Download the March 26 Sunday school lesson.
March 26 Lesson: Jesus Overpowers Legion
Spring Quarter 2023: Jesus Calls Us
Unit 1: Called from the Margins of Society
Lesson 4: Week of March 26, 2023
By Hal Brady
Lesson Scriptures: Mark 5:1-13, 18-20
Key Verse: Mark 5:20
Lesson Aims
- List some key elements in Jesus’ encounter with the demoniac.
- Explain the messianic secret and how this story breaks with this theme in Mark’s Gospel.
- Share testimony about Jesus’ intervention in his or her own life.
As we are reminded, Jesus does not limit his miracles to one side of the lake (Sea of Galilee). He declares God’s rule and sows God’s grace far and wide, including the region of the Gerasenes. Crossing the lake, Jesus embarks on a daring invasion to claim alien turf under enemy occupation and reveals that there is no place in the world into which God’s reign does not intend to extend itself. The confrontation that follows points out that every square inch, at sea and on the land, will be contested by Satan.
Lesson Context
Mark’s Gospel was likely written between AD 60 and 62, certainly before Matthew, Luke, or John. With Matthew and Luke, the book rounds out of the Synoptic Gospels, so called because of their similar records of Jesus’ earthly ministry. Today’s text from Mark 5 is one example of the books’ shared material, with parallels in Matthew 8:28-34 and Luke 8:26-39. Differences between the accounts say less about the historical “accuracy” of the event than about the faith “perspectives” the writers brought to the details.
A somewhat perplexing characteristic of the Gospel of Mark is also on display in this account: Jesus’ tendency throughout the first half of the book to tell people whom Jesus had healed to keep quiet about the matter (Mark 1:44; 7:36; 8:30). This has been called the messianic secret.
Now, many theories have been proposed for this particular command to silence. One such is that Jesus did not want the people to become invested in wrong ideas about what it means for him to be the Messiah. While the people were looking for a political Messiah to deliver them from Roman imperialism, Jesus used the time of secrecy to teach about the larger role of the Messiah—beyond Israel and its politics. Jesus also wanted his ministry to be defined as a preaching and teaching ministry more than a healing and miracles ministry (Mark 1:35-39). The constant needs of people around him and of crushing crowds looking for healing could have taken all his time if Jesus had not guarded it carefully. Jesus’ preaching ministry was supported by the miracles, not the other way around. This suggests an element of crowd control (1:43-45).
The account of the Gadarene demoniac occurs during Jesus’ preaching ministry in Galilee. This story is in a section of Mark that contains several other accounts focusing on Jesus’ power and authority (see 4:35-41; 5:21-34).
- Arrivals
(Mark 5:1-5)
“They,” in verse 1, refers to Jesus and his disciples (Mark 4:35). “Across” the lake is the east side of the Sea of Galilee. This region was broadly called the Decapolis, meaning “10 cities.” Pinpointing exactly where in “the region” of the Gerasenes Jesus and the disciples landed is difficult. The region is associated with the cities Gadara and Gerasa, potentially confirming the matter. Gerasa can be ruled out because of its 40-mile distance from the sea. This distance would prohibit the incident from playing out as recorded (see 5:13). Gadara is the most likely location, as the city was only five to six miles from the coastline.
As Jesus disembarks from the boat, he immediately locks horns with another person in the grip of demons. Wherever Jesus goes, his holy presence, like some chemical catalyst, triggers an immediate reaction from the unholy. These demons do not cower in fear but causes the man to rush at Jesus. Mark alone gives us a vivid account of this man’s condition and how he had been treated. This description reveals that he is “as storms—tossed by the demons as the disciples’ boat had been.”
The man’s coming “from the tomb” and living “in the tombs” were cause for instant concern. The tombs would be caves or carved into rock, forming a necropolis: city of the dead. He may have survived the tomb by feeding off food that had been left for the dead.
To have “an impure spirit” indicates supernatural possession (compare Mark 1:23-27). Any Jew approaching the demoniac would consider him unclean because of his continual proximity to dead bodies (Numbers 19:11, 13, 16). Nowhere in this account does Jesus express concern about ritual uncleanness, however.
