SS10-31-03.doc

STUDY THEME: LOOKING FOR CHANGE. 10-31-04.

“DESIRING DELIVERANCE.” MARK 5: 1-13, 18-20.

MARK 5: 1-5, 6-7, 8-13, 18-20.

PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO MARK 5.

In Mark 4: 35-41 Jesus had commanded His disciples to leave Capernaum. It was evening and Jesus was exhausted. He fell asleep in the back of the boat. Almost immediately a furious storm struck the boat and the waves began to spill over into the boat. The disciples woke Jesus and said, “Teacher don’t you care that we are about to die?”

Jesus stood up in the boat and commanded the wind to “be quiet!’ And He said to the waves, “be still!” The wind died down and there was a great calm. The disciples said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and sea obey Him? It was Jeremy Taylor who said that we are safer in the middle of a storm with God, than anywhere else without Him.

Maybe this will prepare us for today’s lesson. Mark the Gospel writer, moved from a description of a wild sea in Mark 4 to that of a wild man in Ch. 5. Mark 5 provides an excellent starting point for understanding demons since Jesus both confronted and defeated a large horde of them.

Jesus knew that demons were real, but we also see in Jesus’ encounter with this demon -possessed man the power, mercy, and authority of the Son of God. He simply commanded the demons to go and they obeyed., In this lesson we will see both the purpose of Satan to destroy and the power of the Savior to deliver.

1. PLEASE READ MARK 5: 1-5.

After Jesus had calmed the storm on the sea of Galilee, He and the 12 disciples finished crossing the sea and arrived in the region of the Gerasenes (GEHR uh seens) which Matthew called Gadarenes. It was occupied by Gentiles more than Jews.

In that area there was a steep slope only 40 yards from the shore, and two miles from there were some cavernous tombs. When Jesus and the disciples got out of the boat, they were immediately met by a man with an unclean spirit.

Matthew in Matt. 8:18 said there were two demon possessed men, but Mark and Luke focused on just one of them.

The demon-possessed man was defiled by demons. The description of the man grows more tragic and pathetic with each added statement. This man came out of the tombs because he lived in the tombs.

Jesus knew that the Law of Moses forbade touching a dead body and that doing so made a person unclean. This man with an unclean spirit lived among the dead and was thus doubly defiled. The control that evil spirits had over the man was fearfully powerful but not absolute.

The effects of the demon possession were frightening. The man was so strong that no one could restrain him, not even with shackles and chains. He simply snapped of the chains and smashed the shackles. Absolutely no one was able to restrain his violence.

Deranged and utterly depraved in his behavior, this man was not a maniac but a demoniac. Apparently the people in his town had concluded that he was mad and had driven him away, forcing him to live among the dead. They had attempted to bind him but with no success. The demons’ control over him had plunged him into a life of filth, loneliness, and terror. No doubt people feared him because of his strange behavior and Herculean strength.

This is a frightening and pitiful picture of a man whom no one could control. Worst of all he had no control over himself. He had great physical strength, but he was controlled by forces over which he had no control.

He was possessed by demons whose synonym is always either “evil spirits” or “unclean spirits.” The evil spirits were instruments of the devil in hurting the man and all who knew him and encountered him. We are not told how the man came to be in this condition. The Bible tells little about how people become possessed. The Bible emphasizes not how people become demoniacs but how Jesus healed them.

The case of this man can be applied more broadly to all people whose lives are out of control. This applies especially to people with various addictions. This includes people addicted to drugs, alcohol, gambling, pornography, crime, and sexual immorality.

They are like the demoniac in the following ways: (1) They have a condition over which they have little or no control: the condition controls them, not vice-versa. (2) As a result, they are excluded from normal life. Many people fear them and avoid them. (3) Those who care enough to try and help are frustrated by the failure of their efforts and may eventually give up in despair.

This lesson is a solemn reminder that the power of the Devil to control people’s lives is real, but Jesus’ power to overcome evil is just as real and much more powerful.

Scripture says in 1 Peter 5: 8 “Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.

Clearly, Satan’s minions planned to devour and destroy this man. They constantly tormented him so that he kept crying out and cutting himself with stones. Howling like a wild animal and moving about the tombs and the mountains, the man mutilated himself with rocks. Some believe this is evidence of depraved pagan worship, and others see wild but futile attempts to drive out the demons.

It is more likely that these were failed yet continuous attempts to end his pain and suffering by suicide. No doubt this was precisely what the demons wanted. Running about wild and naked, and unkempt, he would have been covered with cuts, bruises, lacerations, scabs, and infected tissues. After living in a constant state of delirium and pain, he probably tried again and again to end this awful torment. A more miserable existence could hardly be imagined.

