus let me go
and let me be with you
but Jesus has
a different plan
for this man's life.
The Gerasenes
needed a gospel witness
and this formerly
notorious man
would now be
the equally
unforgettable witness
to the power of Christ.
And like this man
all true Christians
have a story to tell
about what God
has done in their life
and this story
is all about Jesus.
Did you notice
how the passage ends?
Jesus tells the man
to tell everyone
what God had done
and the man obeys
by telling everyone
what Jesus had done.
So how are you responding
to the power of Jesus?
What's keeping you
from giving yourself
to this powerful
and infinitely loving Lord?
This passage tells us
that no matter
how fearful you are
no matter how broken
you are
no matter how ashamed
you feel
Jesus by his power
can save you
and make you
an instrument
of redemption
in his world.
Let's pray together.
Lord Jesus
we pause
and we praise you
for winning
the ultimate victory
over spiritual darkness.
God we look out
at our world
and we still see
so much brokenness
so much evil
that yes
can be explained
by many material causes
and yet we know
that there's also
a great spiritual battle
raging.
But we thank you Lord
that this victory
has been won
and that we need not fear
and that even though
we are called
to put on the armor
each day
to fight this battle
we know that ultimately
in you Christ
it will be a battle
that is victorious.
Lord we pray
for your help
in the midst of temptation
and accusation
help us to remember
the gospel
that you have loved us
with an undying love
and that you have called us
to live holy lives
in service of you.
Lord help us to live
in that freedom
and help us to encourage
one another
on the way.
Lord help us
to run this race
together as a church
proclaiming your victory
like this man
that we see here
in Mark 5.
Lord each of us
has a story
about the great mercy
that you've shown to us.
Help us to publish it
and proclaim it
and be glad.
We ask this in your name
Jesus.
Amen.