But back to the demoniac! The tattered remnants of his clothing symbolized the wreckage of his life. His harum-scarum behavior apparently had spooked the community in which he lived. They tried unsuccessfully to bind him, but he was powerful enough to snap the fetters and chains like string. The demon or demons within him granted such perverse strength that the demonic literally “tore” those restraints apart. And his strength was matched by a wildness that “no one” could subdue. This image is of a dangerous undomesticated beast.
So the demoniac is banished as an outcast from society and must dwell with those whose sleep will not be disturbed by his shrieks echoing through the nights. These shrieks were partly due to the fact that he was lacerating his body with stones.
It seems that one characteristic of demon possession is a loss of control over self-preservation. In the demoniac’s case, he lost so much control that even his instinct to care for himself was overridden. In his settlement “in the hills” he was given to self-harm. No one could prevent his hurting others or himself. Again, and though his crying could have been a result of cutting himself with stones, the Greek verb is more in keeping with an animal’s cry than with human sorrow. Once again, the demon reduced the man to a beastly status. And he is condemned to live out his days alone amid the decaying bones of the dead, with no one who loves him and no one to love.
- Confrontation
(Mark 5:6-13)
Mark gives us a suspenseful confrontation between Jesus and the evil spirits that control this ravaged man. The puzzling shifts in numbers from the singular (5:7, 9, 10) to the plural (5:9, 12, 13) suggest that the evil spirits are using him as a mouthpiece and that he is a miniature Pandemonium, the abode of the demons. Apparently, Jesus was telling the evil spirit to come out of the man (5:8).
Given that this incident happened in “the region of the Gerasenes,” the chances are slight that a man of the street would know Jesus by name, let alone recognize him on sight. In context, it is clear that “falling on his knees” was not an act of religious veneration, since a demon would not worship Jesus. Though this posture could be used for bowing before a king or welcoming an honored guest. Ironically, this man’s question—the result of the demon’s knowledge—answers the question the disciples posed only a few verses before: “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him” (4:41). Demons well know who Jesus is (example: 1:34), and they are rightly terrified of their coming judgment. In keeping with what has been described about the Gerasene demoniac, the demon was actually doing the talking. No human had yet acknowledged Jesus to be the Son of God, another clue that the demon knew about what others did not. The title “Most High God” emphasizes God’s absolute rule over the heavens and the earth and under the earth, including every creature within those realms—supernatural or not (Philippians 2:10; Revelation 5:13).
In verse 7b, it is not yet clear how effective the “impure” spirit’s begging was. The demon was subject to Jesus and his commands, just as the waves and wind were on the journey across the sea. Jesus could have cast the demon out immediately—could even “torture” the demon (5:10). But perhaps for our edification, Jesus chose to allow more information to come to light.
In verse 9, Jesus asked the demon’s name. The evil spirits evade the question, however, by giving a number instead of a name. “My name is Legion,” the number in a Roman regiment (consisting of 6,000-foot soldiers and 120 horsemen). This man is captive to a legion of demons, at least enough to drive 2,000 swine crazy. In giving this name (number), the demons not only stated that they were “many” but also implied that they were strong.
Ancient people often believed that invoking the name of a spirited being granted some power over that being (example Acts 19:13-16). But Jesus needed no tips or tricks to obtain power over the demons (see Mark 5:13). Instead, Jesus was preparing to teach the disciples a lesson of the utmost importance: no matter how the powers of evil stacked against him, Jesus was always in charge.
An interesting battle of wits between Jesus and the demons unfolds as the evil spirits worry about being forced to leave their familiar surroundings. It would make sense from a Jewish perspective for demons to be most at home in this pagan setting. They perceive it to be their territory, but the kingdom of God manifested in Jesus’ ministry is laying claim to all the earth. There is no protectorate of Satan that is safe.
Martin Luther understood this in his triumphant hymn, “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” Think about these words:
“The Prince of Darkness grim,
We tremble not for him,
His rage we can endure;
For lo, his doom is sure.
One little word shall fell him.”
And that word is Jesus.
It was popular belief in the first century that evil spirits were not content to wander aimlessly about. They abhor a vacuum and want to inhabit something. A human host is best, wanting that, a bunch of pigs will do. Anything is better than wandering in dry places (Matthew 12:43) or being consigned to the sea if you are a land demon. The evil spirits therefore request to be sent into an enormously large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside.
