Healing a Man with a Demon

Mark 5 : 1 - 13

I think there is a certain parallel between the previous passage and the one we have just read. The previous passage talks about Jesus calming a storm. A commentary says there is an equally violent storm inside this very man, and the only hope is to be found in the power of Jesus that overcomes not only the power of chaos but also destruction of life. The man here was destroying himself, as mentioned in verse 5, ‘he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.’. This is not a radical case. It is actually a picture of your life and my life without God. Whoever lives without God will inflict self-harm because we do not know what is the best for us, and we do not know how to enjoy the fullness that God wants us to attain. The man in this story is in a truly miserable situation. He had to live among the dead, around the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore. This is what the world could offer to this man: while he cannot liberate himself, the world gave him another chain. He was deemed dangerous, so the world bound him with chains. What he needed was not another chain, but love, forgiveness, hope. He needed true freedom and liberation, which can only be given by God Himself.

The story depicted many elements of uncleanness. Being clean and unclean is a strong motif in the Old Testament. He was banished to the tombs, so he could be rendered unclean according to the Old Testament law. Those in contact with the dead, according to the Old Testament, were defiled for seven days. You can read this, for example, in Numbers 19. Those who fail to purify themselves must be cut off from Israel, so it was a really serious situation here. There was also a presence of pigs here. Israelites did not eat pork; they were for the Gentiles, who were the Roman oppressors. Thus it was twofold offensive: the pigs were served to the Roman oppressors, and the pigs themselves were unclean. Mark was quite clear in depicting the area as very dangerous - no sound or sane person would ever go there. I was once in a city in the Netherlands where there was a tourist attraction. In its history, people used to visit that place and pay a certain amount to see insane people, as that kind of encounter could not be found in everyday life. Gerasene was of course not a tourist attraction like that. No one would visit it even if it was free. Jesus, however, in the depth of His love, visited this place. In His life on earth, he did not plan to travel to beautiful places, but He came to save chained people who long for true freedom. This abyss was so deep, yet Jesus came to this very place. He penetrated the wall of uncleanness and the infamous reputation of the demon-possessed man.

Our modern mind, after the Enlightenment, might find it difficult to think about Satan and demons. I have just attended a two-day seminar about post-colonialism in the theological faculty of Humboldt University. There is still a gap in the European mind when accessing the spiritual realm compared to places like Indonesia, India, Africa, etc. The bible is clear about the existence of Satan and demons. They are not the invention of the Eastern mind. Their destructive power is also real. Interestingly there was a ‘confession’ by the demon. Verse 7 says, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?’. This title ‘Son of the Most High God’ is interesting. In the Ancient Near East, this was used to indicate the supremacy and transcendence of Israel’s God over pagan gods. God of Israel is the One who creates heaven and earth. He is not a territorial God, whereas gods in other Ancient Near East beliefs were usually territorial. Last Sunday we tried comparing the story of Jesus calming the storm with the story of Jonah. When Jonah said his God was the One who creates heaven and earth, there was deep fear among the people because He is superior to the pagan gods. The encounter with the demon ‘Legion’, which means ‘many’, is also interesting. A legion was a unit in the Roman military which consisted of 5600 soldiers, so it was really a lot. There was certainly a powerful herd of demons. It was in the context of Gentile polytheism that Jesus was called ‘the Son of the Most High God’, so it was not just a son of god worshipped by a certain tribe, but the Son of the Most High God, powerful enough to control not only a herd of swines but also a herd of demons.

The rejection of Jesus was really obvious. They did not welcome the Kingdom of God, and rejected the coming of Jesus. There was a spiritual war here. Jesus came to liberate this person who could not liberate himself. As seen in other passages in Mark, it was a depiction of Jesus facing demons. The demons knew they could not overcome Jesus. When Jesus asked, ‘What is your name?’, it was not merely getting to know the name as in the modern context, but it meant Jesus had control over the demon. Some might think that the demons, by calling Jesus the Son of the Most High God’, also had control over Jesus. This was certainly not the case. Maybe the demons had this intention of having control over Jesus, but it was unsuccessful. Instead, the demons had to answer Jesus and replied ‘My name is Legion’, showing that Jesus had control over the demons. Verse 10 says, ‘And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.’. A commentary interestingly says, ‘The demons offered no challenge to Jesus because they knew that Jesus was too powerful for them. Instead, they pleaded for mercy as the only alternative to experiencing His wrath.’. There was no possibility to win against Jesus. There is no possibility to win in a fight against God. Even demons know this very well. Quoting from Johann Sebastian Bach, ‘Take me from myself; I am the one who destroys myself.’. We cannot win against God.

In an old movie of the Ten Commandments there was an interesting conversation. The Pharaoh insisted on fighting against the God of Israel. Even after the tenth plague, he changed his mind and chased Israel. The movie then has a conversation which is not from the Bible but interesting and true. One of Pharaoh’s generals said, ‘Please stop. We cannot fight against the gods. There is no possibility to win against God.’. We have to surrender. But He is a merciful lord. He is not an evil lord. Sometimes we hesitate to surrender our lives to God because in our paranoia, we think that the Lord is an evil master. We deem ourselves more merciful than God Himself. Is that not spiritual arrogance? The man in this story had a self-destructive power. He has to be liberated not only from the demons but also himself.

The intention of Mark here is clear that he portrays Jesus as a person who had a single, undivided attention to restore, rescue, and liberate this one man. Jesus had a loving commitment to rescue this person. When reading about the herd of pigs, our modern mind can make a lot of interpretations. Some might read it from a sensitive, ecological perspective i.e. the pigs are also creatures - why were they destroyed? There was also the financial damage as there were two thousand pigs. Is it not interesting that the Gospel of Mark is silent about this difficulty? The message is in the silence itself. The restoration of this one person is much more important in God’s eyes than the ecological or economic value of the pigs. Let us reflect here on your and my life. Is this also our value, our commitment that we deem one person more important than our financial asset? If we are financially insecure or suffer some financial loss, we are very sensitive. But do we have the same sensitivity if we cannot reach more people? Do we have the same sensitivity to the fact that many people are still unrestored in their lives? We love, take care and use our financial assets carefully. But this is not a biblical value. The biblical value is about a human person. It is about you and me. This is why Jesus came into the world: to save human persons. Pigs, financial assets are a small matter of no importance here. The restoration of a chained person who could not even enjoy true freedom is at the heart of God. If we grow spiritually, this kind of growth should be in your and my life, namely the transformation of value. No one on their deathbed would regret not having enough financial assets, but I believe many will regret not having deeper relationships with fellow human beings, even as simple as with their own family members. They will regret not having a beautiful, warm and loving relationship with God the Creator. We are blessed that we can be aware of this now and do not have to learn this on our deathbed. The story reminds us of the Word of God in Jesus Christ. It is a beautiful story that invites us to have the true meaning in life: to have a life like Jesus Himself. (S.W.)