Mark 5:1-20

Let me say, I am incredibly excited about this particular text and this story that we see in the first 20 verses of chapter 5.

Although I am feeling pretty sick today.

So I really, really want my presentation of this to look like this.

I have a feeling it's going to look more like this.

And I've got to tell you that my face is kind of numb, so that might have looked exactly the same. I'm not really sure right now.

I took some day quill this morning. I feel like I took night quill.

And I'm telling you that not so that you have pity on me.

I think a lot of people probably aren't feeling too well this morning.

But so that if I say something that makes zero sense to you, you may know why.

And I'm in a bit of a fog this morning.

And so in just a moment here, we'll pray together for clarity for my speech and God's sustaining work in our time together as we study the Gospel of Mark.

Let me remind you where we've been. We've been off for a couple of weeks.

We took a two-week break after we wrapped up Chapter 4.

But remember that Mark's Gospel account, as is the case with other Gospel accounts as well,

but is to convince his readers that Jesus is in fact the Son of God, that He is who He says He is,

and to compel us to become disciples of Christ who make disciples of Christ.

And I'm afraid that I have to make that clarification in the current environment in which we live.

Please know that a disciple of Christ necessarily makes disciples of Christ,

that that's a natural outflow of following Jesus because Jesus came to seek and to save the lost,

and therefore we should do the same.

But I feel that I need to make that clarification.

So Mark's argument for us is to become disciple-making disciples of Jesus Christ.

And he has, in a very comic strip kind of way, moved through a ton of action through the first four chapters

to show us Jesus' power over all sorts of things.

Over nature, over illness, over sin, over demons.

We've seen this repetition throughout the beginning of the Gospel of Mark.

We saw in chapter 1, verses 21-28, an exorcism.

Verse 23-24 reads,

And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out,

What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?

Have you come to destroy us?

I know who you are, the Holy One of God.

In chapter 1, verses 32-34, we see the casting out of many demons,

kind of a summary of an evening he spent healing and casting out demons.

In chapter 3, verse 11, we see again an unclean spirit encounter him,

and we see this broad sweep of whenever the unclean spirit saw him,

they fell down before him and cried out,

You are the Son of God, and he commands them to be silent.

Then we study the controversy that arose as a result of Jesus' exorcisms.

Chapter 3, verses 22-30, and this was that narrative,

that liar, lunatic, or lord narrative that we discussed together.

And that was a result of the exorcisms.

People were accusing him of doing this by the power of Satan.

But now we find, in chapter 5,

the most spectacular account of Jesus' power to cast out demons.

And here I really appreciate that Mark spends a bit more time on it

than either of the other two synoptics, Matthew and Luke.

He fleshes out more of the detail for us,

to drive us to understand who it is that this Jesus is.

So let's read it together, beginning in verse 1 of chapter 5.

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.

And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat,

immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit.

He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore,

not even with a chain,

for he had often been bound with shackles and chains,

but he wrenched the chains apart,

and he broke the shackles in pieces.

No one had the strength to subdue him.

Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains,

he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

And when he saw Jesus from afar,

he ran and fell down before him.

And crying out with a loud voice, he said,

What have you to do with me, Jesus, the Son of the Most High God?

I adjure you by God, do not torment me.

For he was saying to him,

Come out of the man, you unclean spirit.

And Jesus asked him,

What is your name?

He replied,

My name is Legion, for we are many.

And he begged him earnestly not to send him out of the country.

Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside,

and they begged him, saying,

Send us to the pigs, let us enter them.

So he gave them permission.

And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs,

and the herd, numbering about two thousand,

rushed down the steep bank into the sea,

and were drowned in the sea.

The herdsmen fled and told in the city and in the country,

and people came to see what it was that had happened.

And they came to Jesus, and they saw the demon-possessed man,

the one who had had the legion, sitting there,

clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.

And those who had seen it described to them

what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs.

And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.

As he was getting into the boat,

the man who had been possessed with the demons

begged him that he might be with him.

And he did not permit him, but said to him,

Go home to your friends and tell them

how much the Lord has done for you,

and how he has had mercy on you.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis

how much Jesus had done for him,

and everyone marveled.

Join me in prayer.

Father God, we do thank you for the gift of your word

and for Mark's gospel account of the life of Jesus Christ.

