Mark 5:1-20 — Smart Like A Pig?

Mark 5:1-20 “Smart Like Pig”
v. 2

Tombs on Mt. Olivet

-5 "And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones."

Comments:

Jesus, in the previous passage, had stilled the violent storm while out on the lake. Now having stilled the storm and reached the other side he got out of the boat and was immediately confronted by a violent man. Without Jesus, the storm was un-survivable and the violent man of Gadara was un-savable. Many years ago, the late Rev. Chuck Updike powerfully set the scene in a sermon on “Fear” that was given on Halloween. He talked about the terror of the storm, the disciples' greater fear of the Lord Jesus once he stilled the storm. Then when they finally reached shore in the creepy calm of the suddenly still night, they landed in what amounted to a graveyard without the mowed grass and flowers. The heavy smell of the large herd of grazing pigs nearby must have added a unique sensual touch to this scene. Then, before they hardly step onto solid ground, the naked and crazed demoniac ran shouting at Jesus. It was a terrifying scene for the disciples until the man fell at Jesus' feet and began to beg for mercy.

Photo by Kevin Jackson on Unsplash

The demons begged Jesus not to torment them although they tormented the man day and night. They didn't want to leave the area, but they couldn't stay in Jesus' presence. They begged to go into the pigs as perhaps a temporary postponement of being sent back to hell. Even the demons know that it is not an enjoyable place and that a few seconds in a pig is better than the eternal torment of hell. Jesus sent the legion of demons into the pigs. Yet do you see what the pigs did? They ran off a cliff and drowned. Why? Maybe because pigs knew that it was better for them to drown than to be possessed by demons. The pigs were unacceptable in Israel and the demons were unacceptable to the pigs! Maybe pigs are smart after all.

I love this story because of the change that Jesus brings to the life of the man who was hopeless and unrestrainable. Where there had been only devastating rage, disorientation, nakedness, uncleanness, and injury, Jesus brought healing, purpose, deliverance, clothing, and a "right mind".

This is also the first New Testament example of someone being sent out as a missionary to the Gentiles (in the area of the Decapolis). They were not ready to listen to Jesus yet, for they were too afraid and needed to hear about the good things he had done from someone they knew. As wonderful as the story of the healed demoniac is, it was a loss for the owners of the pigs. In great fear the people of the Decapolis asked Jesus to leave—it seems that his deliverance and purifying work was too costly for them. So as Jesus was leaving, he told the man who had been delivered, now clothed and in his right mind, to go back to his friends and tell them of the great things that God had done for him—and he did what he was told and all were amazed. He had been the unreasonable, uncontrollable, unsavable, un-dead amongst the tombs of the dead. Jesus has taken him from the lowest of lows and made him an ambassador of the love of God. Drawn out of the dark into the Light, now the man was taking the Light into the dark, for the sake of others.

Ancient City Gates at Tel Dan

The next time Jesus visited the area he would not be sent away in fear but listened to in faith, and 4000+ would be miraculously fed. Jesus turns our wounds into a story of grace that brings healing and deliverance to others (2 Cor. 1:3-11). This week, how can we tell others of the good God has done for us?

Lord, make it so!