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The Land of the Gadarenes
Scroll down to the text for this sermon, after the following Scriptures:
"Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea,
‘Peace, be still.’ And
the wind ceased and there was a great calm." (Mark 4:39).
"And when He had come to the other side into the country of
the Gadarenes, two men who were demon possessed met Him as they were coming out of the
tombs; they were so exceedingly violent that no one could pass by that road. And
behold, they cried out, saying, ‘What do we have to do with You, Son of God?
Have You come here to torment us before the time?’ Now there was at a distance
from them a herd of many swine feeding. And the demons began to entreat Him, saying,
‘If you are going to cast us out, send us into the here of swine.’ And He
said to them, ‘Begone!’
And they came out, and went into the swine, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the
steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. And the herdsmen ran away, and
went to the city, and reported everything, including the incident of the demoniacs.
And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they entreated
Him to depart from their region." (Matthew 8:28-34)
"And they came to the other side of the sea, into the
country of the Gerasenes. And when He had come out of the board, immediately a man
from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, and he had his dwelling among the tombs.
And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; 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. And
constantly night and day, among the tombs and in the mountains, he was crying out and
gashing himself with stones. And seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up an d bowed
down before Him; and crying out with a loud voice, he said, ‘What do I have to do
with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment
me’. For He had been saying to him, ‘Come out
of the man, you unclean spirit’. And He was asking
him, ‘What is your name?’
And he said to Him, ‘My name is Legion; for we are many.’ And he
began to entreat Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now there was a
big herd of swine feeding there on the mountain. And the demons entreated Him,
saying, ‘Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.’ And He 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. And their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and out in the
country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. And they
came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon possessed sitting down, clothed and
in his right mind, the very man who had had the ‘legion’; and they became
frightened. And those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the
demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. And they began to entreat Him to
depart from their region. And as He was getting into the boat, the man who had been
demon-possessed was entreating Him that he might accompany Him. And He did not let
him, but He said to him, ‘Go home to your people and
report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.’ And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what
great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone marveled. (Mark 5:1-20)
(Also recorded in Luke 8:26-39)
The Land of the Gadarenes
Jesus had just said " Peace, be still," and the storm was suddenly over. But, another kind of storm rages
on, in the hearts of people.
There are multiple accounts of this Gadarenes (Gesarenes) incident, and they differ in
certain respects. It may be that similar events occurred several times, and
the Gospel writers are relating different occurrences. God will often allow similar
events to keep on occurring in YOUR life, until you understand what He wants you to know,
and until you change in relation to what you see.
It may be that the writers just recalled the same event differently. During the years I
worked in Courtrooms, I witnessed hundreds of trials and hearings, and was often impressed
that different witnesses could see the same thing but often relate it differently.
Often two differing accounts were from honest witnesses but from varying perspectives.
This man of the Gadarenes was very lonely. His actions were frightening and were
keeping people away. We all need people, but also note he was not alone. He
and his life was filled with demons. So many that he could not count them, and they
referred to them- selves as "legion," which was a lot of trouble for this man.
At some point, events in his life had led to his present condition. We are
not told what they were, but we do know that Jesus came to him, and he was delivered.
Jesus had just said " Peace, be still" to the storm (Mark 4:39), and now He stilled another storm inside of this
man.
You can say that this man suffered from the wrong associations. In his case, he
had been chained, shackled, he was naked, and he was kept under guard. Now, often
demon possession may not our problem but we do suffer from wrong associations, and we do
things we should not. Jesus sets us FREE from our chains. He clothes us in
righteousness. And gives us the Holy Spirit of God. He says " Peace, be still," and we are free.
The emotion I see in this man of the Gadarenes, more than any other, was again -
loneliness. That is, as a BC (before Christ) person. This very same man
cleaned up his act, reformed, changed, and was a new man, because of the presence of
Christ in his life. That is true of most of us, and yet we tend to bring the old
into the new, and all too often, we carry loneliness into this new life in God. The
storm is over, but we act like it still rages.
Notice again that he had not been alone. His life was filled with beings, but
they tormented him, and his life was worse than being alone. We tend to want to be
busy, to be with people. We say things like "If I go to lots of places, with
laughing, active people, I won’t be lonely - I’ll be happy!" We might
think, "If I give into that person’s wishes, they might like me." We
decide, "If I work hard and get lots of money, people will want to be with me."
But who’s to say that a rich man, like for example, Bill Gates, is any less
lonely, any less tormented, than this man of the Gadarenes?
Friendships, though they can be wonderful, will not fill that emptiness in the hearts
of people. Money just runs through our fingers, and even if we keep it - it
won’t buy happiness. The pleasures of life are but for a moment, and they fade
away. The heart of the Gadarene was filled with activity, but he was desperately
alone.
Jesus said (and He was speaking to His disciples), " Abide in Me" (John 15:4 & context).
This is not, by the way, some "gimmick" that works for some, but not for
others. Jesus died for the sins of the world, and the "world" includes
you. Notice in John 15, that He is the Vine, and we are the branches. The
branch really doesn’t have to DO anything. But what if the branch worried about
what to do? What if the branch kept worrying that he would break off from the Vine?
(Which is what we do, many times). What if the branch saw the fruit start to grow,
and said "Oh, no, it’s grapefruit; I was afraid of that; I might break from the
weight? I wanted grapes, not grapefruit (& not very many)". ---
It’s not just you (the branch) holding the grapefruit, it’s the Tree holding
you. That’s how you abide - Just rest content in Him.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made - just as you are. Remember, it is not you
who somehow holds yourself in the Christian life, it’s Christ. And the result,
for you, is found in John 15:11, "that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be
made full."
Lord, I want that peace, that joy, right now. Just like You calmed that storm,
please say " Peace, be still", inside of me. Calm me, Lord. Forgive my sins, fill me with
Your Holy Spirit, and give me the peace of God. Let me rejoice in You.
In Jesus Name. Amen.
Ron Beckham
Friday Study Ministries
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