Gospel of Mark, Chapter 5:9-21 Demon Pt 2 December 2, 2017
Review: Jesus and the disciples went to the other
side of the Lake of Galilee. When Jesus
stepped out of the boat, demon posed, naked, yelling, and screaming men from
the tombs met Jesus and fell down in front of Him. No one could restrain this person, with
shackles or chains. He kept
cutting himself with stones. (Mark only covered one of the two men)
The Jesus said, "Come
out of the man, you unclean spirit!"
Normally, 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 He (Jesus) asked him,
"What is your name?"
And he answered, saying, "My name is Legion; for we are many."
The demon had to answer. A Roman legion
is a division of the Roman army which was typically around
5000 men. Now we will pick up where we left off last
time.
Mark 5:10 Also he begged Him earnestly
that He would not send them out of
the country.
Out of the
country: Interesting,
They considered this wild Gentile place their own country (or region).
The demons seems
to be territorial. It seems that a
spirit being would be tied to a specific land area. We saw this in the book of Daniel and Angel.
This demon was the spokesperson of the many,
Begged Him
. . . that he would not send them out of the country. In other words, "Do not send us back
to the place of perdition from where we came." They wanted to stay in the
man. They confess the power of Christ.
*Luke 8:28 When he saw Jesus,
he screamed, fell down in front of him, and cried out in a loud voice,
"What do you want from me, Jesus,
Son of the Most High God? I beg you not to torture me!" He knew who Jesus was.
*Luke 8:31 Then the demons
began begging Jesus not to order them to go into the bottomless pit.
Mark 5:11 Now a large herd of swine was
feeding there near the mountains.
At Gersa, the
mountain rises near the sea. This whole
country is for the most part very hilly, for the mountains of Galeed run
through it.
Different
Gospel manuscripts offer conflicting names
for the area in which the miracle took place — the country of the Gadarenes,
Gerasenes, or Gergesenes. What is
certain is that the location was in gentile territory.
A large
herd of swine. Either
the property of Gentiles, or of Jews who disobeyed the law of Moses for
gain. Most likely the owners of these
pigs were Jews. (White meat in Israel –
Mr. Randle Dick) This will explain what
follows.
Mark 5:12 So all the demons begged Him,
saying, "Send us to the swine, that we may enter them."
“...great herd of swine feeding”:
This is surprising: it implies they were there to serve a Gentile marketplace.
*Luke 8:32 Now a large herd of
pigs was grazing there on the hillside.
So the demons begged Jesus to let them go into those pigs, and he consented to
that. (on hillside)
Sometimes I
wonder, does a demon have to ask permission to enter into a living human or
animal.
We know
about Job and what happen to him (Satan – God).
And all the
demons begged Him: The whole legion of them, not only their
chief, in the name of the rest, but all of them earnestly begged Jesus; not because they
loved Jesus, but they feared Him.
One
of the strangest and strongest request in the Bible, begging. Apparently they need God’s permission even to enter animals.
Demons do not hesitate to touch a
non-Christian person! They can touch
him anytime they want to: If we do not have
the Holy Spirit living in us, we are subject to the demons at any time as we
covered last time.
And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive
by him at his will.
2 Timothy 2:24-26 A servant of the Lord must
not argue. Instead, he must be kind to everyone, teachable, willing to suffer
wrong, (25) and gentle when refuting opponents. After all, maybe God will allow
them to repent and to come to a full knowledge of the truth, (26) so that they might escape from the devil's snare,
even though they've been held captive by
him to do his will.
Even today, two thousand hogs is a very large herd. Their dollar value could easily
have been worth a quarter of a million dollars in today's economy—a sizable loss for the owners.
Mark 5:13 And at once Jesus gave them
permission. Then the unclean
spirits went out and entered the swine
(there were about two thousand); and
the herd ran violently down the
steep place into the sea, and drowned in
the sea. (this would be a big
One of the strangest passages in the
Scriptures.
Jesus gave them
permission: Stranger still, Jesus allowed to their request! Why?
*Luke 8:33 Then the demons came
out of the man and went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the cliff into
the lake and drowned.
One of the things we learn, these demons are real. That
is what Jesus is saying.
Weather it was the demons in the swine that cause
themselves to drown themselves or
weather that was part of the Lord’s direction, saying, you can have the
swine, but a very short time. Who knows.
The pigs went into the Sea of Galilee and drowned. Speculations about this, but it is primary to
warn us of the reality of these beings, yes they are real. As I asked before, do you really believe
there is a spiritual world out there and there are demons around.
To warn us concerning the reality of these beings.
and the unclean spirits went out; of the man, in
whom they had for some time dwelt:
and entered into the herd of swine; according to the
leave given them by Jesus:
this shows not only the existence of spirits, but their going from one location to another shows
that they are confined to a
limited area or space;
Meaning, the
demons they are here, and not there, or there, and not here:
They can be in
one location only at a time or one individual.
As the old saying, if you are not here, not there, you have to be
somewhere.
Note the large number: 2,000!
they were about two thousand; a very large
herd, but there were devils enough in that one man, to possess all these, and
run them into the sea:
Remember, spirit has no weight or mass, just
like a program we put on a disk for a computer, when we covered that in the
past.
Mark 5:14 So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it
was that had happened.
(countryside)
We all
have our priorities… They were really upset.
All the city came out, a whole
lot of people.
Matthew
8:34
And behold, the whole city came out
to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from
their region.
