LOJ #66: Invasion Pt. 2
Andover Baptist Church-June 13th, 2010
Opening
A. Text for today is Mark 5:11-20 and our sermon is titled
Invasion Pt. 2
B. Children’s Sermon:Have Ian wear my hockey mask, ask the kids ask if they are scared of monsters that they see on t.v. or that they thing might be under their bed or closets at night, well I don’t believe in monsters, but there are some bad things out there but I don’t worry, you know why? I know that Jesus watches over me and today in our story Jesus protects a man from some scary things)
C. Introduction:Last week at Andover Baptist Church SLIDE
Mark 5:1–10 (NET)“1 So they came to the other side of the lake, to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 Just as Jesus was getting out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came from the tombs and met him. 3 He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For his hands and feet had often been bound with chains and shackles, but he had torn the chains apart and broken the shackles in pieces. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Each night and every day among the tombs and in the mountains, he would cry out and cut himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him. 7 Then he cried out with a loud voice, “Leave me alone, Jesus, Son of the Most High God! I implore you by God – do not torment me!” 8 (For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of that man, you unclean spirit!”) 9 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 He begged Jesus repeatedly not to send them out of the region.”
1. We left off with a man possessed with an army of
demons, face to face with Jesus
2. The devil's invasion meets the invasion of Jesus Christ,
Son of man, Son of God, Lord of Heaven and Earth
3. And the devil's invasion starts to backfire as we look at
verses 11-13
Sermon
READ: Mark 5:11-13 (Scripture slide)
"11 There on the hillside, a great herd of pigs was feeding. 12 And the demonic spirits begged Him, “Send us into the pigs. Let us enter them.” 13 Jesus gave them permission. So the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs. Then the herd rushed down the steep slope into the lake, and about two thousand were drowned in the lake."
A. 'There on the hillside'
1. Remember Jesus and the demoniac are on the shoreline
2. Matthew’s version of these events tells us in 8:30 that
these pigs on the hillside were 'some distance from them'
3. PICTURE OF THE HILL SLIDE
4. And not just any group of pigs but a ‘great herd’ eating
in the distance
5. And as we will see later these pigswere not alone
B. The demons 'begged…send us into the pigs'SLIDE
1. That we see them begging shows fear and urgency
2. Noticing the pigs on the hills nearby they likely used
the man to point them out
3. Why the pigs? Even swine are better than nothing
Matthew 12:43 (NET) “When an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it passes through waterless places looking for rest but does not find it."
4. And it was extremely better to the demons than the other
option: being sent into the abyss, the place they will be
sent for eternal judgment
5. These demons know Who the Boss is: And it’s not
Springsteen it’s Jesus
a. Without Jesus’ okay they could do nothing
b. So if they can't enter pigs without Jesus
permission what make anybody thing it is even
remotely possible for one of Jesus' children to be
invaded
C. Jews and Pork
1. No other reason to raise pigs other than to eat (footballs
weren’t around then)
2. One commentator speculated that such a large herd in a
Gentile population could only be for a large appetite: i.e.
the Roman army
3. This wouldn’t be a Jews herd for to the Jew pigs would
signify all that was unclean
4. Not to mention that the Mishnah (oral Torah) stated,
'None may rear swine anywhere'
5. Needless to say a rabbi would not come near a pig
6. What’s wrong with bacon?
a. Sorry to tell you all this brothers and sisters, but
there is a reason that pigs were considered an
unclean animal and an unclean food
b. Despite all the modern press that pork is the other
white meat, God had a good reason for
prohibiting pork for the Jews
Leviticus 11:7 (NET)“The pig is unclean to you because its hoof is divided (the hoof is completely split in two), even though it does not chew the cud.”
Deuteronomy 14:8 (NET)“Also the pig is ritually impure to you; though it has divided hooves, it does not chew the cud. You may not eat their meat or even touch their remains.”
c. Pigs were never meant to be food
1. They are scavengers
2. They will eat the waste of their
wallowing buddies
3. They will eat bugs
4. They will eat decaying bodies
5. If you fell in with them they might even
eat you
6. They will eat garbage and if a baby pig
dies the momma pig will even eat its
dead baby
7. They are nature’s garbage disposals
8. And all the toxins they eat get stored in
their fat (think of that the next time you
look at bacon)
9. Turkey bacon anyone? (Hold up
some)
d. So James to you eat pork and is it a sin to do so?
