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01/25/2009 - Demons, Pigs & A Maniac, Mark 5:1-20

This past Tuesday, January 20, millions of people descended on Washington, D.C. to witness the inauguration of the 44^th President of the United States, Barak Hussein Obama. And the peaceful transition of power that took place that day is something to be celebrated. It's one of the many things that make America such a unique nation. That doesn't happen in many places around the world.

And as part of the festivities Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California gave the inaugural prayer. Warren is a personal friend of Barack Obama's and probably best known for his book The Purpose Driven Life which made him a very influential and wealthy man. And with the proceeds from that book he did three things. First, he stopped taking a salary from Saddleback Church. He then added up all the money that he had been paid in the 24 years since he started the church and paid it all back.

And then he set up a foundation to fund an initiative called The Peace Plan. The word "Peace" is an acrostic for Planting churches, Equipping Leaders, Assisting the Poor, Caring for the Sick, and Educating the next generation. Rick Warren is out to make a difference in this world and God has given him a very unique platform to do that.

Yet while the book was becoming a number one best seller and Warren was achieving unparalleled success a sudden storm came up and almost sank his boat to use the analogy of last week's teaching. His wife, Kay, was diagnosed with breast cancer. And so the greatest year of his life became the toughest year of his life as well. And despite the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, his wife didn't get any better.

And in an interview that someone from Valley View shared with me this week Rick Warren said, "I used to think that life was made up of hills and valleys. You go through a dark time and then you go up to a mountaintop, back and forth. But I don't believe that anymore. Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes or you can focus on your problems. The choice is yours."

And when I read that this week I thought, "Wow, that's so true!" Storms do come up in our lives. And there are seasons that are definitely more intense than others. This week a number of you shared with me the storms you have been going through. But it's also true that there is always something good that we can focus on if we choose too. As Anthony likes to say, "I'm just glad every day I wake up above the dirt!"

Last week we left Jesus in the boat with his drenched disciples after he stilled the storm on the Sea of Galilee. And his men were terrified and they were asking each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!" Well today they're going to get an answer to that question from a most unlikely source.

This morning we continue our journey with Jesus through the gospel of Mark by looking at a story about demons, pigs, and a maniac. If you have your Bibles turn with me to Mark 5:1-20 (p.687). Let's look at Mark 5:1, They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. (Show Map Slide)

Now remember this has already been a huge day for Jesus and his disciples. He had taught the crowds all day long on the beach by Capernaum and when evening came he had said to the Twelve, "Hop in the boat and let's go over to the other side." And they did. They were glad to leave the crowds behind for awhile and give Jesus a break. And then the storm hit and almost sank their little boat and killed them. But Jesus calmed it down and now they're relieved just to be on solid ground.

They're near a little town called Gergesa in the region of the Gerasenes, but they don't want to go into town. It was dark and everything was closed. And they're tired and they're soaked and they just want to build a nice fire somewhere on the beach and set up camp and get a good night's rest. It's been a long day.

But remember they're with Jesus. And when you're walking with Jesus you better not get too comfortable because you never know what's going to happen. Get ready for surprises and they got one!

Look at verse 2, When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. ³This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. ⁴For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. ⁶When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. ⁷He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!"

You've got to be kidding! Could it get any worse? These guys had almost died on the lake that night and now they discover that they've landed at a cemetery of all places. Now in Israel dead bodies aren't buried underground. The ground is too rocky. It's too hard. And so corpses are put into caves, just like Jesus' body would be put into a cave after his crucifixion. And this was an area along the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee that was full of caves that housed dead bodies.

And living amongst the dead was this maniac, this demon possessed, crazed man. In Luke's gospel we read that the man was stark naked and lived for a long time in these tombs.

And because of the evil spirits that lived inside him he had supernatural strength and the locals had given up trying to restrain him because it didn't do any good. He'd break the chains apart. And every night they would go to bed hearing his screams echoing through the hills and praying that he wouldn't come into town or into their homes or hurt their families.

Mothers would tell their children, "Don't you ever go near that cemetery. If I ever catch you up there you're grounded. Stay away from that man." And yet kids will be kids and some would go up there anyway and dare each other to throw rocks at the man or yell at the man. And then they'd come running back home as fast they could.

Now imagine the disciples pulling their boat up on the beach when out of the darkness comes this guy running at them full speed, naked, filthy, gouged, bleeding, hair flying everywhere and screaming the answer to the question that they had in the boat, "Who is this man?" He's Jesus Son of the Most High God. The demons recognized who he was. They always did.

And he runs right at Jesus, but Jesus doesn't flinch. He doesn't budge. He just stands there with the disciples hiding behind his robe.

Look at verse 8, For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!" ⁹Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"

Literally, the text says that Jesus kept saying to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit. Come out now. You've done enough damage. What is your name? Tell me your name? Who are you? What happened to you? Why are you like this?"

I wondered that this week. How does a person created in the image of God get like this? He's living like a wild animal. What had happened in this man's life? Was he always like this? Or did he do something that opened him up to demonic activity?

It's hard to read the Bible and not conclude that demons are real. Jesus encountered demon activity all throughout his ministry. I'm no expert on demons and I really don't want to be. But when you look at Scripture it appears that demons were originally created as angelic beings that instead of serving God chose to rebel against God and follow Satan. And they will be judged for that which is what's behind that statement, Swear to God that you won't torture me! Their judgment is coming.

