The Gospel of Mark 5:1-20 - A Roman Set Free by His Lord

Jesus comes across the sea and lands on the shore. He is immediately met by a man who is possessed with many demons. Even though He is in a gentile area, and this man is a gentile, Jesus takes action and casts the demons out. The demons enter some pigs that are nearby with Jesus’ permission. The pigs run into the sea and drown. This causes great fear in the locals, and they beg Him to leave. This is in direct opposition to the man He healed. This man begs that He might follow Jesus. Yet Jesus sends him to his home to spread the word about what Jesus had done.

Discussion:

“They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.”

Mark 5:1 (ESV)

- The Gadarenes

Mark starts this story by setting the scene, taking us to the country of the Gerasenes (or Gergesenes or Gadarenes). But who are they, and where is this part of the country located? S. M. Kraeger explained that there are basically three choices for this location; Gergesa, Gerasa, and Gadara, the latter is my preference. In this post I will focus on Gadara but that doesn’t mean that the others don’t have validity. To be clear, there are issues with each location (The Lexham Bible Dictionary, s.v. “Gerasenes”).

Gadara was known for it’s scholarly output (The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, s.v. “Gadarenes”), and was a Greek city southeast of Galilee which lines up well with this Biblical account (The Lexham Bible Dictionary, s.v. “Gerasenes”), and was the capital of Peraea, a Roman province (The Lexham Bible Dictionary, s.v. “Gadara”). Although Jesus would have been miles away from the city, the city seems to have been important enough to Mark to mention it. Arriving miles from the city, in the countryside, Jesus is met by a man who is tormented.

“And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.”

Mark 5:2-9 (ESV)

- Among the tombs

We see here a man that is clearly under sever torment. He has been forced to live among the bones of men, at the tombs, which would seem to be a fitting place for an unclean spirit to want to live (Marcus 2008, 342). We can assume from the text that the Roman Gentiles had tried to at least bind the man with chains, but that they couldn’t even hold him. Being tormented he was driven to harm himself, inflicting cuts and bruises with stones. In other words, this man lived in complete and utter misery! Yet there is much, much more to this story. For in it we find references to a prophecy in Isaiah.

“I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that was not called by my name. I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices; a people who provoke me to my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and making offerings on bricks; who sit in tombs, and spend the night in secret places; who eat pig’s flesh, and broth of tainted meat is in their vessels; who say, “Keep to yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.” These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all the day. Behold, it is written before me: “I will not keep silent, but I will repay; I will indeed repay into their lap both your iniquities and your fathers’ iniquities together, says the LORD; because they made offerings on the mountains and insulted me on the hills, I will measure into their lap payment for their former deeds.””

Isaiah 65:1-7 (ESV)

We need to mention a few things about this prophecy. First, it is a prophecy to Judah, not to the gentiles. Here is a comparison between Mark and Isaiah.

Isaiah Mark

Judah does not seek Him The tormented man seeks Him out

Not called by His name Gentile

Sit in tombs AND spend the night Dwell in tombs

Eat pig’s flesh Pigs nearby, demons seek to dwell in them

I will repay Do not torment me

We immediately see some stark contrasts, this gentile man, unlike most others, was seeking Him out. He sought healing and relief. Jesus is constantly confronted by people around Him who do not believe in Him and only seem to want to use Him for healing or miracles. Yet this man does not do this, instead he seeks out Jesus and later asks that he may travel with Him as a disciple (we will discuss this later).

It is also important to note here that the reference to the pigs in Isaiah is not about eating Biblically unclean but instead is most likely a reference to sacrificing to gods (Blenkinsopp 2008, 272). There are also hints of sexual acts of worship in this prophecy (Watts 2005, 914). In other words, the verses in Isaiah depict a people who are worshipping other gods, who are engaging in sacrifices and sacred sexual acts against God. We see none of that with this man.

It is also interesting that Jesus did not send the gentile away, instead He chose to heal Him. This exorcism stands in sharp contrast to others, because this man is a gentile. Jesus had stated that He came only to Israel, that is, to the Jews, so why then did He choose to act on behalf of this man? As we will see, this story draws on certain elements to point a finger directly at Caesar Agustus!

