MENUMENU
The Two Seekers – Chapter Six, Casting Out Demons

The Two Seekers – Chapter Six, Casting Out Demons

The True Tale of the Two Seekers – Chapter Six, Casting Out Demons.

The Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost… On the other hand, the devil, our great enemy and accuser, is constantly prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone, anyone, to devour. This adversary is like a thief whose only purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. But the almighty Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, was revealed to us for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil, to undo his evil activities, and completely put an end to everything that the Evil One has accomplished.” (quoted from Luke 19:10, 1Peter 5:8, 1 John 3:8, and John 10:10).  

The Stronger Man. In Matthew 12 and Mark 3 and Luke 11, Jesus offers a quick little parable about the binding of a strong man in his house by a stronger man, who then takes the weaker man’s stolen possessions. In this case, the man’s possessions are those who are lost or captive to Satan’s wiles. Jesus bound the strong man to set the captives free! Because Jesus has indeed defeated Satan at the Temptation, Jesus has bound the strong man because He was stronger still. The kingdom of Satan is on its last legs after his defeat by Jesus in the Temptation. The Cross and the Resurrection are the nails in Satan’s coffin.

Passion – Run Devil Run (Live) ft. Crowder

Casting Out Demons. Many scholars have noted that Jesus conducted more exorcisms than any historical figure on record. Casting out demons seemed to take up just as much of His time as physical healings, and in fact, His ministry usually included both forms of healings together. “That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons…”  (Mark 1:32-34). Jesus revealed His authority over physical ailments and over spiritual possession. In the spiritual realm, not one demon ever successfully resisted the commands of Jesus. As soon as the demons saw it was Jesus, they knew their days were numbered. It is heartening to see that Jesus was just as concerned with the spiritual world as He was the physical world.

The Authority of the Seeker-Savior. Empowered by the Holy Spirit, Jesus cast out demons to show His power over the Devil, to bring spiritual wholeness to the afflicted person, and to advance the kingdom of God. “If I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Matt. 12:28). Wherever Christ’s kingdom spread, Satan’s realm diminished. The power of Christ overwhelmed the power of the Evil One. It was also significant that Jesus gave the spiritual power to cast out demons to His disciples. “Jesus summoned together His twelve disciples and imparted to them authority over every demon and the power to heal every disease.” (Luke 9:1). Sure enough, “They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.” (Mark 6:13). Jesus’ power and authority in the spiritual realm was absolute, and in order to understand Jesus, we need to understand that. Peter said as much when he tried to explain to Cornelius who Jesus was: “Jesus of Nazareth was anointed by God with the Holy Spirit and with great power. He did wonderful things for others and divinely healed all who were under the tyranny of the Devil; He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was harassed by the Devil.” (Acts 10:38). When Peter tried to help the Roman Gentile Cornelius understand Jesus, he put His exorcisms and power over demon-possession right at the top of the list. And so should we.

 The Hopeless Demoniac. (Mark 5:1-20). One particular exorcism demands our attention:

WHEN. This amazing miracle occurs right after Jesus’ dramatic calming of the storm with his disciples. After this healing of the demoniac, Jesus heals a bleeding woman and restores a young girl to life. Jesus would soon return to his home town of Nazareth, when the residents thought they knew Jesus and refused to believe in Him. They knew Him as a carpenter, and were offended by His heavenly wisdom and miraculous acts. Jesus was amazed, He “marveled,” at their unbelief.

WHERE. Jesus’ journey across the Sea of Galilee, which included His astounding calming of the storm, ended up at the direct opposite side of the Lake. Capernaum is on the northwest side of the Lake, and Gadara is on the southeast side. Gadara was an important city in that region, and a member of Ten Towns, or Decapolis. This entire collection of towns were mostly inhabited by Gentiles. This region of Greek cities was self-governing, and didn’t belong to a particular country or empire. Jesus easily embraced Gentiles and Samaritans and other non-Jews, and was pleased to teach and perform miracles in the presence of Gentiles. He considered His ministry to Gentiles to be an integral part of His ministry as Messiah, prophesied in the Hebrew Bible.

WHO. Jesus and His Disciples. All His disciples were amazed and perplexed at what had just occurred on the Lake. They are still underestimating Jesus’ power, and after Jesus calmed the fierce storm, they were muttering to themselves, “Who is this man, who commands the wind and the waves?” They are about to be confronted with more evidence of Jesus’ extraordinary power, for as soon as they climbed off the boat onto the shore near Gadara, they are met by a naked, insane demoniac. Jesus was unafraid to approach and heal this man, who was unclean in three ways: He was a Gentile; he was demon-possessed; and he was constantly in touch with death while living at the tombs. Jesus never seemed to let the matter of ritual uncleanness get in the way of showing mercy to needy people in their distress. He approached and touched the unclean during His whole ministry. Being utterly pure, He was unconcerned with being unclean.

The Raving DemoniacThis unfortunate man was literally filled with demons, he was fully given over to demonic possession. The evil spirits inside him had driven him to insanity, self-destruction, and somehow had given him extraordinary physical strength as well. He lived among the tombs, caves cut out of soft rock, away from society, and was so notorious in that region that no one would ever dare venture into that area. He was naked, and he would shriek, unable to speak. He would cut himself with sharp stones. The people would try to contain him by binding him with shackles and chains, but he was so strong that he just pulled apart those chains. The people were justifiably terrified, because this man  acted like a wild animal, and simply couldn’t be tamed. The demons had driven him away from home and family, into the wilderness surrounding the tombs, where he howled night and day. This deranged man was living a hopeless life, a constant danger to himself and all those in the region. The demons were out to destroy him, to make his life miserable, and they were succeeding.

