Mark 5:1-13 The One and the Many

First Things: Devotions in Mark’s Gospel

Mark 5:1-13 The One and the Many

Mark 5:1   They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. ² When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, ³ and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; ⁴ because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. ⁶ Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; ⁷ and shouting with a loud voice, he *said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” ⁸ For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he *said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹ Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. ¹² The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” ¹³ Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.

The story of “the man among the tombs” is striking. Here is a man, truly deranged and dangerous, possessed and tormented. But he is, after all, only one man, a long way from home. I wonder, how many men are there in the world just like this?Certainly he is just one among many.

Jesus addresses the evil spirit, commanding it to leave the man. He addresses the evil spirit as one, though this spirit later identifies himself this way: “My name is Legion; for we are many.” He says, singularly, “My name,” not “Our name.” He speaks as an individual, but acts as a horde.

The enemy in this case is formidable. The text says, “no one was strong enough to subdue him.” None from the political realm; none from the religious realm. It was left to the “corrections department” to try and keep him out of sight. But their efforts were a failure. And then the man went on his own and lived among the tombs, screaming and cutting himself.

Jesus, in the power of the Spirit, with the mere speaking of His voice, commands the spirit(s) to come out. They beg to be sent to the swine, and Jesus, surprisingly, gives permission. Think of it. Jesus has such authority that He can command not only angels, but also can give permission or refusal to unclean spirits. 

Jesus, alone, in concert with the Father’s purpose, and in dependance upon the Spirit’s power, releases this one, single man from the power of the enemy - an enemy that is both one and many. Jesus, alone, but not acting alone, is able to defeat an army of evil in this remote, death-and-demon-dominated place, in order to save one, just one man - one of out many.

Perhaps you can identify with this man. No, not in every detail, nor in most details. But you feel the power of evil that is persistently overcoming the more decent influences of political/religious/social forces, and you feel yourself being dragged down. You are afraid that you may end up dying this way. You haven’t found a way to subdue it. There is one, Jesus, who has acted on behalf of the many - the many like you - and who wants you to have freedom restored by finding life in Him.