Third Presbyterian Sunday Morning Bible Study - August 8, 2021

Below is the Bible Study written by Jim Rudiger for his Sunday School Class which meets at Third Presbyterian Church, Norfolk, Virginia. It's based on Mark 5:1-13, 18-20.

Have you ever been scared? I mean really heart beating, hair up on the back of your neck, sweaty palmed scared? The most scared I ever was happened when our youngest was about four years old and I came home one night after a basketball practice and had left him at the gym. Of course, I was scared that something might have happened to him, but the most I was scared about was what Jackie was going to do to me when I came home without Gary.

For most of us we had our scary moments in a movie theater. Every scary movie had a dumb blond who despite her boy friend’s warning to stay locked in her room, opened the door and went down a pitched dark hallway. The camera would have a closeup of her face and we could see the terror in her eyes as we screamed, “Are you nuts? Get back into that room and lock the door.” But she continued down the hall glancing to her left and right and then she stopped. And as she stood there, mouth poised to scream, a hand came out of the darkness behind her and reached for her throat. The hand turned out to belong to her boy friend who had come back knowing she wasn’t going stay locked in her room. When the hand turned out to be the boy friend’s didn’t it make you feel that you had been taken?

The scariest movies were the ones I went to on Saturday afternoon at the Rosna on 35th Street. One week it would be “Frankenstein” with Boris Karloff. The next week “Dracula” with Bela Lugosi or “The Wolfman” with Lon Chaney Jr. Thinking back to those movies, they all had one thing in common, a scary scene set in a graveyard. The graveyards were always at night with fog rising from the ground. The moon was covered by a dark cloud. No grass grew there and even the trees were misshapen trunks and limbs devoid of leaves. Owls looked on while bats circled the tombstones which were always leaning over ready to fall. The mausoleums were covered with vines and cobwebs and their doors were ajar hanging from their rusty hinges. It was a foreboding place with shadows that seem to shift and move around. When a graveyard appeared on the screen, I knew that the Frankenstein monster would soon be seen trudging between the tomb stones with his hands outstretched or the Wolfman would be stalking someone behind one of those misshapen trees. What makes a graveyard so scary, particularly at night? Dead people are there. The fog is like the spirits of those dead people rising from their graves. It’s a lonely place. Nobody is picnicking there.

That’s what our lesson is about today - a graveyard at night. There is even a scary wild guy. The difference is that the people walking in that graveyard aren’t unprepared victims. They are apostles led by Jesus. We’ll see that the real victims were living in that graveyard.

Jesus and his disciples are out on the Sea of Galilee in a boat. Jesus is pooped. He had had a busy day. He had healed the leper, a centurion’s servant and then spent the rest of the day at Peter’s house healing people there. When they got on the boat, it was well after sunset and Jesus decided to go below and take a nap.

Now the Sea of Galilee isn’t really a Sea. It is a lake about thirteen miles from north to south and eight miles wide. It is located in the Jordan valley between two mountain ranges. Generally, it was a warm calm lake. However, the mountains on the west had a gorge that cut down to the lake. When the wind developed out of the west, it was funneled through this gorge, gaining strength as it whizzed through. When the wind hit the water, what had been a calm surface a few minutes before was turned into a wild, white capped sea. It could happen all of the sudden with no warning. Even today, the same thing happens.

Jesus is asleep and the men had cast out their nets. The sky was sparkling with stars while a gentle breeze rocked the boat. They were enjoying themselves, talking about all that had happened that day - all the miracles that took place. Peter was the most excited. Jesus had come to his home and his mother-in-law had been suffering with a fever for days. If she didn’t break the fever she may die. Jesus went over to the bed and placed his hand on her hot wet forehead. That is all that he did - touched her head - and all of the sudden, she opened her eyes and the fever was gone. Peter says, “You know, it is one thing to watch him heal others, but, when he heals someone close to you, it really strikes home that this man is truly God’s servant.” They all agreed.

