Sermon Notes

5 1-5 They arrived on the other side of the sea in the country of the Gerasenes. As Jesus got out of the boat, a madman from the cemetery came up to him. He lived there among the tombs and graves. No one could restrain him—he couldn’t be chained, couldn’t be tied down. He had been tied up many times with chains and ropes, but he broke the chains, snapped the ropes. No one was strong enough to tame him. Night and day he roamed through the graves and the hills, screaming out and slashing himself with sharp stones.6-8 When he saw Jesus a long way off, he ran and bowed in worship before him—then howled in protest, “What business do you have, Jesus, Son of the High God, messing with me? I swear to God, don’t give me a hard time!” (Jesus had just commanded the tormenting evil spirit, “Out! Get out of the man!”) 9-10 Jesus asked him, “Tell me your name. ”He replied, “My name is Mob. I’m a rioting mob.” Then he desperately begged Jesus not to banish them from the country.11-13 A large herd of pigs was grazing and rooting on a nearby hill. The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs so we can live in them.” Jesus gave the order. But it was even worse for the pigs than for the man. Crazed, they stampeded over a cliff into the sea and drowned. 14-15 Those tending the pigs, scared to death, bolted and told their story in town and country. Everyone wanted to see what had happened. They came up to Jesus and saw the madman sitting there wearing decent clothes and making sense, no longer a walking madhouse of a man. 16-17 Those who had seen it told the others what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. At first they were in awe—and then they were upset, upset over the drowned pigs. They demanded that Jesus leave and not come back. 18-20 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the demon-delivered man begged to go along, but he wouldn’t let him. Jesus said, “Go home to your own people. Tell them your story—what the Master did, how he had mercy on you.” The man went back and began to preach in the Ten Towns area about what Jesus had done for him. He was the talk of the town.

This week’s lesson offers a fascinating glimpse into how early Christians were affected by, but ultimately overcame, the imperial power structures of 1st Century Palestine. As those who were marginalized by religion, ethnicity, class, gender dynamics, and Roman cultural values, early followers of “The Way” embraced Jesus as “Christ” and the “son of God” because he audaciously countered the influence and authority of the Roman rule. Mark’s story is good news because it expresses the arrival of the kingdom of God—a system or “empire” that has God at its center.
According to the Synoptic Gospels, this kingdom was both a present and future reality that actively enfleshed God’s original intention for creation. In God’s kingdom, all people flourish, all persons matter, and all those who live at the margins of life are transported from periphery to the center of God’s care and concern. Make no mistake about it, the “kingdom of God” is a politically charged phrase. In first century Palestine, any discussion of kingdoms would immediately invoke the power and military might of the Roman Empire. When the Markan writer presents Jesus as declaring in Mark 1:15, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news,” he is making a counter-imperial proclamation and challenging Roman sovereignty.
Likewise, the title “Son of God”—which the Church often interprets solely a theological designation—would have also been viewed as another political challenge to Roman authority. “Son of God” was an honorary title that was bestowed upon Roman emperors and imprinted on Roman coinage. The title was first given to Emperor Augustus who laid the foundations of the Roman Empire between 27 BCE and 14 CE. The writer of Mark presents his Jesus as founding an alternative kingdom or empire to that of Augustus and every other Roman emperor. The “kingdom of God” is where a man who is imprisoned by a legion of demons, can be freed and delivered by the word of Jesus, and then preach about his radical transformation. Succinctly stated, Jesus Overpowers Legion, because he is not subject to any authority other than Divine authority.

