Respond to the fear of God with joy, not rejection

Intro – I heard another pastor say regarding the text we’re going to read this morning that no introduction is necessary. Usually a preacher uses his introduction as a way of grabbing the attention of the audience and making them interested in what he has to say, but with this story, you merely have to read it and it is so striking and so bizarre that it grabs our attention all by itself.

I think that is sound advice, so I’ll just begin by reading Mark 5:1-20.

Respond to the fear of God with joy, not rejection

Text – Mark 5:1-20 , which can be found in your pew Bible on page 799

Prayer

As you’ll notice from the main point, the significant part of this passage takes place in how the people respond to Jesus at the end of the story. There are three things I want to say about how people respond to Jesus and those will be our three sermon points. But before we get to the response we have to talk about the setting and the events.

The setting (vs. 1-5)

Jesus has been preaching all of the previous day to crowds that are overwhelming him and trying to crush him. He has to preach from a boat to remain safe. Without touching the shore, he leaves in the boat to cross the sea, perhaps to escape the crushing crowds. There’s a horrible storm at sea and Jesus is tired enough to sleep during it, but he’s woken up by his own disciples. He finally gets to the other side of the sea and immediately upon stepping out of the boat a maniacal man comes to meet him. Jesus can’t seem to catch a break. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by dealing with one thing after another with no relief, it’s comforting to know that we have a Savior who can sympathize.

So what kind of man is this? In short, he’s the sort of man that you don’t want to be around. We’ve all encountered people at various times whose very presence makes you feel uncomfortable even if they’re not doing anything particularly threatening. But this man was worse than that.

It says he lived in the tombs. He lived there with the dead people. These may have been graveyards similar to our cemeteries, but more likely these are caves that offer him shelter and contain dead bones. This man not only has an unclean spirit, but he is filthy and ceremonially unclean because of contact with the dead.

Interestingly, people had attempted to bind him with chains. Why would they do that? It’s because he was violent. He was a threat. He wanders about during the day no doubt searching for food and because he’s not in his right mind he might attack and steal food from the local towns. So imagine 4 or 5 brave men who realize they must do something about him for the sake of their town and their families’ safety. They bring some chains and some shackles. Maybe they can bind this strong man and prevent him from harming their people. Imagine the fight and the wrestling match that would have ensued. They attempt to pin him down and wrap chains around him and to shackle his hands and feet. There is punching and kicking and scratching and biting. But after an exhausting bout where they no doubt were each injured to various degrees, the men are able to get the chains around him. Furious the demon-possessed man struggles for a few minutes, maybe even a few hours, but he finds a way to tear the chains off of himself and to be free. How discouraging for those men that had bound him. For the next few weeks or months they just deal with the horrifying man trying to avoid him, but at some point his ravaging becomes too much and they try again with the same results. Vs 4 says that often he had been bound with shackles and chains. They attempted this more than once. No one had the strength to subdue him.

This man screams and howls during both the day and the night. And not only is he a danger to others, but he is a danger to himself. He’s always cutting himself. I imagine he has scrapes and bruises and dried blood all over him from wounds that were never cleansed. This is the man that greets Jesus as soon as he steps out of the boat.

What happens when Jesus and this demoniac stand face to face?

The events (vs. 6-13)

Immediately, the man’s behavior is not what we would expect. As far as we know, Jesus has never been to this place before, yet the man recognizes him from a distance. He runs to him and bows before him. He then identifies who Jesus is. He calls him the Son of the Most High God. You might not realize it, but this is standard fare for demons in Mark. As we’ve been reading, it is literally only the demons who know who Jesus is.

In chapter 1, Jesus encounters a demoniac in the synagogue, and the demon says, “I know who you are - the Holy One of God!” Later in that chapter it says, “Jesus would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.” In chapter 3, it says, “Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God!” The demon in our passage says, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” The demons all know precisely who Jesus is. Meanwhile, Jesus’ closest followers who have been witnessing his miracles say what concerning Jesus at the end of chapter 4? “Who then is this?”

