Mark 5:1 - Meaning and Application

Here we see Christ driving out the strong man armed and dealing with him as he pleased, proving that he was stronger than Satan. He did this when he came to the other side, after crossing the stormy sea. His work there was to rescue this poor man from the devil’s grip, and when that was done, he returned. In the same way, Christ came from heaven to earth, and then returned through suffering and danger to redeem a small remnant of humanity from the devil’s power. He did not think his labor was wasted, even though the number was small.

Matthew says there were two demon-possessed men, while Mark speaks of one man with an unclean spirit. If there were two, then there was certainly one, and Mark does not say there was only one. So there is no real contradiction here. It is likely that one of them was more noticeable than the other, and that he was the one who spoke for both.

First, notice this man’s miserable condition. He was under the power of an unclean spirit, and the devil had taken hold of him. The result was not quiet sadness, as in some cases, but raging madness. He was violently disturbed, and his condition seems worse than that of most people Christ healed from demon possession.

He lived among the tombs, among the graves of the dead. Those tombs were outside the cities, in lonely places (Job 3:14), and that gave the devil a great advantage. Woe to the person who is alone. The devil may have driven him there to make people think the souls of the dead had become demons and were causing the harm, so people would excuse the evil from its true source. A grave also made a person ceremonially unclean (Numbers 19:16). The unclean spirit pushes people into dirty, harmful company and keeps them there. When Christ rescues souls from Satan’s power, he saves the living from among the dead.

He was also very strong and impossible to control. No one could bind him, which is what should be done for their own safety and for the safety of others. Not only ropes, but chains and iron fetters could not hold him (Mark 5:3-4). It is a sad thing when someone must be restrained like this, and such people are among the most pitiable in the world. But this man’s case was even worse, because the devil was so strong in him that he could not be bound. This shows the sad state of souls under the devil’s rule, those children of disobedience in whom that unclean spirit works. Some stubborn sinners are like this madman. All sinners are like the horse and mule, who need bit and bridle, but some are more like a wild donkey that will not be held in. The law’s commands and warnings are like chains and fetters meant to restrain sinners, but they break those bonds apart. That is clear evidence of the devil’s power in them.

He was also a terror and torment to himself and to everyone around him (Mark 5:5). The devil is a cruel master to those he leads captive, a true tyrant. This miserable man spent night and day in the mountains and among the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. He may have been mourning his dreadful condition, or raging against heaven. People in such madness often hurt themselves and even destroy themselves. What is a man when reason is thrown off the throne and Satan sits there instead? The worshipers of Baal, in their frenzy, cut themselves, just like this madman. God says, Do not harm yourself. Satan says, Do all the harm you can. Yet people ignore God’s word and follow Satan’s voice. Perhaps his cutting himself with stones only means that he hurt his feet on the sharp stones as he ran barefoot.

Second, notice his coming to Christ (Mark 5:6). When he saw Jesus from far away, coming ashore, he ran and worshiped him. He usually ran at other people in rage, but he ran to Christ with respect. This was done by Christ’s unseen power, since chains and fetters could not do it. His fury was suddenly held back. Even the devil in this poor man was forced to tremble before Christ and bow to him. Or rather, the poor man came and worshiped Christ because he felt his need of help, while Satan’s power over him was, for that moment, held back.

Third, notice Christ’s command to the unclean spirit to leave (Mark 5:8). He said, “Come out of him, you unclean spirit.” Christ first made the man willing to be helped, when he enabled him to run and worship him, and then he showed his power to help him. If Christ works in us so that we truly pray for rescue from Satan, he will also work to bring that rescue about. Here we see Christ’s power and authority over unclean spirits, and they obeyed him (Mark 1:27). He said, “Come out of the man.” The purpose of Christ’s gospel is to drive unclean spirits out of people’s souls. “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit,” so the Holy Spirit may enter, take possession of the heart, and rule there.

Fourth, notice the fear the devil had of Christ. The man ran and worshiped Christ, but it was the devil in the man who cried out with a loud voice, using the poor man’s voice, “What have I to do with you?” (Mark 5:7). Just as another unclean spirit said in Mark 1:24. He calls God the Most High, above all other gods. Among the Phoenicians and the nations around Israel, God was known by the name Elion, meaning the Most High, and the devil uses that name here too. He also admits that Jesus is the Son of God. It is no surprise to hear good words from bad mouths. Only the Holy Spirit enables someone to say this in the right way (1 Corinthians 12:3), yet even an unclean spirit can say it in a loose and shallow way. We should not judge people only by their smooth words, but by their fruit. Outward piety is easy to fake. The most polished hypocrite cannot say anything better than “Jesus is the Son of God,” and yet the devil said it too.

The demon also denies any desire to fight with Christ. “What have I to do with you?” means, “I do not need you. I claim nothing from you. I want nothing to do with you. I cannot stand against you, and I do not want to fall before you.” He begs for mercy and says, “I urge you,” meaning, “I earnestly ask you, for God’s sake, by whose permission I have taken hold of this man, that even if you drive me out from here, you will not torment me. Do not keep me from harming others. Though I know I am doomed, do not send me to the chains of darkness or stop me from going about to destroy.”

Fifth, Christ asks this unclean spirit for his name. That part is not in Matthew.

Christ asked him, “What is your name?” It was not because Christ could not know it. He could call all the fallen angels, as well as the faithful angels, by name. He asked so that everyone there would feel the great number and power of these evil spirits. That is why the answer mattered so much, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” A Roman legion was a large body of soldiers, often counted as about six thousand men, though the number was not always fixed.

This tells us several things about demons, the evil spirits from hell. First, they are warlike powers. A legion is a group of soldiers ready for battle. The devil and his servants fight against God, Christ, the gospel, and the holiness and happiness of people. They are the enemy we must resist and wrestle against (Ephesians 6:12).

