Victory Over Spiritual Evil

As we come to God's Word, let me pray for us.

Father, as we prayed earlier in our service, so now we pray again.

Come, Holy Spirit.

Would you come as we read the Word that you have inspired and preserved through many ages

about our living Lord Jesus, would you come and help us to see you more clearly

and to understand your deep grace for us through your Word?

We pray this in Christ's name. Amen.

All right, Mark chapter 5, verses 1 through 20. Let me read for us.

Mark 5:1–20

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, 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?

And he replied, My name is Legion, for we are many.

And he begged him earnestly not to send them 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 2,000, rushed down the steep bank into the sea

and drowned in the sea.

The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country.

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

And they came to Jesus and 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 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.

So if you were here in the fall when we began our series in Mark's Gospel,

you'll remember that Mark wrote his account of the life of Jesus

to answer a few key questions.

Who is Jesus?

Why did he come?

What does it mean to follow him?

And where we left off the story in November

was with Jesus demonstrating his unparalleled power

over the material creation.

At the end of chapter 4, we saw that with just a word,

he calmed a violent storm on the Sea of Galilee.

But here in chapter 5, Jesus and his disciples step out of the boat

to find a different sort of storm.

This storm isn't outside, it's inside.

They meet a man with a violent storm of chaos and destruction inside of him.

And what we learn from this encounter is that Jesus has unparalleled power,

not just over the material world, but over the spiritual world as well.

Mark shows us that Jesus is the Lord of all things seen and unseen.

Now, Mark 5 verses 1 through 20 is perhaps the most detailed account

Mark 5:1–20

in the Gospels of Jesus healing a person afflicted by demon possession.

So it's a text that brings us face to face with personal spiritual evil

and Jesus' encounter with it.

So as we consider this text together, let's consider first the reality of spiritual evil,

and then we'll look at the gravity of it,

and then finally Jesus' powerful victory over it.

So first, the reality of spiritual evil.

Look at verses 1 and 2.

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

That is the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, which was predominantly a Gentile region.

And when Jesus stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs,

a man with an unclean spirit.

So according to the Bible, there is such a thing as personal spiritual beings.

When God created the world, he didn't just choose to display his glory

through the manifold beauties of a material created order,

but of a spiritual created order as well.

Think of a great composer, right?

Great composers are masters of melody, of course,

but not just melody.

They're masters of harmony as well.

If you think of a piece of music, a great composer can make the notes sound interesting and beautiful,

not just going this way, right?

But they can make the notes sound beautiful and interesting this way, too, on a sheet of music.

So when God wanted to display his glory through the act of creation,

like a great composer, he wasn't just restrained to melody or restrained just to harmony.

His glory overflowed in a material and spiritual order.

He's the maker of heaven and earth, of all things seen and unseen, as the Nicene Creed says.

So according to the Bible, there is such a thing as personal spiritual beings,

angels created by God for his glory.

But among these personal spiritual beings, some rebelled.

And rather than worshiping and serving God, they stand opposed to God and God's kingdom.

The Bible has various names for these fallen angels, unclean spirits, demons, principalities and powers.

And at the head of their rebellion, one called Satan or the devil.

And rather than play the harmony of God's good creation, they seek to disharmonize and destroy.

So according to Scripture, according to Jesus himself, personal spiritual evil is a very real thing.

And for most times and places, this hasn't been a very controversial point.

But you know, maybe for you and me today, it's not so easy to believe something like that.

Maybe you have a hard time accepting this reality of spiritual good and evil.

Well, if that's true, let me offer a few things to consider,

things that have helped me wrap my mind around this reality.

First, we can sometimes think that belief in demons is sort of simplistic or naive.

But actually, you know, the biblical picture isn't simplistic at all.

It's actually quite robust.

You know, you read the Gospels and you'll see,

you'll see there an analysis of the human condition that takes into account the physical

and the emotional and the social and the structural.

None of these things eliminated or ruled out.

