The Ministry of Jesus in Galilee

Mark 1:16—8:30

A New King (1:16—3:6).

Kingdom is Near (1:15)

1. Popularity (1:16-45).

2. Conflict (2:1—3:6).

Jewish Leaders Reject Him (3:6)

A New Kingdom (3:7—6:6)

Kingdom Has Small Beginnings (4:3)

1. Continued Conflict (3:7-35).

2. Parables (4:1-34).

3. Identity (4:35—6:6).

   1. Calming the Sea (4:35-41).

   2. Healing a Demoniac (5:1-20).

      1. This is the most dramatic display of demon-possession and expulsion recorded in the NT (second might be in Acts 19:13-17).

      2. This took place in the country of the Gadarenes/Gergesenes/Gerasenes?

         1. All three (Gadara/Gergesa/Gerasa) are in the region of Decapolis (5:20).

         2. Gadara is one of the more prominent nearby cities in the region, but Gerasa is the most prominent.

         3. Matthew’s Jewish audience mentions a smaller town they would know.

         4. Mark’s Roman audience and Luke’s Greek audience, probably less familiar with the area, mention a larger city they were more likely to know.

         5. When I was in Ohio I told people I was from the Carolinas; when I was in Virginia and Florida, I told people I was from South Carolina (near Charleston). Here, I tell people I’m from the Lowcountry, near Charleston. In the Lowcountry, I told people I was from near Summerville or even the small town of Ridgeville.

         6. Of course, it could just be a case of copyist errors especially with names so similar, but none are significant enough to pose any real problem.

      3. A demon-possessed man came to Jesus.

         1. He was living in the tombs, among the dead. Some are located closer to the harbor for Gadara in the cliffs.

         2. The demon had given him super-human strength, either numbing his pain receptors or causing him to ignore the pain.

         3. He was such a terror that people tried to restrain him and could not, crying out all the time.

         4. He even resorted to self-mutilation.

         5. And He recognized, identified, and worshiped Jesus—likely means he simply knelt before Jesus (προσκυνέω – to kiss the hand, lie prostrate). It’s not likely Jesus would accept worship from a demon, but the demon clearly wanted something and was willing to show Jesus the proper respect to get it.

      4. Jesus was saying (imperfect tense) to the demon to come out of the man (vs. 8), so the demon begged Jesus not to torment him (vs. 7) – indicated by imperfect tense and the “for” in vs. 8.

         

      5. The torment was to send him back to hell (Tartarus) to be reserved for judgment (2 Pet. 2:4).

      6. Jesus asks his name.

         1. Turns out he is a demon, or rather many demons, named Legion.

         2. A Roman legion consisted of about 6000 soldiers.

         3. There may have been 6000 demons within the man, or it could just be an indication of a very large number.

         4. There were least enough to go into 2000 pigs (5:13).

         5. So on average, there may have been 3 demons per pig.

      7. The demon begs not to be sent out, but rather into a herd of pigs—an unclean animal under Jewish law (Lev. 11:7-8). Further proof this is a Gentile region.

      8. Does Jesus show mercy here, even to the demons? Yes, I think so. It shows His eagerness to grant mercy, even if it’s just for a little bit. The demon will still face judgment, but was granted a brief reprieve.

      9. The pigs promptly go wild and run off a cliff and drown in the Sea of Galilee—they die of drowning, not from running off a cliff.

      10. The keepers of the pigs go and tell everyone. There were several cities nearby they could have told it in: Hippos, Emmatha, and Gadara.

      11. Being Gentiles, they didn’t know what to think of what just happened.

          1. They might have heard about things like this, particularly since many from Decapolis likely went to see Jesus (3:7-8).

          2. They had to see it for themselves. “In his right mind” can also be translated “sober.”

          3. Regardless, they were afraid of someone with such power. They tried everything and couldn’t tame him. Jesus comes to their shores and does so immediately upon arriving.

          4. If He could do this, what other things could He do? After all, He did just effectively kill thousands of pigs, too, and the profit their owners might have gotten from them.

          5. So they begged Him to leave, and He did.

      12. The formerly demon-possessed man wants to go with Jesus.

          1. Wouldn’t you want to go with the one who just saved you?

          2. Jesus told him no, that he should tell everyone what the Lord has done for him.

          3. The man still had friends, people who cared about him, despite what happened to him.

          4. The Lord did this out of compassion for him.

          5. Wait, why does Jesus tell this man to tell everyone what happened, but he told the former leper to keep quiet (1:43-44), the demons in several places, even Jairus later in this chapter (5:43)?