People Jesus Met
Part 2
“The Gadarene Demoniac”

Mark 5:1-2 “Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. 2 And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit…”

The fifth chapter of Mark’s gospel is an amazing chapter!

In this one chapter Jesus confronts the THREE GREAT ENEMIES of man–the devil, disease and death when delivering a man, a woman, and a child.

The chapter begins with Jesus coming ashore after His action-packed journey through a storm at sea to a town called Gadara where there was a graveyard.

But this was not a cemetery as we know it like Greenwood or Mount Olivet or Arlington Cemetery where our brave vets are laid to rest.

Instead it was a hillside with pockets of caves that were used as tombs.

In fact we know that hillside very well, for it’s often referred to on the news as the Golan Heights.

Before the Israelis occupied it, Arab troops used the caves to hide and to shoot long-range artillery from.

But in Jesus’s day it was a burial place.

Now, we should remember that Jesus and the disciples had crossed the sea at night so they are now arriving either in the dark or while the sun was barely peeking over the horizon.

This made their landing place amongst tombs especially eerie.

-We can imagine the silence of the night,
-the waves gently lapping the shore,
-the disciples wide eyed and wondering what was coming next when…
-out of the darkness rushes a mad man, screaming and howling in the night!

The first thing they realize is that:

I. He is desperately demon possessed

“There met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit…” (vs.2)

We know from vs.9 that there were actually a legion of demons, which signified up to a thousand.

This poor man is the poster child for Satan’s handiwork, a neon sign advertisement for what the devil would do to all of us if he could.

The very sight of him is frightening and repulsive–you would want to turn away and go the other direction.

We can sum up his condition with the words, “out of control.”

He is no longer in charge of his life.
The Bible’s description is graphic:

–His dwelling was among the tombs (fascination with death)

–He was naked: All modesty was gone.

–Self mutilation: “He cut himself with stones,” like many today cut themselves and practice self-harming.

This is demonic behavior revealing a loss of personal respect and dignity.

And the work of Satan is always to make you feel worthless, devalued, and hopeless.

But while Satan drags people into the sewer of degradation, God restores dignity!

–Mark goes on to tell us that he possessed supernatural strength–“…no one could bind him, not even with chains.”
–He couldn’t sleep at night, crying out night and day.
–His life had become its own private torture chamber, courtesy of the devil.
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Now, there is likely no one in history this badly possessed,
Yet…
II. Demonic influence is on the rise
Bits and pieces of his terrible experience are familiar to people all over the world.
On a lesser but very real scale many people today feel like their lives are out of control,
going in directions they don’t want to go,
doing things they deep down don’t want to do.
They are sold out to Satan,
sold out to sin,
unable to help themselves,
and beyond the help of others.

–There is the drug addict that doesn’t want that next fix but feels he must.
–The alcoholic that wants freedom from the bottle but keeps going back.

–There are those in the grip of some compulsion they know is ruining their life and can’t seem to stop.

One of the fruits of the Spirit is self-control and here we see the opposite!

These and many other types of spiritual chains find their root cause in the same devil that held this man in bondage.
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We don’t know how he got into such a bad way.

No doubt somewhere in his past he had opened a perilous door to the dark side.

Maybe he consulted a medium, or participated in a seance, or was somehow exposed to witchcraft–we just don’t know.

But the fact remains–demon possession is a very real condition!

That said, I want to pause a moment and be crystal clear on something–it does not happen to born again, Spirit in-dwelt Christians!

Nowhere in all of the NT do we find even one example of a born again, Spirit in-dwelt believer receiving deliverance from a demon.

Jesus didn’t teach this, nor did any of the Apostles!

–A Christian can experience demonic oppression and temptation, but not possession!

When the Lord moves in, the devil moves out!
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But those outside of Christ can and do experience this terrible condition!

It used to be that only missionaries working in pagan lands could testify to encountering the demon possessed–but no more.

The occult practices common to those distant places are now well entrenched in our own country.

There is a new fixation in America with things occultic resulting in a rise in the demonic.

You don’t have to go very far to see our shops and malls displaying ornamental Buddha’s
and Hindu gods on their shelves…

–Idolatry and demonism go hand in hand!

Newspapers and magazines invite us with colorful ads to consult with psychics and mediums.

Consequently there are many in our country just as hopelessly lost as this poor man, and just as much in Satan’s grip and bound for Satan’s hell.
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The fact was:
III. This man had only one hope
In all the earth there was only one answer and that was the Lord Jesus.
Now, as soon as the man saw Jesus, the demons within him cried out with an interesting confession.
They were fully aware of Jesus’ person, power and position–It says:
–“He ran and worshipped Him”
The word “worshipped” here does not mean worship in the sense of adoration.
It simply means to kneel or prostrate oneself, to exercise reverence.
The demons controlling him feared the Lord Jesus!
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Then next they acknowledged His deity, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the most high God?” (Vs. 7)
They knew His name and that He was God the Son!
Then they confessed that Jesus was the One who alone had power to “torment” them:
“I implore you by God that you do not torment me.” (Vs.7)
Notice: the tormenters that had destroyed this man became the tormented ones in the presence of the Lord!
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Now, in Lukes gospel we read, “And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the abyss (bottomless pit).”–8:31
Rev 20:1 tells us that at the end of time Satan shall be cast into a bottomless pit where he would be imprisoned and rendered helpless.
These demons knew this!
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It is amazing the things demons admit that men deny!
–The devil is not an atheist or agnostic.
–He believes that Jesus is God’s Son,
–he believes in judgment,
–he believes in hell,
–he fears God,
–and if it were possible for him to be saved (which it is not) he would be closer to salvation than most men, for he trembles at God’s Word where most men do not!
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Jesus then casts them out of the man saying, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” (Vs. 8)
At their own request, He casts them into the swine feeding on the hillside, which then rush headlong into the sea.
Those swine were being kept contrary to God’s law, so Jesus at the same time brought judgment on a lawless enterprise!
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Now look at the BEFORE and AFTER of this man:
BEFORE meeting Jesus he was tormented, out of control, self-destructive, and lost.
AFTER meeting Jesus the Bible says the townspeople that had been totally unable to control him find him “sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind.” (Vs. 15)
“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free!” (John 8:32)
–Just as the woman at the well brought the entire town of Samaria to Jesus,
this man “departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis (a region of ten cities) all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.” (Vs.20)
From a demon-possessed maniac to a gospel preaching evangelist, this man was radically transformed after meeting Jesus!