- Legion

When Jesus confronted the demons, He asked them what their name is. They responded by saying that their name was “Legion”, for they were many. A Roman legion was made up of 4,200 to 6,000 men plus some calvary (Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, s.v. ““LEGION”). In other words, this is distinctly a Roman term. This would be like a demon saying that his name is “Delta Force”, we would immediately understand it as a reference to the United States. These demons then are seen as a foreign occupying force (France 2002, 230). Yet, we must make it clear, Jesus is, so to speak, on foreign soil, since this area was part of the Decapolis. This region was mostly made up of gentiles, and there was a lot of anti-Jewish sentiment there. They were under the authority of Rome (Dictionary of New Testament Background, s.v. “Decapolis”).

So why did He do this? This region was at one point a part of the Davidic empire (compare to 2 Samuel 8:5–15 and Josephus Ant. 7.5.3 §104) (ibid), and we know that Jesus was the “Son of David”. It is possible that this action was a reference to David, it is also possible that the man’s torment was so great that Jesus did this out of pure compassion, without any other motive. The gospels do not tell us the reason for this visit, however, it does seem purposeful. I believe that Jesus came over the other side of the sea in order to set this man free. Either way, Jesus came to this part of the country and set this man free, casting out the demon that had for so long tormented him.

Getting back to the narrative, the demons, longing not to be removed from the region begged that they be allowed to enter the pigs.

“And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea. The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened.”

Mark 5:10-14 (ESV)

- not to send them out of the country… but into pigs

This is interesting, because it provides another link with Rome. The Roman Legion in Israel’s symbol was a boar (Marcus 2008, 351-252), thus the reference to pigs seems to have a Roman element to it. Jesus not sending the demons out of the region, but into the sea, may then convey that He did not come to overthrow Rome, but to destroy the power of Satan (the sea representing the underworld and death). And so the demons, entering into the pigs, brought them death.

But have we ever sat back and considered this event. Why would demons want to go into pigs? In Babylonian exorcistic incantation a pig is seen as an alternate for the possessed victim (France 2002, 230). This seems to be something the enemy seems fine with.

Yet why did Jesus agree? From a Jewish perspective, it is fitting then that the unclean spirits were allowed to enter into unclean animals (Guelich 1989, 282). Jesus was cleansing Israel, but here He is also cleansing His people. It is interesting though that the demons would beg not to be sent out of the area. This would seem to indicate just how unclean the region was, for the demons seemed to view the Decapolis as a place where they had power or authority to operate (Edwards 2002, 157). This is further explained by William L. Lane (Lane 1974, 186).

“Accordingly, the question why Jesus allowed them to enter the swine must be faced. The answer would seem to have two elements. First, Jesus recognized that the time of the ultimate vanquishment of the demons had not yet come; his encounter and triumph over the demonic does not yet put an end to Satan’s power. It is the pledge and the symbol of that definitive triumph, but the time when that triumph will be fully realized is yet deferred. It must await the appointment of God. Therefore, Jesus allows the demons to continue their destructive work, but not upon a man. The second element is related to this: Jesus allowed the demons to enter the swine to indicate beyond question that their real purpose was the total destruction of their host. While this point may have been obscured in the case of the man, there was the blatant evidence in the instance of the swine. Their intention was no different with regard to the man whom they had possessed.”

Either way, the end was complete and utter freedom of for the man. The change was so shocking that the local people, upon seeing the change, begged Jesus to leave.

“And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.”

Mark 5:15-17 (ESV)

- “They began to beg Jesus to depart”

This is shocking. Yet we must remember that these people were gentiles who probably had a pretty negative view of Jews. A foreign Jew coming into their territory with this kind of power may have been terrifying to them. It is sad that they missed the mark on this one. For they could have invited Him to stay and teach, or at least perform more miracles. But instead they gave into their fears and asked Him to leave.

Yet the gentile man didn’t feel the same way. Now healed, He begged to be allowed to follow Jesus.

“As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.”

Mark 5:18 (ESV)

We can see that the work of Christ is complete, and so He gets back into the boat to leave (Guelich 1989, 284). Yet He was stopped by the man whom He had set free from such a great torment. The man begged that he would be allowed to follow Him.

- “the man… begged him that he might be with him”

This is very interesting. For this is a gentile man asking to be a disciple of Jesus, a Jew! Not only this, but this region had bad relations with the Jews. Yet the man did not let this stop him. He immediately requested to follow Jesus. Yet Jesus, rejected his request. But this rejection was not like the others He had previously rejected. Instead of a full rejection, He tells him to go home and tell them what Jesus had done.