The demons know who Jesus is and they beg not to be tormented. They know he will cast them into hell to be destroyed forever one day, but they beg for it not to be today. Jesus asks for the demon's name. It’s important to note that when Jesus asks questions, it’s not because he doesn’t know the answer. He asks typically for the sake of those around him. The demon responds by saying his name is Legion. A Roman legion was about 6000 soldiers. That doesn’t necessarily mean that there were precisely 6000 demons in the man, but the name indicates to everyone watching that this man has an enormous amount of demons inside of him.

Not only are the demons different from the disciples because they know who Jesus is, but they are different in the fact that they also know Jesus is completely in control. The disciples were surprised at Jesus’ power over the sea. The demons recognize it all along. You’ll notice how they bow before Jesus. And they beg him and plead with him to not torment them, to not send them away, but to send them into the pigs. They recognize Jesus has all of the power. Jesus grants them permission and they enter into the pigs. The pigs run into the sea and all 2000 are drowned. Why the demons do this is unclear. But it immediately grabs the attention of the whole town.

At this point the story transitions from describing the events, to describing the reactions of the various people involved towards Jesus. And it is these responses that our main point is derived from - Respond to fear with submission not rejection.

Point #1 – The power of Jesus leads to fear (vs. 14-15)

READ VS 14-15

The response of the townspeople seems a bit unexpected here. We often imagine that demonstrations of God’s power would lead to rejoicing. If God healed someone in a very clear and miraculous way, you would celebrate wouldn’t you? You’d throw a party and you’d sing and you’d dance. If God calmed a dangerous and life-threatening storm, you’d immediately start praising him and offering gratitude. But this is not the way people respond. When Moses encounters God at the burning bush, he hides his face and is terrified. When Samson’s father speaks to the angel of the Lord, he is unnerved and fears he will immediately die. After the disciples see the sea calmed in the previous story, it says “they were filled with great fear”. Then here in our story it says that when they saw the man sitting in his right mind “they were afraid”

I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, but exorcisms were never performed in all the Old Testament. Never before has someone spoken to a demon and cast them out. Much less has anyone ever cast out thousands of demons at once. Jesus’ mission has been to enter Satan’s kingdom and free those captive by sin by calling them to repent. In chapter 3, he said he was going to bind the strong man, Satan and his forces, so that he could plunder his house. Here Jesus binds the strong man that no one else has been able to bind, by casting out these demons.

To my knowledge, I’ve never encountered a demon in my life. I imagine it could easily become a very fearful experience. I don’t know if they distort people’s faces and speak with hellish voices like in the movies, but I’m sure that whatever they do to a person is unpleasant to interact with. It’s the stuff of nightmares. Now imagine, not one, but thousands of demons. It’s a force of darkness that would cause even the most hardened soldier to fall to his knees and tremble. Yet when Jesus speaks a simple word, the legion of demons is cast out and destroyed.

Again, the response of the people is not celebration. It’s fear. Jesus’ eye is firmly fixed on the demoniac and he demonstrates that all of the cosmos including his most fearsome enemies is all his to command. There is power in his word that can bring life and bring death in an instant. And then he turns that powerful gaze from the demoniac and fixes it on you. In that moment you recognize that you have no control in this situation. He has all the control. If he but speaks, he can cause you to be removed from the face of the earth. You only exist as long as he allows you to continue. And then quickly running through your head are all the reasons that he shouldn’t allow you to live. You’ve sinned in an enormous assortment of ways. You’ve blasphemed against him by your words and your actions. You’ve insulted his image by hating and hurting those who are made in his likeness. You’ve lived selfishly and treated the needy with contempt. Your embarrassing history is exposed before him, the one who has all of the power in the universe. And you realize that the only thing preventing you from being cast out into hell like the demons is his goodwill toward you.

