Mark

By Joyce Webb 2022

Chapter 5 Verses 1-20

Verse 1-5 Jesus and his disciples have crossed over the lake (sea) and are in the land (area) called Gerasenes.

As Jesus is getting out of the boat, a man who has an evil spirit in him comes to meet Jesus. The man has been living in a cemetery
(place where the dead are buried.)

The evil spirit in the man makes him act like a crazy person.

The evil spirit in him also gives him super human strength.

People of the town have tried to tie the man up. They have put chains on him.

But when the evil spirit moves the man, the man can break the chains that people have put on him. Imagine !! Strong enough to break chains !!

No one could control this man because of the evil spirit in him.

All day and all night, he would walk around among the tombs and in the hills, —-he would scream and hit himself with stones.

Verse 6 When the man saw Jesus, the man ran to meet Jesus and fell down before Jesus and worshipped him.

(Did this mean that the man himself had learned who Jesus was and wanted to worship Jesus?
Or, did this mean that the evil spirits in the man —they knew who Jesus was—and they could not help themselves— but had to bow before Jesus as God? )

Verse7 The evil spirits in the man—made the man scream in a loud voice saying “Why are you bothering me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? For God’s sake, do not torment (hurt) me.”

Verse 8 The evil spirit said this —because Jesus had said to the spirit in the man—”Come out of the man, you evil spirit.”

(Note) In almost every time that the evil spirits saw Jesus—they said in a loud voice who Jesus was. Evil spirits (demons) knew who Jesus was.

The Jewish leaders never believed Jesus was God’s Son. Many of the Jewish people never believed that Jesus was God’s Son.

But evil spirits knew who he was !

Most of the time, Jesus told the evil spirits to be quiet.
Jesus did not need them to be telling who he was.

Verse 9 Jesus asked the evil spirit, “What is your name?” (Jesus knew what it was, but he wanted the spirit to say.)

Verse 10 The spirit said, “ Legion, because there are many of us inside this man.”
(a legion, was a word used by the Roman army for a group of soldiers of 3000 to 6000 soldiers.)

The sprits in the man begged Jesus not to send them out of the country.

Verse 11 Near by there was a large herd of pigs.

Verse 12 All of the demons (spirits) in the man, begged Jesus to send them into the pigs.

(Note) The evil spirits know that Jesus has more power than they have. The spirits were strong—-they made the man do crazy things and made him strong enough to break chains. But they knew that Jesus was the “boss”. Jesus was God. They were at his mercy. Jesus could send them all to the lake of fire right then.

Some day they would be in the lake of fire —at the end of the world on Judgment Day.

They did not want to go there yet.

Demons also want to be in a body. They would rather be in a person —than an animal. But they want to be in a body.

Verse 12 The demons ask to be send into the pigs.

Verse 13 Jesus allowed them to go into the pigs.

What did they do to the pigs?? They made the pigs act crazy and the pigs ran down the mountain side and ran into the sea and drowned.

(Note) This is crazy ! Now the spirits have no bodies to be in.
They will go somewhere else.

Verse 14 The men who took care of the pigs went into the city and told them what happened. The people of the city went to see what happened to the pigs. They found they had all drowned.

Verse 15 They came to Jesus. They saw the man who had been controlled by the spirits—he was sitting, with clothes on, and was in his right mind. The people became afraid.

Verse 16 -17 When the people saw all that had happened—with the man and the pigs, they were in fear. The told Jesus to leave their city.

(Note) I can see how all this would make a person fearful and wonder what kind of man Jesus was.

Yet—all these years—they lived near and tried to help the man who acted crazy and was super strong because of evil spirits.

Now here is a man who comes—- who has the power to make evil spirits leave—-and they are so afraid of him—they tell him to leave.

Are they just angry because he allowed the pigs to be killed?

All those pigs could have made them a lot of money. There are some who write about this verse —-that think —-the pigs were being raised to become offerings for the Romans to make to their idol gods. And maybe,—that was the reason Jesus let the spirits go into them. We do not know why.

Yet—-the people seem more afraid of Jesus—-than they are happy that the man is now free of those spirits—-and now is in his right mind.

Verse 18 When Jesus went back to the boat to leave, the man who had been made free of the spirits, wanted to go with Jesus and stay with him.

Verse 19 Jesus told him to stay there—and to go to his friends—and others—and tell them what the Lord had done for him.

Verse 20 The man did as Jesus said. He went all around the area and told how Jesus made him free of the evil spirits.