9: The Gentile and the Demons

The Gentile and the Demons (Mk 5:1-20) Sunday Morning – August 19, 2018 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA OUTLINE: 1. INTRODUCTION a. To the other side of the lake b. Jesus is God c. Jesus is a friend of sinners 2. CONCLUSION -------------------------------------------------------------1. INTRODUCTION: a. To the other side of the lake: They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes (Mk 5:1). - - - Jesus arrives in Gentile country, on the other side of the lake o This area hadn’t been under permanent or settled Israelite control for centuries, like the area on the western side of the lake o Joshua conquered most of it initially o It hung on through David and Solomon’s reign o It hung when it became a part of the breakaway Northern Kingdom o It was swallowed up by the Assyrians in 722 BC o It wasn’t under any kind of Israeli control until the late 1st century BC, under the Maccabees, but the Romans quickly conquered the entire region after siding with one Maccabean faction during a civil war among the Jews This entire region had been predominately Gentile for over 700 years o This wasn’t a place the average Jewish rabbi in this time would ever want to go o The people there were ceremonially unclean pagans, and the very air they breathe could contaminate you and make you unworthy to stand before God (this was how the thought went) Yet, Jesus decides to go here – why? o Mark’s a guy who appreciates irony 1 Pastor Tyler Robbins The Gentile and the Demons (Mk 5:1-20) Sunday Morning – August 19, 2018 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA o He likes to highlight when something happens that’s the opposite of what you’d expect ▪ (1) Jesus came to His own people, preaching their own Scriptures, saying He was the Messiah they’d been waiting for … and they rejected Him • But, the demons always give Him glory and honor! • His own family thinks He’s insane • A group of Pharisees from Jerusalem accused Him of being demon-possessed! • That’s not the way you’d think it would go! ▪ (2) So, Jesus adopts a teaching style (parables) for His own people that’s designed to filter and screen out folks who are following Him for the wrong reason, and preaches that most people will reject the Gospel (parable of the sower) • But, the demons always acknowledge who He is! • That’s also not the way you’d think it would go! ▪ (3) Then, despite all the things they’ve seen and heard that ought to teach them otherwise, the disciples still have to be babied along so they’ll understand who He actually is … He is the Messiah, but He’s more than just a man! • But, again, the demons always confess who He is! o Now, when Jesus heads to a completely Gentile area: ▪ (1) He confronts a demon who understands exactly who Jesus is, while His own apostles are still confused and afraid ▪ (2) He makes His first Gentile convert, who also understands exactly who He is (more so than the apostles), and Jesus commissions Him as a missionary to the Gentiles; the people most Jewish teachers in this day had taught Jews to despise! And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night 2 Pastor Tyler Robbins The Gentile and the Demons (Mk 5:1-20) Sunday Morning – August 19, 2018 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stone (Mk 5:2-5) - What’s going on with the man Jesus meets? o Well, clearly, this guy has problems! ▪ The man confronts Jesus immediately ▪ He lives among the tombs along the shore, which makes the man ceremonially “unclean” under the OT law (for real, this isn’t tradition!), which means Jesus is being very odd for going there! ▪ He’s clearly insane and has superhuman strength; he can even rip shackles and chains apart; this isn’t surprising = he’s inhabited by up to 2000 demons! ▪ No man is strong enough to hold him, and they seem to leave him alone to haunt the hillside and the tombs (which sounds like a good idea!) ▪ He lives in the hills overlooking the Sea of Galilee, screaming and mutilating himself with stones day and night o All told, this is clearly not somebody you want to meet in the early morning hours, when you roll into an unfamiliar neighborhood b. Jesus is God: And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him (Mk 5:6). - - This is probably the most dramatic encounter anyone has with Jesus in the entire Gospel of Mark, and you should pay attention to what it means! What does this guy do? o He sees Jesus from afar; that is, from the tombs on the hillside o He’s probably been watching this single, solitary boat creep towards the shore for a while o As the boat docks, He runs down to confront Jesus Why is the man running at Jesus? o Is he excited and anxious to greet Him with a Starbucks gift card or a loaf of freshly baked banana bread to welcome Him to the neighborhood? 3 Pastor Tyler Robbins The Gentile and the Demons (Mk 5:1-20) Sunday Morning – August 19, 2018 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA - - o No; the man is probably heading to attack the occupants of the boat What does He do when He gets to Jesus? o It depends on what your translation says; he either “fell down/bowed down” or he “worshipped” o The context (see following) says the demon-possessed man worshipped Jesus o The man isn’t in control of himself; he’s being controlled by the fallen angel who’s inhabiting his body o This means the demon is worshipping Jesus o He runs at the boat like a madman, ready to attack the occupants, but when he gets within range of Jesus (who’s by now stepped out onto the shore), he falls down in worship once he realizes who Jesus is! Why on earth would a demon worship Jesus? o When you worship someone (or something ☹), you’re acknowledging the object of your worship is better than you, above you, superior to you, of a higher status than you o Who’s higher than the angels!? ▪ God is higher than the angels! ▪ The demons are worshipping Jesus as God, because they recognize their own Creator o But, didn’t God create everything!? ▪ Genesis says He did, but the NT says Jesus did it: • “He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made,” (Jn 1:2-3) o Son the agent in creation o Distinction between God and Son o Jesus is eternal • “The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him,” (Jn 1:9-10) o Son the agent in creation o Jesus is prior to creation because He made it = eternal 4 Pastor Tyler Robbins The Gentile and the Demons (Mk 5:1-20) Sunday Morning – August 19, 2018 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA • “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together,” (Col 1:15-17) o Distinction between God and Son o Son the agent in creation = eternal • “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world,” (Heb 1:1-2) o Son the agent in creation = eternal o Distinct from God ▪ Jesus created the stars, the sun, the moon, the planets, the galaxies, the solar system … and the demon who’s bowing before Him and worshipping Him • But, the NT also never conflates Father and Son as if they were identical – there’s always a distinction between Father, Son and Spirit o Who is Jesus, then? ▪ (a) He’s more than the sweet, gentle, meek and mild guy in a robe and sandals we imagine in too many of our stereotypes ▪ (b) He’s also not the white guy with the piercing blue eyes you see in those bad FaceBook posts ▪ (c) He’s the One through whom the Father created creation itself, ▪ (d) Demons bow before Him in worship! ▪ (e) The Apostle John presents Jesus as the Righteous Avenger; the One who’ll kill and trample unbelievers at the end of the Tribulation period like grapes in a winepress, and their blood will flow like a river that’s jumped it’s banks for tens of miles around, in a flood several feet high (see Rev 14:14-20; cf. Rev 19:11-16) 5 Pastor Tyler Robbins The Gentile and the Demons (Mk 5:1-20) Sunday Morning – August 19, 2018 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA - ▪ (f) An angel will summon all the birds of the air to gorge themselves on the dead bodies of those who oppose God (Rev 19:17-21) Let’s see what else this demon has to say: And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me,” (Mk 5:7). - - - - What’s happening here? o The demon begins begging and screaming o Idiom = “What do you want with me!?” What does the demon say to Jesus? o (1) He recognizes Him ▪ Jesus didn’t have a nametag on, but the demon recognizes His creator anyway o (2) He calls Jesus “Son of the Most High God” ▪ This is Gentile language for the highest of the gods; the penultimate God ▪ Balaam (Num 24:16), the King of Babylon (Isa 14:14) and Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 3:26, 42) each used the term to refer to Yahweh ▪ Like a parasite, the demon uses the vocabulary of the Gentile man he’s inhabiting to confess that Jesus is the Son of God What does the next part mean? What does it mean to “adjure” or “implore” somebody? o This is where a translation doesn’t get you anywhere by being literal! o It means to command someone to do something, but the demon clearly isn’t in a position to demand anything from Jesus; he’s on his knees worshipping Him! o So, it’s a command that’s cried out in a submissive way; he’s begging Jesus o The demon is basically saying something like: ▪ “For God’s sake, don’t torment me!” ▪ “Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” What does it say about Jesus that a demon: 6 Pastor Tyler Robbins The Gentile and the Demons (Mk 5:1-20) Sunday Morning – August 19, 2018 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA - - - - o Fell down and worshipped Him o Confessed that He was the Son of the Most High God o Begged Jesus, in a pitiful, crying and submissive way to not torment Him? Why does the demon beg Jesus to not torment him? When does Jesus ever torment any demon? o The only time in Scripture a fallen angel is tormented is in the last days, when they’re condemned to eternal, conscious torment in hell, along with Satan, the Antichrist and the False Prophet ▪ Jesus in the last days = “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels,” (Mt 25:41) o Luke and Matthew make it clear the demons beg Jesus not to send them to hell: ▪ “And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss,” (Lk 8:31) ▪ “And behold, they cried out, ‘What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?’” (Mt 8:29) The demons don’t just: o (a) Recognize Jesus o (b) Worship Jesus o (c) Call Jesus by the title of “Son of God,” or o (d) Beg him They beg him to not send them to hell to be tormented before the appointed time, at the end of days o They’re like ants standing in the path of a steam-roller, and they know it Why are the demons begging Jesus, and carrying on like this? For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” (Mk 5:8). - Because Jesus had issued them a command, and they were terrified! And, as they throw themselves at His feet, cry out and beg for mercy, Jesus engages them in conversation: 7 Pastor Tyler Robbins The Gentile and the Demons (Mk 5:1-20) Sunday Morning – August 19, 2018 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many,” (Mk 5:9). - A “legion” was a unit of about 5000 – 6000 troops o This doesn’t mean there were exactly 6000 demons inhabiting this man o It just means there were a lot! And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them,” (Mk 5:10-12). - The demons keep begging Jesus over and over for mercy; they’d rather inhabit the pigs then be sent out of the region, to hell itself o The demons are nothing but a bunch of blubbering fools now, on their knees crying and begging for mercy from their Creator So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea (Mk 5:13). - The demons only