As they threw the net out, there seems to be a slight change in the wind - a slight chill. The boat seems to rock a little harder. It’s just a breeze coming up and they needed one, because it had been blistering hot all day. They breathed in the refreshing breeze, closing their eyes to savor the taste. They open their eyes and over by the western shore, there are some white caps forming. As they watch, the white caps seem to race across the lake in their direction. As the first waves reach them, they feel the water start to churn. Then fear comes into their eyes as they see a monstrous wave form and roll in their direction. It gained strength and height as it raced toward them. They watched in horror as the wave rose twenty feet above them. They couldn’t see the western shore as the wall of water seemed to swell up in front of them. The boat pitched and rocked as the waves tried to swamp it. The disciples had been transformed from men plucking food from the sea to men about to be dumped into that sea.

Have you ever faced a time when it seems that maybe your time has come? We all find a place for Jesus when things like that happens. Jackie and I and another couple were coming back from Delaware in the early 80s. It had started to snow as we left Delaware and it rapidly developed into a major storm. Soon the road was covered and the snow was blowing so hard, that the windshield wipers couldn’t keep up with the snow covering the glass. I couldn’t see where the side of the road ended and the shoulder started. All of the sudden I was off of the road and on the shoulder. Before I could steer my way back on the road bed, my tire hit a pot hole on the shoulder. The car lurched onto the road bed and went into a spin. The lady in the back seat was screaming for me to do something. I was - I was praying as hard as I could remembering to turn the wheel in the direction of the spin. The car slid across the road side ways and then down an embankment that formed one side of the median strip. The car continued to slide side ways up the other side and across the highway on the other side. We came to rest on the opposite side shoulder. A few more feet and the car would have rolled down into a creek. We were all pretty shaken but no one was hurt and the car was now turned in the direction of the traffic. As Christians we know where we will go when we die, so what is it that we fear? The thing that we fear most is not the dying but the process of dying.

The disciples were no different when they saw that wave coming at them. They went to Jesus. Now Jesus is really sleeping. The violent rocking and pitching of the boat had not even caused him to turn over much less waken. They shook him and said, “You’ve got to do something or we will all be killed.” Jesus opened his eyes and they were calm and he fixed his gaze on them. “Why are you afraid? If there was something to fear, wouldn’t I be afraid too? You have seen me heal many people today. Didn’t that tell you something about who I am? Peter, you embraced me when I lifted the fever from your mother-in-law witnessing to who I am and yet you think that I would let something happen to you now. Where is your faith?” Jesus watched as they hung their heads recognizing that they really had nothing to fear. He arose from the bed and went out on deck. Spreading his hands over the boiling the sea, he commanded that the winds stop and the sea become calm. And you know what? It happened. Just like he commanded.

The disciples were amazed. Moments before, waves as high as hills were about to crash down on their boat and now the waters were calm, reflecting the twinkling lights of the skie. They marveled at how even the elements were subject to Jesus’ commands. The boat settled into it’s course to the other shore and that is where we pick up our study today.

Mark 5:1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when he stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. 3 He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain;4 for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruisng himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; 7 and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with mw, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me. 8 For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” 10 He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; 12 and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the uncleand spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea.

It was late at night when the boat arrived at the other shore. The beach led to a jagged cliff rising about 1800 feet. The side of the cliff was populated with caves. Now picture this scene. Jesus and the apostles get out of the boat and look up the side of the cliff. The caves had been converted into tombs full of bodies. It’s a dark bleak graveyard that greets them. It’s almost like one of the those movies at the Rosna. There was the quietness that always settles over a graveyard when the day is done. For the apostles this was not only a scary place, but, no place for a good Jew. Their eyes strain to see through the darkness and the fog seeming to spill out of the cave tombs. As they scan the cliff wall, there seemed to be a shadow darting from cave to cave. Must have been their imagination. “ No. I know that I saw something or someone creeping behind that ledge over there,” said the man standing beside Peter. What would you be thinking if you had been on that strange shore confronting a graveyard at night and there is a shadowy figure hiding in the tombs?