And I pray, Father, as we look at it together this morning,

that you will strengthen me to speak with clarity

for what you would have us learn from this text today.

You are the creator and sustainer of all things,

and you do this through the powerful word of Jesus Christ.

And so we pray that he will work in me

in a great way by the Spirit this day,

and that you will help us all in our hearing

to apply the truths contained in this text to our hearts,

that we might become in increasing ways devoted to Christ.

And we pray this in his precious and holy name.

Amen.

Now, this fantastic miracle

has come right on the heels of another miracle.

And you recall that Jesus was spending

large parts of his time

on the west coast of the Sea of Galilee,

particularly in a town called Capernaum.

You see him in Capernaum,

back on the seashore, back in Capernaum.

We saw in chapter 4,

him actually cast out from the shore

and teach from a boat.

This is where we get the parable of the sower.

He's teaching from a boat.

And then he's crossed,

and in the crossing,

there was a great storm,

a storm that potentially had waves

that were ten feet high

on this little lake called the Sea of Galilee.

And he has performed a spectacular miracle

by simply speaking to the creation,

and it obeys him.

And the disciples, in verse 41 of chapter 4,

says,

So I just want you to remember

that's where the disciples are at

in their faith.

That's where they arrive on the shore,

and then this happens.

This very next thing happens.

And there's a man there

that is extremely demon-possessed.

In fact, when Jesus asks,

What is your name?

He replies,

My name is Legion,

for we are many.

Now, it would be conjecture to say

that it was a particular number of demons.

We don't know for sure,

but we must understand that in this day,

the day of Caesar Augustus,

a legion was made up of 6,826 men.

That's what a legion was.

It would be 6,100 foot soldiers

and 726 horsemen.

So, potentially,

6,826 demons possessed this man.

We don't know that to be sure,

but it was certainly a great number.

To the degree that

this man was incredibly strong.

He was a wild man.

In Luke's account,

it says that he was naked

out in the tombs.

Wild.

They had tried to come out

and to bind him

because nobody could pass by on the road,

and he had broken the chains

and broken the shackles

that he was bound with.

This would have been

a supernatural feat

that would have been accomplished.

And we see here,

at the very end of verse 4,

and I absolutely love this,

it says,

no one had the strength

to subdue him.

So, he had lived here

in the tombs and the catacombs

wreaking havoc.

A wild man, crazy,

crying out,

cutting himself,

extremely demon-possessed.

And the record here is

no one had the strength

to subdue him.

But when Jesus lands on shore,

we learn something very exceptional

about Jesus,

and that is that Jesus did,

in fact,

have the strength

to subdue him.

And he does it

with his words.

No one could shackle him

with chain.

He would break the chains.

Jesus speaks

and subdues the evil spirits

that are within this man.

Notice in verse 6

that these demons

do not try to run away

and try to hide

from the power of Jesus Christ.

They recognize who he is.

They know full well

the power that he has

over them.

And so they run to him

to beg mercy of him.

Verse 7,

crying out with a loud voice,

The man has fallen down

before Jesus.

What have you to do with me?

Jesus,

Son of the Most High God,

I adjure you

or I plead with you,

I solemnly implore you,

right?

By God,

do not torment me.

These demons,

these enemies of God

that in years past

had revolted against him,

right?

that were now given permission

to run the earth

and to wreak havoc

and quite a number of them,

an army of them,

have decided to wreak havoc

in this particular man's life

and in the society

in which he lived.

Fall down and beg for mercy

at the feet of Jesus.

And we should learn from this

that we need to ask God

to have mercy on us.

Now, we are not categorically

the same as demons,

right?

Hear that.

We are not categorically

the same as demons.

However,

apart from regenerative faith

in Christ,

apart from having our hearts

made new,

apart from believing

that he is who he says he is

and that he accomplished

what he accomplished,

we are enemies of God.

We are set against him

in every way

and our end is destruction.

We should fear God

in the same way

that these demons fear God

because his wrath is coming

on those celestial beings

that revolted against him

as well as on those

who do not believe

that Jesus is

who he says that he is.

We should fear God.

Proverbs 9.10 says,

The fear of the Lord

is the beginning of wisdom

and the knowledge of the Holy One

is insight.

Why is this the case?

