The Unmistakable Authority of the King
Introduction: A Tale of Two Kingdoms
We live in a world that is terrified of the wrong things. Our culture is riddled with anxieties, phobias, and a free-floating dread of everything from political opponents to invisible microbes. But this is because our culture has systematically taught itself not to fear the one thing it ought to fear, which is the living God. When you banish the fear of God from a civilization, it does not result in a brave new world of fearless secularists. It results in a madhouse of trembling idolaters. The fear of God is a cleansing, clarifying fire. All other fears are a suffocating smoke.
In our text today, we are confronted with a raw, untamed display of two kingdoms colliding. On one side, we have the kingdom of darkness, embodied in a man so thoroughly broken and dominated by evil that he has become a walking advertisement for Hell. He is the logical end point of a world in rebellion against its Maker. On the other side, we have the kingdom of God, embodied in the quiet, unshakable authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not a battle between two equal and opposite forces. This is a confrontation between the Creator and a legion of squatters who have taken up residence in His creation. And the outcome is never in doubt.
This story is a frontal assault on our modern sensibilities. We have tried to domesticate evil, to psychologize it, to explain it away as trauma or chemical imbalance. And while trauma and chemistry are certainly real, the Scriptures insist that there is a personal, malevolent intelligence behind the chaos. The devil is not a metaphor for our bad impulses. He is a real enemy, and he has a real army. But the good news, the glorious news that thunders from this passage, is that our King has absolute, effortless authority over this entire demonic realm. He doesn't negotiate with demons; He commands them. He doesn't reason with them; He evicts them.
But the story also confronts our materialist assumptions. The response of the local populace to this staggering miracle is one of the most damning indictments of the fallen human heart in all of Scripture. They are more concerned with their pigs than with a man's soul. They are more afraid of Jesus than they were of a raving, demon-possessed madman. They prefer the familiar chaos of demonic oppression to the disruptive, costly grace of God. And in this, they are a perfect mirror of our own age, which values economic stability and personal comfort far more than righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
The Text
Then they came to the other side of the sea, into the region of the Gerasenes. And when He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, who had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; 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. And constantly, night and day, among the tombs and in the mountains, he was screaming and gashing himself with stones. And seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; and crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What do I have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” And he began pleading with Him earnestly not to send them out of the region. Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. And the demons pleaded with Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” And 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. And their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and observed the demon-possessed man sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had the “legion”; and they became frightened. And those who had seen it recounted to them how this had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. And they began to plead with Him to leave their region. And as He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was pleading with Him that he might accompany Him. 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.” And he went away and began to preach in the Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was marveling.
(Mark 5:1-20 LSB)
The Face of Rebellion (vv. 1-5)
Jesus and His disciples cross the Sea of Galilee, leaving the Jewish territory and entering the Gentile region of the Gerasenes. This is a deliberate missionary advance. Jesus is taking the fight to the enemy, on the enemy's turf.
"And when He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him..." (Mark 5:2)
The moment Jesus steps ashore, He is met by the official welcoming committee of Hell. This man is a picture of total degradation. He lives among the tombs, a place of death and ceremonial uncleanness. He is dominated by an "unclean spirit." Uncleanness is not about hygiene; it is a theological category. It means to be unfit for the presence of a holy God. This man is saturated in death and defilement. He is the very picture of fallen humanity, alienated from God and living in the graveyard of his own sin.
The description of his condition is terrifying. He possesses a supernatural, demonic strength. Chains and shackles, the best tools of human restraint, are like thread to him. Society has no answer for this kind of evil. Our governments, our police forces, our therapeutic institutions can try to manage the symptoms, to restrain the outward chaos, but they are utterly powerless to deal with the root spiritual disease. The world cannot subdue the evil that is in it, because the world is in bondage to the same prince of darkness.
His existence is one of constant, pointless torment. He screams night and day, and he gashes himself with stones. This is what sin does. This is what the devil does. He is a murderer from the beginning, and his ultimate goal for every human being is self-destruction. Sin is cosmic treason, but it is also slow-motion suicide. Whether through the slow poison of pride and bitterness or the raw violence of this man's agony, the wages of sin is always death.
Authority Recognized (vv. 6-10)
What happens next is astounding. This wild man, this untamable force of demonic power, sees Jesus from a distance and everything changes.
"And seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; and crying out with a loud voice, he said, 'What do I have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!'" (Mark 5:6-7 LSB)
The demons inside the man recognize Jesus instantly. Notice their theology is perfectly orthodox. They know exactly who He is: "Jesus, Son of the Most High God." James tells us that the demons believe, and shudder (James 2:19). They have a more accurate Christology than many modern theologians. But their belief does not save them. It terrifies them. They know that the presence of the holy Son of God is, for them, the presence of their judge.