And when they're mentioned in the Bible they're always out to oppose the work of Christ and his kingdom. We've already seen that in the gospel of Mark when Jesus drove a demon out of the synagogue and then was being accused of casting out demons in the name of Beelzebul, Satan, the prince of demons.

Demons can inflict disease, they can possess people and animals, and they can inspire false teaching. And people can open themselves up to demonic activity when they choose to rebel against God and persist in going their own way. In the Old Testament demons were associated with idolatry and human sacrifice. And like the devil himself demons are always out to steal, kill, and destroy. And that's what they were doing to this man. They were destroying him. They were killing him because they hate God and they hate human beings who are made in the God's image.

But thanks be to God that as Christ followers we can resist the devil and he will flee from us. Greater is the Holy Spirit who lives is in us than our enemy who is in the world. We need not live in fear of demons as long as we are following Christ.

The apostle Paul has a word about that in Ephesians 6:10-13, Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. ¹¹Put on the whole armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. ¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. ¹³Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

And that's exactly what Jesus was doing here. He was standing strong. He was standing his ground. And when he looked into the eyes of this maniac he saw a human being that God had created and that God loves. He saw a person who was broken and ruined, somebody with a mother and a father who needed to be rescued and delivered and saved from the power of darkness.

"What is your name? Who are you? Give me your name?"

"My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." ¹⁰And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

(Map Slide) Legion. That's an interesting name. This was an area around the Sea of Galilee that was heavily occupied by the Romans at the time. And a Roman Legion was a troop made up of 6,000 men and in that day the word "Legion" would strike fear into the hearts of the people. It would stir up horrible images of the atrocities of war, the raping, the beating, the killing of innocent men, women, and children. Who knows, maybe this man had witnessed those atrocities or been a victim of them? But he had more than just one demon inside. He was filled with many.

Look at verse 11, A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. ¹²The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them." ¹³He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

Again, when you look at Scripture it appears that demons are always looking to inhabit a body of some kind. And so here they plead with Jesus to send them into the pigs. And he does. He gives them what they want. And the pigs go nuts and throw themselves into the lake and are drowned. Again, that's what the evil one loves to do. He loves steal, kill, and destroy life, people or pigs it doesn't matter to him.

Look at verse 14,Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. ¹⁵When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ¹⁶Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well.

Then the people hailed Jesus as the town hero and gave him the key to the city! Hurray! No. They didn't do that. Then the people bowed down and worshipped Jesus as the Son of the Most High God! No. They didn't do that either.

Look at verse 17,Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

That's an odd response, isn't it? Jesus just delivers this menace who has been terrorizing their community for years, disturbing the peace, threatening families, but all the people can see are the dead pigs floating in the lake. Jesus may have saved this man, but in their minds he had destroyed their economy to do it. Jesus was bad for business and they wanted him out. So they plead with Jesus to leave their region. And he does because Jesus never stays where he's not welcome. He doesn't force himself on anybody.

Look at verse 18, As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. ¹⁹Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." ²⁰So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

So it's back in the boat again in this day that never ends and the man wants to go with Jesus. Can you blame him? Jesus just changed his life and what a great addition to Jesus' ministry team he would be. He could tell his dramatic story about how Jesus saved him from a legion of demons. But Jesus says, "No. They need you here. Go back home to your own people and tell them what I've done for you and how I had mercy on you."

This week I noticed that there are three prayers in this story. In verse 12, the demons beg Jesus to go into the pigs and he says "yes." In verse 17, the people plead with Jesus to leave their region and he says "Okay, I will." But when the one guy who has been delivered and is now in his right mind begs Jesus to go with him, he says "No. Go home to your family and friends and tell them all about me."

Ministry begins at home. And we can only imagine what that must have been like when he returned to his mom and dad, brothers and sisters perhaps, wife and kids maybe, and they were in shock when they saw what had happened to him.

So Jesus and the Twelve push off shore again, but not without leaving behind a powerful witness in this area called the Decapolis. And this is symbolic because it's a taste of what was to come. The Decapolis which means "Ten Cities" was a Gentile area. That's why they were raising pigs there. Jewish people didn't eat pork or ham or anything that came from a pig. Pigs were unclean.

This was a Gentile region and the first time in his ministry that Jesus came to such a place. But it wouldn't be the last. Later on in the gospel of Mark Jesus will return to the Decapolis and more people will come to be healed as a result of this man's story. But it was a taste of things to come. It was a taste of a kingdom that would one day stretch beyond the borders of Israel and eventually circle the globe to include Jew and Gentile alike and that's Mark wants his readers to see.

One author I read this week said, "The first contact the gospel had with Greek civilization was made in Decapolis. Everything must start somewhere. And the glory of all that the Christian faith which one day flowered in the Greek mind and genius began with a man who been possessed by demons and whom Jesus healed. Christ must always begin with someone. In our own circle and our own society why should he not begin with us?"

This man had an encounter with Jesus and it changed him. And that's our prayer every time we gather together here and have an encounter with Jesus. We pray that he will change us even just a little bit. So now we go home to our family and friends with the news of how much the Lord has done for us and how he has had mercy on our lives. Remember the two rails. The choice of which one we focus on is up to us.

FOR MORE INFORMATION about Valley View Community Church, feel free to contact us at info@valleyviewseek.org or call 610.631.2707.