go into the pigs because Jesus gave them permission There are evidently about 2000 demons, which indicates (again) how powerful Jesus is in comparison to these fallen angels = deity c. Jesus is a friend of sinners: The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid (Mk 5:14-15) 8 Pastor Tyler Robbins The Gentile and the Demons (Mk 5:1-20) Sunday Morning – August 19, 2018 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA - - The herdsmen ran away, and I can understand why! o (a) They’d probably been watching the encounter o (b) They saw the demon possessed man begging for mercy; they were probably too far away to hear, but they could put the pieces together from what they saw o (c) They probably saw the man gesture to their flocks of pigs on the hillside (“what’s going on here, I wonder …?”) o (d) They saw Jesus give some sort of permission to the man o (e) Immediately, all their flocks of pigs went insane and committed mass suicide by rushing down into the Sea of Galilee and drowning themselves ▪ I’d be a bit scared, too! What’s the guy who used to be demon-possessed doing? o He’s sitting with Jesus; and it’s probably not the awkward kind of silence you get in a crowded elevator, where everyone tries to ignore everyone else and you can’t wait to escape! ▪ They’re probably chatting about the Gospel, about how He’s the Messiah, about the story of reality (creation, fall, redemption, reconciliation) from the OT; about the Good News of the Kingdom of God o He has clothes, probably from the disciples ▪ I doubt he got them from Kohls And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region (Mk 5:16-17). - - The townspeople find them there after the herdsmen tell everyone what happened They come, and see this man who basically had no name, who’d only been known by the title “demon-possessed guy,” and he’s sitting calmly, clothed, and in his right mind o This is such a dramatic reversal o This is Jesus’ parable of Satan and the strong man come to life Frightened out of their minds, they beg Jesus to leave 9 Pastor Tyler Robbins The Gentile and the Demons (Mk 5:1-20) Sunday Morning – August 19, 2018 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him (Mk 5:18). - The demons beg Jesus for mercy and ask Him to postpone their eternal torment in hell The Gentile townspeople beg Jesus to leave The man who used to be demon-possessed begs to be with Jesus! And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled (Mk 5:19-20). - - - Jesus commissions this man, His first Gentile convert, to stay in the region and tell everyone about what He’s done for him, and about His mercy: o Satan’s power over the man has been broken o This is what the prophets said the Messiah would do (cf. Isa 35:5-10) o If Jesus has the power to bind Satan and plunder his goods, what does this say about Him? This is the message Jesus sent this man to bring to his community, and what a testimony he has to give! o His own healing would be proof enough, but several eyewitnesses saw the herd of pigs commit mass suicide as the demons drove them into the sea! o There’s proof positive that this man, Jesus, is exactly who He said He was! Did you notice that Jesus refers to Himself as Lord? o There’s only one “Lord,” and that’s Yahweh o Yet, Jesus calls Himself “Lord,” and the man understands Jesus is referring to Himself because he went around telling everybody about … Jesus! 2. CONCLUSION: 10 Pastor Tyler Robbins The Gentile and the Demons (Mk 5:1-20) Sunday Morning – August 19, 2018 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA - I want you to leave here this morning knowing two things: o (1) The incident with the demon = Jesus is God ▪ Jesus incarnation and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (and beyond) reveal that our one God isn’t unitary or biunal; He’s triune ▪ In this passage: • (a) The demons worship Jesus • (b) Jesus commands them to leave the poor man, and they scream in terror and start begging Him for mercy • (c) The demons call Jesus the “Son of the Most High God!” • (d) The demons beg and plead with Jesus to not cast them into hell, which only Yahweh can do! • (e) There are at least 2000 demons inside this man, and they’re all worshipping, begging and pleading with Jesus and acknowledging His identity as their Creator • (f) They beg Him to let them enter the pigs, rather than be cast into hell • (g) They only go once He gives them permission! o (2) The mission to this Gentile = Jesus is a friend of sinners: ▪ This man is just as much in the grip of Satan as you are today, if you haven’t repented of your sins and believed in Jesus • You may not be living in caves, cutting yourself with stones, and screaming at odd hours of the night in terror • But, your heart, soul and mind belong to Satan unless and until you: o (a) Confess your sinfulness, your wickedness, your rebellion against God o (b) Forsake self-rule in favor of God’s rule over your heart, soul, mind and life, with Jesus as your king o (c) and believe that Jesus was perfect for you, died for you, and defeated Satan for you by rising from the dead o (d) and, if you do that, Jesus will be a perfect and all-sufficient Savior 11 Pastor Tyler Robbins The Gentile and the Demons (Mk 5:1-20) Sunday Morning – August 19, 2018 Sleater Kinney Road Baptist Church, Olympia, WA ▪ Jesus could have stayed in Israelite territory, but He came there to save this man from Satan ▪ He could have taken the man with him and returned to Israel, but He left him there to spread the Gospel … even though they’d just begged Him to leave = God has people He intends to save everywhere = great encouragement ▪ Jesus is God, and He will be your judge, but for now He’s able to be your Savior, too • His yoke is easy, and His burden is light, and He’ll accept you if you come to Him in repentance and faith 12 Pastor Tyler Robbins