Exorcism. Every time I read that word I can’t help but picture Linda Blair’s character, Regan, in the classic 1973 horror movie “The Exorcist.” Even now I bristle as I recall scenes from that movie!
In Mark 5:1-20, we read what is the longest, most graphic exorcism in all the Bible. Before we study this especially dramatic encounter with Christ, it is helpful to recall CS Lewis’ warning in the preface to his little book, The Screwtape Letters. Here’s what he writes about the study of demons:
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…
CS Lewis, Screwtape letters
We may deny demons entirely on the one hand or be overly fascinated by them on the other. The demons are pleased with both extremes. They’re happy if we disbelieve in them and they’re happy if we are utterly consumed with them.
It is absolutely essential that we appreciate the depth and complexity of evil as we read of it in the Bible. Evil is systemic. Evil is part of the fabric comprising this fallen world system. Evil is all around us and the work of demons is ongoing.
While no Christian can be under the absolute control of a demon—as though by possession—Christians can, however, yield control of their lives to demonic influence and so allow themselves temporarily to fall under the power of the evil one.
So while we may be tempted to read this encounter as persons somewhat removed from the narrative, removed from the details and the events as though we were just standing on the outside looking in at something that seems so remotely fantastic, we must not separate ourselves from the very real possibility of falling under the influence of the enemy.
Let’s study the passage…
Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. (verse 1)
Jesus is traveling by boat with His disciples. They are in the boat with Him and He has just crossed over from the Western side to the Eastern side. They had just been through the storm. The previous chapter concludes with Jesus’ calming the storm and the disciples asking incredulously: “Who in the world is this guy (Mark 4:41)?!”
As soon as they get through the storm on the sea, there’s another storm awaiting on the shore.
It’s a different kind of storm. It’s this demon-possessed man—the so-called “demoniac.” He is described as a man with “an unclean spirit.”
And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, (verse 2)
It’s at times like these I wonder whether the disciples may have second-guessed their decision to follow Jesus! Did they ever wonder? I mean, they’ve just come through the storm there and no sooner than they climb out of the boat this crazy man comes running toward them. Mark describes him in verse 3 as a man:
who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, (verse 3)
So he lived there among the tombs, not a nice and neatly manicured cemetery as in our day, but tombs hewn out of the rock, a grotesque area of stench and uncleanness. And because he is dwelling among the tombs, he is isolated and alienated from everyone else. The tombs are located in an area isolated from the townspeople, located on the outskirts of the city.
Isolation (1-5)
His condition was horrendous. He had been bound, we are told, with chains. Folks in the town had apparently tried to keep the man from hurting himself and others, but to no avail. He would eventually break the chains.
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. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. (verses 4-5)
This is a sad picture, isn’t it? This man seems like an animal. But we forget he was once a young mother’s child. He was once a father’s little boy. But the demons have gotten hold of him and he is reduced to a life of isolation among the mountains and the tombs, “crying out and cutting himself with stones.”
The enemy, Satan; the evil one, will do everything he can to harm us. Satan would love to see this demoniac destroy himself. This is why we read that he is “cutting himself with stones.”
Man is created in the image of God and Satan will do his level best to destroy the image of God in us. Satan wants us to harm our bodies, obsess over our bodies, abuse our bodies, destroy our bodies.
We may not harm our bodies by cutting, but we may destroy our bodies by drinking, by self-medicating, by overeating, and by otherwise abusing and defiling our bodies in any number of ways.
This man is isolated and alienated from God and others. Apart from Christ each of us is isolated and alienated from God and others.
Confrontation (6-14)
This demon-possessed man is confronted by the Lord Jesus Christ. He encounters Christ and talks to Christ in a conversation that is hard to follow—it’s hard to know whether we are reading of the man and his actions or whether we are reading of the demons and their actions. So closely tied together is evil with this man’s nature.
When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. (verse 6)
That’s an unfortunate translation. The man literally falls before Jesus. He does not worship Him, he falls before Him in an acknowledgment of the authority of Jesus.