The DemonsThese unclean spirits are Satan’s messengers sent to torment people and destroy what is vulnerable to their powers. Demons are those fallen angels who rejected God in the Satanic rebellion, choosing to follow Satan into evil. Jesus spoke of this when He told the disciples, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.” (Luke 10:18). And during this war in heaven, it is said that Satan took a third of the angels to his side. (Rev. 12:4). These evil spirits occupy and are active in the unseen world.

The Strong Man is Bound. Christians, though, because they contain the Holy Spirit, need not fear demonic possession. Believers can be harassed and confronted by demonic activity, but Jesus said, to encourage us, “He who is in us in greater than he who is in the world.” Jesus nonetheless expects us to engage in spiritual warfare if it confronts us, wearing the whole armor of God. “Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all the strategies of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:10-18). Evil spirits are a reality in our world, though invisible. There is more to the unseen world than we could ever imagine. But Jesus has defeated Satan once and for all, and the devil’s days are numbered. Do not by an means follow through on your curiosity about or involvement in the occult, the hidden demonic world. That has been off limits since Day One. “Do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord.” (Deut. 18:10-12). Remember, with Jesus, if we resist the devil and his influences, he will flee from us. (James 4:7).

WHAT. An Extraordinary Exorcism.  The demoniac runs to Jesus as soon as He steps off the boat, and he shrieks at Him, falling down at His feet. Jesus immediately commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. But now the demon talks to Jesus, using the man’s voice, to scream at the overpowering Jesus, “Don’t interfere with me! Don’t torment me! I beg of you don’t torture me, Son of the Most High God! Are you here to judge us before our time?” Jesus engages in conversation with the unclean spirit possessing this man, asking what its name is. Jesus didn’t ask the name of the man, but of the spirit. Jesus focuses on the problem at hand, and wasn’t very personal with this man until after the exorcism. But what an interesting question for Jesus to ask. Do demons have names? And why would Jesus need to know the name of this demon? Speaking through this man, the evil spirit said that its name is “Legion… for we are many.” This poor man was possessed by many, many demons, for a Roman legion has 6,000 soldiers. We are not given the history of this man, and how he became so controlled and filled by this demonic horde. We don’t know how this happened to him, or if he himself invited them into his life at some point. Jesus doesn’t go into any of the history with this man, He didn’t pursue any of that background story by adding guilt or shame. This exorcism was done in the spirit of redemption and forgiveness.

The Pigs. Continuing the conversation, the demon pleaded with Jesus not to send all these evil spirts into their eventual destiny, the Abyss, the bottomless pit. This being Gentile territory, where pigs were not considered unclean and were instead a thriving industry, Jesus agreed to the demon’s request and sent them into the nearby herd of 2,000 pigs. The demons immediately came out of this man and entered the pigs. These evil spirits then drove the pigs to self-destruction, and they all plunged over the cliff into the Sea and drowned. That’s around 2,000 pigs destroyed! If that were done today, the loss would be as much as $250,000. Hog-farming was a huge business in that area, so the economic loss to this town was no doubt quite significant.

Composure. Isn’t it amazing how composed and calm Jesus was after being confronted by a naked, screaming, physically aggressive demoniac? Jesus didn’t panic, he wasn’t intimidated, he had everything under control. This is the type of man who was able to take a nap in the boat during a tempest on the Sea of Galilee. The composure of Jesus in the midst of this confrontation is mind-boggling. He seems to be fully at ease in a situation that would cause most people to panic and run in the other direction. Instead, Jesus calmly spoke with the demons and took care of business.

WHY. Jesus simply wanted to heal and restore this man to his right mind. This poor man’s status as a demoniac ran contrary to God’s original plan when He created man. Jesus wanted to see this man return to his senses, to flourish as someone made in God’s image. Jesus was being His merciful self, caring for a hopeless and extremely unfortunate person. Also, Jesus wanted to show who’s boss. He knew He had ultimate power over these demons, that these evil spirits had no choice but to obey Him. It was no contest. Jesus overpowered them. Jesus commanded, and the demons obeyed.

The Healed DemoniacThe man of the tombs is now calmly talking with Jesus and His disciples. He is no longer deranged or self-destructive or a menace to society. Naturally, this man who is never named wants to be one of Jesus’ band of disciples, following Him wherever His ministry takes Him. This man is keenly aware of his life before Jesus and after Jesus. He wants to follow Him to the ends of the earth. But Jesus does something unexpected. He tells the healed man to return to his family and his town and tell everybody what has happened. Tell all the people how God had mercy on him. Preach His saving word to all who would listen. Spread the word about God’s mercy and compassion. Normally, if He was in Jewish territory, Jesus wanted His miracles to be kept secret. He didn’t want it to get around that He is the promised Messiah until the time is right. Jesus didn’t want the people to try to crown Him king or trumpet Him as Messiah. Jesus didn’t want anything to disrupt the divine timetable as He performs His ministry. Jesus knew when the time would be right to live out the Passion and the Cross and the Resurrection. Jesus was usually rather secretive. But here Jesus tells the healed man to spread the word, tell everybody about what God has done for him. Jesus knew the Gentiles were a fertile mission field. He knew they would not try to claim Him as king or messiah, since they weren’t even looking for a messiah. He knows this particular man would be an effective witness, since everyone knew him as an insane and dangerous person. And now they could see him sane and speaking lucidly and a solid citizen. This man’s effective testimony would not hinder Jesus’ ministry in any way, which is what might happen if they were in Jewish territory. So that’s what the healed man did. He told everyone he knew about what Jesus had done. This man who was full of darkness is now a light in his corner of the world.