Gospel of Mark, Chapter 5:1- 9 Demon Pt 1 November 18, 2017
The disciples
were learning more about Jesus every day. They just realize Jesus has
complete control over weather, rain and storms by just speaking to it and they learned
that true faith in Him will take away their fear. Now the disciples will learn
that Jesus has power over Satan and his demons and Jesus will bring peace.
The Case of the Deviled Ham; a glimpse into the Dark Side... Do you
believe in “demon possession”? ...for today?
Agenda: This chapter 5 Deals with 3 Desperate People
The Demon at Gadera Mark 5:1-21
The Raising of
Jairus’ daughter Mark
5:20…43
The Woman with the issue
of blood Mark
5:25-34
Jesus Heals
a Man with a Demon
Mark 5:1 They arrived at the other side
of the sea in the territory of the Gadarenes.
The
other side of the sea: This
was after the storm, full length of the sea.
*Luke
8:26 They landed in the
region of the Gadarenes which is just across the lake from Galilee.
The
“east bank”: This is Gentile country; this area is
Known as the
Decapolis (De-cap-oh-lus) (“ten cities”).
Location: which is opposite Galilee where we have been and now on the Southeastern
shore of the Sea of Galilee (depends on how you look at it). There is a Jewish element there, but is a
major Gentile domain.
Mark 5:2 Just as Jesus stepped out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
A man was living among the dead, in and among the cemetery. A few verses
later, we will discover “ An unclean spirit” = 2,000
of them! This was a very serious case
of demon possession.
*Luke 8:27
When Jesus stepped out on the shore, a man from the city met him. This man was
controlled by demons and had not worn clothes for a long time. He did not live
in a house but in the tombs.
Do you really believe
there is a Devil, or even demons.
Demon possession is real. (Especially) today, a person can be possessed today. Look at the news today and see it. Our Leaders hate Christians.
*1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be
vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour.
Satan
is powerful and he is after you and me.
This is part of the reasons we have trials. His goal is to get us destroyed.
Never underestimate the destructive power of Satan. We
are rescued from Satan.
*Colossians
1:13 God has rescued us from the power of
darkness and has brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves,
Every unsaved person is controlled to a certain
extent by Satan.
Ephesians 2:1-3 And
you He made alive, who
were dead in trespasses and sins,
(2) in which you once walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of
the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, (3)
among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath, just as the others.
Matthew indicates that there was another man, but Mark and Luke center on this one
person. Matthew's witness focuses on both men, while Mark's and Luke's focus on
the one who thanked Jesus by telling others about what Jesus had done for
him as we will see.
Matthew 8:28
When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met
Him two demon-possessed men,
coming out of the tombs, exceedingly
fierce, so that no one could pass
that way.
That these
wretched men were not merely mad, as some suppose, but really possessed of evil
spirits, They met him out of the
tombs. The tombs are still seen in the cliff. (see picture)
We know that within a short distance from the
shore, there is an immense mountain rises directly above it, in which are
ancient tombs. The lake of Galilee is
very near the base of the mountain, that the swine rushing madly down the
mountain could not stop, but would run right on into the Lake.
Mark 5:3 He lived among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, not
even with a chain (chains.)
Lived among
the tombs. The tombs of
that age were either natural or artificially made caves in a rocky hillside,
and hence would afford shelter. They are sometimes the homes of the poorer
classes.
No man
could bind him.
Individuals under the influence often exhibit almost superhuman strength and
can snapped a handcuff as if a string.
Nothing could
hold him for any length of time: not only cords were insufficient to hold, but
even chains of iron; he was so strong because he was so strong because he was
possessed; for he could not do this by his own natural strength
Mark 5:4 He had often been restrained with shackles and chains but had snapped (or pulled) the chains apart
and broken the shackles in pieces. No
one could tame him.
The demon power
by which he was held, gave him superhuman strength and made him scorn
restraint. Matthew says he was “exceeding fierce, so that no man might
pass by that way.” He was the terror of the whole locality.
Chains had been pulled apart: as
if they had been twine threads; such was his strength, through the force of
madness, and the possession of Satan, and his influence.
Neither could anyone tame him; by
any methods whatever; even such who undertook the cure of madness, or to
exorcise those that were possessed: this man was so furious and outrageous,
that he was not to be managed any way, either by art or force.
He was “dead”: living among tombs...
His strength is approaching Superhuman, very powerful guy and very
destructive to himself and especially to others. We do hear about super strength individuals today.
Mark 5:5 Night and day he kept screaming among the tombs and on the mountainsides and kept cutting himself with stones.
Perhaps he was
scarred all over with such gashes during his moments of wild frenzy night and
day in the tombs and on the mountains.
Not having clothes on, among rocks, he would be cut. Continue
screaming – scary.
Among the
tombs: which very
likely were on the mountains, and cut out of them, it being usual to cut their
grave sites out of rocks:
Crying and
cutting himself with stones - In this person’s case we see the results of what Satan could do to
an individual, if God should permit him; but we know that the devil himself has his chain; and he who often binds others, is always bound
himself.
*Revelation
20:1-2
Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless
pit and a great chain in his hand. (2) He
laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and
Satan, and bound him for a thousand
years;
Mark 5:6-7 When he saw Jesus from a
distance, he ran and fell down in front of him and worshiped Him, (7) screaming in a loud
voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus,
Son of the Most High God? I beg you in the name of God never to torment
me!"