By the way, that’s the greater point Mark is making here in his Gospel. He has shown at the end of chapter 4 how Jesus is Lord over the storm and danger. He will show here in the first part of chapter 5 how Jesus is Lord over Satan and demons.
And he cried out 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.” For He said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” Then He asked him, “What is your name? And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” (verses 7-9)
In Roman terms a “legion” was the largest force of the Roman army and, in Jesus’ day, comprised some 6,000 men. The point is that this man was plagued by many demons. In fact, Mark will tell us later that the demoniac was possessed by 2,000 evil spirits.
And again, note how closely tied to the man’s nature is the presence of evil. It’s hard to tell exactly who is doing the talking in these verses—is it the man or is it the demons within him?
You see that especially in verse 9 where Jesus asked the man, “What is your name?” And the Bible says that the man answered, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” My—singular pronoun; we—plural pronoun.
Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country. (verse 10)
That is, the demons do not wish to become disembodied spirits. They wish to inhabit the body of someone else if they cannot inhabit this man’s body.
Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them.” (verses 11-12)
It’s kind of interesting to me: it seems if demons can’t have us, they’ll have swine. So pigs are choice number two for demons. They’d really rather have humans, but they’ll settle for swine.
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. (verse 13)
The first “Bay of Pigs!” (haha). But it’s a memorable picture, isn’t it? You see Jesus’ authority at the beginning of verse 13. “And at once Jesus gave them permission.” Jesus gives permission. He has authority over the spirit world.
So the unclean spirits enter some 2,000 pigs and the herd then ran violently down the steep place into the sea and drowned.
I’ve often wondered if this were to happen today, what PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) would think about Jesus’ actions.
But it is helpful to remember that Jesus did not kill the swine; the demons did.
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. (verse 14)
That had to be quite a story to hear! These folks whose job it was to feed the pigs saw all of this happen and then ran to tell the people in the city. The townsfolk hear about it and then they leave their jobs and their homes to come out to the tombs to see what happened. And what did they see?
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. (verse 15)
He was, “sitting and clothed and in his right mind.” This is a picture of:
Transformation (15-17)
This demon-possessed man has been changed. He is transformed. He is in his right mind. What a contrast!
To be saved is to be in our right minds. We once were under the influence of Satan and not thinking correctly—and God gets hold of us through the Lord Jesus Christ and He changes us. As Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17: “If anyone is in Christ he or she is a new creation.”
And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. (verse 16)
The eyewitnesses had told the townsfolk what they had seen, “how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed,” how he had been delivered. They also told the others “about the swine.” Their response?
Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region. (verse 17)
Years ago when I first studied this passage I had concluded that these folks didn’t care much for the economic impact the Lord’s actions had upon the swine industry—and that this was why they pled with Jesus to depart from their region. I mean, 2,000 pigs had just died. That’s a lot of ham and bacon!
But while the economic impact is likely a great concern for these folks, I really think there is more than that going on here in their pleading for Jesus to leave them. I think it may have more to do with their inability to fully understand all that has just happened—after all, with the inability to comprehend comes an inability to be in control.
I think fear exists anytime we are in a situation where we feel we have no control.
If we are honest there is a fear in coming to Christ. There is loss of control. I’m talking about really coming to Christ, savingly, coming to Him as Lord of our lives.
Remember: we don’t just add Jesus to our thinking the way we add a side item to a combo meal. Jesus has not come simply to “complement” our life. He is our life.
He is Lord when we bow before Him and yield control to Him. That can be a frightening thing when one is unwilling to relinquish control. There is trust involved.
You climb into a roller coaster you know what I’m talking about. I mean, what control do you really have when you get into one of those little roller coaster cars? They fold that bar down on you and it clicks a few times and they walk away. And you’re like, “I think I’ll see if it clicks again.” And you push it down even more securely. Why? Because that roller coaster is getting ready to take you on a ride and in the space of some 3 to 5 minutes you will have absolutely no control once it leaves the station. And you would never get on that thing if you didn’t trust that someone was in control of it. It’s a trust issue.