They all are considered and given gravity and weight and importance.

But the Bible acknowledges that there is also a spiritual dimension to reality.

We sometimes think that if we admit the reality of spiritual beings,

we'll have to put on blinders to every other aspect of reality.

But that's not true.

In fact, just the opposite.

The mindset that says everything must have a material cause,

that's actually the oversimplification.

Indeed, the Bible gives us a more robust,

a more sophisticated analysis of reality.

It refuses to oversimplify.

Second, we can sometimes think that belief in personal spiritual evil

is somehow primitive or narrow.

But, you know, if you were to travel to many,

if not most places in the world today,

Africa, Asia, Latin America,

you'd find there that the reality of spiritual evil is readily acknowledged.

And surely we wouldn't want to say that all of those cultures or places

are primitive or narrow, would we?

Are you willing to make that sweeping cultural judgment?

Perhaps it's our own culture that's made us narrow-sided.

Perhaps we need to be willing to learn from others.

But third, if we aren't willing to believe in the reality of spiritual evil,

we simply aren't equipped to deal with the depth of what's wrong in the world.

I think a lot of times we're afraid that believing the Bible on this point

will make us superstitious, that is kind of overly believing.

We fear that we'll end up with an overbelief,

an overbelief that everything is the fault of the devil or spiritual forces

and that we'll not take stock of the very real social or psychological

or material causes of brokenness in the world.

But what if there's an equal but opposite danger,

not of being superstitious, of being overbelieving,

but of being substitious, of being underbelieving?

You see, if we only think that the human problem is material or social or psychological,

if we don't see that there's also a very real spiritual dimension

and spiritual battle at work,

then we'll never get to the depth of what's wrong.

And if we never get to the depth of what's wrong,

we'll never get to the sort of freedom that we're longing for.

And as we see in our passage, that's what Jesus has come to bring,

real freedom and wholeness.

So we see first in our text the reality of spiritual evil.

Next, we see the gravity of it.

Let's pick up again in verse 2 and read through verse 5.

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 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.

Now, many commentators have pointed out

that what the demons are working toward in this man

is the utter defacing of God's image.

Notice, he's among the tombs,

and he's crying out like an animal.

His humanity is being undone.

So we see here that Satan's goal is to dehumanize

and to denigrate, above all,

the one thing in creation that displays God's glory the best,

the men and women made in God's image.

He truly is the enemy of our souls.

And of course, part of what makes this event so memorable

to the disciples and part of why Mark includes it

in his account of Jesus' life

is because of how grave and desperate

this man's situation really was.

This was no minor spiritual attack.

This was a full onslaught of spiritual darkness.

In fact, as we learn in verse 9,

a whole host of demons had been afflicting this man.

Legion, after all, was the name of a Roman military unit

that numbered upwards sometimes of 6,000 troops.

So just as the Roman legions had conquered

and oppressed the whole of Palestine during this time,

so this demonic legion had conquered and oppressed this man.

But you know, when we read of how grave

and desperate this man's condition was,

we need to be careful.

We need to be careful not to think

that this extreme case has no relevance for us.

Perhaps you've never encountered demonic activity

in such a blatant form.

If not, be thankful you haven't.

But that doesn't mean you and I are immune

from very real spiritual battle.

In 1 Peter 5, 8, the apostle Peter reminds the whole church

to be sober-minded, be watchful.

Your adversary, the devil, prowls around

like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

In Ephesians 6, 11, the apostle Paul tells every Christian

to put on the whole armor of God

that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

In fact, when we look at this man's condition in Mark 5,

we see there, yes, an aggravated and extreme form,

but we see there two strategies

that Satan uses against every person.

Notice first how the man seems to have supernatural strength.

Chains and shackles can't hold him.

No one has the strength to subdue him.

But what's become seemingly true of this man

through demonic activity

is also a picture of how Satan tempts us to think

in everyday temptation.

Think about what's going on

when you experience temptation.