His situation appeared hopeless. But something happened that would reverse the course of his despair. That something was the power of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

Just as Jesus got out of the ship, out of the tombs the wild man came running toward Jesus. What a frightening experience that must have been!

2. PLEASE READ MARK 5: 6-7.

Verse 6 picks up where vs. 2 left off. The man saw Jesus from a distance and did something surprising: He ran and knelt down before Him. Kneeling was not necessarily and act of worship but more of an acknowledgment of authority. He then cried out with aloud voice to Jesus. What the man said clearly originated with the demons inside him. What do You have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God, don’t torment me!” The demons reacted this way because of what Jesus in Mark 5:8 had told them to do when He first saw the man. Though the lips of the man moved, it was the voice of the demons that spoke.

All or most of what the man said were words of the demons, not those of the man. The evil spirits recognized who Jesus was and realized that He was their enemy. Thus they asked Him to leave them alone.

Here was a spiritual conflict that was completely one-sided--demons versus the Son of God. This was no contest! The demon-possessed man dropped to his knees. He was compelled to confess Jesus’ identity. Ironically, the demons’ knowledge of Jesus’ identity was superior to the disciples’ knowledge, at least at this point. It is also somewhat ironic that their identification of Jesus provides the answer to the disciples’ question in Mark 4:41.

The demoniac’s statement was fearful and violent, taking the form of a plea. The demons knew who Jesus was, and they knew their control and torment of this man was about to end---and perhaps their own existence in the world was at an end too! The demons went on the defensive in a feeble attempt for leniency.

Their question basically asked, What do we have in common? Or “What do you want with me?” The demons wanted to distance themselves from Jesus as quickly as possible. James wrote in James 2: 19 that the demons believe in Jesus and tremble.

The title Son of the Most High God is nothing less than recognition of deity. Still, the full address is not a confession of Jesus’ dignity but a desperate attempt to gain control over Him or to render Him harmless, in accordance with the common assumption of the period that the use of the precise name of an adversary gave one mastery over him.

These verses Mark 5: 6-7 represent the torment of a person who is torn between a desire to come to Christ and a desire to flee from Him. The man’s action in running to Jesus and kneeling before Him could have been an attempt by the man to seek Jesus’ help. But even as his better self led him to come to Jesus, his demons led him to try and get away from Jesus.

Such an inward struggle is characteristic not only of this demoniac but also of many lost people who are torn between a desire to come to Christ and a desire to flee from Him. Thus they continue to resist their better impulse and try to flee from the Lord, who could save them—but only if they turned from the sins they don’t want to give up.

3. PLEASE READ MARK 5: 8-13.

In vs. 8 Jesus commanded the demon to “Come out of the man” This exorcism (expulsion) was not the kind of bells, whistles, floating bodies and twisting heads, guttural screams, and howling barks of religious folklore primarily popularized through Hollywood trickery. As the following verses make clear, the demons left the man because of the all-powerful presence and words of Jesus. The man’s personality had been destroyed by the demons.

In vs. 9 Jesus asked the demon-possessed man, “What is your name?” He did not ask for His own personal information. Clearly Jesus, being God, knew the name the demon would say. Also Jesus did not state why He asked this question, the reason likely was to show His supernatural power over the devil and his many demons.

To overcome the power of one demon would certainly astonish the people of the region. But to rid the man of many demons by speaking a word would declare Jesus’ identity as the Son of God to all in the area of Gerasenes. Everyone who heard about the encounter would clearly understand the situation and exactly what God’s power had overcome. So by answering the question, the demons themselves unwittingly would give testimony to Jesus and His supernatural power over the forces of evil.

The unclean spirit, who had no choice but to answer Jesus, immediately identified his name as Legion, indicating the depth of the demoniac’s misery. He was controlled, not by just one demon, who was the spokesman, but by an entire host of demons.

Likely the name Legion refers, not to an exact number, but to a very large number. Also, the term would bring to mind to the people an army of occupation, destruction, and cruelty. The name points to Satan’s army of terror and death.

The Bible makes clear that more than one demon would at times occupy and enslave a person. The whole encounter alerts us to the magnitude of the many evil spirits in the world and warns that Satan’s forces are united in their desire to defeat Christ and His purposes in the world. The Evil One uses many tools to control people.

