Mark 5:1-20 A Demoniac: The First Missionary
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: January 21-22, 2018, Mark 5:1-20
(Note: I quoted a lot of commentary and dictionary entries in this devotional sample. That morning, I had some questions that I really wanted the answer to, so I turned my devotional time into a more in-depth Bible study time. There is a difference between a devotion and an in-depth Bible study, but that does not mean that you cannot combine the two sometimes.)
They arrived at the other side of the sea in the territory of the Gerasenes. Just as Jesus stepped out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him. He lived among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, not even with a chain. He had often been restrained with shackles and chains but had snapped the chains apart and broken the shackles in pieces. No one could tame him. Night and day he kept screaming among the tombs and on the mountainsides and kept cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell down in front of him, screaming in a loud voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you in the name of God never to torment me!” Jesus had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” Then Jesus asked him, “What’s your name?” He told him, “My name is Legion, because there are many of us.” He kept pleading with Jesus not to send them out of that region. Now a large herd of pigs was grazing on a hillside nearby. So the demons begged him, “Send us among the pigs, so that we can go into them!” So he let them do this. The unclean spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs, and the herd of about 2,000 rushed down the cliff into the sea and drowned there. Now when those who had been taking care of the pigs ran away, they reported what had happened in the city and countryside. So the people went to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus and saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there dressed and in his right mind, they were frightened. The people who had seen it told them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. So they began to beg Jesus to leave their territory. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed kept begging him to let him go with him. But Jesus wouldn’t let him. Instead, he told him, “Go home to your family, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been to you.” So the man left and began proclaiming in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone was utterly amazed.
Day 1
(Understanding the Passage) They arrived at the other side of the sea in the territory of the Gerasenes. This is called the Gadarenes in the KJV. The map shows that this area was on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. It says that the witnesses reported what had happened to the city. Which city? The map shows Gadara and Gergesa. At the end it says, So the man left and began proclaiming in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him.
Guzik’s commentary says, “‘The Decapolis was ten Greek cities on the eastern side of the sea of Galilee, including Damascus. It was to this gentile community that Jesus commanded this man to go and bear witness.’ (Stedman) ii. “Decapolis literally means The Ten Cities. Near to the Jordan and on its east side, there were ten cities mainly of rather a special character. They were essentially Greek. Their names were Scythopolis, which was the only one on the west side of the Jordan, Pella, Dion, Gerasa, Philadelphia, Gadara, Raphana, Kanatha, Hippos and Damascus.” (Barclay) The spectacular remains of Scythopolis can be seen today.” From this I know that Jesus’ group had landed in an area that was more predominantly Greek rather than Jewish.
The ISBE dictionary describes Gedara as “1. Country of the Gadarenes This city is not named in Scripture, but the territory belonging to it is spoken of as χώρα τῶν Γαδαρηνῶν, chō̇ra tō̇n Gadarēnō̇n, ‘country of the Gadarenes’ (Mat_8:28). In the parallel passages (Mar_5:1; Luk_8:26, Luk_8:37) we read: χώρα τῶν Γερασηνῶν, chō̇ra tō̇n Gerasēnō̇n ‘country of the Gerasenes.’ There is no good reason, however, to question the accuracy of the text in either case. The city of Gadara is represented today by the ruins of Umm Ḳeis on the heights south of el-Ḥummeh – the hot springs in the Yarmūk valley – about 6 miles Southeast of the Sea of Galilee. It maybe taken as certain that the jurisdiction of Gadara, as the chief city in these regions, extended over the country East of the Sea, including the lands of the subordinate town, GERASA (which see). The figure of a ship frequently appears on its coins: conclusive. proof that its territory reached the sea. The place might therefore be called with propriety, either ‘land of the Gerasenes,’ with reference to the local center, or ‘land of the Gadarenes,’ with reference to the superior city. (NOTE. – The Textus Receptus of the New Testament reading. τῶν Γεργεσηνῶν, tṓn Gergesēnṓn, “of the Gergesenes,” must be rejected (Westcott-Hort, II. App., 11).)”