As the earliest gospel, Mark is the closet literary witness to the Jewish wars against Rome that occurred between 66CE and 72CE. While we do not know who authored the Gospel of Mark, because Mark 13 references the Roman Empire’s destruction of the Temple in 70CE, it was likely written in Rome, Galilee, or Syria after 70CE in response to this devastating event. According to biblical scholars, in 71CE, after crushing the Jewish rebellion, Rome hosted a victory parade that displayed their military might, political prowess and religious supremacy. On Roman coinage, known as Judean Capta coin, Judean prisoners of war were depicted as being dominated by Roman soldiers. The message Rome was sending throughout the empire was clear: defy Rome at your own peril! It is within this highly charged political context that Mark writes to help the Markan community navigate their lives in the midst of this fresh assertion of Roman power and ideology.
In the lesson text for this week, Mark 5, the writer narrates the story of Jesus crossing the Sea of Galilee and encountering a man plagued with demons in “the country of Gerasenes.” Matthew and Luke tell the same story, albeit through differing theological lenses, in Matthew 8:28-34 and Luke 8:26-39. Mark 5 is a component of a larger theological unit that runs from Mark 1:1 - 8:26 that discusses Jesus’ preaching and teaching as evidence the inauguration of the “kingdom of God.”
Further, Mark 5 is meant to be read as a parallel to the exorcism of Mark 1. Both exorcisms reveal Jesus’ ability/authority to work miracles and his divine character. designation as the Son of God. However, Mark 5 explores, in greater depth, how Jesus’ authority challenges Roman imperial power. When read against the backdrop of a Roman political and socio-cultural context, Mark 5 illuminates the imperial constructions at work that prevent human thriving for everyday people in first-century Palestine. In this lesson, contemporary Christians have the opportunity to recount how Jesus intervened to deliver a man on the margins by casting out the mental, social, political, and spiritual demons that have had him bound. Through his testimony, Mark allows us to see that we too can be delivered and restored to wholeness.

