#22: From Madman to Missionary
Series: Acts
Chuck Sligh
July 12, 2020
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TEXT: Mark 5:1-20 – "And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. 2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 4 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. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. 6 But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, 7 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. 8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. 9 And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. 10 And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. 11 Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. 12 And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. 13 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. 14 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. 15 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. 16 And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. 17 And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. 18 And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. 19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. 20 And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel. "
INTRODUCTION
In Mark, chapter 5, we will see Jesus dealing with demons, disease and death—the three great horrors of humanity. In turn, He delivered a man, a woman and a child. By the end of the chapter, we’ll see clearly Mark’s single-minded purpose—to prove through Jesus’ works, words and character that Jesus is the Son of God—God Himself in human form—and that therefore we should trust Him as our Savior.
Today we’re going to hear a harrowing story of a deeply demonized man in verses 1-20. Now we need to be careful when talking about demonology. There are two extremes about demons that pleases Satan greatly. Many dismiss them out of hand and attribute any aberration of human nature to psychological explanations. On the other hand, some have an inordinate interest in the devil and his dark dominion and think they see him everywhere.
In the preface to his famous Screwtape Letters, C. S. Lewis wrote: “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist and a magician with the same delight.”
I have seen many good Christians develop an unwholesome interest in demons, and it always seems to lead to unnecessary fear and even serious consequences. I have seen churches where their people start to see demons behind every bush. I have seen Christians even fear being demon-possessed themselves, a belief that I feel is clearly unbiblical. Satan loves to be the center of our attention instead of our focus being on Jesus and our Gospel mission.
So as we study today’s text, on the one hand, we’ll acknowledge the biblical reality of demons, but on the other hand, we’ll refrain from an unhealthy fascination of them. My goal is not to accentuate Satan’s power, but actually the opposite—to follow Mark’s lead and emphasize the absolute power and authority of Jesus over them. In so doing we’ll give proper place to our Savior rather than to Satan.
The deliverance of the Gadarene demoniac is Mark’s third and most graphic exorcism so far. Matthew and Luke also record it, but in drastically reduced form. For instance, Mark tells the story in 20 verses while Matthew only gets the core of the story in only six verses. Mark seems to be ratcheting up the details in his stories in chapter 5 to create a climax of the glories of Christ, the Son of God.
So today, let’s look at the demoniac of the Gadarenes.
I. NOTICE FIRST THAT JESUS CONFRONTS DEMONIZATION IN VERSES 1-10.
Let’s begin in verse 1 – “And they came over to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes.”
The area of the Gadarenes (also known as the Gerasenes) was on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. On that side of the Sea were 10 mostly Gentile cities whose founding went back to the time of Alexander the Great, and Gadarene was one of those cities. So it was mostly Gentile in character, though there were some Jews living there.
Verses 2-3 say, “And when he had come out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, not even with chains.”
Talk about overload for these poor disciples! The disciples had just experienced the worst storm of their lives, and then were struck with terror when Jesus stilled the storm with three simple words. Having hardly had time to digest this extraordinarily powerful Man in their presence, the moment they land on shore, they’re faced with a raving lunatic!
Mark says he had an unclean spirit, a term that simply refers to a demon. Mark does not tell us how he got into this condition. Demon possession is not fully understood, but it is real, as any missionary in a pagan land can attest since idolatry and demon possession go together. But you don’t have to go to foreign lands to find demon possession. Even in modern society, involvement in the occult, drugs, flagrant immorality and even cultic vegetarianism can be means whereby evil spirits get hold of people, invade their bodies and control them.
Verse 4 goes on to say, “Because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces: neither could anyone tame him.”
This man was a danger to others and to himself. To protect themselves, the people of the town had tried every form of restraint, but empowered by demonic strength, all their efforts were to no avail.
Verse 5 is one of the saddest verses in all of scripture: “And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying out, and cutting himself with stones.” Mark lets us in on this man’s sorrowful psychological and mental state. He was castigated by society, uncontrolled and uncontrollable, a fearful sight and a danger to any person. He lived among the dead in the tombs of the caves below the town, howling and crying out and so distressed by his own misery that he cut himself with stones.
Here was a lost and desperate man…whom Jesus loved and had compassion for. Jesus could have chosen to land in another town, or another landing spot, or met with another man with fewer problems. But He chose to come HERE—to a maniac among the tombs. Jesus pursues the very people we run from.
Verse 6 says, “But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him.”
This is extraordinary! When this violent man came upon people on the way to the tombs, he would fall on them and seek to do them harm, which is why they sought to restrain him. But when Jesus came, this disheveled, half-naked man with self-inflicted wounds and old scars, and long, tangled hair and beard, and with the eyes of a lunatic—this wreck of humanity—runs directly to Jesus and the disciples.
You can imagine Peter pulling out his sword just in case, but as soon as the man gets to the boat, he bows down and worships Jesus. This would not have been the response of the demon, or as we’ll see, demons, but the response of a man so desperate and lost that the moment he is in the presence of purity and light, he falls down in worship of the God-man Jesus! There was hope for this man after all! Look at verses 7-8 – “And cried with a loud voice, and said, ‘What have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the most high God? I implore you by God, that you do not torment me.’ 8 For he said to him, ‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit.’”
