Title: Let All Marvel

Text: Mark 5:1-20

Tags:

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped
out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived
among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 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. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the
mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from
afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 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.” 8 For he was
saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them
out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged
him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 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 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
14 

had happened. 15 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.16 And those who had seen it
described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began
to beg Jesus to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been
possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 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.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done
for him, and everyone marveled.

There was a man who once was mad in the full sense and the worst sense of the term. The echoes of his agonizing,
never ceasing cries were heard from the mountains and the graveyards where he lived.
He was naked but without shame. And his coverings were only the scars and the fresh cuts which were self-induced.
He was too strong for any man or for many men. A strength that made shackles and chains broken like twigs. This
monstrous power, call it physical strength, is no strength for this man, in fact it is his greatest weakness. For it is the
kind that cannot help others nor self. Far from it, this power is self-destructive.

Oh the irony in this man. His strength was his weakness and his power destroyed him the most. He was chainless and
free from shackles but not free at all from any bondages or whatever that has possessed him.

What happened to this man, you may ask. Was it any chemicals from his brain that made him behave as such? Was it
any chemicals ingested or injected to his body that gave him such strength? If it was all chemicals then it can totally
be cured chemically but not this one. Its problem was far deeper than any knife could cut nor any microscopes could
see. It is something that modern science is too arrogant to understand. I don’t say that I fully understand it. I guess
the whole community of scientists and spiritists, psychologists and philosophers, doctors and pastors are all the
same still baffled.

But there was one who wasn’t. His name was Jesus. And with his authority he casted out the evil from the man to
the sea, legions of them. Such power has never been seen since the beginning when a host of rebellious fallen ones
were casted out of heaven. And it shall never be seen again till the end when all of the evil ones are casted out to the
lake not of water but of fire.

The mad man was now seen sitting rested and calm. A rest that he never had before till the Lord of Sabbath (of rest)
has given him. He was also clothed, his shame covered by the provisions of Christ. And finally this mad man was no
longer mad, to the amazement of all he was in his right mind, a mind renewed by the Holy Spirit.

And now in his right mind he begged the Lord that he might follow the Lord wherever the Lord goes. But the world
sees that as madness, as foolishness, as insanity. But there is no more reasonable and sensible and logical thing to do
except just that – to follow Him who has freed you. And as a free man he was sent to tell people of the marvelous
thing that Jesus has done for him – a story that until now we continue to hear, that we too whatever bondages and
addictions shall be free.

Homily

Intro:

This book is written by Mark or traditionally known as John Mark, a companion and attendant of the apostle Peter,
one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. And probably it was through Peter’s testimony that Mark has composed this
book.

Mark wrote this book generally to Gentile Christians or anyone that is non-Jews. And one of His purpose is to make
an account that defends and convinces people that Jesus is truly the Messiah, the Son of God (as what we can see on
the opening of the book: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. –Mark1:1) and to call people
to a life of discipleship – a follower of Jesus. And that is also my aim for you this morning, for you to believe in Jesus
and follow him.

And one of the wonderful story that Mark recorded that clearly shows Jesus is the Son of God and clearly call people
to be His follower is this story in Mark 5:1-20.

And to give you an outline: I will be taking about three things this morning:
-Possession -Purification -Proclamation

Now the story opens with Jesus and His disciples stepping out of the boat on the other side of the sea.

Before this, in the last verses of Mark chapter 4, that they were crossing the sea on a boat and they were in the
midst of a great storm and waves. Jesus’ disciples, many of whom were fishermen, were terrified but Jesus was
soundly sleeping. They woke Jesus up and Jesus simply calmed the storm.

Now here they landed on the shore. Can you imagine how they must have felt after that wild experience? They must
have felt, “Ohw! That was a terrifying experience! I’m never gonna be on a boat again.”

But then right after they stepped out of the boat here comes a man from the tombs running and shouting towards
them. You could imagine the disciples were like “Oh what is that? Crazy man coming! Back to the boat! Back to the
sea!”

Main Points:

 Possession

Here comes a man naked, filled with dirt, with a very awful smell from tombs, full of scars and fresh wounds,
running towards you. Who wouldn’t be afraid? It is more terrifying than storms and winds. Especially that this
man has an incredible amount of strength that can be bound by no one not even with shackles and chains.
Because this man was demon possessed.
 Now, I do not really know much about demon possession. I haven’t really encountered one. And I know many
people in our technological age do not believe in any spirits and demon possessions or anything like that. On the
other hand, there are also people who constantly think of spirits and blaming spirits in whatever sickness or
unfortunate things that happens. Both, I say, are not right nor safe for neither are Biblical. If we want to
understand this we go to the Word of God. And here is a story that gives truth about evil spirits, what they want,
how they work, and who they fear. More to that in a moment.

Now, back to the man. He may be free from shackles and chains but he is not free. In fact he has no freedom at
all. He is in bondage, he is possessed. His hands may not be in chains but he is not free from not cutting himself
with stones. He may also be a man of physical strength and might to break shackles and chains but his strength is
not a power to protect people. He even must be a cause of destruction and harm to people, a reason for people
to bind him in chains. He can’t even protect himself, how much more others. It is a power that is self-destructive.

Here is a man whose life was utterly destroyed because of demons.

Now, what is this to you and me? Is this just a story of some man who lived more than 2000 years ago? Or is this
a mirror-image of what people in reality are. I may have not encountered nor experienced any demons but have
I no demons of my own? Demons of pride, demons of wrath, demons of envy, demons of lust, demons of sloth,
demons of greed, demons of gluttony. These are demons that keeps people in bondage. Some people are just
full of wrath and anger and hatred that they have literally destroyed others and themselves.

