How beautiful...

How beautiful is the body of Christ!

(Mark 5:1-20, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, November 18, 2018)

[1] They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. [2] And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. [3] He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, [4] 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. [5] Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. [6] And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. [7] 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.” [8] For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” [9] And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” [10] And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. [11] Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, [12] and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” [13] 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.

[14] The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. [15] 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. [16] And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. [17] And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. [18] As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. [19] 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.” [20] And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

The tragic facts regarding a certain demon-possessed man

God created man male and female and He said that His creation was very good. But after the fall of Adam, it has become very easy to forget the truth of Genesis 1 (our beauty at creation) and Revelation 22 (our destiny). Consider just a few words from verse 4 of that final chapter of the Bible, “They will see His face.” Who is the being that we will see? Who are we who will see God? How utterly shocking! But this will happen.

Jesus came as the visible face of the invisible Father. The whole story of the Bible is the account of how we get from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. There is no way that happens without Jesus. Mark (Peter) is further introducing us in this fifth chapter to the Man from heaven who came to defeat evil.

Jesus and His disciples crossed the lake into Gentile territory. They, or more accurately Jesus, was immediately met by a man in a tragic condition. He had “an unclean spirit.” He lived among the dead rather than in the land of the living since he lived “among the tombs.” He was very strong and quite dangerous since He could not be restrained “even with a chain.” Maybe they could tie him up when he was younger and weaker, but not “anymore.” You could here this man crying out “among the tombs and on the mountains” like a wild animal. He also was a danger to himself, because he was always “cutting himself with stones.” This was the person that met Jesus that day.

What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?

This man that no one could control “saw Jesus from afar,” and he “ran and fell down before Him.” What was that? Suddenly the man was desperately weak rather than frighteningly strong. There He is prostrate at Jesus feet yelling out a question and adding a frantic request to a Jewish Messiah who came from the other side of the lake: “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” Why? Because Jesus was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” This was not the language of happy submission to the Son of God.

Then the surprise. Jesus asks the key question: “What is your name?” The answer: “My name is Legion, for we are many.” A Roman legion at full strength had 6000 soldiers. We do not know the exact number of demons that plagued this son of Adam, just that it was “many.” They asked to stay there and be sent into the pigs, and Jesus “gave them permission.” This evil troop then entered 2000 animals and off they went to their death.

The reaction of the city

Now what? The “herdsmen” and the other local “people” did an amazing thing after they saw Jesus and the man, now “sitting there, clothed and in his right mind.” We are told that “they were afraid.” After hearing the account of what happened from those who had seen it all, “they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.”

There was one man who wanted to be near Jesus—the “man who had been possessed with demons.” He “begged him that he might be with him.” Jesus would not allow it, but sent him back to his own people with the words of his testimony on his lips as a witness to his own people: “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 so He did. Who was “the Lord” who accomplished this? Mark tells us plainly when He writes that the man “began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him.”

Life after deliverance

Jesus came into a world twisted by evil and sadness. His intention in undertaking His mission was entirely good, and He had more than enough power to accomplish His perfect will. Though His great works of deliverance were undeniable, some who saw Him in person simply wanted Him to go away. The one man who had been most dramatically changed by Jesus had a better message for his family and friends.

What has Jesus done for you? Has He not made you beautiful? I remember a song...

How beautiful the hands that served the wine and the bread and the sons of the earth.

How beautiful the feet that walked the long dusty roads and the hills to the cross.

How beautiful is the body of Christ.

How beautiful the heart that bled that took all my sin and bore it instead.

How beautiful the tender eyes that chose to forgive and never despise.

How beautiful is the body of Christ.

And as He laid down His life we offer this sacrifice that we will live just as he died:

willing to pay the price, willing to pay the price.

How beautiful the radiant Bride who waits for her Groom with His light in her eyes.

How beautiful when humble hearts give the fruit of pure lives so that others may live.

How beautiful is the body of Christ.

How beautiful the feet that bring the sound of good news and the love of the King.

How beautiful the hands that serve the wine and the bread and the sons of the earth.

How beautiful is the body of Christ.

Songwriters: Ann Wilson, How Beautiful lyrics © Music & Media Int'l, Inc

Old Testament Reading—Psalm 84 – How lovely is Your dwelling place!

New Testament Reading—Hebrews 13 – God's commands and benediction