Mark lesson 10
Read Mark 5:1-20 – https://www.bible.com/bible/59/mrk.5.esv
Mark 5:1-20.
When Jesus got out of the boat, a wild man met Him. The man, inhabited
by thousands of demons, could not be subdued by human force, so he lived
as a savage among the tombs. The demons within the man were scared of
Jesus. They asked Him not to send them out of the country (to the abyss,
Luke 8:31). Instead, they wanted to be able to enter a nearby herd of
swine. Evidently, if the demons had been expelled without having
permission to go into another being, they would have had to return to
Hell. No doubt it was better to inhabit a pig, if necessary, than to be
sent back to that awful place. Surprisingly, Jesus granted the demons'
request. They left the man and entered the pigs. The herd went berserk
because of the presence of the demons within them, ran headlong and
plunged off the cliff. The pigs drowned and presumably the demons had to
return to the abyss. Perhaps they thought they had outsmarted Jesus
when He allowed them to enter the swine, but the truth is, Jesus
outsmarted them! In the end they had to return to the abyss-‐-‐ they
merely took a roller-‐coaster ride to get there.
Meanwhile, those who had been tending the hogs went into the city and told the townsfolk about what Jesus had done. What a tremendous opportunity for this small town to have Jesus present! They didn't look at it as an opportunity though; they asked Jesus to leave. The man who had been healed wanted to follow Jesus, but He told him to return to his home and start preaching.
Note-‐-‐They asked Him to leave! At first, it may seem incredible that the people of the town didn't want Jesus to stay. But think about what they had just lost: 2000 pigs. Some people owned them; some folks were planning to make money slaughtering, processing and selling them. He had hurt the town's economy. They evidently loved material possessions more than they loved Jesus; because of that, they missed out on the supreme privilege. They asked Him to leave. Do we ever invite the Lord to leave our lives because we love material things more than we love Him?
Note -‐-‐ Jesus' surprising instructions: When the man who had been healed wanted to follow Him, Jesus gave him strange orders. He refused to allow the man to accompany Him, but asked him to return and tell about his healing in the city. There are two surprising things about this command: 1) Jesus didn't allow the man to accompany him. Putting myself in the demoniac's place, l can see why he would have wanted to be with the one who cured him; but Jesus said no. Would it not have been a wonderful thing to be in Jesus' presence? Certainly. But what Jesus preferred was for the man to testify of His work in the city. Sometimes God may not want us to remain in secure and comfortable surroundings, but rather go to the lost and preach. 2) Jesus normally instructed people NOT to tell about their healings (see Mark 1:40-‐45). Why the sudden change here? Remember where Jesus was. He was on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had not wanted to be thronged by spectators in the Capernaum area, west of the Sea, but in this wicked town, He was in no danger of becoming too popular. The people in this place needed someone to report the miracle.
1. What measures had been attempted to subdue the demoniac (v4)? a)
psychology, b) shackles and chains, c) shock therapy, d) drugs. Answer:
_____
2. What name did the demons wear (v9)? Answer: _____
3. Where did the demons say they wanted to go? Answer: They wanted to go into a herd of _____
4. What happened to the swine when the demons entered them? Answer: They
ran off a cliff and drowned in the _____ 5. What did the townspeople
ask Jesus to do? Answer: They asked Jesus to _____
6. What did Jesus tell the demoniac to do after he had been healed? a)
Tell no one what had happened, b) Lie about what happened, c) Tell
everyone what happened, d) Commit himself to an asylum. Answer: _____