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to
live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of
the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also
lived among them at one time,gratifying the cravings of our flesh  and following its [a]

desires and thoughts – Eph. 2:1-3

TRANSITION: All of us lived in bondage of sin and all of us need freedom.
All of us are unclean, like this man, and all of us need Jesus to purify us.

 Purification

In this story we have seen how Jesus purified this man.

How he defeated the oppressive and destructive power of the evil spirit, whose name was “Legion”. Legion is a
military term in the Roman army that is composed of 3,000 – 6,000 soldiers.

The name implies power by numbers. The evil spirit says, they were many, but here is Jesus, confronting these
powers alone. And this evil spirit named Legion, came to Jesus trembling. The evil spirit identified Jesus, to be
the Son of the Most High God. For truly Jesus is. And with a word, Jesus, the Son of the Most High God casted
the evil spirits out to the sea.

Such power and authority to cast out legions and thousands of evil spirits has never been witnessed throughout
history since the time that God casted millions and millions, a third of rebellious angels out of His heaven. And it
will not be witnessed again until the appointed time, that all these demons including Satan shall be judged by
the LORD JESUS CHRIST himself and they shall be casted out to the lake not of water but of fire for all eternity.

As the Bible says, “the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast
and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” –Rev.20:10

So this man was purified by Jesus. But what was he purified from? What was he cleansed from?
Was he cleansed from the soil dirt or the blood stains from his wounds?

For the Jews, this man is unclean because of few things: one, because of contact with pigs and two, because of
contact with the dead. But for Jesus, who was also by the way a Jew, knows that what makes this man unclean is
the unclean spirit.

Jesus said, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can
defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” … whatever goes into a person from
outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” …  “What comes out
of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual
immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness,
deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a
person.”

With this verses, we see that all of us have become defiled because of our sins, all of us have become unclean.
How can we be cleaned? How can we be purified?

… and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.-1 John 1:7

This is what Jesus came to do, to wash us clean. To free us from bondages and to give us a new life.

And so here is this man, sitting, clothed and in his right mind.
The man was sitting for Jesus gave him rest.
The man was clothed because just like Adam and Eve clothed by God in the garden, Jesus covered his nakedness
and shame.
And the man was in his right mind because he encountered the LOGOS of God, the Reason of God – Jesus Christ.

If you are tired and exhausted come to Jesus, sit on his feet. He shall give you rest.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. –
Matthew 11:28

If you are filled with shame and guilt, come to Jesus, for He did not come to condemn but to save.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order
that the world might be saved through him. – John 3:17

 Proclamation

Commonly, when the world hear that a person decides to follow Jesus, they would think him crazy. They would
say to the person, “Are you out of your mind?” But here the Bible says, this man is in his right mind, and his right
mind tells him to follow Jesus. Following Jesus is the right and the most reasonable thing to do.

There is a story of a slave. "During the years when slavery was legal in the United States, a gentleman happened upon a
slave-bidding in a crowed street. The man paused to observe the activities. As he watched from the edge of the crowd, he
saw one slave after another led to a platform, their arms and legs shackled with ropes as if they were animals. Displayed
before the jeering crowd, they were auctioned off, one by one. 

"Some onlookers would inspect the 'merchandise,' grabbing disrespectfully at the women, examining the muscular arms of
the men. The gentleman studied the group of slaves waiting nearby. He paused when he saw a young girl standing at the
back. Her eyes were filled with fear. She looked so frightened. He hesitated for a moment and then disappeared briefly.
When he returned, the auctioneer was about to start the bidding for the young girl he had noticed beforehand. 

"As the auctioneer opened the bidding, the gentleman shouted out a bid that was twice the amount of any other selling
price offered that day. There was silence for an instance, and then the gavel fell as 'sold to the gentleman' was heard. The
gentleman stepped forward, and waited at the bottom of the steps as the young girl was led down to her new owner. The
rope which bound her was handed to the man, who accepted it without saying anything. The young girl stared at the
ground. Suddenly she looked up and spat in his face. Silently, he reached for a handkerchief and wiped the spittle from his
face. He smiled gently at the young girl and said, 'Follow me.' She followed him reluctantly. As they reached the edge of the
crowd, he continued to a nearby area where each deal was closed legally. 

"When a slave was set free, legal documents, called manumission papers, were necessary. The gentleman paid the purchase
price and signed the necessary documents. When the transaction was complete, he turned to the young girl and presented
the documents to her. Startled, she looked at him with uncertainty. Her narrowed eyes asked, 'What are you doing?' The
gentlemen responded to her questioning look. He said, 'Here, take these papers. I bought you to make you free. As long as
you have these papers in your possession, no man can ever make you a slave again.' 
 "The girl looked into his face. What was happening? There was silence. Slowly, she said, 'You bought me to make me free?
You bought me to make me free?' As she repeated this phrase over and over, the significance of what had just happened
became more and more real to her. 'You bought me to make me free?' Was it possible that a stranger had just granted her
freedom and never again could she be held in bondage and servitude to any man? As she began to grasp the significance of
the documents which she now held in her hand, she fell to her knees and wept at the gentleman's feet. Through her tears of
joy and gratitude, she said, 'You bought me to make me free. I'll serve you forever!'"

Application:

Jesus bought us by His blood to free us from our sins. May sin no longer be our master but Jesus only.

And as we want to follow Him, He wants us to go and tell people how much He has done for us.

Conclusion:

Let all people marvel of how much Jesus has done for us.