Isn't it as if,

isn't it as if your internal talk

is saying something like this,

I can do this.

I'm strong enough to handle this.

It won't hurt me.

After all, I deserve this.

Satan wants us to think that we're strong,

that we have the power in ourselves

to do what we choose and want to do.

And he wants to hide from us

the holiness and authority of God.

Will we end up breaking chains and shackles?

Probably not.

But Satan wants us to act

as if we are the authority

that we have the strength and power

to do as we wish.

But as we see here,

temptation and sin

always leads to loneliness and to death.

This man lived among the tombs.

Satan promised him power,

but what was the return?

The return was like a living death.

But notice the second thing in verse 5.

Night and day among the tombs

and on the mountains,

he was always crying out

and cutting himself with stones.

On the one hand,

Satan is a tempter,

trying to get us to believe the lie

that we're strong,

autonomous, self-reliant.

But on the other hand,

Satan is an accuser.

That's literally what the word Satan means,

the accuser.

He accuses us of all our guilt

and failure,

and we end up miserable,

torn up inside,

hating ourselves.

This man was always crying out,

cutting himself with stones.

Satan tries to hide our view

of the mercy and love of God

so that we end up

racked with self-loathing

and despair,

crushed by our own failures.

Do you see either of these dynamics

in your own life,

in your own heart?

On the one hand,

do you hear the talk that says,

do what you need to do.

You deserve it.

Nothing can stop you.

On the other hand,

do you hear the voice that says,

you're worthless.

After all you've done,

anyone could have done that

better than you.

And if we're honest,

we've heard both of those voices.

We've all been in the grip

of spiritual war.

And we all know

just how powerful

the temptation

and the accusation can be.

And what we see

in this poor,

afflicted man in Mark 5

is ultimately

where this road

would lead for all of us

if left to run its course.

It's the road to death.

But in the face

of the reality

and the gravity

of spiritual evil,

what Mark wants us

to see above all else

is Jesus

and his victory

over spiritual evil.

Let's pick up in verse 6.

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,

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.

And Jesus asked him,

what is your name?

He replied,

my name is Legion,

for we're many.

And he begged him

earnestly not to send

them 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 Jesus gave them permission,

and the unclean spirits

came out

and entered the pigs.

And the herd,

numbering about 2,000,

rushed down the steep bank

into the sea

and drowned in the sea.

Note the contrast

between these verses

and the end of verse 4.

Before Jesus arrived,

no one had the strength

to subdue him.

They tried chains,

they tried shackles,

perhaps to prevent the man

from hurting others,

perhaps to prevent the man

from hurting himself,

and none of it worked.

But then Jesus arrives.

Others had tried

to tie him down externally,

but Jesus liberates him

internally.

And at last,

this man knows

real and true freedom.

And notice,

in this encounter

between Jesus

and the unclean spirits,

there's no contest.

Jesus commands

a whole host of demons

to take flight

as easily as a child

running into a flock

of pigeons.

Poof, they're gone.

In fact,

this legion of demons

can do nothing but beg.

Did you notice

how many times

the text says that?

The demons beg Jesus

not to torment them.

They beg Jesus

to let them enter

the herd of pigs.

There are a whole army

of spiritual evil,

but before Jesus

they can do nothing

but get down

on their knees

and beg.

And when we compare

this account

to other ancient

exorcism accounts

outside of the Bible,

we see something

pretty interesting.

You know,

in other ancient accounts

the people trying

to cast out evil spirits

always sort of call

on a higher power.

The exorcist always evokes

the name of a greater deity

so that they can overcome

the power,

the lesser power

of the evil spirit.

But is this how Jesus works?

No.

Jesus doesn't call

on a higher power.

Never.

In fact,

for Jesus

it doesn't matter

whether it's one demon

or a whole legion

of demons

with his own word.

He puts them in submission

and drives them out.

But of course

there's a curious detail

here,

isn't there?

