Mark 5:18-19
"And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. 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.'"
To be a sent witness means:
- You are someone entrusted to go.
- You are going for a purpose.
The Reality of Spiritual Opposition
Mark 3:11
"You are the Son of God."
Mark 3:23, 26
"How can Satan cast out Satan? …If Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand but has an end."
The Condition of the Demoniac Before Christ
Mark 5:2-5
"And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with 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."
Luke 8:27
"A certain man from the city who had demons for a long time… he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs."
The POV of the Demoniac Before Christ
- Naked
- Chained
- Alone
- Outcast
- People living in fear of him
- Subhuman
- Living with the dead — "Contrary to Jewish law and human instinct" — David Guzik
- Tormented — crying out
- Self-destructive — cutting himself with stones
- Uncontrollable
- Possessed
John 10:10
"The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy."
"Demons also attack man because they hate the image of God in man. They attack that image by debasing man and making him grotesque — just as they did to this man in the country of the Gadarenes." — David Guzik
"Though we may not be tortured by the devil, yet he holds us as his slaves, till the Son of God delivers us from his tyranny. Naked, torn, and disfigured, we wander about, till he restores us to soundness of mind." — John Calvin
The Encounter with Jesus
Mark 5:7
"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."
Matthew 8:29
"What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?"
Revelation 20:10
"Thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur… and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever."
Mark 5:9
"We are Legion; for we are many."
Mark 5:13
"And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about 2,000); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea and drowned in the sea."
"Satan would rather vex swine than do no mischief at all. He is so fond of evil that he would work it upon animals if he cannot work it upon men." — Charles Spurgeon
"Perhaps because He wanted everyone to know what the real intention of these demons was. They wanted to destroy the man just as they destroyed the pigs. Because men are made in the image of God, they could not have their way as easily with man, but their intention was just the same: to completely destroy him." — David Guzik
The Restoration
Mark 5:15
"They came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed in his right mind…"
"Many people are open to Jesus as long as he keeps his distance… they like the gentle Jesus of the picture books but not the powerful Christ of the Gospels… We want a gentle Jesus who will keep his nose out of our business and who will take us to heaven, but won't interfere in the way we live on earth… More than a few people today hear the gospel and then say, 'If Jesus comes in, something else will have to go, and I don't want to let go of it.'" — Ray Pritchard
The Sending
Mark 5:18
"The man who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him."
Mark 5:19
"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."
Jesus encountered a demon-possessed man, but he leaves behind a restored, sent-out witness.
Mark 5:20
"He departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled."
What We Witness
- God doesn't hide the reality of a fallen world from us — and He doesn't hide it from Himself.
- God has authority over it all.
- God has compassion for us.
John 10:10
"I have come that they may have life, and life more abundantly."