The Gospel of Mark: Peter’s Story of Jesus by Steve Petty

Bible Interpretation and study

Mark– Mark 5: 1-20

After we bailed out the boat and the wind returned, we sailed on over to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. We beached at a place near some tombs and as soon as Jesus stepped off the boat a man ran at him. This man was wild and crazy and the local people were sure he was filled with unclean spirits because no one could catch him and bind him up. Several times they had trapped him and bound him, but he always broke free again and ran away.

This man ran around naked in the tombs. Night and day he would run around, bashing into stones so he was always bloodied and bruised, and as he ran he would howl like a mad dog. When he saw from a distance that Jesus was coming he ran down to the beach yelling, “What do you want with me, Jesus?” and he fell at Jesus feet. When he looked up he stared straight at Jesus and said, “You are the Son of God most high. Please, in the name of God, leave me alone.” While he was saying this Jesus had said, “Leave him alone you vile spirit.” But when the man begged to him Jesus said, “What’s your name?” The man sprang up and said, “We are many, we are like an army.” and he begged Jesus not to send him away from the country.

Nearby there was a large herd of pigs and the army in the man, begged to be sent into the pigs. But when Jesus gave permission for them to do that, it made the pigs crazy and they all ran over a cliff into the sea so that about two thousand pigs were drowned.

The boys who were tending the pigs went crazy next and ran into town to tell everyone that it was Jesus fault the pigs were dead. People came running from all over to see what had really happened. They came up to Jesus and saw the crazy man, now clothed and healed and acting perfectly normal, the very same man who had an army of vile spirits in him. Then they saw the floating pigs in the water and heard the story from the young boys and this scared them to death, it all seemed crazy and unreal. They became quite afraid of Jesus so they begged him to go away and leave them alone.

We got back into the boat and were preparing to leave when the man who had just had an army in him, tried to get in and go with us. But Jesus told him “No, you must go home to your friends and tell them how much God has done for you this day. For God’s mercy has done a great work in you today.”

So, he went back and shared throughout the ten cities in that region, how much Jesus had done for him. The people who knew him before and who heard him now were amazed.

“The Home Town Witness”

We read this story and our first thought is about the evil spirits that must have inhabited this poor man. Some authors make a great deal about the nature of demonic possession. Some emphasize that it was probably epilepsy which their limited medical knowledge interpreted that as demonic possession. But those are the least important parts of the story and I encourage you to move away from the fun of that discussion.

First of all recognize that the events in this story are immensely powerful and life changing events. For this small town, it was like an earthquake hit. For this one man it was like the earth swallowed him and spit him back out a new man.

The wild man approaches Jesus and confronts him. He knows Jesus has come for him and he is not happy about that, he prefers to be left alone, he understands being an outcast and he is comfortable with that role. But Jesus has a higher expectation than that for this man, and he will not go away and leave him in the state he is in. After a brief negotiation with the man, Jesus agrees to allow the evil to stay in the country, but he has tricked it and he sends it into some nearby pigs who are terrified and run over a cliff into the ocean and all drown.

This is a huge tragedy for the village, this is probably several months food supply for these people. They young pig herders are afraid, not of Jesus, but of the towns people who will be furious with them for allowing the pigs to be killed. They immediately run to make their excuses to the village folk, who then run back to see this strange tragedy, probably not really believing the boys and wanting to see for themselves.

When they approach they see the floating pigs, the quiet and gentle wild man, and Jesus and his disciples. What would you make of such a scene? They are all afraid out of their wits. They beg Jesus to leave them, lest some greater tragedy befall them.

Jesus prepares to leave and the wild man wants to go with him. Now that he is healed, he has no place in the village society. He hopes Jesus will give him a new life. Which Jesus does, just not the one he wanted. Jesus sends him off to preach the good news to other people in the nearby region. This wild man become the first evangelist that Jesus sends to none Jews. So, he is commissioned to go and spread the word and people who hear him are amazed.

THE DEMONIAC

The man has several problems.

He suffers from falling down, probably ______.

He also freely admits he has ______.

But his biggest problem is ______.

No one will ______or

______or

______or

______.

Why does Jesus allow the pigs to die? ______.

But the biggest issue in this text is simplied in the last few verses.

The man is changed and does not want to stay there. He wants to

______.

But Jesus rejects this idea and sends him back to the people who tormented and abused him before. This doesn’t seem fare.

But Jesus has a plan for this man. He doesn’t send him BACK to his old town,

rather he is sending him ______to ______.

For God has done a great work in him.

Who will share with other people what God has done for us?

People will be ______.