Friends, this isn’t a warm and fuzzy encounter with a teddy bear Jesus. This is a fearful encounter with the living God who holds the power of your life and your death in the palm of his hand. Have you seen Jesus in this light before? Has the recognition of his power ever caused fear to well up in your heart? It is completely appropriate to look at God’s holiness and his power and to experience fear.

I admit that when I first was writing this sermon I used the word awe instead of fear. I don’t like how fearing God or fearing Jesus makes me feel. It’s uncomfortable. And I’m sure many of you feel the same way. But the Bible is filled with language of fearing God and over and over we are commanded to fear God. I don’t think it’s helpful to flatten it out and just say, “well fear really should just mean respect” because there are words for respect and yet the Bible keeps using the word fear.

It’s confusing. How can I have a loving relationship with one who loves me and yet have a fear of Him at the same time?

I think the best analogy is how you might hear someone talk about their mother. They might say, “Oh I would never try drugs because my mother would kill me.” Does this phrase mean that their mother hates them or that they have some sort of threatening relationship with their mom? No. Quite the opposite. It’s said because you recognize the intense desire your mother has to keep you out of harm’s way and to see you make good choices, the love she has for you. And she will pour out all kinds of fearsome punishments and frightening words to bring you back to safety for your good.

The fear of God is the right response to seeing God’s power, but will that fear cause you to run towards God or away from him? For some they respond with rejection.

Point #2 – The cost of Jesus leads to rejection (vs. 16-17)

READ VS 16-17

Two things are described to the townspeople. They describe how a man who was filled with thousands of demons and was miraculously healed by Jesus’ power. Secondly, they also describe how around two thousands pigs were possessed by demons and ran to their death in the sea. One of these events is great news. That man whom they had tried so hard to bind up, who was causing so much trouble for them and was a constant violent threat has now been pacified. He’s in his right mind. He himself has been delivered and they also have been delivered from any more danger from him. This is great news. The other event was bad news. They were pig herders. Obviously this is a Gentile area because Jews weren’t allowed anything to do with pigs, but for these men those pigs were their livelihood. And now they have been drowned.

So they have just received some good news and some bad news. Is the level of goodness in the good news greater than the level of badness in the bad news? They have to weigh out this decision. And clearly they determine that the bad news is worse than the good news is good. They want Jesus to leave and through that desire, they are communicating that their new situation of no demons and no pigs is worse than previously when they had both demons and pigs. They were ok with the presence of demons as long as it meant they got to keep their pigs. When you phrase it that way it sounds rather ridiculous. But it’s true. They were willing to tolerate thousands of villainous servants of Satan because they thought it wouldn’t cost them anything.

We’ve already mentioned that the people who had witnessed Jesus’ power were afraid. And I think it’s safe to say they were also afraid of the demon-possessed man. But the way they measured their fears was by which of these two men would cost them the most. You see if the demoniac stays around, then they do lose some things. They lose the ability to travel around safely. They may lose some of the things that he steals or destroys. They lose a bit of peace and quiet. But if they allow Jesus to stay around, I think they recognize that they will lose everything. His presence has delivered them yes, but it has already cost them their financial security. If they choose to welcome Jesus, he has the power to make all kinds of demands on them.

And this same question can be asked of any of us today. Would you rather keep your demons and your pigs or have Jesus come and strip everything away? I think it’s very easy for me to hope that somehow God will get rid of the demons, but also let me keep the pigs at the same time. God, I pray that you would get rid of everything that is troubling me, but also God please don’t ask anything difficult of me. Please don’t take anything away from me.

When the townspeople saw that Jesus’ presence would cost them something they rejected him. They asked him to leave. Please, don’t take anything more from us. Please, don’t deliver us anymore because the cost is too great. They had a fear of Jesus that led them to reject Jesus.

But what if they had found that the good news was more good than the bad news. At least one man felt that way.

