Gospel of Mark Study #14

“It Shouldn’t Happen to a Pig!”

Mark 5:1-20

Study #14 in Mark Series

INTRODUCTION:

I like pigs! I can’t help it; I just really like pigs, and always have! Oh sure, I like horses and goats and other farm animals too, but pigs are just remarkably interesting critters. For one thing, they are the smartest of all the barnyard animals and they have by far the most interesting personalities. In fact, scientists tell us that pigs are the fourth smartest animal on the planet, right after humans, apes, and dolphins. Moreover, they like people and can easily be taught to do all kinds of tricks. They are good parents, and they have ridiculously cute babies.

The problem is that pigs have gotten a bad rap for a long time. It started from the fact that they were one of the “unclean” animals listed in the Law of Moses (cf. Lev. 11:7; Deut. 14:8). However, I would just like to remind you that dogs and cats are also on that same list of “unclean” animals, and it has not kept us from loving them and thinking they are adorable. I believe that God chose to put my piggy friends on that list at that time for two purely hygienic reasons. First, the pig, as an omnivore and frequent scavenger, might pick up diseased material and either transport it from place to place, or may itself become infected. Secondly, the pig can be a host of the tapeworm that causes trichinosis. This parasite passes one stage in the muscles of a pig and can be transmitted only by being eaten. The tapeworms then invade various tissues in humans and can even cause death. Thorough cooking kills the worms, but this was not always possible when firewood was scarce, so that only a complete ban was safe for God’s people. The full story of the life cycle of trichinosis was proved only in the 20^th century. I believe that God in His great wisdom banned the eating of pork in the Old Testament, not because pigs are bad animals or inherently evil, but because there was no way for people to understand the medical issues until many years later. However, this scriptural dietary prohibition turned into a national loathing with the Jews, with the pig coming to symbolize for them all that they found despicable, dirty, and hated.

But this reputation is unfair. Pigs are not bad or evil creatures. Moreover, when it comes to personal hygiene, they are much cleaner than dogs and cats or any other domesticated animal, including cows, chickens, ducks, sheep, and goats which were all included among the “clean” animals. For example, pigs are the only one of the aforementioned animals that will not foul its own sleeping area. Pigs, when given enough space, will always relieve themselves in one corner of their pen and will teach their babies to do the same. They never poop in their beds or eating areas like the other animals.

Their biggest problem is man! For centuries humans have raised pigs in cramped pens where they end up tearing up the ground and turning it into a mud hole because their tremendous weight is balanced on four ridiculously tiny feet, which tend to plow up the ground. If they are raised “free range” like cows, this does not happen. The other well-known fact about pigs is that they have no sweat glands in their skin and must have water to cool off. Pigs love water and they love to swim. They also like to roll in mud, because it cools them off and the mud keeps off the flies and biting insects.

TRANSITION:

I realize, of course, that is way more than you wanted to know about pigs and you are undoubtedly wondering what it has to do with our study for today. Stick with me and I will try to tie things together for us. Last week we studied Mark 4:35-41 and the story of Jesus taking His disciples for a hair-raising boat ride. They set out from Capernaum in the evening headed south across the Sea of Galilee. Somewhere out in the middle of the lake a great storm arose. But Jesus calmed the storm and, in the process, taught His disciples an important lesson about faith. Now we continue the story of that same boat ride. 

NOTES on the Text:

Verse 1: They went across the lake [i.e., Sea of Galilee] to the region of the Gerasenes.

·         Scientists and Bible scholars have for years disputed where this next event occurred. Greek manuscripts are divided among three similar names here—Gadarenes, Gerasenes, and Gergesenes. Matthew and Luke’s accounts in the ASV and Revised Versions has it as “Gadarenes.” Matthew’s account in the KJV says “Gergesenes.” However, in Mark and Luke’s Gospels in the NIV and NASV, along with most other modern versions, the translators go with “Gerasenes.”

·         The problem with these last two translations is that the city of Gerasa, home to the Gerasenes, was nowhere near the Sea of Galilee. In fact, it was 45 miles away to the southeast of the lake, in the region known as Perea, just 20 miles north of the Dead Sea, and thus had no connection whatsoever to Galilee. Gergesa, on the other hand, the modern village of Khersa, sat on the eastern shoreline of the Sea of Galilee on a flat plain with smooth beaches, again not fitting the description found here in Mark 5. Only Gadara to the south fits with the story, given the details of the biblical account. The city of Gadara itself was located about 8 miles inland to the southeast of the bottom tip of the lake, but the whole region between there and the southern tip of the Sea of Galilee was known as “the region of the Gadarenes.” That southern shoreline is very rocky with lots of cliffs and drop-offs, exactly as described here in our text. Therefore, I must go with the traditional reading, “...the region of the Gadarenes.”

·         Interestingly, most of the inhabitants of the Gadara region were Gentiles, not Jews, and for that reason did not share Jewish scruples regarding the raising of swine. We know that herds were kept there by local Gentile communities in New Testament times, both for their own use and to be sold to the Romans, who loved bacon, ham, and pork chops almost as much as I do. I know, that sounds contradictory that I like pigs but still don’t mind eating them. You will have to sort all that out with my shrink.