Because properly acknowledging

that God is who he is,

that he is the great I am,

that he is the creator

of all things,

and that he has a standard

that we fail miserably to meet

is the starting place

to finding our justification

in the personal work

of Jesus Christ.

Fearing God,

knowing that he has set a standard

for us to live by

and that we have failed,

is the place in which

we find our hearts humbled,

knowing that we need a Savior.

That our eternal state

necessitates somebody

interceding on our behalf.

That there is no work

that we could do

to repay the debt

that is owed for our sin.

That the wrath of God

is due those who are

his enemies rightly,

justly.

It's proper for him

to punish those

who are his enemies.

And it puts us

in a place

where we can recognize

that Jesus bore

that wrath

on our behalf.

Notice here,

Jesus simply speaks.

He gives permission.

I love this

at the beginning of verse 13.

They plead with him.

It seems that there's been

a bit of an argument going on.

There's kind of a parenthetical

in verse 8.

He says,

What have you to do with us,

Jesus, the Son of the Most High God?

I adjure you by God.

Do not torment me.

For,

Jesus was saying to him,

Come out of the man,

you unclean spirit.

So he begins to debate

with Jesus.

Jesus has told them

to come out.

He begins to debate with him.

And they have a bit

of a conversation.

And they beg to be sent

to the pigs.

Verse 13,

So he gave them permission.

He said,

Okay.

That's where you can go.

And this draws my mind,

and I hope it does yours,

to the book of Job,

where we see in chapter 1,

verses 6-12,

as well as chapter 2,

verse 1-7,

where God grants Satan

permission to torment Job.

He is the sovereign ruler

of all things.

He holds all things

in the sway that it exists in

by the power of His Word.

This is our Jesus.

It's an incredible,

incredible picture.

No one had the strength

to subdue Him.

But Jesus did

by the power of His Word.

So we need to ask God

to have mercy on us.

If you have not done that,

if you have not come

to a position in your life

where you have recognized

that there is a standard,

that God is who He said He is,

that He sent His Son,

and that Jesus is God.

There are many people in this world

that deny that there is a God at all,

which is a way for them

to set themselves up

as their own God.

If you live in that kind of a state

where you don't want

to submit yourself

to the rule and the reign

of the person of Jesus Christ,

you need to do that.

Your end is destruction

if you have not.

We plead with you today.

Ask God to have mercy on you.

And the wonderful promise

of the Gospel

is that He will.

The wonderful promise

of the Gospel.

Titus 3, verse 3.

Titus 3:3

Please turn there with me.

You should see this for yourself.

If you are a student of your Bible,

which I hope you are,

you will see again and again and again

Gospel presentations,

summations of what God has done

for us in Christ.

Beginning of verse 3 of chapter 3.

We ourselves were once foolish.

See if you can pick up

some of the characteristic

of this man.

Foolish, disobedient,

led astray,

slaves to various passions

and pleasures,

passing our days in malice

and envy,

hated by others

and hating one another.

Beginning of verse 4.

But,

and this is absolutely

my favorite conjunction

in the Scriptures.

This word right here

in Titus 3, verse 4.

Titus 3:4

But,

when the goodness

and loving kindness

of God our Savior

appeared,

He saved us,

not because of works

done by us in righteousness,

but according to

His own mercy,

by the washing

of regeneration

and renewal

of the Holy Spirit

whom He poured out

on us richly

through Jesus Christ,

our Savior.

So that being justified

by His grace,

we might become heirs

according to the hope

of eternal life.

God would have been

totally just

to stop this process

at the end of verse 3.

We in every way

had set ourselves up

to be enemies of Him.

And we deserve

the punishment

that was coming to us.

So praise God

for the conjunction

at the beginning

of verse 4.

Because of His goodness,

because of His loving kindness,

not because of works

that we can do

on our own.

He has made us new

by the Spirit

in Christ.

Praise God.

We need to learn

from this

that Jesus

is Himself

God

and that He will

save us

from the wrath

of God

to eternal glory

with Himself.

What a blessing

that is.

We also need to learn

from this text

that we should

tell our friends

how much

the Lord

has done

for us.

That we should

tell our friends

how much

the Lord

has done

for us.

One of the things

I love

about this story

is that it's evidence

that Jesus understood

God's global

purpose

for His glory.