In spite of the power of these evil spirits, we see in vs. 10 that they are not all-powerful. But Jesus is all-powerful. So all the demons could do when Jesus confronted them was to keep on begging Him not to send them out of the region. The demons realized they could not successfully resist Jesus’ order that they leave the man. The knowledge that Jesus can completely negate the power of unclean spirits should encourage all believes to join the triumphant confidence of Paul in Rom. 8:37---“we are more than victorious through Him who loved us.”

Why would the demons ask to enter the pigs? Did they simply want to destroy more and more? Did they hope the owner of the pigs would become hostile to Jesus’ when he saw his property destroyed? The passage does not give an answer. One thing is clear, however. The demons knew they had to leave the man immediately and go somewhere.

That a large heard of pigs, about 2000, was feeding on the hillside nearby reminds us that the setting of the encounter was an area predominately populated by Gentiles. They would be the only people who would be raising pigs to slaughter for food and other by-products.

Perhaps the demons thought they had won a concession from Jesus when He gave them permission to enter the pigs, but they were wrong. Presumably their request led to their destruction.

Unclean spirits have no autonomous power. They can only do what they are allowed, or permitted, to do. In fact, they could not even have gone to the pigs to enter them unless Jesus permitted them to do so. When Christ and the demoniac spirits in this world battle over souls, it is not a battle between equals or one that’s in question regarding the outcome. Christ is Lord, and He can deliver people from any evil that controls them.

Unclean spirits always act consistently with their basic nature. Wherever and however they appear, they always bring destruction and death. Therefore, the inevitable consequence of their entering the pigs was that they immediately rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned. Mark 5: 14-17 explains what happened next.

When the demon-possessed pigs plunged into the sea and drowned, “the men who tended them ran off and reported it.” Everywhere in “the town and the countryside.”

Not unexpectedly, the people went to see what had happened. No doubt they were not prepared for what they found.

They came to Jesus, and then they saw him---“the man who had been demon-possessed by the legion.” But was this really him? Was this the same man no one could control and who had terrorized their community for so long?

He was sitting there, not running about wild and in-a rage. And he was dressed. Further, he was in his right mind, which actually explained his new appearance and behavior. He knew who he was and who they were. Even more important, the man knew who Jesus was and what He had done for him.

Also there were eyewitnesses who explained everything that had happened. This conversation was probably lively and captivating. The former demoniac, whom they had known as a madman, was sitting before them dressed and in control of all his faculties. He may have been smiling, rejoicing in his salvation and deliverance. Perhaps with gratitude and devotion his eyes were fixed on Jesus.

But these men had something else on their minds as well: they ”told about the pigs.” When these local herdsmen found out about their livelihood, “they began to beg Jesus to leave their region.” What a surprising reaction! What a disappointing response! To be fair, we should note that they were also afraid.”

A combination of commercial concern (they had just lost 2,000 pigs and the income they represented) and fear of the One who can control and cast out demons by a word was more than they could handle. Perhaps they thought, What else can this man Jesus do? What if He wants to do something to me? Pathetically, they decided that it would be best if Jesus left, so they asked Him to leave their region.

The local people did not care for the demoniac’s soul, but the Son of God did. Jesus changed him and made him a new man. Heaven was glad, but the man’s neighbors just wanted Jesus to leave. What a sad commentary on the wickedness and self-centeredness of the human heart without the grace and goodness of God.

Jesus did not stay and prepared to leave by getting into the boat. Whether out of ignorance, fear, or greed, the people in the region of the Gerasenes had decided that they had had enough of this miracle worker. It was time for Him to ship out. To our knowledge, Jesus never visited this region again.

Someone asked, “Why would Jesus allow so many animals to be destroyed simply to satisfy the bizarre request of demons?” The restoration of the demon-possessed man and the destruction of the demons were of greater value than 2,000 pigs. And the pig’s destruction dramatically emphasized Jesus’ power to destroy the demoniac in human beings.

The pigs’ wild, frenzied, and sudden reaction was dramatic and convincing evidence that they had left the man because of Jesus’ command. The demons’ fierceness and violence were transferred to the pigs, and all the observers did not doubt what had happened and who had caused it.

The application of this lesson is broader than deliverance from demons. It applies to all people whose lives are out of control because of forces of evil. Jesus can deliver those who are slaves of sin. This applies especially to people addicted to alcohol, drugs, gambling, sexual sins, crime, and gossip.

Too often church people have been more active in condemning such people rather than helping them. Christians should view addicts as Jesus viewed the Gadarene demoniac. Jesus did not theorize about how the man got that way. Instead, He sought to help.

