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Driving evil spirits into the swine (Mk 5:1-21)
This incident is concerned with many individuals, including the demonized man, the unclean spirits, Jesus and his disciples, the swine-feeders, and the Gadarenes. They all play a special role in the story. Let’s examine their roles.
(the demonized man)
He was certainly the main character of the whole story. Mark 5:3-5 introduces him by listing some of his abnormal behavior:
* sleep in cemetery
* broke the fetters and chains
* untamed by anyone
* hang around in mountains and tombs and shout aloud
* injure himself with stones
It appears that this demon-possessed man had full strength and did what others could not do. Although he was bound with fetters and chains, he could break them with his own strength. Of course, his strength came from the devil inside his body. In fact, he was totally under the control of the demonic power. He was unable to control himself from any misbehavior. He might have little sense of what he had been doing.
The apostle John said, “We know that we are God's children, and that the whole world lies under the power of the evil one. (全世界都臥在那惡者手下)” (I John 5:19, NRSV) People who disobey God in this world are not aware they are living according to the devil’s will instead of God’s will. They are untamed like the demon-possessed man. Jesus has uttered the warning in the Sermon on the Mount, “Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.” (「你們要進窄門；因為引到滅亡，那門是寬的，路是大的，進去的人也多。」) (Matt 7:13). Many who do not cherish their precious lives are living like the demon-possessed man--“dwelling among the tombs” (v3). It is miserable that they are not even aware of this.
The man lived not like a human. No one could rescue him, until he met Jesus and the devil departed his body. He finally resumed his normal mind and behavior. He no longer hurt himself or despised by his people. He was able to live a normal life.
Many people have lived a life not like a human in the past. It is not until they encountered Jesus did they experience dramatic changes in their lives. They had been living under the influence of the demonic power. Only after they believed in Jesus would their spirits yield to God. Thereafter, they were in their right minds like the man (v15). They were able to distinguish between the path toward eternal life and the path toward destruction. Their life path was no longer heading toward destruction. They have chosen a reverse path, where “strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (「引到永生那門是窄的，路是小的，找著的人也少。」) (Matt 7:14) The change of their life direction from death to life is similar to the experience of the psalmist in Psalm 23: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” (Psalm 23:4) Spiritually, we have truly walked through the valley of the shadow of death. The Lord has guided us out of the valley and to advance on the path of life.
When our physical health is at risk, we may feel like walking through the valley of the shadow of death. We are comforted when we get healed. (Ps 23:4) Have we ever thought of our spirits walking through the valley of the shadow of death even after we have been saved? I’ve seen fervant Christians in the past have become like dead Christians and no longer worship God or associate with their Lord and Savior. It is miserable to see that they are walking through the valley of the shadow of death spiritually without awareness! We have to be alert not to enter into this kind of spiritual sluggishness. These spiritual lives are like seeds sown among thorns, choked and yielding no fruit. (Mark 4:7) Jesus our Lord said, “Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.” (John 15:2) In all circumstances, we have to “abide” in the Lord. Jesus said, “I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” (John 15:5-6) When we no longer have Jesus in our minds and hearts, we may already have lost control to the hands of the devil. No wonder our spiritual lives bear no fruit.
At last, the man “that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind”. (v15) He knew it was Jesus who saved him from the hands of the devil. Who could that be if he were not a God-man? He begged to follow Jesus. However, Jesus disallowed him and said, “Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.” (v19) Jesus wanted him to do some greater work for God, which was to give testimony before his relatives and friends. He submitted and “publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him; and all men did marvel.” (v20) This is also the obligation for all the believers as an act of thanksgiving for the compassion of our Lord.
(the unclean spirits)
The evil spirit that dwelled in the man was not a single one. When Jesus asked him the name, he declared, “My name is Legion: for we are many.” (v9) This legion of evil spirits did whatever they desired and nobody could overcome them, until they met Jesus…The devil “saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, and cried with a loud voice, and said, ‘What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.’ ” (v6-7) He recognized the Son of God and worshipped Him without delay. The devil feared him very much. It is sarcastic to see that the devil made people fear him so much of his demonic power but he was terrified to death before the Son of God. In front of the Son of the most high God, all the devil can do is to bow down and worship him, asking Jesus not to torment him. No wonder James 2:19 said, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well; the devils also believe, and tremble.” In this sense, even the evil spirits are better or wiser than mankind. At least they recognize the Son of God; they fear him and worship him. And they are wise enough to ask him not to torment them!