Jesus understood

and gives us

hint

to the very fact

and if you're

again a student

of your Bible

this wouldn't

come as a surprise

to you

but that God

has intended

to save

peoples.

Peoples from

all over this

world.

That God has

intended for people

across this

planet

to praise

His name

forever.

Jesus got this.

Jesus crossed

over the Sea

of Galilee

to an area

that was

primarily

Gentile.

Primarily Gentile.

These people

would have been

descendants

left over

from Babylonian

captivity

when the Jews

were carried

off in Babylonian

captivity

and peoples

moved into

the area

Gentile peoples

which is just

categorical

not Jewish

when you hear

that term

Gentile

Greek

not Jewish

right?

The country

of the Gerasenes

we see here

and we see

that the man

later goes

and proclaims

in the Decapolis

which was a

set of ten

cities

and you'll

see them

they're all

up and down

the coast

there

of the Sea

of Galilee

and out

beyond.

We also

see that

there was

a great

herd of

pigs

and Jews

didn't

eat

pork

so this

was a

Gentile

town

that he

was landing

in

to do

this

to come

and to

share

the good

news

of the

coming

kingdom.

Jesus

understood

his scriptures

Jesus

had a very

clear vision

of who

God was

to the

world

which

enabled

him

empowered

him

to be

able to

do this

as he

was being

led

across

the Sea

of Galilee

knowing

full well

I'm sure

as he

was God

incarnate

that he

was going

to encounter

this man

and encounter

these Gentile

peoples

on that

coast

I'm sure

he thought

of things

like

Psalm 67

Psalms 67:1–3

verses 1-3

may God

be gracious

to us

and bless

us

and make

his face

to shine

upon us

that your

way may

be known

on earth

your saving

power among

all nations

let the

peoples

praise you

oh God

let all

the peoples

praise you

the significance

of that

would have

been huge

in his mind

as he went

to take

the gospel

to a

Gentile

people

turn

with you

will to

Isaiah

Isaiah 42 · chapter mention

chapter 42

let me

further

make this

case

to you

the universal

significance

and calling

of Israel

is nowhere

expressed

more clearly

than in

Isaiah

Isaiah 40 · chapter mention

chapters 40

through 55

I encourage

you to read

those chapters

on your own

time

there are

two particular

texts

that speak

of Israel's

purpose

to make

God known

amongst the

nations

particular ones

very poignant

to this

fact

we find

the first

in Isaiah

Isaiah 42:1–7

chapter 42

verse 1

through 7

I better

get myself

there

Isaiah 42

1 through 7

behold my

servant

whom I

uphold

my chosen

in whom

my soul

delights

I have

put my

spirit

upon him

he will

bring forth

justice

to the

nations

he will

not cry

aloud

or lift

up his

voice

or make

it heard

in the

street

a bruised

reed

he will

not break

and a

faintly

burning

wick

he will

not

quench

he will

faithfully

bring forth

justice

he will

not grow

faint

or be

discouraged

till he

has

established

justice

in the

earth

and the

coastlands

wait

for his

law

thus says

God the

Lord

who created

the heavens

and stretched

them out

who spread

out the

earth

and what

comes

from it

who gives

breath

to the

people

on it

and spirit