“2. History The name Gadara appears to be Semitic. It is still heard in Jedūr, which attaches to the ancient rock tombs, with sarcophagi, to the East of the present ruins. They are closed by carved stone doors, and are used as storehouses for grain, and also as dwellings by the inhabitants. The place is not mentioned till later times. It was taken by Antiochus the Great when in 218 bc he first invaded Palestine (Polyb. v.71). Alexander Janneus invested the place, and reduced it after a ten months’ siege (Ant., XIII, iii, 3; BJ, I, iv, 2). Pompey is said to have restored it, 63 bc (Ant., XIV, iv, 4; BJ, I, vii, 7); from which it would appear to have declined in Jewish hands. He gave it a free constitution. From this date the era of the city was reckoned. It was the seat of one of the councils instituted by Gabinius for the government of the Jews (Ant., XIV, v, 4; BJ, I, viii, 5). It was given by Augustus to Herod the Great in 30 bc (Ant., XV, vii, 3; BJ, I, xx, 3). The emperor would not listen to the accusations of the inhabitants against Herod for oppressive conduct (Ant., XV, x, 2 f). After Herod’s death it was joined to the province of Syria, 4 bc (Ant., XVII, xi, 4; BJ, II, vi, 3). At the beginning of the Jewish revolt the country around Gadara was laid waste (BJ, II, xviii, 1). The Gadarenes captured some of the boldest of the Jews, of whom several were put to death, and others imprisoned (ibid., 5). A party in the city surrendered it to Vespasian, who placed a garrison there (BJ, IV, vii, 3). It continued to be a great and important city, and was long the seat of a bishop (Reland, Palestine, 776). With the conquest of the Moslems it passed under eclipse, and is now an utter ruin.”
Gedara is farther inland so is probably not the city referred to in this passage. The same is true of Geresa. The ISBE dictionary names a different town. “The town itself is not named in Scripture, and is referred to only in the expression, ‘country of the Gerasenes’ (Mar_5:1; Luk_8:26, Luk_8:37; see Westcott and Hort, The New Testament in Greek, Appendix, 11). This describes the district in which Christ met and healed the demoniac from the tombs, where also took place the destruction of the swine. It was on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, and must have been a locality where the steep edges of the Bashan plateau drop close upon the brink of the lake. This condition is fulfilled only by the district immediately South of Wādy Semak, North of Ḳal ‛at el-Ḥuṣn. Here the slopes descend swiftly almost into the sea, and animals, once started on the downward run, could not avoid plunging into the depths. Many ancient tombs are to be seen in the face of the hills. Gerasa itself is probably represented by the ruins of Kurseh on the South side of Wādy Semak, just where it opens on the seashore. The ruins of the town are not considerable; but there are remains of a strong wall which must have surrounded the place. Traces of ancient buildings in the vicinity show that there must have been a fairly numerous population in the district.” Thus, the city mentioned in the passage was probably one called Kurseh.
What do I know about this man? “He lived among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, not even with a chain.” “saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there dressed and in his right mind,” The demoniac had been living among the tombs there. It makes a point that he was dressed which implies that he must have been naked when he ran toward Jesus. “no one could restrain him any longer, not even with a chain. He had often been restrained with shackles and chains but had snapped the chains apart and broken the shackles in pieces. No one could tame him.” This man was strong. I assume that he must have been strong before he was demon-possessed and that made him a candidate for Satan to use. Why didn’t the other people just kill him instead of trying to restrain him? Did his family love him so much that they could not bear for him to live as he did but couldn’t bear to kill him? Was there a superstitious awe of him? Had they tried to kill him but failed? In breaking the shackles and chains, he must have been wounded. In addition, it says “Night and day he kept screaming among the tombs and on the mountainsides and kept cutting himself with stones. ” Thus, he must have had numerous scars and injuries on his body from escaping the chains and from self-inflicted injuries from stones cutting him. He must have been in great pain emotionally to scream all the time. Cutting himself may have been a way to try to kill himself which the demon did not allow yet, or it may have been the demon trying to force him to kill himself and he resisted. Either way the people of the area must have felt terrified to be near the tombs hearing screams and sometimes seeing him running among the tombs. Maybe he made a habit of running at people and attacking them or trying to scare them off. As he ran toward Jesus and the disciples, he must have been a terrifying sight with ratty hair and beard, naked body filled with scars and maybe bleeding from new wounds, screaming his head off.
Sometimes demon-possession is an attack on the person himself/herself alone, but I think another purpose is to put fear into the hearts of other people so that they will react in a way that diminishes the image of God within themselves. When people fear, they become selfish and self-centered. They can do horrible actions and develop terrible beliefs in response to their terror. They can justify actions that they would have abhorred were they not so afraid. Thus, I believe that Satan was using this man to inspire terror in the population so that they would respond with fear instead of trust. We can see that at the end when instead of being happy about the man’s restoration, the people were afraid. They did not react in anger at the pigs’ death; instead, they begged Jesus to leave. They came as penitents to a powerful being begging to be ignored. Fear was a habit now with them. They needed time to forget their fear and learn to trust again. Jesus gave them that time. He was not offended when they asked Him to leave. Instead, He left them a witness.
