When Pigs Fly (Mark 5:1-20)

I had quite a scare recently. In the middle of the night, our dog started barking. It wasn’t her small chirp that lets us know she’s bored and would like to see what’s going on outside. No, this was as loud and tense as I’ve ever heard her – something had intruded.

I went out to the front room and there, in the shadows, I could make out a round, head shape at eye level, about 3 yards from me. It moved ever so slightly and I knew I had very little time to react. Instinctively, I turned on the light and now could see the intruder clearly: It was a birthday balloon that had wafted in from the other room when the A/C kicked on.

This section of Mark is fright night. I usually think of the encounter with the Gadarene demoniac as being a daytime event but Mark told us that it was evening when they got into the boat at Capernaum. Normally it takes about two hours to get to the other side of the sea.^[1] Even assuming the storm slowed them down, there’s no reason for us to think it was yet morning.

Have you ever been followed at night? The disciples, who are already terrified as of chapter 4, verse 41, land on shore and see a grotesque man, bleeding, naked, staring them down as he ran toward them. Oh, and it’s all happening with a graveyard as the backdrop. Scary stuff.

Mark 5:1-2 – ¹ They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. ² As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him.

The Gospel of Matthew and Luke both record this event. In Matthew we see there are two demon-possessed men. It’s not a contradiction, just a matter of story-telling perspective.

The Devil’s artillery failed to stop Jesus’ arrival, so he turned to troops. A legion of demons is dispatched to resist the Lord. Of course Jesus could have called down more than 12 legions of angels to protect Himself.^[2] But Jesus Christ didn’t need bodyguards, even behind enemy lines.

The Gerasenes was Gentile controlled.^[3] He’s in an unclean land, among unclean tombs, facing an unclean Gentile, full of unclean spirits. But, Jesus goes there so He might bring deliverance and preach the Good News. Exorcisms happened in the sacred synagogue and the Gentile graveyard.

Mark 5:3-5 – ³ He lived in the tombs, and no one was able to restrain him anymore—not even with a chain— ⁴ because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had torn the chains apart and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

We want our heroes to be fantastically strong – Captain America, Wolverine, Mr. Incredible. Much different story when the monster next door has that kind of power. This guy had supernatural strength. When’s the last time you broke through metal chains? The whole community had tried to contain this menace with zero success. No one was strong enough to subdue him. You couldn’t bind him or stop him. In that description, Mark was using “as strong an expression as imaginable.”^[4]

But now, let’s realize how horrible the situation was for the man himself. He was dying in slow motion. He lived among the dead. He was cast out to starve. He spent his days shouting into the dark and slicing his own flesh, his life ebbing away a little more each day.

If you’re not a Christian here tonight you need to know: This is you. I’m not saying you’re demon possessed, but you are dying in slow motion. You were born dead in trespasses and sins and no matter how strong you may feel, you are headed toward eternal death unless you are rescued and revived by Jesus Christ. There is salvation in no other name. But He wants to save you. That’s why He came to earth. To seek and to save the lost. He came to give you life.

Mark 5:6-8 – ⁶ When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and knelt down before him. ⁷ And he cried out with a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you before God, don’t torment me!” ⁸ For he had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

Your version may say the man came and “worshiped” Him, but let’s not get confused about what’s happening here. The demons are not singing praises. In fact, their opening line was a colloquial saying that meant something like, “What have I done to You that You should do this to me?”^[5] In Matthew’s account, the demons also say to Jesus, “What a minute – You’re early. You’re here ‘before the time.’” And, as we’ve seen before, it seems the demons Jesus encountered sometimes tried to gain an upper hand against Him by using invoking His earthly name and heavenly title.^[6])

The demons also try to boss Jesus around, demanding that He swear to God in an oath that He won’t torture them.^[7] It’s ironic: They’re worried about being tormented after all they had done to this poor man. They made sport of torturing him. Luke says he had been that way for a long time.^[8]

But it’s interesting – they had some measure of understanding, they immediately recognized Him. They knew His name. They knew He had absolute power that could not be withstood. But they were simultaneously in the dark about many other things when it came to Jesus and His work.

So, they were not worshiping Jesus. But they could not help but pay Him the homage He was due as the Son of the Most High God. Philippians tells us that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess Jesus Christ is Lord.^[9]

A person may mock Jesus, rebel against Him, run from His commands, but one day, Christ will return, and then they, too, will be on their knees before the King of kings.

Let’s recognize one more thing: They knew that Jesus and His Father were both merciful. That He might not destroy them, though that’s what they deserve. Did their master, the Devil, show any mercy to Job? Had they shown any mercy to this man? But the God of the Bible is a God of mercy.

