Jesus casts out thousands of demons from Legion (Mark 5.1-20)

The Power of the Devil

Mark sets the scene at the beginning of this chapter. It is early morning, still and quiet. The region of the Gerasenes on the far side of the lake is an eerie, unsettling place — a barren, ghostly wilderness with underground caves used as tombs by the local people. Jesus and the disciples land, and suddenly the early morning silence is shattered by inhuman, demented shrieking. A wild-looking man — absolutely naked, covered in horrible scars and open wounds — comes sprinting towards Jesus.

Every detail in these verses is designed to highlight the wretched condition of this poor man. Verses 3–5 give us the backstory of his miserable existence. When he first fell into the grip of evil spirits, people tried to help him — they tied his hands and feet with ropes, like a straightjacket, trying to stop him hurting himself. But he simply broke the ropes apart. When that failed, they tried chains and irons — and with an inhuman strength he snapped those too. When they realised they could not cope with him any longer, they drove him out to live among the tombs — cut off from normal society, exiled from the living to go and live among the dead. Night and day, if the wind was blowing the right direction, they could hear his yells from the tombs. Travellers passing by would catch glimpses of him in the moonlight, tearing around like an animal, inflicting horrendous gashes on himself with sharp rocks. That was his life — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with no rest at all. Completely enslaved to demonic forces, unable to control himself, and no one else able to control him either. All human resources were futile. His condition seemed hopeless — incurable.

Verses 6–8 show how his personality has been warped and confused. On the one hand, he is drawn to Jesus — verse 6 says he ran and fell on his knees. He seems to want help. But then he bursts out screaming: "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!" The demons inside him know exactly who this is — the Son of God — and they are terrified. He is not terrified of them; they are terrified of him. And the poor man is torn in two directions by this alien power dominating his soul. When Jesus asks his name, the answer reveals the horror: "My name is Legion, for we are many." He hardly knows who he is — it is like an identity crisis, a split personality caused by demon possession. One minute he speaks, the next it is the demons speaking through him.

This Is a Picture of Everyone by Nature

The really frightening thing about this story is that the Bible says this is the condition of every human being by nature. We are seeing an extreme manifestation here, but this is what all of us are like left to ourselves. In Acts 26:18, God says to Paul: "I am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God." The Apostle John puts it like this in 1 John 5:19: "The whole world is under the control of the evil one." In the original Greek, it is even more striking — what John literally says is that the whole world lies asleep in the arms of the evil one. As if the devil has rocked a baby to sleep and holds it in his grip.

Perhaps you think: "I am nothing at all like this raving madman. My life could not be more different." But the devil's control does not look the same in every case. It is a bit like cancer — it does not manifest itself the same way in every person. Some people are very obviously sick with it, crippled with pain. Others have it growing inside them for years with hardly any symptoms, and they do not even realise they have it. Yet they are all in the same position. And that is the position of every human being: under the power of the devil until Jesus rescues us and sets us free.

God hardly ever allows someone to be as wicked as they could possibly be. He does not give the devil completely free rein. But if he did — if he handed us over completely — then this is the kind of thing we would see everywhere. It is like those zombie films, 28 Days Later, where the rage virus gets hold of people and turns them all into raging monsters. Legion is an example of what the devil wants to do to everyone under his power.

And if you think about it, you can see the same elements of Legion's life in the lives of those who are not Christians. The loneliness — an emptiness that nothing can satisfy except a relationship with God. People whose lives are outwardly successful — good jobs, loving families, good health — yet conscious that something is missing, longing for meaning and purpose. The self-destructiveness — people damaging themselves by stubbornly living life their own way instead of God's way. Maybe they do not cut themselves with rocks, but they harm themselves with all kinds of addictions, broken relationships, and heartache. The tension about Jesus — on the one hand knowing they should come to Christ, and yet afraid of the demands he will make. That tug of war within the soul. The restlessness — no peace of mind, the horrible guilt of sin that dogs your steps. If you are not a Christian, you do not know how to deal with that guilt. Only Jesus can atone for it. The confusion about identity — "Why am I here? Am I just an animal? Is my life just something that evolved out of the slime?" Things in your character that are noble and wonderful, yet other things that are beast-like. "We are many," Legion says — and maybe that is exactly how you feel, pulled in different directions by drives and impulses and desires, in the grip of forces outside your control. You try to tie up your bad habits — the chains of counselling, self-help, meditation, medication, religion — but nothing works. You cannot control yourself, and nothing else can control you either. The reason is that you are under the power of the devil.