(Revelation of God) Jesus transformed the same being who had caused them to fear into the messenger who would teach them to trust in God’s mercy and salvation. This is a message to us that Jesus can transform our fears into trust, our nemesis into our supporter, our persecutor into our friend. Another time Jesus did this was with Saul. Jesus can change our circumstances. This is also a message of Jesus’ patience with our damaged psyches. He understands that this sinful world injures us and causes us psychological damage, and He is willing to give us time and the message that we need in order to heal us and transform us into His selfless image.
(Understanding the Passage) I have been trying to find out why people would have kept 2,000 pigs on the hillside. These were unclean animals, and some commentators think the owners were Jewish and thus, breaking the law, but others say that the owners might have been Gentiles since this area was Greek-controlled. F. F. Bruce’s commentary says that these were gentile pigkeepers (page 1162). Why so many pigs? Was it a community group controlled by the city, i.e. each family had a few pigs, but they grouped them together in one area in the care of paid keepers? The parable of the prodigal son indicates that there were people who were paid to care for swine and that it was one of the lowest paid jobs, as the son was starving and wanted to eat the pig’s food. On the other hand, maybe this heard belonged to a temple or rich man. I read one person’s comment that the pigs were kept to be sacrificed to Zeus. Another place indicated that they might have been kept to sell to the Roman army. I did not find any commentary that provided a definitive answer that seemed to be supported by other sources. I will have to study more.
Day 2
(Revelation of God) Jesus seemed to be a magnet to the fallen angels. They could not stay away from Him. Whenever He was in their area, they all came. They never attacked Jesus. Did they want to, or knowing that He was God, they did not even think to try? They tended to beg a lot. Why did Jesus ask the demon’s name? Did He think that He knew Him? Jesus might not have been able to tell the identity of demons when they were inside people although God does seem to ask us a lot of questions that He already knows the answer to, so maybe this is not evidence of a lack of knowledge. Maybe, part of why the demons possess people is that they hate people as much or more than they hate Jesus since they seem to delight in hurting people.
(Understanding the Passage) 2,000 pigs were on the hillside looking for food. When it says grazing, it does not mean eating grass like a cow or horse. While pigs will eat grass, they will also eat bugs and grubs, nuts, and even small animals like baby birds and baby mice. When the demons entered the pigs, they forced them to stampede and kill themselves. This was probably to make trouble for Jesus, but it could have simply been their nature. Also, an animal being possessed would be terrified so it may have just been the natural reaction to being possessed. F. F. Bruce’s commentary has an interesting take about why Jesus allowed the demons to enter the pigs knowing what would happen. It “was so that the healed man, seeing the demon-occupied swine rushing madly into the lake, might be reassured as to the reality of his deliverance” (page 1162).
Why were so many demons in one man? Had he or one of his family invited them in? Maybe this is why he was not killed. Someone wanted a possessed man around.
The swine herders ran to the city to tell what had happened rather than go sit at Jesus’ feet. This may have been a sign of fear of the possessed man. These must have been very poor people to take this kind of job, and they may have been superstitious and told each other scary stories of the man of the tombs. Thus, fear was natural. Also, 2,000 valuable animals under their care had just been destroyed. They had to go right away and explain this to the owners. They may have made Jesus into a scarier person with exaggeration simply to keep from getting themselves into trouble, so they may have been partially responsible for the townspeople wanting Jesus to leave. Jesus needed the demoniac to stay and bear witness partially to counteract the swine herders fearful influence.
Someone gave the man clothes to wear. Were there extra clothes in the boat? Did various people combine various pieces of their own clothes? Did they help him clean up? How long was he with them before the others showed up? I would think a couple of hours. What did they talk about? Was the man a Jew who knew about the Messiah, or was the man a gentile and had to learn?
The man begged to go with Jesus just as the people had begged Jesus to leave. All respected Jesus’ power. The man may have feared being possessed again and wanted the security of being with someone who could protect him from demons. Jesus knew that the best situation for the man would be to be separated from Jesus and to be given a mission for Jesus. The man took his mission seriously and told his story not just in his hometown but in other places around the 10 Greek cities-the Decapolis. He too was an apostle since he was sent to tell people about Jesus.
(Application) My application for myself is that I need to emulate Jesus when something scary comes rushing at me. The disciples fled, but Jesus stood facing the approaching threat and dealt with the man who would have tried to harm Him, with pity and healing. I need to remember that God’s Spirit is in me so that even if a really scary person or event is around me, I can trust God to be with me. This does not mean that I will not get hurt. While Jesus did not get hurt in this situation, He was terribly harmed and humiliated on the night that He was taken to be tried and crucified. It means that I trust God that He loves me and is with me in the good and bad like Jesus did.
(Prayer) Teach me to respect Your power and trust in Your care. Help my words of praise for You to flow freely to others so that they can learn to respect and trust You also.