How wise are human beings? Psalm 14:1 says, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” But does God care at all? Of course! Psalm 14:2 says, “The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.” The answer is found in Psalm 14:3, “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” Paul aptly explained their foolishness, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” (Rom 1:21-22)
When human think they are the wisest species on earth, they have unknowingly fallen into the trap of the devil. Just think about this: when we have human conflict with each other, who is our true enemy? Often times we treat the ones we dislike as our enemies and we battle against them. We do not realize the true enemy behind us is Satan. If we keep on using human ways to battle with Satan, we are sure to be the loser. People tried all ways to confine the demon-possessed man but of no avail. This is simply because the evil spirits inside the man had much greater power than human. Only our Lord Jesus can have the power and dominion over Satanic power. Psalm 118:8 teaches us, “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man.” If we use God’s way rather than man’s way to deal with human conflicts, chances are that we not only solve the problem but also ease off the tense relationship with our “enemies”—a win-win situation.
(Jesus)
The main character of the story was the demon-possessed man. What about Jesus? He was far more influential than the main character of the story. He was the director behind the whole story! In the story, he has shown great compassion on the man. Note that the previous chapter records the account that Jesus and the disciples met a terrible storm. Before they set out, “when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.” (Mark 4:35). Then they risked their lives before they finished sailing “to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.” (v1) And the next verse says “when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.” (v2) Every time the word “immediately” is found in the Book of Mark, an action is being emphasized for readers’ attention. What action follows? “But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshiped him.” (v6) Jesus then commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (v8) There is good reason to believe that Jesus has planned ahead to sail to the place of the Gadarenes and aimed at driving out the demon and bringing the mad-man back to normal so that he could resume his normal life. At the end of the story, Jesus told the healed man to go and tell his friends “how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.” (v19) Surely, Jesus has shown great compassion to the man.
Mark 5:17 says, “And they (the Gadarenes) began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.” Then Jesus and his disciples returned to the ship and departed that place. (v18) One reason for their rejection of him is perhaps due to the huge loss the people of that region suffered from this miracle, in that “the herd (of swine) ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.” (v13) The swine-feeders might put all the blame on Jesus. “They that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done.” (v14) And then, “they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine.” (v15) The Gadarenes might think that Jesus’ stay would become an evil omen to their whole region. They were so afraid of him that they besought him to get out of their place. Even though he was rejected by the people of the other coast, he definitely felt it worthwhile to go through all the trouble for the sake of a soul. Jesus was even willing to forsake the lives of 2,000 swine in exchange for the normal life of one single person. This truly indicates how great the compassion he had on the man.
Likewise, Jesus has shown great compassion on each and every one of us in spite of all the hardship. The parable of the lost sheep (Luke 15:3-7) expresses a similar heartful concern of the Lord for the salvation of one single soul. The shepherd leaves behind ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness to find the lost sheep. “When he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.” (Luke 15:5) Jesus then concludes the parable: “likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.” (Luke 15:7) In my opinion, the “ninety and nine just persons” refer to the self-righteous people who show no sign of repentance at all. Jesus doesn’t care much about these ninety-nine “just persons”; rather, he puts his focus and effort on the single soul that shows the sign of repentance. He is willing to pay high price for that lost soul, and that’s you and me!
Jesus not only has compassion on the man, but has shown compassion on the evil spirits as well! The evil spirits bargained with him not to torment them but to permit them to be sent into the swine. (v12) Apparently, they knew that Jesus could use a tougher way to treat or punish them for their evil acts done on the man. However, Jesus yielded to their request and fulfilled their wish. He was nice even to the evil spirits! In a way, he had compassion and mercy for the evil spirits more than the swine! He understood how much the evil spirits suffered in their own world. This is something that’s beyond our understanding.
(the Gadarenes)
After hearing how evil spirits were driven out of the man and the fate of the swine, the Gadarenes “began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.” (v17) This is a very unwise decision that they made. Had they let Jesus continue to stay in their place for a longer while, they could have seen more miracles done on them. We have seen before that many people came to Jesus for healing and hearing his preaching after they heard of his power of healing. Sadly, these Gadarenes acted just like the scribes and the Pharisees, who witnessed Jesus healing the sufferers but rejected him due to their hardened hearts. Jesus would not force people to listen to the gospel. Since they did not welcome him, he went to other places to preach the kingdom of God. Mark 5:21 says, “when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him: and he was nigh unto the sea.” As soon as he returned to the other side of the sea, a crowd of people welcomed him back!