Even those of us who are Christians can put ourselves temporarily back under his thumb when we give in to temptation — a kind of spiritual Stockholm syndrome, where we start believing the devil that he will make us happy and that living God's way will make us miserable.

The Power of the Lord

Is there any hope for Legion? Is his condition incurable? These demons have controlled him for many years, and there are lots of them. The herd of pigs numbered about 2,000, and the demons went into all of them. But Legion says in verse 9: "My name is Legion, for we are many." A Roman legion was a squadron of more than 6,000 soldiers. There may have been thousands of demonic spirits with their claws deeply embedded in this man's soul. That is why no human effort has made the slightest difference.

But today is different. Today Jesus the Son of God has come, and he is more than a match for 6,000 demons. Jesus does not call for ropes or chains. He does not perform elaborate exorcism rituals like the rabbis. All Jesus has to do — all Jesus ever has to do when he encounters demons in the Gospels — is speak a word, and they must obey. "Come out of this man, you evil spirit" (v. 8). And immediately these demons have to release their grip. They have no choice.

You see it in their pathetic pleading: "What do you want with me? Swear to God that you won't torture me!" (v. 7). They beg — not once or twice, but again and again (v. 10). "Send us among the pigs! Allow us to go into them!" (v. 12). They are like a dog on a lead — they cannot go one inch further than Jesus lets them. They do not even ask to hold on to Legion, because Jesus has told them to come out and they have no choice about that. They can only beg to be sent somewhere else. Jesus grants their request, because he is completely in control.

Why does Jesus allow them to go into the pigs? Partly to show the observers — and to show Legion himself — that the demons are really gone. It is as if Jesus is saying: "It's over. It's finished. You're safe now." And unlike one of those horror films where the monster is supposedly killed but keeps coming back in sequel after sequel after sequel — when Jesus deals with these demons, they are gone for good. That is true for us too: when Jesus deals with our sin, he deals with it for good. Our guilt is not going to come back to haunt us on the day of judgement.

It also shows what the demons' ultimate purpose was: total destruction. They wanted to destroy Legion completely. That is what the devil wants to do to everyone under his power. He promises that if you stay with him and stay away from God, he will make you happy. But his only design is to destroy you completely — not in the lake of the Gerasenes, but in the lake of fire forever.

Transformation Beyond Recognition

The power of Jesus is seen especially in Legion's transformation. The townspeople come out to see what has happened, and they find Legion in a state they have never seen him in — or at least not for many years. Verse 15: "They saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed, and in his right mind." Everything has changed. He is not jumping around shrieking uncontrollably — he is sitting. He is no longer naked like an animal — he is clothed. He is no longer demented by evil spirits — he is in his right mind. He has been delivered from the power of Satan to God.

And this pattern has been repeated countless times since. Here is someone whose life was devoted to the pleasures of this world — living for the weekend, clubbing, drinking, sleeping around with a different partner every week, their life a mess. Then Jesus came and transformed them beyond recognition, so that their great passion is now to know Christ better. Here is someone who was a drug addict, squatting in rat-infested slums, into every kind of abuse — not cutting himself with rocks, but with syringes and razor blades. Then Jesus came and completely transformed him. Here is a workaholic businessman who worked night and day, neglected his family, bent the rules, lived for his status symbols — expensive cars, houses, hobbies — proud and arrogant. Then Jesus came and he gave back the money he had cheated, used his fortune to support the church, reduced his hours so he could spend time with his family. Completely transformed.

Here is a moral, decent, good-living person — never told a lie, never cheated on their tax return, a loving parent, a faithful spouse — absolutely sure they would go to heaven. "God will be pleased with me. I'm a good person." But they were under the control of the devil just like the drug addict. Then Jesus came and opened their eyes to their lostness, their sinfulness, the emptiness of their life. Here is someone who has come to church all their life — baptised, Sunday school, youth fellowship, a respected pillar of the church — and yet never really gave their life to Christ. They sat in church every week but were not interested in anything that was going on. They looked the part, but they were lying asleep in the arms of the devil. Then Jesus came and they looked at the Bible with fresh eyes and entered into a real, living, joyful relationship with him.

This is what Jesus does again and again. His power is undiminished and he is still doing it today — right here in Galway. No matter how far someone has sunk, no matter how hardened, no matter how given over to evil — you must not think that Jesus cannot rescue them. Can you imagine visiting this area the day before Jesus came and taking a poll of the villagers: "Who do you think is the least likely person ever to follow Jesus?" Every single one of them would have said: "Legion, out in the tombs." And yet he is exactly the one Jesus saved. So let us never give up praying for those friends and family members who are not Christians. If Jesus can rescue Legion, he can rescue anyone.

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