Verse 2: When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet Him.

·         It is interesting that this man came toward Jesus rather than run away from Him. Apparently, the demons knew they were subject to Jesus and always would prostrate themselves before Him. We do not know how much of the man’s will was involved here. His will seems to have been totally enslaved by the demon.

·         Matthew and Luke add some details: they say that this man was very fierce, that he wore no clothes, that he no longer lived in a house, and that he had terrified the inhabitants of the area for many years.

·         At first, we are told that the man had “an” evil spirit. Later we will learn that he had many. 

Verses 3-5: This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. ⁴ For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and in the hills, he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

·         This is a man with a long history. He was well-known in the area. He was every kid’s worst nightmare. Mothers would threaten their children by mentioning his name. He was a local celebrity—the crazy old demoniac that lived out in that cemetery close to the lake.

·         Notice the word, “...anymore.” He had apparently gotten stronger over time as the demons got a deeper hold on him. He could even break iron chains. That is supernatural power from a demonic source. Do not ever let anyone tell you that the devil is not powerful, because he is, but his power is always used for evil purposes. The Bible says Satan comes only “to kill, steal, and destroy.” That is exactly the work he had done in this poor man's life.

·         Can you hear the tortured, mournful cries coming from this man? “Night and day among the tombs and in the hills, he would cry out...” Not only that, but he was also self-destructive. “He would...cut himself with stones.” What a tragic picture of someone in the clutches of Satan and his evil minions.

·         But you must understand this truth… That poor man was no more lost than the nice guy down the block who thinks he has no need for a Savior because he is already such a good person. In truth, that nice guy is just as lost as the demoniac hiding in the tombs, although the world certainly does not see it that way. 

Verses 6-8: When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of Him. ⁷ He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” ⁸ For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!”

·         I am trying to figure out the order of events here. The way I see it, as Jesus was getting out of the boat, while the man was still at a distance, Jesus must have perceived the problem and ordered the demons to leave the man. Then the man came running up to Jesus and prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet. That is when the demon spoke out of the man, recognizing Jesus for who He was, and begging Him not to cast them out of the man. Notice the fear in their voices: “Swear that you won’t torture me.” I believe that the demons all know the future that awaits them. They were terrified to be in the presence of the Son of God, knowing full well the extent of His power and authority.

Verses 9-10: Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

·         Why did Jesus take the time to question the demon? Was He trying to gain information? Of course not! There is nothing that Jesus does not already know. He already knew that demon’s name, just like He knows your name. I believe He did all of this for the benefit of the disciples who were with Him. He wanted them to get a glimpse of the power of evil at work in this man’s life, and to see that He had all power and authority over the spirits of Hell.

·         The spokesman for the resident demons said, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” Very curious! So was there one demon, or many? I believe there were many. The word “Legion” is used 4 times in the NT and comes from the Latin word, légio, which was the main division of the Roman army and comprised of approximately 6,000 men. The legion was then subdivided into 10 “cohorts” of 600 men each. Each cohort was comprised of 6 “centuries” of 100 men each led by a “centurion.” Beyond its technical use, the word is used in the NT to suggest a very great number, as in Matthew 26:53 where it is used to describe a large group of angels, and in Mark 5:9, 15 of demons.

·         “He begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.” Why would they want to stay in that specific area? What was there about that place that was special to them? Nothing really. Luke, in his account, tells us that they were afraid that Jesus would send them to “the abyss,” the place of detention, to remain in a disembodied state until the final judgment. This may be what Rev. 9:1 refers to as “the bottomless pit.” Rather than being disembodied, they begged to be sent into the swine that were nearby.

·         NOTICE: We learn several important things about demons from this passage:

1.       Demons recognize the deity of Christ.

2.      They are limited in their knowledge and power.

3.      They know they will ultimately be judged by Christ.

4.      They cannot act without the permission of a higher authority—namely, Christ. 

Verses 11-13: A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. ¹² The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs, allow us to go into them.” ¹³ He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

·         This is where the story truly starts to get weird! Just over the hill from where Jesus was chatting with the demons was a large herd of free-range pigs, grazing and minding their own business. By the way, I told you that I would eventually get back to the pigs. It seems that their herders had heard the demoniac’s screams and were watching the proceedings with interest. Verse 16 says they saw the whole thing.

·         I have lots of questions and very few answers, so maybe you can help me.

ü  Why did Jesus let the demons go into that herd of helpless, innocent pigs? It seems cruel.

ü  More than that, why did Jesus give in to the repeated request of the demons in the first place? Was He just being nice to them, or was there a greater purpose?

ü  Why did the pigs run off when the demons went into them? What did they feel?

ü  It says there were about 2,000 pigs in the herd. Does that mean there were 2,000 demons in the man? Not necessarily, but maybe.

ü  Who dragged the 2,000 pig carcasses out of the lake? That must have been a mess!