Mark reports things in reverse: verse 8 says that Jesus commanded the demon to come out of the poor animalized, filthy, bleeding man, and suddenly the demon takes over and talks through the man’s voice in verse 7 to Jesus. Where we read at the beginning of verse 7, “And cried with a loud voice,” R. Kent Hughes says, “The tense here indicates that he screamed an inarticulate cry before speaking, a preternatural howl.”
In a moment we’ll see that there is not one demon, but many inside this man. One demon speaks on behalf of them all and begs Jesus not to torment them.
The demon was stalling for time, but the demons knew that Jesus’ voice had divine authority, for they recognized Him as the “the Son of the most high God.” They might be delaying, but they knew their number was up. As John Phillips put it, “They knew well enough….that they could no more resist that command than a snow-flake could defy a flame.”
Verses 9-10 continue, “And he asked him, ‘What is your name?’ And he answered, ‘My name is Legion: for we are many.’ 10 And he begged him earnestly that he would not send them away out of the country.”
Technically, a legion, was a Roman army regiment of about 6,000 soldiers. But the term came to mean any very large number. There were enough to possess around 2,000 pigs later in our story, so though we don’t know the number, what we do know is that this man was Satan’s prize exhibit, a man tormented and driven by a vast number of fearful evil spirits.
And yet how powerless they are before Jesus, the Son of God! Before Him—the mighty God-Man—they are reduced to literally begging permission to go into PIGS, and they are fated to do only whatever Jesus gives them permission to do.
II. IN VERSES 11-20, JESUS CONQUERS DEMONIZATION.
We read in verses 11-13 – “Now there was there near the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. 12 And all the demons begged him, saying, ‘Send us into the swine, that we may enter them.’ 13 And at once Jesus gave them permission. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered the swine: and the herd, numbering about two thousand, ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and were drowned in the sea.”
Many people have wondered why Jesus would allow the demons to enter into these pigs, depriving the swineherds of their livelihood.
One theory is that the swineherds were Jews who were forbidden from having anything to do with swine. Out of greed, they raised pigs for the Gentiles in the 10 mostly Gentile cities of Decapolis. If this were true, this would have been their judgment for disobedience to the Law of Moses under which they were still bound. However, none of the Gospel writers mention that the swineherds were Jewish, and that seems like an important detail to mention.
I think there are three other explanations that make more sense:
• First, I believe Jesus was revealing that the rescue and restoration of one person was more important than vast financial assets. – Compared to the redemption of a human being, the loss to the swineherds—considerable though that may have been—was not worth mentioning.
• I believe, second, that Jesus allowed the demons to enter the pigs to illustrate beyond question that their real purpose was total destruction. In John 10:10, Jesus said, “The thief [referring to Satan] comes only to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I came that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” When demons possess people, you see a rapid degradation in their lives. Satan and his minions want to steal life away, to kill, to destroy everything good and wholesome in life. Their ultimate goal is to mar and degrade the only beings created in the image of God, and ultimately to destroy their lives, if they can.
• I believe there was a third reason: The dramatic end of the swine was also powerful visual testimony to the ex-demoniac that he had been fully delivered. – There would be no doubt this man’s mind—he saw where the demons went, and so did the disciples and the swineherds.
The dramatic destruction of the swine, coupled with what happened to the ex-demoniac, formed an incredible display of the power of Jesus Christ, as we see in verses 14-17 – “So those who fed the swine fled, told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. 15 And 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. 16 And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and all about the swine. 17 And they began to plead with Jesus to depart out of their region.”
News spread fast throughout the country and it wasn’t long before people came out to see if what had been reported were true. When they arrived, not only did they see the dead carcasses of the pigs on the beach below, but to their shock, there before them was the feared lunatic, now sitting there docile as a lamb, fully clothed and of sound mind, instead of the wild, half-naked, dangerous, crazy man they had known.
You would think they would be filled with joy at seeing such a thing! “The maniac is cured! We’re safe, thank goodness! He’s whole again.” But that was not their reaction. The Bible says they were afraid—so much so that they began to plead with Jesus to be gone, and the sooner the better.
James R. Edwards points out three parallels of this story with the calming of the storm in chapter 4 are noticeable:
• Both stories end in fear. The disciples were more afraid of Jesus after the storm than they were of the storm itself. In today’s story, the inhabitants are more afraid of Jesus’ power to cast out demons than they are by the terrifying demoniac himself.
• Second, in neither story does it end in faith. Jesus scolded the disciples for their faithlessness after the storm, and rather than increasing their faith, they cowered in fear at Jesus. In today’s story, the people’s response is not to ask Jesus to stay and teach them, but to go away as soon as possible.
• Last, there is a clear parallel in the outcomes of the two stories. Jesus said, “Peace, be still” to the storm, and instantly there was complete and utter calm of the winds and the sea. In today’s story, Jesus commands the demons to leave and the demoniac is now calm, clothed and docile.