“And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.”

Mark 5:19-20 (ESV)

- Go home… and tell them

The words translated here as “go home” should be understood to specifically mean “go to your people”, the people of the area he was originally from (Guelich 1989, 285). The man went back to his home town or region and indeed did proclaim, so much so that the whole region seemed to be filled with wonder at Jesus.

- “how much the Lord has done for you”

This phrase would have been absolutely shocking to a gentile living in a Roman region! Why? Because their Caesar was “Lord”, and to declare any other person as Lord was an affront to their ruler and a rejection of emperor worship. Yet Jesus, cut to the core of the matter and directly calls Himself the Lord of this man. I know of no other place where Jesus refers to Himself as the Lord of a Gentile before His resurrection! Jesus sees this man as already a part of His kingdom! This is utterly shocking! And so He sends him on a type of mission trip, to his own people (Edwards 2002, 160).

But this usage of “Lord” was a direct affront to the ruler of this world, Caesar! Indeed, under Augustus the loyalty oath was extended to all people in the Roman empire (The Oxford Encyclopedia Of Ancient Greece And Rome, s.v. “Oaths, Roman”). This loyalty oath is exactly the opposite of the confession that Jesus is Lord. Many in the early church died in defense of the belief that Jesus, not Caesar was Lord! There will come a time when Christians must again face this choice, and I pray we choose to remain faithful to our Lord!

Summary

Jesus lands on the other side of the sea of Galilee and is immediately met by a demonized man. Jesus was in foreign territory, as He was in the area of the Decapolis, a place where gentile and Jew didn’t have good relations. The tormented man has many demons, and they proclaim that their name is Legion. Jesus casts out the demons but allows them to enter into pigs. The pigs go crazy and rush into the sea where they drown. The local people are afraid and beg Jesus to leave. In direct contrast to this, the man whom He healed begs to be allowed to follow Jesus. Jesus rejected this idea, but did send him to spread the news about what Jesus had done for him.

Life Application

To a Roman Gentile, the claim that Jesus is Lord was treason. It could mean death. Yet Jesus sent this man to proclaim what He had done for Him to his friends. The man goes further though, and not only proclaims to his friends (we are assuming) but also spreads the word so that the whole region wonders at Jesus. If we come to the point where we have to choose between Jesus and this world, what would we choose?

Yet more than this, we must choose to live our lives daily with Him as Lord. If we are unable to live for Him, we won’t be able to die for Him when the time comes! So let us seek to live for Him daily!

Questions to Consider

• Would we be willing to travel across a sea just to set one man free and then leave?

• When everyone around us rejects Jesus, are we willing to go against the flow and follow Him?

Connections

• Matthew 8:28–34

• Luke 8:26–39

Outline

• Jesus enters the Decapolis and is met by a man who is demonized by a legion of demons.

• Jesus casts the demons out but allows them to enter into the pigs.

• The pigs break free and dive into the sea and drown.

• The local population begs Jesus to leave.

• The man begged to follow Jesus but Jesus instead sends him home to spread the word of Jesus.

References-

• S. M. Kraeger, “Gerasenes,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

• Svend Holm-Nielsen, and K. J. H. Vriezen with Wagner-Lux Ute, “Gadarenes,” in The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 866-867.

• “Gadara was a prominent Greek city in the region southeast of Galilee. The location of this city aligns well with the account of the miracle, as the herdsmen’s caring for pigs situates the miracle in Gentile territory. The location of the city also fits other factors of the story, such as the fact that the herdsmen fled and the people in the city came to observe Jesus within a relatively short period of time.”

  S. M. Kraeger, “Gerasenes,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

• “GADARA The capital of the Roman province of Peraea (Mark 5:1; Luke 8:26–39). Identified with the modern village of Umm Qeis, which is surrounded by very extensive ruins. A number of sculpted sarcophagi can be found among its tombs. For a discussion of the relationship between Gadara, Gerasa, and Gergesa, see this article: Gerasenes.”

  John D. Barry et al., eds., “Gadara,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

• Joel Marcus, Mark 1–8: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 27, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 342.

