Slices
Prepare
Read Ephesians 6:12. Where are you conscious of being in a spiritual battle? Are you aware of carrying some injuries? Or are you struggling to distinguish between ‘flesh and blood’ and ‘spiritual forces’?
Bible passage
Jesus restores a demon-possessed man
5 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. 3 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.
6 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? In God’s name don’t torture me!’ 8 For Jesus had said to him, ‘Come out of this man, you impure spirit!’
9 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.
11 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 impure 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.
14 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. 16 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.
18 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 own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.’ 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.
Explore
It had been a rough night. Jesus’ disciples had thought they were going to drown until he calmed the storm. A man in a graveyard, overwhelmed by dark forces, was the last thing they needed.
The disciples were commissioned to drive out demons (3:15), but they are nowhere to be seen. Jesus is able to take the fight to the heart of darkness and win. Only Jesus has this kind of authority.
Our culture may have different ways to describe phenomena described here (mental illness, victim of abuse, etc). Naming is one thing; overcoming is quite another. Jesus brings peace to the man just as he had brought peace to the storm (v 15).
Another darkness hides behind this narrative. It’s the darkness of a society that is more concerned about pigs and the economy than this man. He has been written off. The best they can do is try to contain him. When they see that Jesus is more powerful than the forces controlling this man whom they could not tame, the townsfolk are terrified. Their request to Jesus to leave the region shows what side of this titanic struggle they are really on.
Respond
Pray for the gift of discernment. It is not easy to accurately identify evil. Do we scapegoat people? Do we sometimes focus on individuals and miss structural evil?
Deeper Bible study
‘God be in my head, and in my understanding / … God be in my heart, and in my thinking’.1
In Jesus’ time, evil spirits represented everything bad, inexplicable and uncontrollable. That Jesus had power over all malevolent forces was hugely significant to Mark. Casting out an evil spirit was the first miracle Mark recorded2 and we shall encounter more as we come to understand Mark’s Jesus. To Jews, this wild man embodied all that was unclean, contaminated by pigs, nakedness, Gentiles, dead bodies and evil spirits. 3 This, however, was not Jewish territory: Jesus and the disciples had gone ‘across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes’ (v 1). These people understood their world to be populated by demons, spirits, nymphs, centaurs and angels who controlled the natural world, determined human fate and took possession of people. They could only hope to appease them through magic, ritual and sacrifice.
Today, we attribute human disorders and illnesses to genetics, or to pathogens that can cause diseases such as Covid, and treat them with medications, surgery and counselling. The healing of the Gerasene demoniac, however, still speaks powerfully of assurance and hope to those who daily struggle with depression, anxiety or compulsive behaviour. They will understand why this man would name himself ‘Mob’4 (Legion). He knows a loss of individual identity, left only with a boiling struggle of conflicting forces.5 Jesus is powerful and authoritative. Having just controlled a storm,6 he now steps ashore to command another kind of chaos. No form of evil disorder is beyond the power of God to control. God, fully present then in Jesus, is fully present with us today. God will ultimately defeat the evil forces of chaos, illness, frenzy and death.
Jesus, Lord of the physical and spiritual realms, come to us through the storm, calm our hearts and restore our minds. Grant us your peace.
1 Author unknown, 15th century 2 Mark 1:21–28 3 Luke 8:26–38 4 The Message 5 RA Culpepper, The Gospel of Luke, The New Interpreter’s Bible, Abingdon, 1995, p188 6 Mark 4:39
Bible in a year
Read the Bible in a year: Jeremiah 40,41; John 15
Pray for Scripture Union
The South East team are encouraged by all God is doing as they embark on a new school year, with the first half term now complete. Please continue to pray for the team as they support Faith Guides working to build stronger connections with their local schools.
