Demons Driven Out by the Master Gospel reading: Mark 5:1-20 Video clip: https://youtube/watch?v=5nen8yht6lg Demons Driven Out by the Master 5 Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 As soon as He got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met Him. 3 He lived in the tombs. No one was able to restrain him anymore—even with chains— 4 because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had snapped off the chains and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 And always, night and day, he was crying out among the tombs and in the mountains and cutting himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before Him. 7 And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do You have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God, don’t torment me!” 8 For He had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 “What is your name?” He asked him. “My name is Legion,” he answered Him, “because we are many.” 10 And he kept begging Him not to send them out of the region. 11 Now a large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. 12 The demons begged Him, “Send us to the pigs, so we may enter them.” 13 And He gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs, and the herd of about 2,000 rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there. 14 The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed by the legion, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 The eyewitnesses described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs. 17 Then they began to beg Him to leave their region. 18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed kept begging Him to be with Him. 19 But He would not let him; instead, He told him, “Go back home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how He has had mercy on you.” 20 So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed. **Verses 5:1-20 The healing of the demoniac is recorded in Mt. 8:28-34 in a shortened form and in Lk. 8:26-39. Here Jesus brought peace and calm to a raging man just as He had to a raging sea. **Verse 5:1 ‘The region’ where Jesus and His disciples landed is not clearly identified. **Verse 5:2 ‘A man’ is reported as “two demon-possessed men” in Mt. 8:28. Mark used the term ‘unclean spirit’ to indicate a demonic spirit. “Unclean spirit” contrasts with the demons’ identification of Jesus as being ‘the Holy One of God’ in Mk. 1:23-24. **Verses 5:3-5 Mark’s description is the most detailed in the Gospels. Three times he mentioned ‘the tombs’ where the demoniac lived. They were cut from rock or were natural caves in the mountains. Tombs, burial places, or items associated with the dead were unclean for Jews. Though ‘shackles and chains’ were repeatedly used, ‘no one was able to restrain’ or ‘subdue him’. “Subdue” can refer to taming a wild beast or animal (Jms. 3:7). The man’s supernatural strength is indicated by the fact that he ‘snapped off the chains and smashed the shackles’. The man was ‘always…crying out’, his cries and shrieks echoing among ‘the tombs and in the mountains’. He was a danger to himself and others traveling or living in that area. **Verse 5:6 ‘From a distance’ does not indicate a discrepancy from verse 2 and 6. Verse 6 resumes the story from verse 2 after Mark’s description of the demon-possessed man. **Verse 5:7 ‘What do You have to do with me’ repeats the unclean spirits words found in 1:24. The demoniac’s identification of ‘Jesus’ as ‘Son of the Most High’ answered the disciples question from 4:41, and underscored that the spirit knew who Jesus was. Ironically the spirits asked Jesus not to ‘torment’ them as they had tormented the possessed man. **Verse 5:9 ‘My name is Legion’ identified and indicated the strength of the demon. A Roman military legion consisted of approximately 6,000 soldiers (cp. the number of pigs in verses 13). The name “Legion” serves to indicate a large number (‘because we are many’) , explains the supernatural strength of the man, and magnifies that Jesus was the “more powerful” One (Mk. 1:7) who could “enter a strong man’s house” and tie him up (Mk. 3:27). **Verse 5:10 ‘Out of the region’ may refer to the (false) idea that demons were territorial. **Verse 5:11 ‘Pigs’ were unclean to Jews. Herding them was forbidden (Lv. 11:7; Dt. 14:8). The ‘large herd’ reminds us that this event took place in a Gentile area. **Verse 5:12 In verse 10 the unclean spirits begged Jesus not to send them out of the region. In this verse they ‘begged’ to be sent into unclean animals. **Verse 5:13 ‘Drowned’ refers to the ‘pigs’ not to the spirits (cp. Mt. 12:43-44). None of the Gospel authors comment on the loss of animal life or its economic impact. The action of the demon-possessed pigs reemphasizes the self-destructive impulse caused by demon-possession (Mk. 5:5). **Verse 5:15 ‘Sitting…dressing…in his right hand’ verified the man’s healing. ‘They were afraid’ echoes the disciples reaction in Mk. 4:41. Ironically, the people were more afraid of the One who cast out demons than they were the demoniac. **Verses 5:17-18 The spirits begged Jesus (vv. 10,12), the people of the region begged Jesus (v. 17), and now the healed man ‘kept begging’ to stay with Jesus. **Verses 5:19-20 Jesus told the man to tell his ‘own people…how much the Lord’ had done for him. People who have been changed by Jesus must tell the world about His miraculous works. ‘The Decapolis’ (literally “Ten Cities”) refers to a league of ten Greek cities spread throughout Syria, Jordan, and Palestine. They were predominately Gentile and were largely independent from Rome. HCSB Study Bible, Holman Christian Standard Bible
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 11:25:18 +0000
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