Isaiah 30:18a – ¹⁸ Therefore the LORD is waiting to show you mercy, and is rising up to show you compassion…

Jesus was willing to show these unclean spirits a measure of mercy. Now, He was not willing to allow them to continue what they were doing to this poor man. And remember, Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. And these demons were feeding on one of those Christ came to save. And so He would not fail to rescue this man and bring him from death to life.

Mark 5:9-10 – ⁹ “What is your name?” he asked him. “My name is Legion,” he answered him, “because we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region.

There is some suggestion that demons are assigned and attached to certain areas, but that doesn’t mean we need to start doing demon maps or anything like that. Nor do we need to learn how to extract the name of demons so we can command them. The demons tried to play that game with Jesus and He is demonstrating that they have no power over Him, whatsoever.

Now, at the time, a Roman legion was about 6,000 soldiers.^[10] That’s not a specific count for how many demons are in this guy, but it was a lot. I find it ironic that they really want to stay in that locale, but don’t mind being all cooped up together in a single guy.

Mark 5:11-13 – ¹¹ A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. ¹² The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.” ¹³ So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there.

You FFA folks might think, “Pigs aren’t really herd animals.” Mark is highlighting the cosmic conflict going on here by using military images. The word he uses was often used of a band of military recruits. And Jesus dismisses the legion, almost like a commander.^[11]

There’s another image hidden here for the original readers: The wild boar was the emblem of the Roman legion stationed in Palestine.^[12] So here’s Jesus, in Gentile land, facing a legion, and in the end the pigs are driven into the sea.

Remember: Mark was primarily writing this book to Christians living in Rome and elsewhere in Italy.^[13] So here is a subtle reminder that Jesus not only had power over legions of demons, but also over the godless legions of Rome and every other human kingdom. In the end, Christ conquers all.

Now, this situation raises a number of questions – some of which we simply can’t answer with total certainty. First, why did the demons want to go into the pigs? Well, there’s some indication in the New Testament that these sort of spirits want to inhabit other living creatures. There’s a second possible reason we’ll get to in a moment.

The second question is: Why did Jesus allow this? Doesn’t He care about the pigs? God absolutely cares about animals. But this does highlight God’s priorities. A single human life is much more important than even thousands of pigs.^[14] In Matthew 12, Jesus says outright, “A person is worth far more than a sheep.” That doesn’t mean it’s ok for people to mistreat animals, but when lives hang in the balance, God goes with the human every time. Because humans are created in His image. You are not the same as an animal. You are a human, and that is a unique being in God’s order.

Before we move on, one more quick reminder for us, especially anyone who is not a believer here. Take a good long look at the naked, bloody suffering of the demon possessed man. Try to hear the chilling screams of the pigs as they drown in the sea. That is the devil’s plan for you. That is what sin does every time. The road of sin leads to your grave. The road of salvation leads to life everlasting.

Perhaps Jesus allowed this so that this poor man would know he was really, truly safe. That the demons were gone and they would not return to trap him again. Because He wanted to remind us:

Micah 7:19 – ¹⁹ He will again have compassion on us; he will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.

That’s what Jesus does when He forgives us because He delights in His faithful love toward us.

Mark 5:14-17 – ¹⁴ The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. ¹⁵ They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs. ¹⁷ Then they began to beg him to leave their region.

So, like the 12, these Gentiles were afraid. Terrified because they did not understand Who Jesus was. They don’t glorify God. They don’t think, “Maybe we should hear more from this miracle worker.” No, they go right to: “Would You please leave?”

We’d expect people to say, “Hey, I know this other person who is demon possessed,” or, “I’ve got this sick family member, let me go get them.” But they were not interested. And perhaps that is why the demons asked to go into the pigs. Maybe they knew these people well enough to know they cared more about their sows than their souls.

Now, turn from the crowd to the man. He has been totally transformed. He’s gone from screaming to serene. From naked to clothed. And we’ll see this wasn’t just him feeling a little better, but his mind is fixed. His desires and behavior are changed. Now he has strength for life not just death.

But there he is, seated and clothed. Jesus didn’t just deliver him, but also provided for him. Perhaps the cloak was Peter’s or John’s. Maybe it was Jesus’! But he was made well, from the inside out.

Mark 5:18-20 – ¹⁸ As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him earnestly that he might remain with him. ¹⁹ Jesus did not let him but told him, “Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.