They cry out, "Do not torment me!" This is the cry of every rebel who is confronted by the rightful king. They know their time is short. They know that their ultimate destiny is torment, and they are terrified that Jesus has come to enact that judgment ahead of schedule. Jesus had already been commanding the spirit to come out, and this is their panicked response.
Jesus then asks a question that is not for His own information, but for the benefit of all who would hear: "What is your name?" The answer reveals the scale of the problem. "My name is Legion; for we are many." A Roman legion was comprised of thousands of soldiers. This man was not just oppressed; he was occupied territory. He was an entire nation of one, under the brutal military rule of a demonic army. This was not a minor skirmish; it was a spiritual warzone concentrated in a single soul.
The Piggish Petition (vv. 11-13)
The demons know they are defeated. Their only hope is to negotiate the terms of their surrender. And their request is bizarre, but deeply revealing.
"And the demons pleaded with Him, saying, 'Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.' And Jesus gave them permission." (Mark 5:12-13 LSB)
Why pigs? First, we must remember where they are. This is Gentile territory. A large herd of swine would be an economic staple for them, but for a Jew, swine were the epitome of uncleanness. The demons, being unclean spirits, are drawn to an unclean vessel. They are desperate for a body, any body, because they are parasitic by nature. But there is more going on here.
Jesus grants their request. And the result is immediate and catastrophic. The entire herd, about two thousand strong, rushes down a steep bank into the sea and drowns. This is a powerful, visible demonstration of the true nature and desire of these demons. Their goal is destruction. They enter the man to destroy him. They enter the pigs to destroy them. They cannot create; they can only defile and destroy. Jesus, by granting this request, puts the true nature of evil on full public display. The destructive power that had been turned inward on one man is now externalized for the whole town to see.
This also serves as an act of judgment. The swine represent a significant financial investment for the Gerasenes. Their economy was bound up with this unclean enterprise. Jesus is demonstrating that His kingdom priorities are not the world's priorities. The salvation of one man is worth more than the entire regional economy. The kingdom of God frequently brings economic disruption, because it reorders our loves and our values.
A Frightened and Frightening Response (vv. 14-17)
The aftermath of the miracle is as instructive as the miracle itself. The herdsmen flee and report what has happened, and the townspeople come out to see for themselves.
"And they came to Jesus and observed the demon-possessed man sitting down, clothed and in his right mind... and they became frightened." (Mark 5:15 LSB)
This should have been a moment of incredible joy and celebration. The man who was a terror to their community, a tormented soul living in the shadow of death, is now completely restored. He is sitting, clothed, and in his right mind. This is a picture of total salvation. He has peace, he has dignity, he has sanity. This is what Jesus does. He takes the chaos of our lives and brings His divine order to it.
But the people's reaction is not joy. It is fear. And it is a different kind of fear from the man's initial terror. They are not afraid of the demons; they are afraid of the one who has authority over the demons. The raw, sovereign power of God has shown up on their doorstep, and it unnerves them. They were comfortable with a madman in the tombs. They could manage that. But they are not comfortable with God in their midst. A God who can do this to a legion of demons and a herd of pigs might do anything. He might disrupt their lives, their economy, their comfortable sins. And so, their fear leads to a terrible request.
They heard the whole story, about the man and the pigs. And their conclusion was this:
"And they began to plead with Him to leave their region." (Mark 5:17 LSB)
This is the human heart in its natural state. It prefers its pigs to its Savior. It loves its economic security more than the souls of men. They would rather Jesus leave and let them get back to their business, even if it meant the demons might come back. They saw the price of salvation, and they were not willing to pay it. Do not miss the tragic irony. The demons begged to stay in the region, and the people begged Jesus to leave it. They sided with the darkness against the light.
The First Missionary to the Decapolis (vv. 18-20)
As Jesus prepares to leave, granting their foolish request, we see two final, contrasting pleas.
The man who had been healed, now overflowing with gratitude, begs to go with Jesus. This is the natural response of a saved soul. He wants nothing more than to be with his deliverer. But Jesus has a different plan, a better plan.
"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." (Mark 5:19 LSB)
Jesus turns this man into the first apostle to the Gentiles in this region. His testimony is to be his mission field. He is not to give a theological discourse on the nature of the Trinity. He is to do something much simpler and much more powerful. He is to tell his own story. He is to be a walking, talking miracle. His changed life is the sermon. The message is twofold: what great things the Lord has done, and the mercy He has shown. This is the essence of all true evangelism. It is the declaration of God's mighty acts and His tender mercy in the gospel.
And the man obeys. He goes and begins to preach in the Decapolis, a league of ten Gentile cities. And the result? Everyone marveled. The light had come to a dark place, and it came not through a committee or a program, but through the powerful, personal testimony of one man whose life had been utterly transformed by the mercy of Jesus Christ. The Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave, but He left behind a witness that they could not ignore. The kingdom of God had been planted, and it would bear fruit.