The naked yelling
man must have tried the newly recovered confidence of the Twelve. We can
imagine their surprise when, on approaching, he threw himself on his knees” (It would scare me and make me wonder – they
are still learning about Jesus and just got out of the storm on the lake.
He ran and
worshipped him: he came
running to Jesus; and when he came upon Jesus, the individual fell down at Jesus
feet before him, acknowledging who Jesus was.
Jesus, Son of the Most High God
Worshipped
him - Bowed down before
him; rendered him homage. This was an acknowledgment of his power, and of his
control over fallen spirits.
Satan is required
to acknowledge Jesus is superior to Satan and the demons.
Luke
8:28 When he
saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down
before Him, and with a loud voice said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg
You, do not torment me!"
Why?
Luke 8:29 because Jesus was in the
process of ordering the unclean spirit to come out of the man. On many
occasions the unclean spirit had seized the man, and though he was kept under
guard and bound with chains and shackles, he would break the chains and be
driven by the demon into deserted places.
*Matthew 8:29 Suddenly they screamed,
"What do you want with us, Son of God? Did you come here to torture us
before the proper time?"
Jesus
distinguished between the man and the demon who possessed him. Although the
man's physical body that fell down before Christ, it was the demon within who
spoke to Jesus, and was likewise addressed by Jesus in return.
I beg you
by God: a very serious or emotional request. The language of the demon, not of the man: The demons ask Jesus to deal
with us as God Himself does, that is, not to bring sooner our final doom, but
to follow God’s plan for us so we can enjoy what we have now.
Notice the demon
calls Jesus here “son of the Most High God”, meaning they know who
Jesus is.
We see here, the devil and demons also
believe and know who Jesus is, but it is not enough, they are always fearful
being around Jesus.
*James 2:19 You believe that
there is one God. That's fine! Even the demons believe that and tremble with
fear.
The
demons know who Jesus is, and exactly how powerful He is, yet they are still
His enemy. This tells us something very important: Believing the facts about
Jesus is not enough to make you right with God.
This is an interesting insight what we learn: what the demons really knew.
3 things to take Notice of so far:
1.
The
demons knew who Jesus was;
2.
The
demons knew what was going to happen to them in the future
3.
The demons begged Jesus not send them into the bottomless pit, the place of torment.
*Luke 8:31 Then the demons
began begging Jesus not to order them to go into the bottomless pit.
Important: The demons did not know what Jesus had
planned to do;
Remember, Satan can know God’s plans only if God reveals
them.
Interesting, the more we
study the Bible, we do not know when Christ will return. I feel it is set up that way to catch Satan
as surprise when Jesus will return and to us, His Body to continue as His ambassadors and doing His Will.
Don’t waste our time
trying to figure out when Jesus will be sent back to the earth because we know,
that only the Father knows.
I have not found any
evidence or hints in the Scriptures that Satan can actually
read the mind of a believer.
We know the Scriptures
says, only God know the intent of the heart or meaning, read our minds or
moods. Satan can project moods.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 "The
heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? (10)
I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give
every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.
The Nature of Demons
They desperately seek embodiment. To be in a living body.
Demons can derange or affect the mind and
body. See one example
Matthew 12:22 Then one
was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him,
so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.
Demons know the deity and lordship of Christ in the spirit world
Acts 19:14-17 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest
named Sceva were doing this. (15) But the evil spirit told them, "Jesus I know, and I am getting acquainted
with Paul, but who are you?"
(16) Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them, got the better of them,
and so violently overpowered all of them that they fled out of the house naked
and bruised. (17) When this became known to everyone living in Ephesus, Jews
and Greeks alike, they all became terrified, and the name of the Lord Jesus
began to be held in high honor.
The demons try to find any opening into us: what are sometimes called “entries”—occult involvements (Ouija boards, horoscopes, et al.).
If we let demons in, including hypnoses. All these things can allow demons into our
lives. The questions is: Do we really believe in demons.
If you saw the movie “The Exorcist,” the movie was based on actual case studies.
We as individuals are open to this If we do
not have the Holy Spirit living in you.
Mark 5:8 Jesus had been saying to him, "Come
out of the man, you unclean spirit!"
Come out of
the man, unclean spirit; which was
said with so much authority and power, that there was no withstanding it: the
demons knew they was not a match for him; that he must, at his command, come
out of this individual.
Ordinarily, obedience to a command of this nature
was immediate. But here, a certain delay is permitted, to show the power of
Christ and to accomplish His purposes.
Mark 5:9 Then Jesus asked him, "What's your name?" He told him,
"My name is Legion, because there are many of us."
*Luke 8:30 Jesus asked the man,
"What's your name?" He answered, "Legion," because many demons
had gone into him.
The words just
used was that of the demon speaking through the man.
To me, in some
ways, scary.
What is
your name! Jesus asked the
demon and the demon had to answer.
“My name is Legion”:
Notice, they are subject to
Jesus and responded.
A Roman legion is a division of the Roman army which was typically between 5000-6,826 men.
This question that
Jesus asked, was not for his own sake but for His disciples sake; for he was
not ignorant of his name, nor of the number of the unclean spirits which were
in the man; but partly, that it might be known what a miserable condition this
poor man was in, being taken over with such a large company of demons.
We will pick up
the rest of this story next time.
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