Now let’s finish our text in verses 18-20 – “And when he got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged him that he might be with him. 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. 20 And he departed, and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him: and everyone marveled.”
Verse 18 tells us that Jesus got back into the boat to leave. Think about that: Jesus stopped at Gadarene solely because He had an appointment to deliver this man. As soon as they were done, they head directly back to the other side of the sea. We often think that we find Christ, but before we ever seek Him, He is seeking us to deliver us and give us eternal life and abundant life.
The ex-demoniac then begged to go and be with Jesus, to become one of His disciples, to abide with Him, to sit at His feet. This tells us that Jesus was not some mighty magician to be feared. He brings deliverance and redemption and the natural response is to love and serve Him in return.
But Jesus denied his request. He had other plans for him: He was to become a messenger to his family and neighbors and friends. He who had been a terror to everyone, was now to go back and give testimony that he once was lost but now was found, was bound, but now was free!
In the concluding verses, Mark gives us another clue as to who Jesus was. Jesus said in verse 19, “Tell them what great things the LORD has done for you.” What did he do?—Verse 20 says that the man went out and told “all that JESUS had done for him.” To this man, the Lord and Jesus were one and the same. This Gentile understood who Jesus was before even any of Jesus’ Jewish disciples ever did!
Here we have the first missionary in the New Testament, and surprise, surprise, he was not Jewish: he was a Gentile sent to Gentiles, a hint of what was to come.
CONCLUSION
What can we learn from this passage of scripture?
Many applications come to my mind, but time will only permit two:
First recognize that Satan and His Kingdom are real but limited in the life of the believer.
This story is disturbing to some, so I want us to have a right understanding of Satan and His realm from the standpoint of being a believer in Jesus Christ. The Bible clearly speaks of the power Satan currently possesses in this world, so demon possession is a real thing.
Sometimes it reveals itself in such blatant a fashion as in our text. But people influenced by demons can be completely conventional. Warning of false prophets in 2 Corinthians 11:14-15 Paul says, “And no marvel; for Satan himself disguises himself as an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no surprise if his servants also disguise themselves as the servants of righteousness….”
But remember two things:
• Number one, if you are a believer, you need not fear Satan or demons.
In 1 John 4:4, John says, “You are from God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he who is in you, than he who is in the world.”
Demons are totally under the power of God. They cannot possess a believer, but that does not mean they cannot influence you to do evil.
In Ephesians 4:27, Paul writes, “Neither give pace to the devil,” which means to guard our hearts so we do not give the devil a foothold in our lives.
You will sin if you are a believer, but when you do, go quickly to the Lord in repentance and sorrow rather than allowing it your life or making excuses for it. When we do that, we’re depriving the devil influence in our lives.
• Also remember this: Satan or demons are not the immediate cause of all sin in the world.
Don’t go looking for demons around every corner and behind every bush. Surely the dark world of Satan is behind a lot of sin in our world, but we’re fully capable of sinning without Satan’s help or assistance.
Illus. – One time a little girl had a terrible fight with her brother. When her mother pulled her off her brother, she said to her daughter, “Why did you let the devil put it into your heart to pull your brother’s hair and kick him in the shins?”
She thought for a moment and then said, “Well, maybe the Devil put it into my heart to pull his hair but kicking him in the shins was my own idea.”
Sadly, we can be evil all by ourselves. When we sin, the source is not the issue; it’s the RESPONSE to the source that is the issue. We are fully responsible before God for how we respond to temptation whether the source is Satan, our own fleshly nature or the world.
My second big application of our lesson today is this: Be an evangelist and tell what great things the Lord has done for you!
If you’re truly saved, you have a story to tell. Yours may not be as dramatic as someone else’s, but you have a story to tell, and God wants you to go back to your Decapolis, to your circle of influence, and tell people what the Lord has done in your life.
Illus. – My dad was a drunk and a womanizer and my mom was a believer in a hodge-podge of Christian moralism and Eastern mysticism. They were both party animals, weekly getting drunk and behaving badly.
Once while drunk, my Dad slapped my mom and she took a whiskey bottle and knocked him out cold. That was the last time he ever did THAT!
But through the death of my older brother, they came to Christ and were gloriously saved. After retiring from the Air Force, they spent the remaining years of their lives as missionaries serving in military churches in Okinawa, Puerto Rico, Panamá and Japan.
Wow, what a great testimony!
Illus. – Let me tell you my story: I lived in a Christian family since I was two years old when my parents came to Christ, and I came to Christ at age twelve. I’ve never taken drugs, gotten drunk, gotten involved in immorality or become a member of a gang. My dad was the head deacon of every church he was in until he became a pastor, and that meant I towed the line.
My testimony isn’t as exciting as my dad and mom’s testimonies or the demoniac’s. But listen: I have a LOT of stories of what great things God has done in my life!
And so do you if you’ve really tried to live for Him. Those are the things that speak to the reality of God to a lost and dying world. Share what great things God has done for you in your life! Become a missionary to your own circle of friends and loved ones.