1. Rarely
2. No it’s not a sin (God showed Peter the
dietary laws were no longer mandated in
Acts), but that still doesn’t make it a
healthy food source
7. It will be helpful to keep this info in mind next week as
we look at the story of the prodigal son and his dealings
with pigs in Luke 15
8. Needless to say the only thing worse than a pork chop to
a Jew would be a demonized pork chop
D. The demons go into the pigs
1. See a transfer from man to pigs
2. Fitting that unclean spirits went into unclean animals
3. This isn’t the first time we see a possessed animal in
Scripture (devil entered the snake)
4. The results weren’t happy for the pigs
a. The demons rush the pigs into the sea that had
just been stilled by Jesus
b. The way the Greek of this is worded it appears
as the pigs would have fallen head over hoof
down this steep hill
c. This herd of 2000 pigs drowned (unnatural
considering pigs can swim)
d. Seems as if the self-preservation of the pigs was
overridden by the demons
E. Why did the demons kill the pigs?
1. Doesn’t seem smart for once these pigs were drowned
the spirits were 'homeless'
2. The demons do what they do destroy and in the process
may do so in rebellion to Jesus to hurt His reception in
the area
F. The Next question is, ‘Why did Jesus allow this?’
1. I know that all you P.E.T.A. people are up on arms
2. You aren’t the only one who is going to blame Jesus for
this, as we will see later
3. First off, it wasn’t Jesus Who killed the pigs, it was the
demons
4. I believe the reason allowed this is twofold
a. One it was to show His authority over the
supernatural (as Jesus did nature so did Jesus
quell the supernatural)
b. It was a visual display to the man, the disciples
and everyone else the reality of the large scale
possession that man was under (recall the term
legion with the 2000 pigs that went into the sea)
5. Jesus also showed that He valued this man more than
the value of animals. It’s a sad state our nation is in
when our dogs have more value and rights than an
unborn child
6. Regardless of the reason Jesus had the right to allow this
Psalm 50:10 (NET)“For every wild animal in the forest belongs to Me, as well as the cattle that graze on a thousand hills.”
7. We don't have the right to question God's actions
Romans 9:20 (NET) “ But who indeed are you – a mere human being – to talk back to God? Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?”
Daniel 4:35 (NET)“ All the inhabitants of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he wishes with the army of heaven and with those who inhabit the earth. No one slaps his hand and says to him, ‘What have you done?’”
READ: Mark 5:14-16 (Scripture slide)
"14 Now the herdsmen ran off and spread the news in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man sitting there, clothed and in his right mind – the one who had the “Legion” – and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen what had happened to the demon-possessed man reported it, and they also told about the pigs."
A. 'herdsman ran off’
1. The herdsman, from a distance in the hills, seen this all
take place (maybe they expected the demon possessed
man to whoop on Jesus and they had decided to watch
the ordeal from a relatively safe distance)
2. Once they saw what happened they stampeded in the
opposite direction of the pigs
3. Interesting to note that while the demon possessed man
ran to Jesus, the herdsman ran away from Him
B. And ‘spread the news’
1. From the town this man lived in to the countryside these
men roamed, they told everyone they could
2. Here is the problem: the herders were not likely the
owners of the pigs (herding was a lowly job in that day)
a. That was a lot of pigs they were responsible for
(over a quarter of a million dollars took a Ms.
Piggy belly flop in the lake)
b. They needed a scapegoat (or pig in this case) and
so they pointed their fingers at Jesus
3. They ran from Jesus and spread a message of fear
instead of joy which is what they would have had if they
came to Him
C. People go and checkout their story of the herdsman
1. It must have been a very scary thing to go out that way
due because of all the demon possessed man had done
2. Likely it is early morning by now, can't see the people
wandering out in the middle of the night to this specific
place (plus you have to figure in the time needed for the
herders to tell their version of what happened)
3. What they saw was this man in his ‘right mind’ i.e. self
controlled
a. Recall what the man did earlier: Ran naked, beat
people up, screamed all night and day long while
running through the mountains, hills and
graveyards and along the way mutilating himself
with rocks
b. Yeah I think they might notice a change
D. The result: ‘they were afraid’
1. They were not afraid of the man, he was now alright
2. Besides they could explain what was wrong with him
3. It was Jesus they were frightened of, just as the disciples
were when He calmed the storm
4. Why?
a. No one had been able to stop this man and yet
Jesus had, not with force, but with mere word
b. And surely the shepherds had told all they had
seen and heard including what the demon said
about Jesus
c. Just as the disciples had they must have wondered
among themselves: Who is this Man?
