Our Gospel reading for this week tells the account that many of us should be familiar with, and that is the narrative of a man who was afflicted with many demons. Thinking of demon possession is probably something that might strike some fear in folks, particularly if they were to be confronted by such a person. How about if the person were suddenly set free from this demonic bondage? Would that not bring happiness and rejoicing? Or should that make people angry? We would like to think that when someone finds healing and deliverance, people would be happy and grateful, however that is not what we find in our Scripture today. Let’s take a look.
As our passage begins, Jesus and His disciples had crossed the Sea of Galilee, and landed on the eastern shore, in the country of the Gadarenes (vs. 1). The place where they landed was not at any city or village, and was a rocky, wilderness, though not too far from a village. From this wilderness a man with many demons came out, confronting them. As we read, this man lived among the tombs in the wilderness, and though he had often been restrained with chains, the demons gave him incredible strength to break free from the iron chains and shackles. The demons within this man caused him much mental torment, as he was often trying to physically harm himself (vs. 2-5).
When Jesus and His disciples arrived, the demon possessed man ran out, and the demons possessing him cried out, acknowledging exactly who Jesus was, and for Him not to torment them (vs. 6-8). Jesus demanded that they tell Him their name, and the man said “Legion”, as there were many inside of him (vs. 9). In the Roman military of the day, a legion was comprised of 6,000 infantry men, so there was an extremely large number of malevolent and militant evil spirits possessing him. What caused so many demons to possess him? We don’t know for sure, however demons cannot possess someone who is truly saved. They can oppress them, but not actually possess them. For demons to come in and possess someone, that person has to have opened the door in some area of their life for Satan to get a toehold in. This can occur when someone dabbles in the occult with witchcraft, tarot cards, Ouija boards, palm readings, horoscopes, etc. It can happen when someone gets involved in drugs, in sexual deviance, or idol worship. Demon spirits are morally filthy, and cause much harm for those whom they possess. When someone opens the door to Satan just a crack, he will kick that door fully open and storm in.
As mentioned, the demons knew Who Jesus was, and that He had all authority over them, as they flung themselves at Jesus’ feet in absolute, unconditional surrender (vs. 6-7). As He was casting them out, the demons begged the Lord to remain in the same area where they had been exercising their evil powers (vs. 10). Jesus granted that, and they went into a herd of swine, which then immediately jumped off of a cliff (vs. 11-13). Jesus felt that this man’s deliverance was worth the loss of the many swine. He was worth it. We are worth it. We were worth Jesus coming to earth and dying on the cross to redeem us.
The change in this man, from at one moment being possessed with thousands of demons to now being set free was instantaneous and drastic. The man's restful condition was a strong contrast with his former restless, agitated state. He was no longer under the control of the demons (vs. 15). When the people of the nearby village saw this, they were not happy, they were not grateful. Instead, they wanted Jesus to leave right away (vs. 15-17). They preferred pigs and demon possession over the Lord and Savior. And Jesus did leave. He never goes where He is not invited. It is a sad commentary when a society is more concerned about economic interests than seeing a person delivered and set free! Those people would rather give up Jesus than lose their source of income and security.
This once demon possessed man was grateful to the Lord for what He had done, and wanted to join the disciples in following Him (vs. 18-20). Jesus told him instead to go home and tell everyone what happened. Jesus had greater plans for him. He commissioned this man to be the first actual missionary. This man did as Jesus asked, and apparently did a very good job, too, as later in Mark’s Gospel, when Jesus returned to the area, there was a large crowd who wished to hear His message. It is very possible that many in that later crowd were there as a result of this man’s witness and testimony.
Jesus is still in the business of setting people free from what holds them in bondage and captivity. He still has absolute power over the demon world, and they must bow to and obey His Word. And Jesus still sends us out to tell others what He has done for us. Jesus sent this man back to the very people who had sent Him away, those who we might feel hardly deserved His message any longer. He still sends His message to those who are unworthy, and He uses people that we might feel very unlikely to be a witness, like a delivered demoniac, to bring it.
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