1-5 They arrived on the other side of the sea in the country of the Gerasenes. As Jesus got out of the boat, a madman from the cemetery came up to him. He lived there among the tombs and graves. No one could restrain him—he couldn’t be chained, couldn’t be tied down. He had been tied up many times with chains and ropes, but he broke the chains, snapped the ropes. No one was strong enough to tame him. Night and day he roamed through the graves and the hills, screaming out and slashing himself with sharp stones.
In the opening verses of the lesson, Mark geographically locates this exchange in the city of Gerasenes—one of the ten cities of the Decapolis that lie on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee. The writer’s description of its location however is tenuous. Gerasenes lies thirty miles southeast of the sea, and Matthew names the place as Gadarenes. This lets us know that we are dealing with a reconstruction of an event that happened in the past. Mark is not an eyewitness reporter, but one who is recounting stories that he heard from disciples who came before him.
Mark theologically locates this exchange within discussions of ritual purity and clearly shows Jesus as breaking down barriers that separate Jews from Gentiles, clean from unclean. Historically, Jews separated their ritual practices into clearly delineated categories of “clean” and “unclean.” When Markan readers would hear of all the indicators of ritual impurity in this story—demonic spirits, living in a cemetery, a herd of pigs)—they would have immediately understood that this man is has devolved into sub-human existence. The demons inhabiting this man have stripped him of his humanity and the imago dei, or image of God, that was spoke during creation in Genesis 1:26.
Like the Gerasene man, many contemporary people have experienced how life can beat you down and seemingly strip a person of their human dignity, even, it would seem, the image of God. The man’s self-destructive behavior, refusal to live in community, and inability to communicate reveal how far to the margins this man has been pushed. Many of us have also been pushed to the margins, exhibiting self-harm, an inability to talk with sense, and a toxic personality that prevents people from approaching or helping us.
6-8 When he saw Jesus a long way off, he ran and bowed in worship before him—then howled in protest, “What business do you have, Jesus, Son of the High God, messing with me? I swear to God, don’t give me a hard time!” (Jesus had just commanded the tormenting evil spirit, “Out! Get out of the man!”)
There is a multiplicity of personalities and pain exhibited here. The man sees Jesus, immediately runs to him and bows in worship. However, another spirit takes over and fights to prevent the man from humbling himself before Jesus. The demons call out to Jesus, using the phrase demons always employ in the Gospel of Mark, “Son of the Most High God.” This is very revealing, because it is the highest name a nonbeliever can know or use to refer to God—“the Most High God.” It is used all through the Old Testament by Gentile nations (El Elyon). This is how the demons refer to him. But while this man knew who Jesus was, the demons that he has inside will not allow him to submit to Jesus’ authority. They resisted all attempts submit to the Christ. Despite the demons attempts, they are no match for Jesus. Jesus commands them to get out of the man.
9-10 Jesus asked him, “Tell me your name.” He replied, “My name is Mob. I’m a rioting mob.” Then he desperately begged Jesus not to banish them from the country.
Some interpreters have suggested that the demon's name, "Legion," references Rome’s occupation of the Decapolis area. According to biblical scholars, the Tenth Legion, which used the boar as a symbol on its military signage, had been stationed there since 6 CE. While Roman governance considered itself to be a peacekeeping mission that positively impacted this area, the local inhabitants viewed the Roman military and Roman appointed governors as imperial oppressors. Therefore, when the Markan writer presents Jesus as commanding exercising control over the legion of demons, he asserts that Jesus has the ultimate authority over the Roman systems that have devastated this community.
The verbal exchange between the demoniac and Jesus expands the earlier exorcism story in Mark 1 and references other exorcisms in Mark 3. In the ancient Mediterranean people believed that demons tried to subvert exorcism by disbursing the power of the exorcist by calling out their name. This is why Jesus silences the demons who identity him as Son of God (John 3:12).
In this second verbal exchange, Jesus forces the demon to reveal his name as Legion—a metaphorical reference to Roman military might. The writer of Mark is cleverly linking the man’s mental, psychological, physical, and spiritual condition to the oppressive imperial political and social structures that have plagued him and the Gerasene community. The occupying demons, like all imperial forces, seek to hold on to the territory they have occupied. They beg the more powerful Jesus “not to send them out of the country” (5:10).
11-13 A large herd of pigs was grazing and rooting on a nearby hill. The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs so we can live in them.” Jesus gave the order. But it was even worse for the pigs than for the man. Crazed, they stampeded over a cliff into the sea and drowned.
The verb that the demons use in their request to Jesus, “send” is also employed to describe the dispatching of military troops. Therefore, when Legion requests that Jesus send them into the pigs, they are addressing him as one with authority of a high ranking military commander. As the demons inhabit the pigs and stampede to their deaths, the Markan writer demonstrates Jesus’ ultimate authority over the demons and the imperial structures that have plagued the man.
14-15 Those tending the pigs, scared to death, bolted and told their story in town and country. Everyone wanted to see what had happened. They came up to Jesus and saw the madman sitting there wearing decent clothes and making sense, no longer a walking madhouse of a man. 16-17 Those who had seen it told the others what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. At first they were in awe—and then they were upset, upset over the drowned pigs. They demanded that Jesus leave and not come back.
While these verses are not in the printed lesson, we must deal with them to understand the culmination of this narrative.
What a strange reaction? When these people heard the news several hours later, they came to see what had happened. By this time the man had gone home and clothed himself, had come back to Jesus, and was sitting at his feet, listening to him. They saw him sitting there at rest—this man who had been so restless—and clothed, prepared to enter society again, no longer withdrawn, afraid of people. And he was in his right mind —at peace with himself, no civil war raging within any longer. They saw this deliverance.
But because of the loss of the pigs—the loss of their economic investment, the loss of their potential wealth—instead of rejoicing, they plead with Jesus to leave. Society is always doing this. We see it in our own day. Whenever there is a question of the welfare of an individual versus the wealth of the many, society invariably chooses the wealth of the many rather than the welfare of one.
18-20 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the demon-delivered man begged to go along, but he wouldn’t let him. Jesus said, “Go home to your own people. Tell them your story—what the Master did, how he had mercy on you.” The man went back and began to preach in the Ten Towns area about what Jesus had done for him. He was the talk of the town.
In the final verses of the lesson, Jesus engages in a final conversation with the man now that he has been delivered from his demons. Jesus sends the man back home to his people—the same home and people that his demonic condition prevented him from being a part of—to bear witness to what has happened to him. In verse 20, the same verb that is translated in English as “proclaim,” in the NRSVUE or “tell” in the Message, is the same word that the Markan writer uses in 1:14-15 to characterize Jesus’ teaching and preaching about the kingdom/kindom of God.
The Gerasene man’s actions are instructive for contemporary Christians. When Jesus set us free us from our demons, He also gives us a new assignment —“Go and tell.” This man was sent to be a witness, to tell people what had happened to him—of how he had lived in anguish and torment, how he had been against all of humanity, a menace to anyone who came by, angry and hostile and rebellious; and yet Jesus had freed him, given him peace and joy!

i Warren Carter, “Mark: Volume 42 (Wisdom Commentary Series), 81-82, Liturgical Press. Kindle Edition.
ii Ibid.
iii Pheme Perkins, Mark: Volume 8 (New Interpreters Bible), Fortress Press. Ministry Matters Edition.