Mark 5 Verses 1 to 20 When Pigs Fly May 4, 2025 Lesson 5 The Remarkable Journey Continues Class Presentation Notes AAAA

Background Scriptures:

• Revelation 12:9 (NASB95)

9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

• Matthew 25:41 (NASB95)

41 “Then He will also say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;

• James 2:19 (NASB95)

19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.

• John 13:27 (NASB95)

27 After the morsel, Satan then entered into him. Therefore Jesus *said to him, “What you do, do quickly.”

Main Idea:

• Jesus is Lord over Satan and his demons

Study Aim:

• To understand that if Jesus was willing to cross a dangerous, stormy body of water just to help one troubled man, you need to know He cares for you in the same way.

Create Interest:

• HERE is a vivid and rather eerie story. It is the kind of story in which we have to do our best to read between the lines, because it is thinking and speaking in terms quite familiar to people in Palestine in the days of Jesus but quite alien to us.

• If this is to be taken in close connection with what goes before—and that is Mark’s intention—it must have happened late in the evening or even when the night had fallen. The story becomes all the more weird and frightening when it is seen as happening in the shadows of the night.

• Verse 35 tells us that it was late in the evening when Jesus and his friends set sail. The Lake of Galilee is 13 miles long at its longest, and 8 miles wide at its widest. At this particular part it was about 5 miles across. they had made the journey and, on the way, they had encountered the storm, and now had reached land. It was a part of the lake-side where there were many caves in the limestone rock, and many of these caves were used as tombs in which bodies were laid. At the best of times it was an eerie place; as night fell it must have been grim indeed.

• As Mark sets the stage for Jesus’ future outreach to Gentiles let’s search this story for truths for our lives.

Lesson in Historical Context:

• Called Gerasa [the region of the Gerasenes] here in 5:1, it is plain that the story is set on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee in an area called the Decapolis (or “the Ten Towns,” 5:20,). The significance of this location is that this area was inhabited and controlled mainly by Gentiles in Jesus’ time. So, for one of a very few times in Mark, Jesus is shown leaving the borders of his own country and ministering to non-Jews (see also 7:24–30). Since Jesus says later in Mark that the gospel is to be preached to all nations (13:10; 14:9), Mark’s concern is at least partly to show Jesus laying down a precedent in going out of Jewish areas to a gentile territory.

• Mark tells an extremely vivid account of Jesus casting out an entire legion of demons, once again underscoring the greatness of his person. This miracle, combined with the immediately previous one in which Jesus calms the storm (4:35–41), demonstrates the expanding ministry of Christ—not only is Jesus reaching more people (3:7–8, 14), but he is also doing more impressive miracles. This passage breaks into two paragraphs: First, Jesus casts out a legion of demons (5:1–13). Second, his mighty miracle is met with varied responses once again (5:14–20).

• In this text we will see the purpose of Satan to destroy and the power of the Savior to deliver. Whether it is a demonic man (5:1–20), a diseased woman (5:24–34), or a dead little girl (5:21–43), Jesus has the power to save.

Bible Study:

Mark 5:1–5 (NASB95)

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

2 When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him,

3 and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain;

4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.

5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones.

• 5:1. Jesus and His disciples went to the east side of the lake (Sea of Galilee) into the region of the Gerasenes which probably referred to the small town Gersa (modern Khersa) located on the lake’s eastern shore. Most of its inhabitants were Gentiles (cf. Mark 5:11, 19).

• 5:2–5. The vivid details of this whole account reflect both an eyewitness report and the report of townspeople who had long been familiar with this demoniac. As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, He encountered a man with an evil spirit (cf. 5:8, 13 with 1:23) from (ek, “out of”) the tombs. These were probably cave-like rooms cut into the rocks of nearby hills which served as tombs and sometimes as haunts for demented people. Matthew mentioned demoniacs, whereas Mark and Luke focused attention on one, probably the worst case.