READ: Mark 5:17 (Scripture slide)
"Then they asked Jesus to leave their region."
A. People get a little uncomfortable when Jesus invades their
space
1. People who reject Jesus don't want Him in their business
and life.
2. And as the world they hated and feared Jesus and asked
Him to leave
Luke 8:37 (NET)“Then all the people of the Gerasenes and the surrounding region asked Jesus to leave them alone, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and left.”
John 1:11 (NET)“He came to what was His own, but His own people did not receive Him.”
B. They were more concerned with their precious pigs and income
than knowing Jesus
1. In a fight between business and spiritual welfare =
spiritual welfare should always win out
2. No amount of money makes up with not having Jesus in
your life….restated it would be much better to be poor
with Jesus than rich without Him
C. What stories in the Gospels would we have had?
1. What miracles would we have had?
2. What parables would we have had?
3. Who else would have been freed?
4. They could have brought their sick and needy to meet
Jesus, but they were blinded by selfishness and fear
5. Oh how they don’t know what they are passing up
6. But Jesus does not stay where He is not welcome
D. Even though they reject Him Jesus will show His love in the
next verses
READ: Mark 5:18-20 (Scripture slide)
"18 As He was getting into the boat the man who had been demon-possessed asked if he could go with Him. 19 But Jesus did not permit him to do so. Instead, He said to him, “Go to your home and to your people and tell them what the Lord has done for you, that He had mercy on you.” 20 So he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him, and all were amazed."
A. Righteous Request
1. Jesus had interaction with the demon getting out of the
boat, here He has an interaction with the man while
getting in the boat
2. The man wants to go with Jesus (lit: ‘that he might be
with Him’)
a. After how they had treated him I don't blame the
guy for wanting to leave with Jesus
b. 'Sorry Phil about the chains and cuffs and oh
yeah and the dog catcher'
3. If you were to look at Luke 8:35 you find a very
important detail about this man when the townspeople
found him
Luke 8:35 (NET) "So the people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus. They found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid."
a. We find him sitting at the feet of Jesus
b. This shows a picture of discipleship and
salvation
B. Righteous Rejection
1. Remember the men we looked at a few weeks ago? One
that said he would follow wherever Jesus would go and
the other one who would follow as soon as he buried his
father?
2. Jesus rejected them because they really were not sincere
in their desire: this man, however, was
3. We have a strange situation here: the demons request
that they be sent into pigs and that is allowed, but here
we have a man who wants to go with Jesus and is
denied…why?
4. Jesus may have left these people But He did not leave
them alone
5. Our demon releases friend was fully willing to abandon
those who abandoned him, but Jesus had a mission and a
purpose to stay
6. Jesus told him 'Go to your home', no longer the caves
and mountains, but his home in the town to be a
missionary to a place that did not have Jesus
C. Righteous Report
1. This man was obedient
2. Crying out what the Lord has done, traveling the
mountains and hills to tell the good news of Jesus
Psalm 66:16 (NET)"Come! Listen, all you who are loyal to God! I will declare what he has done for me."
3. This man did not just go to his town but he went out to
the cities of the Decapolis = a pagan and godless place
a. These are 10 Gentile cities that were one time
under Jewish control until the Roman general
Pompey freed them in 63 B.C. and allowed them
their own form of self government
b. The cities: Damascus, Philadelphia, Raphana,
Scythopolis, Gadara, Hippos, Dios, Pella,
Gerasa, and Kathana SLIDE
c. I did some figuring and this man went over 100
miles, likely on foot, to share what Jesus had
done for him (and we won’t go tell our neighbors
across the street)SLIDE
4. This man’s report is in contrast to the negative report of
the herdsman…and those people who were afraid at the
report of the herdsman are amazed at the report of the
man
5. Seeds have been planted for Jesus’ return to the region
in Mark chapter 7
a. The kingdom of demons was now being