Point #3 – The freedom of Jesus leads to joy (vs. 18-20)

READ VS 18-20

We have two back-to-back instances of people begging Jesus. In verse 17, the people begged Jesus to leave. Now in 18, the former demoniac begs Jesus to take him with him. He had experienced all of the same events that the pig herders had seen. He clearly had experienced them on a much more personal level. I wonder if this man had that same fear of Jesus that the others experienced. I’m inclined to think that he did. Jesus also looked him right in the eye. He also saw that Jesus had absolute power over life and death, over not only physical forces like storms, but over spiritual forces like demons. He saw that his eternity and existence rested in this man’s hands. I think anyone who is met with that type of gaze experiences a healthy fear. But unlike the crowd, this man’s fear draws him towards Jesus. I know. Being drawn towards something you fear does not seem to make sense, but it’s the sort of thing that happens in the Bible.

I’m going to invite you to turn back in the Bible to Exodus. There’s an important passage there that will help us understand this. Exodus 20, it’s on page… in your pew Bible. The people of Israel have been delivered from Egypt through Moses, they’ve crossed the Red Sea, and they’ve made it to Mt. Sinai. God has descended on the Mountain with all of his terrifying power and He has just audibly spoken to the people from the storm his Ten Commandments. Look at verses 18-21, here’s how it describes the people’s reaction.

READ EXODUS 20:18-21

Moses says, Do not fear. But also you should fear God. The people respond to this fear by standing far off, but Moses responds by drawing near to God. Why should they fear God? Because he has the power to destroy nations like Egypt. He can lift up seas and then drop them on armies. He can set mountains on fire with dark clouds and lightning. He hates sin and he will crush it entirely. But also they should not fear, because this Almighty God has used that great power to deliver them. He used his power to save and to serve. His fearsomeness has led to their freedom. Moses could approach God knowing that this God is for him.

Do you see why the demoniac is able both to fear God and to beg to be with him? He sees that fearful power, but it has been used to deliver him. It gave him freedom. And that freedom brought him joy and a desire to be with Christ.

But even though he desired greatly to be with Christ, Jesus turns him away and sends him back. That’s a little disheartening to hear. We think Jesus ought to be nice and let this man join him. But instead, he sends him back with a mission. Tell everyone about what happened to you. Tell what the Lord has done for you.

I have to wonder if there’s some embarrassment to this command. Because the only way this man can tell his story is if he highlights all the details about how horribly insane he was. The reason this story is worth telling is because the man was an absolute maniac. Jesus commands him to go tell people about how he would cut himself and howl and live in the tombs. I’m sure he’d rather keep those things secret. But Jesus tells him to share it with others. Because understanding the depth of the man’s lostness is key if he’s going to make clear the magnitude of his salvation.

Over the past several months, I’ve sat down with a lot of people in this congregation and heard your stories. They’re all unique. And Jesus’ work of salvation is highlighted differently among different people. But one theme I have noticed is that so often people are embarrassed to talk about their shameful past. It makes sense. We want to be thought of well by others and so bringing up the worst decisions we’ve ever made doesn’t seem to be good conversation material. But I can say that personally I have been so blessed by these stories. Because the highlight of the story isn’t you and your lostness. The highlight of the story is Jesus and the incredible power he has to deliver people into lives of freedom. And though it’s painful to talk about the season of sin, there is so much joy in talking about the freedom he brings.

The demoniac had a very painful story, but he recognized the joy there was in sharing about deliverance. There was great joy in talking about his encounter with a man that has power over Satan, over evil, over sin, and over life and death. And so the demoniac travels everywhere telling everyone how bad he was and how incredible Christ’s salvation is. Don’t be afraid to tell your story. Satan wants you to make it about you and how bad you were, but your story is not about you. Your story is about Christ’s power. It’s a joy to share the freedom he provides.

When you encounter Jesus, it is completely appropriate to be afraid. It is appropriate to recognize his power extends beyond our imagination. But don’t let that fear drive you away from him. Don’t let the fear of what he might ask of you cause you to reject him. Instead, recognize the joy there is in the freedom he provides. He uses that great power to deliver you. So “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

Prayer