After all that, Jesus gets right back in the boat to go back to Jewish territory. You know, Jesus does not stay where He isn’t wanted.^[15] When a nation, a community, a family, or a church says, “We don’t trust You, we’re not interested in Your opinion or Your leading,” then the Lord withdraws Himself. That should be a very sobering thought for us. It happened to churches in the New Testament. Instead of allowing pride or fear or misunderstanding to determine our relationship to Jesus, we should be like this Gerasene man. He begged to remain with Jesus.

That’s an interesting phrase – it’s exactly how disciples were described back in chapter 3. The 12 were those He appointed to be with Him and to be sent out to preach. This man was instantly filled with a desire for discipleship.

And Jesus says no?!? What in the world is going on here? Well, let’s remember: This is a Gentile. Jesus’ ministry at this point in time was not to the Gentile world – not yet. And bringing a Gentile into the group would’ve caused significant problems among the Jews. But did Jesus say this man couldn’t be a disciple? Actually, the Lord sent him out to proclaim the Gospel in the Decapolis as the Gentile world’s first missionary. To go and spread the word of God’s power and His mercy. And the man does it, fearlessly. The disciples were afraid. The crowds were afraid. But the one who was delivered had no fear. He became a proclaimer just like John the Baptist had been a proclaimer.

As we close, a couple thoughts about discipleship. On one level, it is shocking to us that Jesus would allow the demons to go where they wanted, but not allow this man to come follow Him. But, the Lord knows what is best and what is needful. One commentator writes, “Jesus’ answer [to this man] shows how impossible it is to have a stereotyped definition of discipleship. One person is taken away from home and family, another is sent back to them contrary to his own wishes.”^[16]

Will we allow the Lord to set the destinations and directives of our lives? That’s what real discipleship is. To kneel before Him, not because we were compelled by His power, but because we are compelled by our love for Him. A love that trusts and obeys.

And second, notice Jesus did not send this man out with power to perform any miracles. What did he have? His transformed life was the demonstration of God’s power. The changes in his life were the visible proof of God’s mercy, of God’s love, of God’s truth, of God’s activity. Now, the Lord may do miraculous things through you, but that’s not what we really need to make a difference in the world. Your life, changed by the Gospel, is proof enough. Your heart, your mind, your attitude, your choices, your hope when transformed by the love of God is enough to make an unbelieving world marvel.

Mark 4:26-34 – Growing Gains

Do you remember those “grow in water” toys? They still sell them, but you don’t see them as much as we did in the 90’s. The packages promised unbelievable growth – that what you started with would expand to 50, 100, 1,000 in size. So you’d get out the little capsule or the tiny, shrunken dinosaur that looked like it came out of a Lucky Charms box, toss it in a glass of water, then wait a few hours, only to realize you were right to not believe the claims. Now, instead of a tiny, shrunken marshmallow you didn’t want to play with, you had a wet sponge that you didn’t want to play with.

Mark 4 shows us the way Jesus taught in Galilee. He predominantly used parables when speaking to the crowds. This chapter is a stack of parables, not necessarily given at the same time, but showing Jesus’ method and the content of some of these teachings.

The collection starts with the Parable of the Sower, which Jesus sets out as the key parable for understanding the others. Tonight we have two other parables that are similar in style and imagery, but with somewhat different points.

In the Parable of the Sower, the focus was the four types of soil. Tonight the main point is that even though Christ’s work began humbly and in obscurity, in the end the growth will be unbelievably huge – dominating the whole world with life.

Mark 4:26a – ²⁶ “The kingdom of God is like this,” he said…

What does Jesus mean by “the Kingdom of God?” The truth is, Jesus doesn’t define the Kingdom of God. But He did describe it.^[1] Does He mean the final phase when Jesus is on His throne, ruling in Jerusalem in glory? Or does He mean the spiritual reality – that though we’re still waiting for His forever Kingdom to arrive in full, the people of God live and operate with the knowledge that Christ already is King and we are citizens sent on His business during our pilgrimage home? Or is He referencing the redemptive work that the imperishable seed of the word of God does in individual lives as it is sown into our hearts and starts to transform us and bear fruit?

Looking at the parables we find all these elements. We see the final harvest of souls into eternity, we see the calling we all receive as Christians to join together in the global work of the Gospel, and we see how the Gospel penetrates and permeates our individual hearts and minds to change us, here and now. As one scholar noted, in this section of Scripture, “we have parables which imply that the Kingdom is present and yet not present, and which continue the…contrast between what is now hidden and what will assuredly be revealed.”^[2]

Mark 4:26b-27 – …“A man scatters seed on the ground. ²⁷ He sleeps and rises night and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how.