• Mark 5:3–5 elaborately describes his pathetic condition. He lived in the tombs (an outcast); he was uncontrollable for no one could … subdue (from damazō, “to tame a wild animal”) him, not even with fetters for his feet or a chain for his hands. He went about night and day shrieking wildly and cutting himself with sharp stones, perhaps in a demonic form of worship.

o Such behavior shows that demon possession is not mere sickness or insanity but a desperate satanic attempt to distort and destroy God’s image in man (cf. TDNT, s.v. “daimōn,” 2:18–19).

• We see in this scene three different forces at work: Satan, society, and the Savior. These same three forces are still at work in our world, trying to control the lives of people.

o The First force, we see what Satan can do to people. Satan is a thief whose ultimate purpose is to destroy (John 10:10; and see Rev. 9:11). We are not told how the demons entered this man and took control, but possibly it was the result of their yielding to sin. Demons are “unclean spirits” and can easily get a foothold in the lives of people who cultivate sinful practices.

 Because he yielded to Satan, the thief, he lost everything, home and the fellowship of their family and friends. He lost his decency as he ran around in the tombs naked. He lost his self-control and lived like a wild animal, screaming, cutting himself, and frightening the citizens. He lost his peace and purpose for living and would have remained in that plight had Jesus not come through a storm to rescue him.

 Never underestimate the destructive power of Satan. He is our enemy and would destroy all of us if he could. Like a roaring lion, he seeks to devour us (1 Peter 5:8–9). It is Satan who is at work in the lives of unbelievers, making them “children of disobedience” (Eph. 2:1–3).

o The second force at work on these men was society, but society was not able to accomplish very much. All that society can do for problem people is to isolate them, put them under guard and, if necessary, bind them (Luke 8:29). Often, he had been chained, but the demons had given him strength to break the chains. Even the attempts to tame him had failed. With all of its wonderful scientific achievements, society still cannot cope with the problems caused by Satan and sin.

 While we thank God that society does offer a limited amount of restraint and protection, we must confess that society cannot permanently solve these problems and deliver Satan’s terrorized victims.

o The third force, that of the Savior. What did Jesus Christ do for this man? To begin with, He graciously came to him in love, and even went through a storm to do it. Some think that the storm itself may have been satanic in origin, since Jesus used the same words to calm the sea as He did to cast out demons (compare Mark 1:25 and 4:39). Perhaps Satan was trying to destroy Jesus or at least prevent Him from coming to the man who needed Him. But nothing could stop the Lord from coming to that graveyard and bringing deliverance the man.

 Not only did Jesus come to him, but He spoke to him and permitted the demons to speak to Him. The citizens of that area avoided the demoniac, but Jesus treated him with love and respect. He came to seek and to save that which was lost (Luke 19:10).

 It is interesting to note that, as the demons spoke through the man, they confessed what they really believed. Demons have faith and even tremble because of what they believe:

(James 2:19 “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder”, but neither their faith nor their fear can save them.

Demons believe that Jesus is the Son of God and that He has authority over them. They believe in the reality of judgment and that one day they will be cast into hell (see Matt. 8:29). This is more than many religious people believe today! Discuss in class

Mark 5:6–13 (NASB95)

6 Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him;

7 and shouting with a loud voice, he *said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!”

8 For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

9 And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he *said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.”

10 And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country.

11 Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain.

12 The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.”

13 Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.

• Vs. 6: Here we see another example of that mysterious recognition of Jesus by those possessed. Though some distance from the shore, when the demoniac saw Jesus … he ran and worshipped him, i.e., fell prostrate before Him. Even the disciples had not yet come to understand who Jesus truly was, yet the demoniac cried out,

• Vs. 7: “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” The expression the most high God reflects an Old Testament name for God used “mainly by non-Israelites to denote the God of Israel.” The words I implore You by God, do not torment me!” are the language of one who casts out demons. Do we have an attempt at exorcism in reverse? It probably reflects the fright of the demons that Jesus would cast them out (cf. Matt. 8:29).

• Vs. 8: “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” The tormentor was pleading for escape from torment; Jesus “was saying to him, ‘You foul spirit, come out of this man’ ”.