Jesus' victory

over spiritual evil

and this man's

spiritual freedom

comes with a strange cost.

because Jesus

doesn't just send

the demons fleeing

he permits them

to enter a herd

of pigs

and the demons

subsequently destroy

the whole herd.

Now this is a strange

detail to be sure

and most readers

of Mark's gospel today

sort of scratch their heads

and a lot of us think

oh man

those poor pigs

what did they

ever do wrong?

Right?

But consider what

consider what this

what this would have meant.

consider first

what it tells us

about the demons.

On the one hand

the destruction

of so large

a number of pigs

shows us just how many

demons there were

in this man.

Legion indeed

not quite 6,000

but a frightening host

nonetheless.

On the other hand

the destruction

of the pigs

shows us the destructive

nature of demonic power.

The thief comes

to steal, kill

and destroy

as Jesus says

in John 10.

And here is yet

another proof

of Satan's evil

intent to ruin

God's good creation

not something

to play with.

But consider

what the destruction

of the herd of pigs

would have meant

for the man himself.

You see

the destruction

of the herd

was evidence

that these destructive

forces had been

removed from him

once and for all.

I mean

who knows how long

this man had suffered?

Who knows how long

his fellow townspeople

had lived in fear

of him?

But now

lest any doubted

there was proof

that something radical

had cleansed him

and set him free.

As tangible

and as evidenced

as the missing herd

of pigs

on the hillside.

But consider

what this would have

meant for Jesus.

On the surface

the magnitude

of the miracle

that Jesus had just

performed.

The magnitude

of what Jesus

had just done.

Driving out

a whole legion

of demons.

That is made visible

by permitting

the destruction

of the herd.

You know

it's one thing

to see one man

put in his right mind

as we see later

in this passage.

It's another thing

to have seen

2,000 animals

crash into the sea.

So this allows us

to see the magnitude

of what Jesus

has just done.

But consider

a little deeper

what the destruction

of this herd

might have meant

for Jesus.

In the first century

a herd of pigs

meant a lot of money.

The people

made their living

from agriculture

after all.

And a whole herd

of pigs

was very valuable.

When the pigs

went charging

over the cliff

the townspeople

were not thinking

oh no

the cute pigs.

Right?

They were thinking

oh no

we just lost

a ton of money.

Someone just

drained our bank account.

So what Jesus

is demonstrating

is that all

the wealth

in the world

doesn't compare

to the worth

of one human soul.

Better

to lose the pigs

and gain the man.

But look even deeper.

In permitting

the destruction

of the herd

Jesus asks

the townspeople

to bear

a bit of a cost

for this man's

restoration.

But don't you see

the even bigger story

that's being played

out here?

Conquering evil

vanquishing

the destructive

powers of darkness

silencing

the accusations

of the evil one

none of this

would come

without an even

greater cost.

It would take

more than the cost

of a herd

of animals

maybe a few months

or years wages

to really conquer

the powers

of darkness

it would cost

nothing less

than the death

of God's own son.

A cost that he

was willing to pay

in love

for you

and for me.

You see

by the end

of Mark's gospel

Jesus

will take

this man's place.

Jesus will be

handed over

to the Romans

and their legions.

Jesus will be

shackled

condemned

and hung up

to die on a cross

amidst the cursed

and the unclean.

He will cry out

his body torn

by the stones

of Roman whips

and Satan

will exhaust

his destructive

evil on Jesus

and his body

will be laid

in a tomb.

Satan will do

his worst

against Jesus

but he will

not win

because by dying

Jesus paid

the cost

for every sin

and every failure

of everyone

who will trust

in him.

And on the third

day

Jesus rose

to prove

that the payment

was made in full

that Satan

was now powerless

and that no

accusation

could ever be made

against his beloved

people ever again.

The victory

at last

had been won

once

and for all.

And if you really

take this victory

seriously

then things

start to change.

Notice first

how the townspeople

respond to Jesus.

It's surprising

isn't it?

In verse 17

they beg him

to leave.