The demons were firmly within Jesus’ jurisdiction (Mark 1:39); all creation is under his rule (Colossians 1:15-20). Having come face to face with the Son of God, Legion knew Jesus would not allow them to remain in the man any longer. But perhaps Legion hoped to linger in the unclean pigs; then when Jesus had left the region, they could reenter the man or find a new man or victim. With Jesus’ permission, Legion might have thought that they had succeeded in outwitting the Son of God.
Jesus seems all too gracious in granting the demons’ request, but it leads to the surprise ending. Christians are warned to watch because “your enemy, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). He is even ready to devour a whole herd of pigs. These demons create fits of frenzy in what they inhabit, and the very thing they want to avert happens. The united legionary force is broken up as the pigs, an animal without herd instinct, begin to stampede down the hill and into the waters, where both they and the evil spirits are destroyed.
What “the impure spirits” experienced here was a foretaste of the defeat that Satan would experience following Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Though Satan looked for victory over Jesus, what the devil experienced was unexpected (to him) and thorough defeat (Hebrews 2:14,15).
Because the pigs “drowned,” the demons were deprived of both a human body and the animal’s bodies. This was not a final defeat for the demons, as Jesus had apparently acknowledged it wasn’t yet time for the ultimate demise. But this was a foretaste of what was coming to them: banishment from the torment they inflicted on “any” of God’s creation.
But the herdsmen didn’t see this extraordinary sign of God’s goodness and victory over evil. Instead, they only felt fear. And this may explain why the community asked Jesus to leave the area after this encounter (Mark 5:14-17), not in our printed text.
- Departures
(Mark 5:18-20)
The man who had been demon-possessed knew what a miracle his healing was, and he appropriately hoped to follow Jesus and continue to learn from him. The precedent for the man joining Jesus was Mary Magdalene, the one who was delivered from seven demons and then joined Jesus’ traveling ministry. This man contrasts with his fellow countrymen who begged Jesus to depart the area.
Another surprising twist in this story comes when Jesus declines the man’s petition—the only request that he does not grant in this entire account. Mark does not give any explanation for the refusal. But while Jesus’ dismissal may seem like bad news, it can only be good news for the one who yearned for the warmth of family, for a sense of identity and for a sense of purpose. Jesus sends him to his own house so that he can be restored to his family.
The Decapolis, in verse 20, refers to a group of about 10 cities located east of the Sea of Galilee (with the exception of one, Scythopolis, which was west of the sea). Though the cities were not officially allied, they shared cultural and economic ties as well as a desire for relative independence from Rome, which they were granted to a degree.
This man gave thanks by obeying Jesus and letting others know how much Jesus had done for him (see Mark 19). The cities of the Decapolis included Damascus—famous as the city where Saul (later Paul) regained his sight and became a follower of the Way (Acts 9:1-20)—and Philadelphia, one of seven cities to receive a letter as described in John’s vision (Revelation 3:7-13). Who really knows how the former demonic prepared the way for the gospel!
In conclusion, we too are called to share the story of what Jesus has done for us, to prepare our own communities to meet Christ and come to new life (Matthew 28:18-20). And regardless of the legions aligned against us, Jesus is in control. Our task is to place our faith in him, with joy and obedience.
Years ago, Pastor Rick Warren was visiting his friend Peter Drucker at his home. Drucker was one of the fathers of modern management and a brilliant thinker. Rick asked Peter, “How did you come to accept Jesus Christ as your savior?” He thought about it for a few seconds, then replied, “The day that I finally understood grace, I realized I was never going to get a better deal than that!”
Neither will we or anybody else!
Action Plan
- What is today’s equivalent of living among the tombs?
- How have you heard demon-possession explained in relationship to mental health issues?
- Who has benefited from your witness to Jesus’ work in your life?
- What most challenges you about today’s passage?
Resources For This Lesson
- “2022-2023 NIV Standard Lesson Commentary, Uniform Lesson, International Sunday School Lessons,” pages 257-264.
- “The NIV Application Commentary (Mark)”, by David E. Garland, pages 201-207.
- “Mark” by William C. Placker, pages 79-81.
Dr. Hal Brady is a retired pastor who continues to present the Good News of Jesus Christ and offer encouragement in a fresh and vital way though Hal Brady Ministries (halbradyministries.com).