• Vs. 9: Perhaps to assist this disordered soul to come to himself, Jesus asked him, What is thy name? For an adversary to obtain the name of his opponent was, it was thought, the first step in seizing control over him.He answered, … My name is Legion: for we are many. The intermingling of we and I in the demoniac’s conversation suggests the extent of his split personality due to the presence of demon forces.

o A legion is a Roman military term used to denote a unit of four to six thousand soldiers, so it is possible that there were thousands of demons within this man.

• Vs. 10: The desperate plea of the demons that Jesus would not send them away out of the country evidently reflects their fear of eternal punishment (cf. Luke 8:31, “into the deep,” or “the bottomless pit,” Amplified NT).

• Vs. 11-12: Recognizing the authority of Jesus and their own defeat, all the devils (demons) besought (12) Jesus for permission to go among a great herd of swine feeding (11) nearby and to enter into them.

• Vs. 13: The story then “bristles with difficulties” (Cranfield), for Jesus gave them permission. The numerous unclean spirits left their victim and entered into the swine. Running violently down a steep place, some two thousand pigs drowned in the sea.

• The gruesome spectacle sent a clear message to the disciples who witnessed the carnage. The evil manifested in disease, disasters, discord, death, and decay has a name. The agent of darkness who shrouds the earth in despair is none other than Satan.

o He opposed the work of Jesus in the wilderness (Mark 1:13), in the synagogue (1:23), at home (1:32), and throughout His travels (1:39; 3:11).

o The author of evil hates God and wants everything God created to be consumed in his self-destructive rebellion.

Thought to Soak On:

• This story shows that underneath the pain and injustice of political enslavement there is a spiritual battle. Leave that out, and you simply go round the endless cycle of violence and counter-violence. Mark sees Jesus’ kingdom-movement, which reached its climax in his death, as the means by which all earthly powers are brought to heel, even though the messengers of the kingdom may suffer in the process.

o Those who follow Jesus are now to put into practice the victory he achieved.

• The big picture must never exclude the little picture. The focus of Mark’s big canvas is on one man in deep human distress and need, and on Jesus meeting that need and healing that distress.

 Wherever humans are in pain today—in other words, in every community in the world—the gentle healing message of Jesus needs to be applied, identifying with those in pain to bring God’s healing where it’s needed..

Mark 5:14–20 (NASB95)

14 Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened.

15 They *came to Jesus and *observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion”; and they became frightened.

16 Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine.

17 And they began to implore Him to leave their region.

18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him.

19 And He did not let him, but He *said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.”

20 And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

• Vs. 14–15 The herdsmen who had tended the swine fled the scene and hastened to the town and the small hamlets surrounding it to report the loss to the owners. As a result people came quickly together to see what had happened The man whom neither chains nor men could restrain was sitting in a docile manner before Jesus; he who had terrified others as he ran naked among the tombs was now clothed; the one who had shrieked wildly and behaved violently was now fully recovered. So radical was the transformation that the townspeople were stunned and frightened.

o The man was stripped of all decency and all acceptable and righteous behavior. He represents the old man who stands naked before the eyes of God and who desperately needs to be clothed with the righteousness of God and with the garments of the new man (2 Co. 5:1–2, 21; Ro. 13:14; Ga. 3:27; Ep. 4:24; Col. 3:10).

• Vs. 16–17 In the lively discussion which followed, the herdsmen told their story once again. Their motive may well have been that they were afraid to have in their midst one whose power was as great as that which Jesus had demonstrated.

• Vs. 18–20 In sharp contrast to the fear of the inhabitants is the devotion of the man who formerly had been possessed. As Jesus entered the boat the man begged Jesus that “he might be with him.” Jesus refused the man permission to accompany him but instructed him to return to the circle of family and friends from whom he had been estranged and to declare all that the Lord had done in extending mercy to him.

• Vs. 19 indicates the proper response of every convert: to tell what Jesus has done for him or her. Arguing over whether the word “Lord” refers to God or Jesus is meaningless. Jesus attributed the miracle to God, but those who told the story between the resurrection and the writing of the Gospels no doubt thought primarily in terms of Jesus.