• “The prohibition against eating pork (Lev 11:7; Deut 14:8) was due less to the perceived insanitary habits of this animal or to the danger of contracting trichinosis, the pathogen for which was discovered only in the nineteenth century, than to its role in the sacrificial rituals of neighboring peoples. The reference here is most likely to a sacrificial meal in which pork was consumed, especially since in other cultures the pig was associated with chthonic deities, (de Vaux 1971[1958]: 252–69). “Unclean food” (piggûl, Lev 7:18; 19:7; Ezek 4:14) is also mentioned together with pork in 66:17, which lists a witch’s brew of insects and vermin, consumed during the ritual in the garden.”

  Joseph Blenkinsopp, Isaiah 56–66: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 19B, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 272.

• Fertility rites “in the gardens” (see 1:29) and “incense on the tiles” (see 2 Kgs 23:12; Jer 19:13; Zeph 1:5) are very similar to the Canaanite rituals for which Israel was exiled (see 1:29; 17:10–11). They belong to the popular paganism that had dominated that area for centuries. These practices may belong to the cult of Adonis and Babylonian Tammuz, both vegetation deities (see M. S. Smith, The Early History of God [San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1990] 158; and W. Burkert, Greek Religion, trans. J. Raffan [Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1985] 176–77). Whybray (269) and Dahood (CBQ 22 [1960] 406–8) understood these to refer to worship of the Tyrian Asherah. 1QIsaa reads “suck hands on the stones,” well-known euphemisms for sexual acts (Schramm, Opponents, 156; see also W. Brownlee, The Meaning of the Dead Sea Scrolls [New York: Oxford UP, 1964] 234–35; and A. Rubinstein, “Notes on the Use of Tenses in … the Isaiah Scroll,” VT 3 [1953] 94–95).”

  John D. W. Watts, Isaiah 34–66, Revised Edition, vol. 25, Word Biblical Commentary (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc, 2005), 914.

• H. D. Betz, “Legion,” in Dictionary of Deities and Demons in the Bible, ed. Karel van der Toorn, Bob Becking, and Pieter W. van der Horst (Leiden; Boston; Köln; Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge: Brill; Eerdmans, 1999), 507.

• R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2002), 230.

• “Between the second century B.C. and the first century A.D. there was constant tension regarding Jewish authority over, or ambitions regarding, the region. The territory had at one time been incorporated into the Davidic kingdom (2 Sam 8:5–15; Josephus Ant. 7.5.3 §104), and David’s empire may have come to set the standard for Jewish hopes and expectations (Hengel and Schwemer, 55). When the Hasmonean king Alexander Janneus retook much of the territory, he forced its inhabitants to accept the Jewish religion (Josephus Ant. 13.15.3–4 §§393–97; cf. 13.11.3 §318). The cities’ liberation by Pompey was the key theme of their coins. Although there were significant Jewish communities within the cities of the Decapolis in the first century A.D., there is also evidence of a strong hostility toward them on the part of their Gentile neighbors (Josephus J.W. 2.18.2, 5 §§461, 478; 7.8.7 §367; 1.4.3 §88; see also Kasher). At the outbreak of the Jewish revolt in A.D. 66, the Jews attacked a number of the cities of the Decapolis. Most of the cities retaliated by slaughtering their Jewish citizens (see Jewish Wars with Rome).”

  Roy E. Ciampa, “Decapolis,” in Dictionary of New Testament Background: A Compendium of Contemporary Biblical Scholarship (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 267.

• Joel Marcus, Mark 1–8: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, vol. 27, Anchor Yale Bible (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2008), 351–352.

• Robert A. Guelich, Mark 1–8:26, vol. 34A, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1989), 282.

• R. T. France, The Gospel of Mark: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press, 2002), 230.

• James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos, 2002), 157.

• William L. Lane, The Gospel of Mark, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1974), 186.

• Robert A. Guelich, Mark 1–8:26, vol. 34A, Word Biblical Commentary (Dallas: Word, Incorporated, 1989), 284.

• Ibid, 285.

• James R. Edwards, The Gospel according to Mark, The Pillar New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos, 2002), 160.

• “Under Augustus the loyalty oath was extended to the people as a whole, who swore to protect the emperor and his family. Augustus claimed that before the campaign of Actium in 31 bce, “all Italy voluntarily swore an oath to me” (Res Gestae 25.2), and later loyalty oaths survive in inscriptions from the provinces.”

  Oaths, Roman

  Turpin

  https://works.swarthmore.edu/fac-classics/49