to those

who walk

in it

I am

the

Lord

I have

called

you in

righteousness

I will

take you

by the

hand

and keep

you

I will

give you

as a

covenant

for the

people

a light

for the

nations

to open

the eyes

that are

blind

to bring

out the

prisoners

from the

dungeon

from the

prison

those

who sit

in

darkness

you see

that an

expressed

purpose

of why

God had

a particular

people

these people

Israel

the Jews

was to

be a

light

to show

the

nations

the

goodness

of God

that they

might repent

and believe

Isaiah 49

is the

next one

if you'll

turn there

again

verses 1

through 7

listen to

me

O

coastlands

and give

attention

you peoples

from afar

the Lord

called me

from the

womb

from the

body

of my

mother

he named

my name

he made

my mouth

like a

sharp

sword

in the

shadow

of his

hand

he hid

me

he made

me

a

polished

arrow

in his

quiver

he hid

me

away

and he

said

to me

you are

my

servant

Israel

in whom

I will

be glorified

but I

said

I have

labored

in vain

I have

spent

my

strength

for

nothing

in

vanity

yet

surely

my

right

is

with

the

Lord

and

my

recompense

with

my

God

and

now

the

Lord

says

he

who

formed

me

from

the

womb

to

be

a

servant

to

bring

Jacob

back

to

him

and

that

Israel

might

be

gathered

to

him

for

I

am

honored

in

the

eyes

of

the

Lord

and

my

God

has

become

my

strength

he

says

it

is

too

light

a

thing

that

you

should

be

my

servant

to

raise

up

the

tribes

of

Jacob

and

to

bring

back

the

preserved

of

Israel

I

will

make

you

as

a

light

for

the

nations

that

my

salvation

may

reach

to

the

end

of

So the

very

purpose

of

Isaiah

drawing

the

people

of

God

back

to

God

was

so

that

God

might

be

proclaimed

amongst

the

nations

in

these

two

marvelous

texts

Israel

is called

to reveal

God's

justice

to

the

nations

Isaiah

42

1

and

to

serve

as

a

light

to

the

Gentiles

42

6

and

49

6

so

that

this

salvation

offered

to

Israel

might

reach

to

the

ends

of

the

earth

Isaiah

49

6

your

mind

might

go to

the

story

of

Jonah

Jonah

is

told

by

God

to

take

the

message

of

God's

mercy

to

Israel's

most

cruel

of

enemies

the

Assyrians

cruel

enemies

and

he

has

to

go

God

tells

him

to

go

to

the

capital

city

of

Nineveh

and

there's

a

great

outpouring

there's

a

great

response

to

the

mercy

of

God

as

he

goes

there

and

preaches

John

John 20:21

chapter

20

verse

21

Jesus

appears

after

his

death

to

the

disciples

he

says

peace

be

with

you

as

the

father

has

sent

me

even

so

I

am

sending

you

and

we

know

from

Luke

Luke 19:10

chapter

19

verse

10

he

said

for

the

son

of

man

came

to

seek

and

to

save

the

lost

and

that

includes

those

outside

of

Israel

that

includes

Gentiles

praise

God

that

includes

us

I

don't

know

if

any

of

you

are

of

Jewish

descent

in

this

room

I

would

guess

not

right

if

you're

not

praise

God

for

these

promises

because

this

is

how

the

gospel

has

come

to

us

we've

been

given

a

promise

by

Jesus

in

Matthew

Matthew 24 · chapter mention

chapter

24

verse

!