• Vs. 20 Mark probably saw in the man the first missionary to the Gentiles and a preview of the Gentile mission that flourished during the quarter century before the writing of his Gospel. The “Decapolis” was a loosely connected group of ten Gentile cities that had been set free from Jewish domination by the Roman general Pompey when he occupied Palestine in 63 B.C.

o “He was told to publish what great things the Lord had done for him. He went and published what great things Jesus had done for him. Did he make any mistake? Oh, no! It is but another name for the same Person: for Jesus is the Lord; and when you speak of him as divine, and talk of him in terms fit only for God, you do but speak rightly; for so he deserves to be praised.” (Spurgeon)

Thought to Soak On:

• Jesus’ point was unmistakable: If He were in league with Satan, He would not be attacking Satan’s kingdom. He cast out demons, not because He was colluding with Satan but because He was empowered by the only one stronger than Satan—namely, God Himself. In Matthew 12:28,

o He attributed this divine power specifically to the Spirit of God. It was because Jesus possessed divine power that He could exhibit such absolute authority over Satan’s domain.

o His ability to wield that kind of authority proved Him to be the messianic King and the Son of God (cf. Mark 1:1.

• Of all the accounts where demons are confronted and cast out, the most dramatic is unquestionably the scene recorded in this passage (Mark 5:1–20; cf. Matt. 8:28–34; Luke 8:26–39). In the biblical record, not since God cast Satan and his rebellious angels out of heaven (cf. Rev. 12:7–12) had so many demons been simultaneously displaced by divine command. Perhaps nothing of this magnitude will occur again until Satan and his forces are bound for a thousand years and subsequently thrown into the lake of fire (Rev. 20:2, 7–10; cf. Isa. 24:21–23).

• In the previous passage (Mark 4:35–41), Jesus demonstrated His power over the forces of the natural world by His complete control of the wind and waves. In this passage (5:1–20), He exercised His absolute sovereignty over the forces of the supernatural realm.

o The account illustrates three spiritual forces at work: the destructive power of demons, the delivering power of deity, and the damning power of depravity.

Thoughts in Closing:

• The ex-demoniac was now rational, controlled, at peace, and in communion with God. This is utterly amazing when we think of his wretched, loathsome existence. Such transformation is impossible—except for God.

• Perhaps this needs to go directly to your heart. You have descended so low in sin and the marks are so profound that you cannot believe you can be made whole. You may have even been or are being “demonized.” As you read this message, you are saying, “You are naive. You know nothing of the grip of evil upon me. You cannot feel my hopelessness. If you could, you would not speak so confidently.”

o My answer is that I know my Christ. I have experienced his healing power. And I have this testimony in his Word: He can do it! If it is in His will!

• Are you deeply scarred? Do you have filthy habits—perhaps a mouth that is totally out of control, that has said little that is clean in years? Perhaps you are dishonest. It is your way of life. Maybe your scar is sexual, whether heterosexual or homosexual, and you feel you are beyond help. Not so! Jesus who calmed the stormy seas also calms the storm-tossed soul. He can do this with a word.

Questions for your interest.

When was the last time you had such wonderful news that you could not wait to tell someone about it?

What do people today think of the devil and demons?

What was the man’s life like before he met Jesus? (5:3–5)

How had the townspeople coped with the demon-possessed man Jesus met? (5:4)

How did the demon-possessed man react to Jesus? (5:6–7)

Why were the demons so terrified of Jesus? (5:7)

What did the demons beg of Jesus? (5:10)

What happened when the demons asked to go into the pigs? (5:11–13)

How did news of this event spread? (5:14–16)

What was the man’s life like after Jesus ordered the demons out of him? (5:15–20)

What did the Gerasene people think of Jesus’ gracious action on the man’s behalf? (5:17)

What request did Jesus deny? Why? (5:18–19)

How did the man respond to Jesus’ instructions? (5:19–20)

The Gerasene people opposed Jesus even though He helped them; why do people sometimes oppose Christians today?