The first step a person must take to be delivered from any evil that controls him or her is to believe in Jesus as Savior and be saved by grace through faith. Continued victory comes from trusting Jesus for daily living. Those who are set free should be living witnesses of Jesus’ power over Satan and demonic forces. Such a witness the man was now to become.

4. PLEASE READ MARK 5: 18-20.

In vs. 18 Jesus prepared to depart after driving out the unclean spirits, not because His ministry in the region was finished, but, because it was rejected by the people who lived in the area. But in contrast to the people, the man who had been demon-possessed saw that Jesus was preparing to leave and kept begging Him to be with Him.

The healed man was totally changed. What a change Jesus had made? No one was more grateful than the man himself. Paul said in 2 Cor. 5: 17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.” Never was this wonderful truth more dramatically demonstrated than in this man whom the Lord Jesus had delivered from the legion of demons.

The man wanted to join the missionary team on-board the boat. I certainly can’t blame him: can you? Wouldn’t you already have had one leg over the transom of the boat even before you asked Jesus permission to go with Him? The verse does not explain why the man wanted to go with Jesus, but we know. Since the day Jesus delivered you, haven’t you too wanted to be in His presence daily?

When the transformed man realized that Jesus was about to leave he kept begging Him to be with Him. Anyone can understand that the man wanted to never be separated from the One who delivered his life from a terrible plight from which he could not save himself. He felt gratitude and devotion and wanted to be with Jesus.

Jesus tenderly refused the man’s request. He had other work for this man. The man was no doubt disappointed by Jesus’ refusal. Some people never get over the Lord’s refusal of something they wanted to do for Him. Jesus refused the man’s request, but He had something important for him to do, something only he was qualified to do.

The mission of believers, freed from the stranglehold of Satan, is to give witness of Christ’s power over Satan and demonic forces. Yes, exciting worship that feeds the soul is essential. Bible study classes that strengthen spiritual muscle are necessary. Prayer groups that lift our hearts to heaven are indispensable. However, all of these are the means of ministry, not the end of our mission. Every Christian’s salvation comes with a commission to be a living witness of Jesus’ power to deliver from sin and death.

In vs. 19 the man’s miraculous deliverance through the Lord’s tender mercy and awesome power gave him a new purpose. The awful tragedy of his demon-possessed life was previously known by all in the community. Now the man’s life in Christ obligated him to tell these same “all” what Jesus had done. So Jesus directed him to do what the man’s own community needed: “Go back home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you.”

Here is a great rule of thumb that grows directly out of the N.T. mandate to be a living witness to Jesus’ deliverance power. First be God’s witness where you are and trust Jesus to lead you anywhere else He might need you to be. Are you ( and how are you) witnessing at your work? In your neighborhood? To your family? To your friends? during your daily life encounters? If you have neglected these opportunities, then do as Jesus directed the healed man: “Go back home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you.”

In vs. 20 the man embraced the home mission field Jesus assigned him and went out and began to proclaim…how much Jesus had done for him. He undoubtedly started with his family members just as Jesus had directed. No doubt his family and friends knew of his demon-possession. What a powerful testimony he had to tell them.

However, he quickly began to tell throughout the entire district the story of Jesus power to deliver people from evil. That district was Decapolis, a loosely connected group of 10 Gentile cities on the east side of the Jordan River.

Some Bible teachers feel that this man actually launched the first major witnessing mission to Gentiles. And did he make a difference? Mark concludes with a phrase that reports the astounding success of this man’s home mission trip: the citizens of Decapolis were all amazed.

In Mark 1:34 Jesus told some healed Jewish demoniacs not to tell anyone, but He commanded this man to tell everyone in his home area. Jesus did not want to be known as a healer because many Jews would jump to the conclusion that He was an earthly messiah. There was no such danger in Gentile areas such as Decapolis.

Apparently the healed man took Jesus’ words to mean that he was to exclude no one. So he told his amazing testimony throughout the area. He did what Jesus told him to do. Jesus said, “Tell them how great things the Lord hath done for you, and hath compassion on you.” In Luke 11:20 Jesus taught that His casting out demons was a sign that God’s kingdom had come among them.

What do you need to do to be a living witness of Jesus’ power? Be called to witness? Every saved person is called. Be needed? Look around; the world you daily live in is filled with people in the grip of sin and Satan. Be trained? How-to-witness training certainly can sharpen one’s knowledge and communication of the gospel. But a personal experience of Jesus’ deliverance and a willingness to go and tell is basic to being a witness for Him.

NEXT SUNDAY WE BEGIN A 4 LESSON THEME “CREATION SPEAKS.” WE BEGIN WITH PSALM 104 “GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD!” <altav@swbell.com>