The quiet ends as they hear a scream and there, running down the sloping cliff side was a creature waving his arms and yelling at the top of his lungs. As he gets closer they see that he is as naked as a jaybird. Now, what would you do? I think the apostles said, “Feet, get moving.” As they scrambled back to the boat, they saw that Jesus hadn’t moved. He is standing there passively watching the man running toward him. I imagine that the apostles might have gotten a shot of backbone then and raced back to Jesus to protect him from this wild man. What do we know about this wild man?

(1) He lived in the tombs. Why? Nobody would have anything to do with him. Don’t you think that maybe, people made fun of him and taunted him? Just to get away from people he lived in the place where people avoided - a graveyard.

(2) He was possessed by an unclean spirit. Later on we learn that there were more than one unclean spirit in him. In those days, anybody who had a mental problem was thought to have an evil spirit living in them. This didn’t exactly make him a person people invited to parties.

(3) He was strong. Obviously, the people in the town must have tried to restrain him. Why? So he wouldn’t hurt them or hurt himself. This indicates that as far as the people were concerned, he couldn’t be managed. Even when they wrapped him in chains, he broke the chains.

(4) He ran around the graveyard howling. This convinced the people that he was more animal than human. There was no reasoning with him. He was past that. There is nothing more frustrating than to try to reason with someone who is devoid of the ability to reason.

(5) He bruised himself with stones. What’s that all about? Maybe, it was some sane part of him striking back at what he had become. Trying to hurt that insane side of him. Or, maybe it was part of a sacrificial ritual that the spirit possessing his body was performing.

(6) He was naked. We know this because when he is cured he is said to now be clothed. With some people who are having mental problems, after their mind goes, the clothes are close behind.

All of these things made the man a persona non grata. So, this wild man gets up to Jesus. His eyes are wide, drool spills from his lips and drips from his chin. His arms are upraised as if to strike Jesus. He’s drenched in his own sweat as the hair on his body mats from the sweat combining with the dirt to form muddy mixture. Does he hit Jesus? What does he do? He falls to the ground and bows down. The quotes get a bit confusing from here on. Sometimes it is the man talking and sometimes it is a demon. It is the demon talking when he says that Jesus is the Son of the Most High God.

We have to understand a little bit more about where this is taking place and the people living there. The west side of the Jordan was an area called the Decapolis which meant The Ten Towns. These were ten towns that had been founded by Alexander the Great. For the most part they were towns inhabited by Gentiles. In about 200 BC, the Maccabees had conquered these towns and because of that, some Jews had settled there, but, for the most part, the towns were still Gentile. It may be that one of the reasons for Jesus crossing the Jordan was to go to a Gentile area where he wasn’t known so that he could find a little rest.

That means that this crazy guy was probably a Gentile and had never heard of Jesus, but, the demon living in him knew who Jesus was and was afraid. Jesus commands the evil spirit to get out of the man’s body. The demon asks Jesus not to torment him. Actually, the spirit was begging Jesus not to torture him. Why worry about being tortured? After all, the possessed wasn’t in a Jew. He was in a Gentile. The demon should have thought that Jesus wouldn’t waste his time on a Gentile. But, this demon knew Jesus and knew that Jesus would have compassion for this crazy Gentile. What the demon tries to do is to get Jesus to agree not to mess up what the demon had set up for himself in the guy’s body. Evidently, the demon felt that as long as he was in the man, he was safe from Jesus. So, if he could get Jesus to leave him in the man, then he would continue to live. If the demon left the man, Jesus would come down on him like a hammer on a nail.