14

he

says

and

this

gospel

of

the

kingdom

will

be

proclaimed

throughout

the

whole

world

as

a

testimony

to

all

nations

and

then

the

end

will

come

and

we

get

a

glimpse

of

that

in

Revelation

Revelation 5:9

chapter

5

verse

9

and

10

John

records

for

us

and

they

sang

a

new

song

saying

worthy

are

you

to

take

the

scroll

and

to

open

its

seals

for

you

were

slain

and

by

your

blood

you

ransomed

people

for

God

from

every

tribe

and

language

and

people

and

nation

you

have

made

them

a

kingdom

and

a

priest

to

our

God

that

they

shall

reign

on

the

earth

and

much

debate

goes

on

about

what

it

means

by

every

tribe

and

language

and

people

nation

the

particulars

of that

the

semantics

of

these

words

one

thing

we

can

be

sure

of

the

end

has

not

come

yet

therefore

the

task

is

yet

to

be

completed

and

this

is

what

God

has

called

us

into

in

Christ

and

that

is

to

propagate

the

truth

if

you

like

to

go

back

and

read

Mark

Mark 4 · chapter mention

chapter

4

and

see

all

the

agrarian

symbols

there

that

is

to

propagate

the

truth

of

his

kingdom

amongst

peoples

everywhere

the

vision

statement

of our

church

changed

recently

many

of you

probably

don't

know

that

but

we

made

a

small

alteration

to

it

just

to

bring

a

little

more

clarity

to

it

and

we

added

some

words

to

the

end

in

the

vision

statement

of our

church

is

Christ

family

church

exists

to

glorify

God

by

its

experiencing

proclaiming

and

displaying

the

supremacy

of

Jesus

Christ

in

all

things

and

then

we

added

to

all

peoples

to

be

sure

that

everyone

understood

that

we

recognize

as

a

church

that

is

the

task

put

before

us

to

share

the

gospel

everywhere

with

everyone

thinking

about

God's

global

purposes

you

must

also

know

that

this

includes

North

Georgia

it

includes

the

southeast

it

includes

America

it

includes

your

dorm

hall

and

your

workplace

and

your

home

it

includes

all

of

this

God

wants

to

be

praised

and

as

his

people

we

should

want

him

to

be

praised

far

and

wide

we

should

want

people

to

see

what

he

has

done

for

us

to

tell

our

friends

about

how

much

the

Lord

has

done

for

us

and

how

he

has

had

mercy

on

us

turn

to

Romans

Romans 10 · chapter mention

chapter

10

our

high

calling

in

Christ

is

to

be

disciple

making

disciples

to

be

to be

finding

ourselves

coming

into

conformity

with

Christ

and

to

bring

others

along

in

that

journey

beginning in verse 11 of Romans chapter 10

Romans 10 · chapter mention

for the scripture says

this is Isaiah 49-23

everyone who believes in him will not be put

to shame

verse 12

for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek

for the same Lord is Lord of all

bestowing his riches on all who call on him

for everyone who calls on the name of the Lord

will be saved

Joel 2-32

how then will they call on him and whom they have not believed

and how are they to believe in him of whom

they have never heard

and how are they to hear without someone preaching

and how are they to preach unless they are sent

as it is written

how beautiful are the feet of those who preach

the good news

Isaiah 52-7

Paul states to us very clearly here

that our religion is a religion of words

our hearts are changed by our knowledge

of the gospel of Jesus Christ

and it must be told to us

which means

as God's church

longing

I hope

you can join me with this

longing for the coming of Christ

wanting to hasten

that coming

that we're the tools

to get that done

to preach the gospel

far and wide

and that means

you have a place to go

this afternoon

to preach the gospel

and that means that in your life

young people

oh I hope this is a church

that sends people

to unreached people groups

that takes the gospel

to places where the gospel

has never been named

where there is no scripture

in their language

that builds foundations

for churches

to grow

and flourish

in

that it would be said of us

how beautiful

are the feet

of those who preach

the good news

there is still a massive

task

ahead of us

preach the gospel

far and wide

and you can allow that

to burden you

to be

pressed down by it

how can I

one little person

make any change at all

or you can glory in the fact

that God has made a promise

to redeem people

from every tribe

from every nation

from every tongue

take comfort in the fact

that he is the sovereign

over all

peoples

and that if you just

make yourself

available

to be used by him

that he will

use you

it is his desire

to bring about

conformity

to his kingdom

he will use you here

he will use you

there

how do we carry the gospel

to some places

there is a people group

that I discovered

in the bathroom reader

if you hang out with me long

you will quickly discover

that any intelligence

I have

I learn from the bathroom reader

there is a group of people

on an island

they are called

the North Sentinelese

it is North Sentinel Island

it is protected by India

no one

has ever landed

on this island

and not been killed

on the shore

of it

some people

a grandmother

and two children

came off the island

for a while

and were

tried to be assimilated

into some kind of

western culture

and sent back to the island

and they carried disease

with them

and wiped out

a bunch of people

on the island

if you get on google maps

you can't see

that anybody lives

on the island

at all

it is heavily forested

the nation of India

patrols it

so you can't get

anywhere near

the island

they are trying to

protect these people

from the diseases

that would wipe them out

as they have been

so isolated

how does God intend

to save

North Sentinelese

I don't know

but I firmly believe

that as we stand

around the throne

we are going to meet

people from that island

so how do we get

the gospel

to those people

how are we making

ourselves available

and being obedient

to God's purpose

and his plan

for the North Sentinelese

Jesus understood

what God intended

to do with the good news

of the coming kingdom

and so he went

to a place

that was outside

of the normal realm

in the Jews mind

of God's blessing

he went to a people

that they thought

were apostate

in every way

and could not receive

the blessing

of God

and he shared

the good news

and he had mercy

on a man

who was extremely

demon possessed

now you know

that this man

that they marvel

they're afraid

2,000 pigs

I can't imagine

what a herd

of 2,000 pigs

looks like

much less

rushing down

a steep bank

into the sea

and drowning

there

there's some

certainly some

livelihood destroyed

but it seems

that the people

are marveling

because of the

great power

that this man

had

and that

Jesus' power

trumped it

with words

he was able

to cast out

demons

and this man

we find him

now clothed