And they that fed the swine: Not the owners, but the workers or keepers of them, the swine herds,
"fled"; being astonished at the power of Christ, at the noise of the
devils, and terrified at the sight and loss of the swine:
And they went out to see what it was that was done:
that is, the inhabitants of the city of Gadara, and those that dwelt in the
villages, and in lone houses in the fields, went forth to the places where the
possessed man used to be, and where Jesus and the man were,
and where the swine used to feed, to see with their own eyes, and satisfy
themselves of the truth of what they
heard about the swineherd drowning
in the Sea.
Matthew 8:33 Then those who kept them
fled; and they went away into the city and
told everything, including what had
happened to the demon-possessed men.
(men?)
This demon
possessed man must have affected and hurt many individuals over time.
They did not have Facebook or video, so they
had to see with their own eyes.
Mark 5:15 Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind.
And they were afraid.
And they come to Jesus,.... Who had wrought this miracle, and of
which, and whom, the keepers of the swine had given them some account:
*Luke 8:35 Then they went out
to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the
demons had departed, sitting at the feet
of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.
Where did the clothes come from?
And they
were afraid: They became
afraid. They had all been afraid of the man, but there he was “sitting
clothed and in his right mind
The individuals
were afraid and not daring to come that way because of the demon processed individual.
What the man needed was healing, forgiveness
and grace. Don’t we all!
Sitting, not wandering as before;—clothed,
not naked now; The man had been well known. He had long
dwelt among the tombs, an object of terror and alarm. To see him all at once
peaceful, calm, and rational, was proof that it was the power of God only that
had done it
and in his right mind, sane, not a maniac, as he had been under
the demon’s
influence.
Had
the legion. The reality of the possession is emphasized by the fact that they
identified this man as the former terror to the district
They were afraid, terrified, awe-struck.
Mark 5:16 And those who saw it told them how it
happened to him who had been
demon-possessed, and about the swine.
*Luke 8:36 The people who had seen it
told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed.
These swine were in all probability Jewish property, If you remember, we talked about how pig
meat is called white meat in Israel.
And those who saw
it. Probably the swine workers, or
Jesus disciples or those who were working in the fields.
How it happened. Not merely the fact which those coming
already perceived, but the way in which the cure had occurred.
and about the
swine — Thus had they the
double testimony of the herdsmen and their own senses.
Mark 5:17 Then they began to plead with
Him to depart from their region.
The individuals from the city are more concern about the welfare of the animals
ahead of that of the man. The owners of the swine were more concern
about the swine, because it was their income lost (bread and butter) and not
concern about the man.
They began to plead with him
to depart. Christ does not stay where he is not wanted.
They could not deny the miracle but they prefer Jesus did it somewhere
else.
To depart from their region: Here in this
region, pagan influence was strong and the owners of the pigs cared more for the
loss of their property than for the healing of the wild demon processed man. In the clash
between business and spiritual welfare business came first with them as often
today.
All three Gospels tell of the many different requests for Jesus to leave their area.
They feared the power of Jesus and wanted no further interference with their
business affairs.
He left a solid witness behind. All the people marveled when
they heard what Jesus had done for him.
*Luke 8:37 Then the whole multitude of the surrounding
region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized
with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned.
Mark 5:18 And when He (Jesus) got into
the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged
Him that he might be with Him.
Begged
him. The same word used in the last verse. The reason of this request was
probably personal gratitude to our Lord. He would thus separate himself from those
who rejected his Deliverer. Possibly he feared a relapse.
A
grateful heart, fresh from the hand of demons, clinging to Jesus who removed the demons from him.
Mark 5:19 However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to
your friends, and tell them what
great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on
you."
Remember, before, Jesus told the person who
was healed, tell no one and go to the High Priest. This is why I lean towards this person was a
Gentile and not Jewish. Probably why
Jesus would not allow him to go with Him.
In Galilee Jesus had several times forbidden the healed to tell what he
had done for them because of the undue excitement and misunderstanding. But
here it was different. There was no danger of too much enthusiasm for Christ in
this environment.
Jesus had greatly blessed this man and so gave him the hardest task of
all, to go home and witness there for
Christ.
Luke 8:38-39 Now the man from
whom the demons had gone out kept begging Jesus to let him go with him. But
Jesus sent him away, saying, (39) "Go home and tell what God has done for you."
So the man left and kept proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus
had done for him.
Mark 5:20 And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus
had done for him; and all marveled.
One minute, this
man was trying to hurt them, next minute he is preaching what Jesus had done
for him.
This man ministry was fruitful; the next time Jesus visits this region he is welcomed. We will see in the future.
Mark 7:31
Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst
of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.
Decapolis. A district so called from its ten cities,
of which Gadara was one. The first preacher (the prior processed man) of Christ there was one who could testify
of his power.
how Jesus had done for him: and all marvel — Throughout that considerable region did Jesus mercy, he proclaim his new-found Lord; and some, it
is to be hoped, did more than “marvel.”
Psalms 66:16 Come and hear, all you who fear God, And I will declare what He
has done for my soul.
Mark 5:21 When Jesus again had crossed to the other
side in a boat, a large crowd gathered around him by the seashore.
We just finish the first of 3 desperate people, the Demon, nest will be
Jairus daughter, and then the woman with issue of blood.
The disciples continue to learn 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 learn that Jesus has power over Satan and his demons.
Start on verse 21 next time