In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus is the first and foremost Sower and we imitate Him. But notice this sower: He sleeps and he isn’t all-knowing. He represents believers who have taken up the call to be a part of the work of God and the spreading of the Gospel.

This image assures of of several things: First, that the Lord will accomplish His work in this world. It cannot fail. Even though the people involved do so without total understanding and with no power of their own to bring a crop out of the ground. Even still, the seed will germinate. It will grow. The field will come alive for the harvest.

Second, there is – as always – a depiction of God’s generous grace toward us. This farmer has such limited knowledge. He has limited strength. He can’t work round the clock. If you’re talking about saving the world, he’s not the ideal candidate. But God includes us in His work despite our shortcomings. God is gracious toward us to include us in His redemptive mission.

As partners in that work, we should behave with humility. We should recognized that we don’t always know the mind of God – that we don’t always have the best ideas for how to do God’s work. And we should always remember that the power is not in our minds or in our scattering technique or in the supplements we put in the soil. The power is in the seed.

Sometimes churches feel like the Gospel needs some help. That the seed needs Miracle-Gro alongside it. That people we want to help need enticement before they’d be willing to accept the Gospel. But the Gospel is the power of God for salvation in and of itself.^[3]

This farmer may not fully understand how this seed does its thing, but he believes it will. And so, not only is he faithful to do the work, but we see he does it in restful confidence – without worry.

But the fact that he isn’t worried does not mean he doesn’t care. He has dedicated himself to this seed, this effort, to growing this crop. Day by day focusing on that growth.

What would happen if this farmer grew no crop? What would happen to his family? To his community? They need the harvest for now and for the future. It’s essential.

In times of peace and prosperity, believers often stop caring about spiritual growth. We settle into a mentality that’s, “I’ve got a spot in heaven and that’s all I need.” But that’s not all we need. God wants growth in your life – harvests from your life. Not just once, but season after season.

Mark 4:28 – ²⁸ The soil produces a crop by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain on the head.

There are times when the Lord works dramatically and suddenly, but in general, as God works in a life, in a church, in the world, it’s not instantaneous. There is gradual development and progression. The farmer isn’t done with the job the moment he scatters the seed. Then there is the watering. There’s watching for weeds, protection from pests, careful measurement of when the crop is ripe. The Christian life is about patience and dedication and faithfulness. It’s not just about us feeling a certain way all the time. There’s a book on Biblical discipleship with a great title: A Long Obedience In The Same Direction. That direction is where the Lord leads.

Now, as we wait on the Lord and walk faithfully with Him, God is – of course – even more faithful to do what He has promised. This seed grows by itself. The word there is “automatically.”^[4] But the farmer dedicates himself to being a part of it.

The encouragement for us is to trust that the growth God wants to do in our lives is going to happen. It may be gradual, but it is unstoppable. And so don’t give up your place or activity in the Lord’s garden because you think there’s more action out in the world. Real, eternal power and change is not found in the political, it’s not found in the financial, it’s not found in the experiential. It’s found by following God’s designs which come charged with God’s power.

Mark 4:29 – ²⁹ As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

They say, “It’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.” In this case, it’s not about the blade or the head, it’s about the crop. In the Parable of the Sower we see shoots that came up quickly but bore no fruit. That wasn’t a good thing. God wants fruit in your life, in our church, in this world.

And there are all sorts of different crops God wants to bring out of your life. All sorts of fruits of the Spirit. Just as olives served a different set of purposes than grain did, so each of our lives can glorify God and bring change into this world in a wide variety of ways.

But don’t just be a bag of rich soil. Actually bear fruit. If we were to drive down to any one of the nurseries in town, we would find pallets and pallets of perfectly good soil, bagged up and ready for use. But that soil won’t grow anything unless it’s worked.

Mark 4:30 – ³⁰ And he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use to describe it?

Jesus wants us to be thinking about the Kingdom and to apply what we hear. We don’t learn everything about the Kingdom of God from these parables,^[5] but they give us ideas to consider and meditate upon and accept with real action and obedience.

Mark 4:31-32 – ³¹ It’s like a mustard seed that, when sown upon the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground. ³² And when sown, it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants, and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky can nest in its shade.”

What is this parable about? That’s a question that has a wide set of answers from faithful, thoughtful students of God’s word. Each of the three interpretations offered tonight give us a lot to ponder.

