Throughout the New Testament, we’re told of times when Jesus or Apostles cast demons out of people. But nowhere in the Bible is the description of demon possession more graphic and horrifying than in Mark 5. The guy described is scary.
He lives in a graveyard.
He’s unshaven, ragged.
And he’s scarred from chains and shackles that have been unable to bind him.
We’re not sure what he’s wearing - but if he’s wearing clothes at all - it isn’t much. His face has a dark haunted look to it. And his body bears the marks of cuts he’s made on it with sharp stones! He may even be bleeding as he runs down the path to Jesus. The Bible says, every night and every day, he prowls the hills around the graveyard howling and screeching in a crazed torment of a man whose personal demons will not let him rest. The scene is frightening. Reminds me of todays Zombie illustrations. And had you the courage to get close enough to talk with him, you’d have heard him shout at you and perhaps heard the demonic echoes of several different voices in unison. For the demons within him were called, Legion (Mark 5:9). Legion meaning many. Not only would you not want to meet him in a dark cemetery, you wouldn’t want to meet him on a crowded street in broad day light.
He’s a dangerous and frightening man. The Bible doesn’t tell us but I got to thinking: just how did this man come to be demon possessed? I could only find one story in the Bible that dealt with HOW someone came to be demon possessed. I Samuel 16:14 tells us: "Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him." The Spirit of the Lord departed? What could have happened in a man’s life that would make the Spirit of God to leave and open him up to demon possession? In Saul’s case it was his open rebellion against God. In I Samuel 15:23 the prophet Samuel condemned Saul with these words: "rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king." Saul’s sin, listen closely, was that he deliberately rejected God’s authority in his life. He sought to be free from God’s restrictions and responsibilities. And his rebellion manifested itself in a kind of arrogance that God refused to allow.
A few years back, I caught couple of boys in my neighborhood doing things they shouldn’t have been doing. Standing on my porch I challenged the boys (who were around 8 to 12 years old) and expected that - having been caught - they’d slink away in shame or disgrace. After all, I was an adult and they had obviously been caught doing something they shouldn’t have. Did they slink away in disgrace? No, they turned on me and mocked me, taunting me like I was school child that they could bully into submission. They had an arrogance towards my authority that was greatly disturbing and angering. In fact, if they’d been my kids, and I’d have gotten hold of them, they wouldn’t have been able to sit down for a week. Anyway, I suspect, that’s how God felt about Saul’s attitude of rebellion. I believe Saul’s rebellion held in it a tinge of disrespect for God’s authority. The Bible implies that this demon possession that came upon Saul came because his rebellion was "like the sin of divination, and (his) arrogance like the evil of idolatry." Now, before I move on, I want you to notice something else about demon possession. Samuel told Saul that his "rebellion is like the sin of divination." Divination… hmmm. Acts 16 tells of a young woman who was demon possessed. And what do you suppose she did for a living? She practiced divination. She was a woman who made her living in fortune telling, palm reading, or interpreting tarot cards and tea leaves. To understand more clearly, perhaps she would have consulted Ouija boards or horoscopes if she lived in our day. She would also have had a 1-900 #.
In scripture, there seems to be a close tie between divination and demonic activity. The Bible doesn’t go into detail as to what that connection is, but it is so significant that God warns: Deut. 18:9-13 "When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not learn to imitate the detestable ways of the nations there. Let no one be found among you who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD, and because of these detestable practices the LORD your God will drive out those nations before you.You must be blameless before the LORD your God." God goes even further : Leviticus 20:6 "I will set my face against the person who turns to mediums and spiritists to prostitute himself by following them, and I will cut him off from his people." Now, whether it was because this man in Mark 5 had been arrogantly rebellious or because he had practiced consulting the spirit world to see his future, or because of some other reason - this man in the graveyard had become demon possessed. He didn’t just wake up one morning and say: "Hey, I’m demon possessed." This wasn’t something he was born with OR something that he just came down with (like the flu or a cold).
Somewhere in this man’s life, he had made a conscious decision as so many do today, that he wanted to be free. He wanted to be free of God’s influence. He wanted to be free from what he perceived as restrictions, ridiculous rules, responsibilities, and commandments of life. He wanted to be free to do what he wanted to do. And now, as a demoniac, he’s become free in his own mind. No shackle can bind him, no chain can hold him. He’s no longer bound by social conventions that tell him how to dress and or how to behave. He has become totally free…In Romans 6:20-23 Paul writes: "When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
The demoniac - he’s free to live as he wants and he sets his own rules… but he’s miserable. Notice verse 6. He sees Jesus at a distance and he runs to Jesus. I don’t know how he knows that Jesus can heal his life - but he knows. AND HE RUNS TO Jesus. He’s tired of living like he has in his so called "freedom" and so he runs to Jesus. You might not be demon possessed like that man in graveyard, but you’ve struggled with your own personal demons for too long. You’ve struggled with the demons of failure and of guilt. You’ve sensed that these demons have dominated you, held you under their control, held you in an addiction you can’t let loose of: alcoholism, moral corruption, homosexuality, perversion, lust, if even in just your daily thoughts but never carried out, gluttony, slothfulness, adultery, etc. And you may have always thought: "I got myself into this. I can get myself out." But all you’ve ended up with is an uneasy feeling. The demons are still there. And you’re still not healed. Despite what the world may tell you - you can’t solve these kinds of problems on your own. There are demons in your life that only Jesus can heal. We've all experienced some type of tormenting demon(s) in our lives. "What a wonderful change Jesus can make in your life! Since Jesus came into my heart and my sins - which were many - are all washed away.
The example of that change is in the Bible verse I gave you from Mark, chapter 5. And when Jesus healed the demonic, the change was startling: He was now seated, clothed, and in his right mind. This man - that just moments before - had been a raving, zombie-like, lunatic, was at peace. The world can’t give you that! There’s no medicine, no treatment, no man made advice that can reach into the heart of a man and toss out the demons that he struggles with. My question for you is, are you fed up feeling powerless to overcome all your vices and demons that won't go away? What happenes in a man’s life that would make the Spirit of God leave and open him up to demon possession? His open rebellion against God. I urge you to turn to Jesus. Jesus can give you the peace that you desire.