Second, they are many. The evil spirit speaks almost as if boasting, “We are many.” It is as though he hoped there were too many for Christ to deal with. There were many fallen spirits, all set against God and humanity. Yet here was a whole legion stationed in one poor man to oppose Christ.

Third, they are united in evil. There were many devils, yet they acted as one legion in the same wicked cause. This shows how groundless the Pharisees were when they said Satan would be divided against himself. It was not one demon betraying the rest. They all spoke with one voice and one mind, “What have I to do with you?”

Fourth, they are powerful. Who can stand before a legion? By our own strength, we are no match for spiritual enemies. But in the Lord, and in the strength of his power, we can stand against them, even if there are legions of them.

Fifth, there is order among them, as there is in a legion. Scripture speaks of principalities, powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world, which suggests ranks below them too. There are the devil and his angels, the dragon and those who follow him, the prince of demons and his subjects. That makes these enemies even more dangerous.

The legion then asked Christ to let them go into a herd of pigs feeding near the mountains (Mark 5:11), the same mountains where the demon-possessed man had lived (Mark 5:5). They first asked that he would not send them out of the country (Mark 5:10). They did not only mean they did not want to be sent to their final prison to suffer before the time. They also did not want to be driven out of that region, even though they had brought great terror and harm there, and Christ had every right to banish them.

They seem to have had a special dislike for that land, or perhaps a special plan to harm it. It was not enough for them to roam the rest of the earth, as in Job 1:7. They wanted that mountain area as their place to range about, like grazing animals (Job 39:8). Some have suggested that they wanted to stay there because many people in that country had turned from God and lost the protection of his covenant. Others think the demons knew the people’s habits and could tempt them more effectively because of that knowledge.

Their second request was that Christ would let them enter the pigs. By ruining the herd, they hoped to do more harm to the people’s souls than by entering one man’s body. They did not ask to enter a human body, because they knew Christ would not allow that.

Christ granted their request and let them enter the pigs (Mark 5:13). He did not stop them. In this way, he let the people of Gadara see how strong and spiteful demons are, so they might be moved to make him their Friend. He alone could control and conquer such enemies, and he had already shown that he had that power.

At once the unclean spirits entered the pigs. By law, pigs were unclean animals, and they naturally love to wallow in filth, which suited those spirits well. People who, like pigs, delight in sinful pleasure make suitable dwelling places for Satan. They are like Babylon, the home of every foul spirit and every unclean bird (Revelation 18:2). Pure souls, by contrast, are fit places for the Holy Spirit to dwell.

Once the demons entered the pigs, the whole herd suddenly rushed madly down the steep bank into the sea and drowned, about two thousand in all. The possessed man had only cut himself, because God had limited the harm and spared his life. Even so, it shows that if he had not been restrained, he would likely have drowned himself too. We should see how much we owe to God’s providence and to the care of good angels for keeping us from evil spirits.

News of all this spread quickly through the whole region. The men who had been feeding the pigs hurried to tell the owners what had happened (Mark 5:14). Then the people came out to see for themselves. When they saw how completely the poor man had been healed, they grew to respect Christ (Mark 5:15). They saw the man who had been possessed and knew him well, because they had often been frightened by him before. Now they were amazed to see him sitting there, clothed and in his right mind. When Satan was cast out, the man came to himself at once.

This is what it looks like when Christ breaks the devil’s power in a person’s soul. A sober, careful, and disciplined life shows that Christ rules there now. The people were afraid, and their fear made them admit Christ’s power and his right to be feared.

But when they learned that their pigs were gone, they came to dislike Christ. They would rather have had his power taken away than his presence among them. They begged him to leave their region, because they thought he had not done enough good to repay the loss of so many pigs, perhaps fat pigs, ready for sale. In this, the demons got what they wanted, because nothing helps evil spirits more than a love for the world.

The people were afraid Christ might bring more judgment if he stayed. Yet if only they had been willing to give up their sins, he would have given them life and happiness instead. But since they would not part with their sins or their pigs, they chose to reject their Savior. People still do the same when they would rather keep one cheap sin than give up Christ and all the good they hope to receive from him.

They should have reasoned instead, “If he has such power over demons and all creatures, it is a good thing to have him as our Friend. If the demons are allowed to stay in our country (Mark 5:10), let us ask him to stay too, since he alone can control them.” But they did the opposite and wanted him farther away. That is how sinful hearts twist God’s right judgments. Instead of being driven to him, as they should be, they keep him at a greater distance. Yet God has said, “Do not provoke me, and I will do you no harm” (Jeremiah 25:6).

9. An account of the poor man’s behavior after he was delivered.

First, he wanted to go with Christ (Mark 5:18). Perhaps he feared the evil spirit might seize him again, or more likely, he wanted to keep learning from Jesus and did not want to remain among those heathen people who wanted Jesus to leave. Anyone who has been set free from an evil spirit will naturally long for closeness and fellowship with Christ.

Second, Christ would not let him go with him. This was likely to keep him from seeming showy, and also to show him that Christ could protect and teach him even from a distance. Christ had other work for him to do. He was to go home to his friends and tell them what great things the Lord had done for him, meaning the Lord Jesus had done for him. In this way, Christ would be honored, his neighbors and friends would be helped, and they would be invited to believe in him. He should especially notice Christ’s pity, not only his power, because Christ especially delights to show mercy. He was to tell them what compassion the Lord had shown him in his misery.

Third, the man, full of joy, spread through the whole region what great things Jesus had done for him (Mark 5:20). This is something we owe both to Christ and to our neighbors, so that he may be glorified and they may be helped. See the result of his witness: all the people were amazed, but few went any further. Many can marvel at Christ’s works, yet still fail to wonder after him as they should.