Now, Jesus had commanded the demon to come out of the man and the demon hadn’t. Why hadn’t Jesus won? At this point, Jesus thought he was dealing with one bad spirit. Nobody knows yet the magnitude of this man’s affliction. Demons aren’t dumb. They have some marbles of the their own to play. So, Jesus ups the anti. He asks what’s the demon’s name is. Does it really make any difference if the demon’s name is Charlie, Harvey or Sue? Not really. But, in those days, to know someone’s name gave you power over that person. If the demon said. “My name is Howdy Doody.” Jesus would own that demon and the demon would have no power to fight back. Does the demon tell Jesus his name? No. He says, “My name is Legion.” This doesn’t mean that his name is Legion Jones. It means that there are a lot demons in that man with a lot of names. That is why when Jesus commanded the demon to come out, he wasn’t being specific enough. A Legion was a corp of Roman troops numbering 6000. What Jesus was being told was that there were as many as 6000 demons possessing this guy. This must have been the Guinness record for multiple personalities.

The demons - demons because now we know and Jesus knew what was involved here - had their backs up against the wall. They knew that now that Jesus knew what he faced, it was only a matter of time before he booted him out of the wild man and that would be the end of them. To them, if they stayed in a body, any kind of body, they were safe. They look around and up on the top of the hill above the ridge was a herd of swine and there were 2000 pigs in the herd. Not the best accommodations, but, at least 6000 demons wouldn’t be too crowded in 2000 pigs. That’s only three demons per pig. They negotiate with Jesus for their safe passage out of the wild guy. “We won’t cause any more problems if you will let us migrate to those swine up there.” Jesus tells them, “It’s a deal.” and the demons pack up and fly up to the herd of swine. By-the-way, this also confirms that this was Gentile territory. Jews wouldn’t have had a herd of swine.

The demons settle into their pig home looking forward to BLTs for life. Did they get to enjoy their new home long? Nope. What happened? The swine herd ran to the edge pf the cliff and flew off right down to the Jordan River and drowned. The amazing thing about this is that way back in the first century, they were concerned with swine flew. We aren’t sure why the pigs stampeded over the cliff. It may be because the wild man let a big yell as the demons left. Or maybe, even pigs didn’t want to share their bacon with demons.

The guys taking care of the pigs were understandably upset when their pigs ran over the edge of the cliff. They ran back to town to tell everybody what had happened. They probably wanted to get their story out before the owners of the herd got wind of it and blamed the loss of the herd on them. Anyway, it was not only a financial loss for the community but a health issue too. There were going to be 2000 decaying pigs in the Jordan, the source of their drinking water. They send word to Jesus to please go somewhere else. Why did they invite Jesus to leave? After all he had cured a crazy guy who had been causing them a lot trouble. This was a miracle even for Gentiles. This miracle had cost them financially and physically. No telling what would happen with Jesus’ next miracle.

Mark 5: 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him, 19 But Jesus refused, and said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy has shown you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

The cured guy wants to join Jesus’ band. What does Jesus say to him? No. Why not bring him along? There probably were several reasons. (1) Jesus’ plan was to visit synagogues. Having a Gentile with him might have created too much of a distraction. (2) Jesus’ training of his disciples depended on them having some background in how God has dealt with people and that background came from the history of the Jews. (3) The man could be of more use giving his testimony to his own people. He could speak freely because there was no danger here in spreading the message of Jesus’ power. His story of his healing would guarantee that people would listen. If we really look at what Jesus said to the man, Jesus was making that ex-wild man of the graveyard the first Gentile missionary. He would pave the way for Paul and Barnabas by laying the ground work of knowing Jesus. In 69 AD when the Romans laid siege to Jerusalem, many of the Christians there fled to the territory of Decapolis the home of this man. Maybe because of this man’s witnessing to the power of Jesus, they had a more welcomed reception.

Did it scare you? I mean all about the graveyards, night time, a crazy wild guy. It has all the things that make up a good scary story. But it didn’t end with a monster falling from the balcony of a burning windmill. Or a stake driven through his heart. Or even being shot by a silver bullet. This story ends with a monster being restored to the community. Not only restored but having a hand in bringing a spiritual revolution to his neighbors and friends.

Prayer: Father, we seek Jesus for what he can do for us. We are thankful that he removes our demons and frees us from worldly fears. Amen.