But maybe

it's not that surprising

when you think about it.

After all

Jesus'

redemptive program

had just been

massively costly

to them.

Some folks

just lost

a lot of money

so that one person

could be restored

to the community.

Now according

to the world's economy

that's not a decent

exchange, right?

That's not a profitable

rate of return.

But in Jesus'

economy

things are different.

When Jesus Christ

enters your life

and when the gospel

really starts to take

root in a community

the priorities

will be changed.

Jesus doesn't just

let things remain

the way they are.

The status quo

gets upset.

The old way

of doing things

gets upset

by a new way

of doing things.

There's a new kingdom.

There's a new economy.

There's a new approach

to wealth

and who's important

and who's not important.

Just like he did

with the garrison

social and economic

status quo

if you welcome Jesus

into your life

he will completely

rearrange your normal

way of doing things.

He will change

our priorities

and he will become

our ultimate allegiance.

And as we cling

tighter to him

and as he takes

more and more control

of our life

we start to become

a lot more open handed

with the other things.

But that means

some people

will tell Jesus

to leave.

We'd rather control

things our own way.

Thank you very much.

Sadly that's what

happened on this day

in Mark 5.

But not for everyone.

If you see that

his power is not out

to enslave you

or oppress you

but that it comes

to liberate

redeem

and restore you

when you see

that his power

was displayed

ultimately on the cross

because he loves you

then your response

will be totally different.

When you see

that God loved us

at infinite cost

to himself

then you'll want

to make him

your Lord.

Who else

could lay aside

their infinite power

and privilege

and wealth

who else would do

that to rescue us

when we had done

nothing to deserve it?

And if you see

his power displayed

on the cross

instead of telling

him to leave

you'll want to be

with him forever

and tell everyone

you love about him

just like this man.

You'll want to give him

control of your life

so that his power

will remake you

and reorder your life

into something beautiful.

And like this man

Jesus will dignify you

by sending you

on his mission.

The man after being healed

says Jesus

let me be with you.

Right?

Which reminds us

of an earlier passage

in the gospel

when Jesus calls

the apostles

and said

I'm calling you

to be with me.

And the man says

Jesus let me go

and let me be with you

but Jesus has

a different plan

for this man's life.

The Gerasenes

needed a gospel witness

and this formerly

notorious man

would now be

the equally

unforgettable witness

to the power of Christ.

And like this man

all true Christians

have a story to tell

about what God

has done in their life

and this story

is all about Jesus.

Did you notice

how the passage ends?

Jesus tells the man

to tell everyone

what God had done

and the man obeys

by telling everyone

what Jesus had done.

So how are you responding

to the power of Jesus?

What's keeping you

from giving yourself

to this powerful

and infinitely loving Lord?

This passage tells us

that no matter

how fearful you are

no matter how broken

you are

no matter how ashamed

you feel

Jesus by his power

can save you

and make you

an instrument

of redemption

in his world.

Let's pray together.

Lord Jesus

we pause

and we praise you

for winning

the ultimate victory

over spiritual darkness.

God we look out

at our world

and we still see

so much brokenness

so much evil

that yes

can be explained

by many material causes

and yet we know

that there's also

a great spiritual battle

raging.

But we thank you Lord

that this victory

has been won

and that we need not fear

and that even though

we are called

to put on the armor

each day

to fight this battle

we know that ultimately

in you Christ

it will be a battle

that is victorious.

Lord we pray

for your help

in the midst of temptation

and accusation

help us to remember

the gospel

that you have loved us

with an undying love

and that you have called us

to live holy lives

in service of you.

Lord help us to live

in that freedom

and help us to encourage

one another

on the way.

Lord help us

to run this race

together as a church

proclaiming your victory

like this man

that we see here

in Mark 5.

Lord each of us

has a story

about the great mercy

that you've shown to us.

Help us to publish it

and proclaim it

and be glad.

We ask this in your name

Jesus.

Amen.