Living for Jesus is a trust issue. You are literally yielding yourself, trusting yourself, to His Lordship. At least that’s what being a biblical Christian is all about. I’m not talking about those who say they are Christians, but are not. I’m talking about those who are genuinely saved, living under the authority and Lordship of Jesus Christ. I’m talking about those who allow Jesus to have complete control over all decisions, following Him according to the Bible, His Word, living for Him, yielding to Him.
I think these townsfolk were frightened by Jesus. They had not seen this kind of thing before.
Proclamation (18-20)
This newly transformed man; formerly demon-possessed, has a story to tell, doesn’t he? He has something to proclaim:
And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. (verse 18)
He wants to go with Jesus! A natural response for those who have been changed by the gospel.
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.” (verse 19)
Jesus is like, “No, you’ve got a story to tell, a truth to proclaim. The people here want me to leave so I’m leaving you as a witness. I can’t stay, but you can. You tell everyone what happened to you.”
By the way, at its core, this is what witnessing is all about, about telling others “what great things the Lord has done for us,” and “how He has had compassion on us.” That’s at the very core of sharing the gospel.
And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis (the 10 cities) all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled. (verse 20)
Imagine this fellow going through all these towns now, the town nearest the tombs first. He is clothed and in his right mind. People are like, “Look, isn’t that the demoniac?!” And he’s like, “Not anymore. I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see.”
Does this story really apply to me? A demon-possessed man…seriously?!
You know, you may not identify exactly with this demon-possessed man. After all, you were not once bound in chains and isolated in some graveyard.
You may, however, be experiencing a similar kind of isolation. Your chains and shackles may take a different form.
Your separation and alienation may occur in an office with the door shut and the computer turned on. Website after website glows in your face as you look at things you don’t want to see—and yet you do want to see—the influence of Satan is strong. It seems both to empower you and enslave you.
And with every moment spent there, Satan’s influence grows stronger.
This is the danger of allowing Satan “to get a foothold (Ephesians 4:27)” in our lives. We open the door to evil just a little ways and Satan sticks his foot in the door and then, little-by-little, we allow him more and more “room” until he is finally welcome to come in and move freely about.
No one suddenly falls into alcoholism. No one suddenly falls into drug addiction or suddenly falls into adultery. He slides. He cracks the door by flirtation. By an inappropriate smile or glance or embrace. One slip leads to another and, before we know it, our careers are over, our families shamed, our influence lost.
It all starts by allowing just a little bit of uncleanness into our lives.
The reason this man, and all men and women, can be healed is because—as we have noted in previous encounters—Jesus exchanges places with us. He Himself becomes the outcast. This man is naked, his body cut, and he is crying out, experiencing alienation from God and others.
And Jesus, soon—on the cross—will Himself be naked, His body cut, and He will be crying out, experiencing alienation from God and others. He will be among the tombs for us—actually placed in a tomb.
Jesus exchanges places with us and takes upon Himself all of our wrongs, all of our sins. He bears them. And He gives to us all that is His—righteousness, perfect goodness, perfect obedience—all of this is credited to our account and we are seen by God as if all of this is actually done by us. God sees us as though we ourselves are righteous, perfectly good, perfectly obedient.
All of this because Jesus exchanges places with outcasts—outcasts like the demonized man—and outcasts like you and me.
What About You?
- Why do you think some living in developed countries do not believe in demons? Do you think Satan works in different ways in cultures that are flush with material goods and services? How so?
- “If we are honest there is a fear in coming to Christ.” Do you agree? Why or why not?
- Are you experiencing your own alienation or isolation? Do you feel chained or in bondage to demons that trouble you—an addiction, a battle of fear, anxiety, or impurity? Only love for Christ will put us “in our right minds.” Turn to Him today.
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