In a Pig’s Eye
By Pastor Jim May
In this world there is a great truth that we should never forget. And what is that great and profound truth, you might ask? It is simply this: Never wrestle with a pig: You both get all dirty, and the pig likes it.
In our story from God’s Word tonight, we will find that most people would still rather wrestle with the pigs than to follow Jesus.
Jesus and the disciples stepped off of the ship after having spent a long night on the Sea of Galilee. It had been a night of terror and of wonder. It was on this night that Jesus stood on the side of the boat, as the storms raged, the winds blew and waves crashed, and said, “Peace be Still”. The Master of the Wind had spoken and the storm ceased immediately astounding the disciples. They knew that Jesus had power but they didn’t know that he could command the winds and the waves and they would obey.
Mark 5:2-5, "And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones."
This demoniac lived out in the open and alone. No one wanted to be around him because he was uncontrollable. They had tried but failed many times to tame him but the powers of hell that bound him were far greater than any man made chains or ropes. Like Samson of old, he was powered by a supernatural ability to break free. Samson, of course, was given his power by Almighty God, but in the case of this man from Gadara, he was empowered by unclean and demonic spirits.
Why did he dwell in the cemeteries and among the tombs?
1) He was bound by unclean spirits and was living a nightmare. I can imagine that he wanted to be free but could not break free from their bondage. His every thought was to get rid of the control that Satan had over his life and I wonder how often he desired to be dead and in one of those tombs forever. Anything would be better than the life that he lived. For this reason he would find broken stone from the monuments and the graves and use them to slit his own wrists, or cut himself to allow the blood to flow and get rid of his diseases and afflictions. He grasped at straws and tried anything he could.
(In those days an acceptable form of medical treatment for diseases was to cut the sick person and allow them to “bleed out their poisonous infection”.)
2) The cemetery was the only place where he could find escape from the persecutions of the people in the country. How many times they had chased him down and tried to restrain him we do not know. But one thing is for sure; they had tried many times and failed. He was better off living among the dead than among the living. At least for a few moments of time he could find peace when he was alone in the darkness of night, among the dead, where no one would come to bother him.
3) Satan was determined to eventually kill him and destroy his soul. It is fitting therefore that he would be driven to madness by being constantly reminded of the eternal fires of hell that awaited him. With every turn, there was another tomb and more death. Satan loves to keep us dwelling upon the negative so that we can sense nothing but hopelessness.
When I look at the condition of this demoniac and all that he faced I can only come to one conclusion. The only reason that this man was still alive is that in the foreknowledge of God, Jesus knew that one day, this demoniac of the Gadarenes would come to Christ and find deliverance. God had kept him through it all. Like it had been in the days of Job, God had allowed Satan to go so far, but no farther. God loved that demoniac and he was going to make sure that Satan didn’t destroy him before he could find eternal life.
We don’t know why some people have to go so far down before they can look up and see Jesus! Perhaps the demoniac wasn’t ready until that very moment when Jesus walked onto the shore of Gadara to finally fall on his face before the Lord seeking deliverance. How often do we see people who are absolutely bound by sin and shame and yet will not surrender their lives to Jesus? How far will the drug addict be driven into the pits of hell before he or she decides that they’ve had enough? How far into a life of perverseness will mankind go before he reaches the bottom and wants deliverance?
I don’t believe that we can help anyone find Christ until their heart is prepared in advance for our witness to them. Only God knows those who are ready to hear the gospel and respond to it. Only God knows how far a man or woman will go into sin before they will turn to him in despair.
It’s a wonderful thing to know that no matter how far from God we may run, we can’t run so far that God won’t move Heaven and earth to get to us if we will just run to him and call out for help. Jesus came to seek and to save those who are lost. The very Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, stepped out of the portals of glory and into a dark, evil world and one of the purposes in his journey was to find this man of Gadara and set him free.
Jesus did the same for you and me. We may not have been bound like the man of the Gadarenes, but we were bound by chains of sin. No power of man could deliver us. We could try to bind the sin by doing good deeds but somehow that sin still broke free and condemned us. We could try to wrap human kindness and our own version of love around that sin and declare that it was controlled, but sooner or later those strong cords were shattered and we were reminded that sin still reigned in us. We could confess our own goodness, but deep inside we knew we were liars. Satan’s strong cords of sin had us bound and there was no escaping the inevitable end.
Then Jesus came to us; probably through some “preacher”, someone who carried the gospel to us and pointed us to Calvary and the old rugged cross, to a man who had paid the price for our sin. In that moment we saw a glimmer of light, a pinpoint of hope in a dark world, and we ran to Jesus, falling at his feet just like the demoniac of Gadara, crying out for mercy. Jesus reached down and set us free.
Mark 5:6-9, "But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many."