ü  And I have another question. When the pigs ran over the cliff and drowned themselves, where did the demons go after that? Inquiring minds want to know this stuff.

·         The demons’ plea to be sent into a nearby herd of swine would not appear strange to a Jew, who considered swine and demons of the same order, but this sure freaked out the pig herders.

·         One more thing... Jesus bears no responsibility for the action the demons took; He did not command them to run the swine into the lake. Either the pigs did that on their own, or else it was a tactic of the demons to try and discredit Jesus in the eyes of the local people.

Verses 14-15: Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. ¹⁵ When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.

·         These were probably Gentile pig herders who lived in the area. They knew this demon possessed guy. They had probably thrown stones at him to keep him at bay. Now here he was, seated at the feet of Jesus, with clothes on, in his right mind, talking normally, eating and drinking, using a napkin, not drooling on himself, or barking like a dog, etc. It scared them spitless! They liked the guy better when he was nuts! His demon possession was something they could at least understand. But this? To come face to face with the power of Jesus scared them witless. They could not explain it. They could not understand it. They could not confront it. So, they ran from it.

·         That is what a lot of people do. They cannot explain Jesus, so they run from Him. Some of us did that for a long time. But when you finally quit running you found out that He was not out to harm you but to save you. That is what Jesus did for that demoniac and it is what He wanted to do for all the people of that city.

Verses 16-17: Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. ¹⁷ Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

·         What you have here is a perfect description of what it means to be a “witness.” Those who has been there and seen what Jesus did, went running to tell others. That is exactly what we are called by the Lord to do. Jesus told His disciples, “Go, and be My witnesses.”

·         But look at the result of the witness and testimony of the pig herders. The people “began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.” How tragically sad! Their response was precisely the opposite to what it should have been.

Verses 18-19: As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with Him. ¹⁹ Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.”

·         If people push Jesus away long enough and enough times, He might leave them alone, but at what cost? To say “NO!” to Him repeatedly hardens a person’s heart.

·         Notice that the man wanted to get into the boat with Jesus. He wanted to go with Him. But Jesus had a work for this man to do, and that job was right back where he came from. Jesus sent him back into the very city that he had been terrifying for so long, so that he would give testimony of God’s grace and mercy. He was to become a living testimony to the power and love of God.

·         Jesus told him to go home to his family and friends. The man might have been thinking that no one in town would want to see him. Apparently, it had been years that he had been out living among the tombs. Who knows if there were even any of his family members left in town? But I believe that Jesus knew, and I believe that Jesus restored this man to his family and loved ones. That is the power of the Gospel. Paul says in Romans 1:16, “It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.” 

Verse 20: So, the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

·         Notice this man’s obedience to the commission of Christ. He did exactly as he was told, and God used his witness to point others to the Savior. After he was saved, he had his own idea of how he could best serve Christ (i.e., by going in the boat with Jesus), but the Lord had a different plan for his life. The man chose to obey Christ and just look how well it worked out! His life was restored, and he became a precious tool in God’s hand to tell others about God’s grace, love, and mercy. He not only witnessed to people in his own town, but the verse says that he witnessed “in the whole Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him.” The Decapolis was not a city, but a large Greek-speaking region made up of ten strategic cities that had been settled many years earlier by the Greeks as far back as 200 BC. The word Decapolis comes from Greek. Deca means ten and Polis means city. Gadara was one of those ten original cities. After he met Jesus, this man went out telling his story in the whole region. What an amazing story of a life changed by the power of God!

CONCLUSION:

In reading this story I cannot help but compare it to another one, found in John 4. In both stories you have a person with a seriously messed up life—the Gadarene demoniac in Mark 5, and the Samaritan woman in John 4. In both cases they were radically changed by their encounters with Jesus. In both cases the people from their towns came to see for themselves what had transpired. However, in Mark 5 the people came, they saw, they listened, and then they begged Jesus to leave their region and not come back. In John 4 the people came, they saw, they listened, and they begged Jesus to stay with them and to never leave. Day and night, black and white, death and life. At the end of the Mark 5 story there was anger and sadness over lost pigs. At the end of the John 4 story there was joy and rejoicing over saved, redeemed people. What a contrast!

One more thing... I told you that I like pigs. I must confess that this story has always made me feel sorry for the pigs. But then it finally hit me. The loss of those pigs was nothing compared to the loss of all those people who were blinded by Satan. The people of the village were every bit as much consumed and condemned by the devil as was that demoniac in the tombs. Without Jesus they were all headed for Hell! It was sad that so many pigs died, but it was much more tragic that so many men, women, and children were just as surely rushing headlong toward eternal destruction. To reject Christ is an absolute death sentence. Their rejection of Jesus and their decision to push Him out of their lives sealed their doom.

The same is true for everyone who rejects Jesus Christ. To reject Him is to reject any hope of Heaven, for He is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Him.” Have you put your faith and trust in Him as your own personal Lord and Savior? If not, won’t you do it right now? Please do not put it off even for another minute.