Take not of something here – when that demoniac saw Jesus he ran and worshipped him. No unclean spirit could stop him. No devils in hell can keep us from coming to Jesus. If we truly want deliverance; if we truly want salvation; if we truly want to be free, no power in hell or on the earth can stop us. Jesus made a way and the door is wide open to come to him. He is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
Now it was the unclean spirits and the demons that were screaming. For the first time in a long time, the man who was possessed felt a power stronger than that of the devil. For the first time since the day that they were cast out of Heaven, the demons felt the absolute controlling power of Almighty God and it sparked fear in them.
The demons knew that Jesus is God. They knew he had absolute power and authority over them, but they begged for mercy. They knew that they deserved to be punished but they didn’t want to face the music. Though there were many spirits possessing that man, they had no power at all. Just one word from the lips of Jesus and their time was finished.
Don’t tell me that you can’t live for Jesus – You can if you want to! Jesus has given us all the power we need to overcome anything that comes against us. If all those demons had to flee with one word from the lips of Jesus, what makes us think that we can’t defeat the devil by calling upon the name of the Lord? Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. If he overcame the devil then, he’s still the victor today.
Mark 5:10-13, "And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand) and were choked in the sea."
When I read this story I am always struck by the fact that even the pigs wouldn’t put up with the devils for long, yet man is so stubborn that he will live with demons for a long time. In the pig’s eye, life just wasn’t worth living with the devil in control. They were God’s creatures, and even though the Jews considered them as unclean animals, they still had more sense than to live under demonic influence. With a spirit of unity and oneness of purpose, the whole herd ran off the cliff and drowned in the sea. To those pigs it was better to die to the world than be possessed by demons. People can’t even see what’s in a Pig’s eye sometimes.
Mark 5:14-16, "And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine."
Where is Gadara? It is also called the land of the Gerasenes in other places in the Bible. Gadara was located on the southern end of Palestine below the Sea of Galilee, but it was still in Israel. Now the question is, What were a bunch of Jews doing raising unclean animals like pigs? Of course the answer is, they wanted they money that could be made by selling pigs to the Gentiles.
Now you know that you can get away with preaching a lot of things and you can get away with doing a lot of things that don’t seem to have much consequence, but if you start preaching and doing things that effect the livelihood or income of some of the church folks you are going to hear about it and quick.
That’s the way it was with this demoniac. The pigs were dead and the pig farmers were up in arms. If the gospel and the power of God to command demons to leave could cost them a herd of 2000 pigs, then what else could this power cost them?
They were focused in on materialistic wealth and didn’t see the big picture. Doesn’t that sound like many Christians today? If you start preaching against their little pet sins, you’re in trouble quick. You can preach about robbery, but don’t preach about stealing on the job. You can preach about lying, but don’t preach about lying about why I didn’t go to work today. You can preach about loving the world and forsaking the church, but don’t preach against my personal reasons for not going. As long as you are preaching to the other guy that’s fine, but don’t step on my toes or I’ll leave.
Mark 5:15-17, "And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts."
The worldly crowd would rather spend their days with the pigs and put up with the power of the unclean demonic spirits than to allow Jesus to give them peace and victory.
The Prince of Peace had spoken peace in the midst of the storm on the Sea of Galilee and now he spoke peace into the storms of supernatural powers that raged in the heart and life of this demoniac. And just as quickly as the seas had ceased raging, the storms in the life of the demoniac were gone and he was finally at peace.
The world needs that peace. The church needs that peace. But are we willing to let Jesus have control and speak that peace into our lives?
Preacher – I don’t care if there is a lake of fire – I’m okay the way I am. I’m happy being me, so leave me alone.
Preacher – don’t preach about living a holy life to me – I’m good already.
Preacher – don’t tell me that nothing is worth risking my eternal soul – I think that my job, my hobby or my rest is worth the risk
These blind Jews couldn’t see what was in the Pig’s eyes! They would rather live in bondage, and never have another opportunity to be saved, than to give up their pigs and their money.
Can you see more than what’s in a pig’s eye?
Nothing in this world is worth rejecting Jesus and living under the devil’s control.
Jesus left that place, never to return again. Those pig farmers had one chance for salvation and lost it forever. I hope the money they earned from raising pigs was worth the price that they will pay forever, but I know it’s not.
The thing is that they were acting out of ignorance and greed. We can’t claim ignorance anymore. Jesus has revealed himself to the whole world through his sacrificed on the cross. We know who Jesus is now. We know that he is the only hope for salvation and deliverance. Yet how often do we still reject him?
Most people would still rather live with the demons in control of their lives, than to accept deliverance from the bondages of sin through Jesus Christ. Don’t be one of them. Have a greater vision than the pigs and the worldly Jews.