The first and most common interpretation for this parable is that it’s simply about the fantastic growth of the Kingdom. That even though Christ came in the humblest form, the most modest of beginnings, look at what the final result is. The Carpenter from Nazareth, born in a stable, Whose message was absolutely rejected by the elite of Israel and Rome and Who died a criminal’s death – yet look at how the Gospel continued to spread, continued to change lives, continued to accomplish the impossible day by day through the centuries up to and including our lives today!

Other interpreters say, “Whoa, whoa, whoa – birds weren’t a good thing in the Parable of the Sower. In fact, they were devilish figures who ate the seed.” And they point out that this mustard plant has overgrown. For them the parable speaks of how as God does His work, there will be false growth mingled with it.^[6] A worldly overgrowth that looks impressive and powerful, but where is the fruit? Instead of helping, there is a hindrance. We think of Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8 who attached himself to the revival in Samaria, but he wasn’t a follower of Jesus. He saw it as a way to enrich himself and wield power over others.

There’s validity to this interpretation. It reminds us we’re not to judge hearts, but we are supposed to judge fruit. What crops are coming out of a life? In my own life, what is growing? Tangles and thorns and unruly overgrowth, or am I growing in my knowledge and obedience to Christ?

There is a third interpretation to consider. Why a mustard plant? Well because the seed is so small. Jesus liked to use the mustard seed as an analogy: “Faith like a mustard seed…”

By the way – at some point a skeptic might tell you that the mustard seed is not, in fact, the smallest seed, so there you go Jesus never existed. Rabbis during this time period used the mustard seed as the proverbial example of the smallest measure of size.^[7] Think of how we use ants today.

But a mustard plant is not really what you would cultivate in your field. Listen to this ancient historian’s account: “Mustard…with its pungent taste and fiery effect…grows entirely wild, though it is improved by being transplanted: but on the other hand when it has once been sown it is scarcely possible to get the place free of it.”^[8] In some sense, Jesus was saying that the Kingdom of God was, to some people, an invasive and noxious weed. And yet, in reality, it was a plant that produced flowers and oil and spice and aroma and flavor and medicine for life.^[9]

The Pharisees thought of Jesus as an invasive weed. They did all they could to pluck Him and His followers out of their land. But once the Lord arrived, once the truth of the Gospel was sown, Light into the darkness, the darkness could not overcome it. And it kept growing and bearing fruit.

Mark 4:33-34 – ³³ He was speaking the word to them with many parables like these, as they were able to understand. ³⁴ He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.

Do parables ever confuse you? They confuse me sometimes. Even this last mustard parable…scholars who know original languages and dedicate their lives to studying one area of Scripture aren’t all totally sure about the interpretation.

And that’s ok. The disciples also didn’t fully understand. But the point of the parables was to divide people into two groups: Those who wanted to understand and those who didn’t.

You know, Hebrews 4 says the word of God is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.^[10] That’s exactly what the parables did. If you wanted to follow, you followed up.

Now listen, we have more resources than the disciples then did. We’ve got the whole canon of Scripture. We have many centuries of careful study that we can lean on. We’ve got more information than ever before. But we’re still supposed to be disciples who follow up. Because our faith in Christ and our understanding of His word is not math. It’s not, “I believed the right ten things and now that’s all I need.” It’s not, “I heard the parable once and that’s what was required.”

We’re called into an ongoing relationship of closeness and growth with the Lord. Called to keep going to His word and opening our lives before it and allowing it to be sown into our hearts so that it can do its work. And the truth is, the Word always has power to put down new roots in us.

I was talking to someone the other day who said, “You know, I’ve read that verse 1,000 times and it’s just been a sort of pass-it-by verse, but I read it today and it suddenly jumped out at me. It stuck in my mind.” And they were talking about how they weren’t sure what the Lord wanted to teach them about it, but they were thinking about it and it was bearing fruit in their minds.

There in verse 33 it says, “As they were able to understand.” The word understand is defined as, “Listening and conforming to what was heard. To receive news, believe it, and respond.”^[11]

We don’t always immediately get what the Lord is trying to tell us, which is why we want to make hearing God’s word a lifestyle. The goal isn’t to just read the Bible once, but to continually have it sown into our lives, day-by-day, situation after situation, so that new roots can grow down to bear new crops for the Lord.

Verse 34 says that Jesus explained everything to His own disciples. What an amazing thing that Christ calls us His own. That He takes the time, the effort, the patience, the grace, the power, to cultivate our lives for His glory and His purposes. To grow fruit in us that changes the world.

Today there’s a lot of talk of low-skilled workers being replaced with robots, right? The Lord could do that. But He doesn’t. Because He loves us and calls us to His side and empowers us to be His hands and feet, because He has made us His own.

The Kingdom of God is an unstoppable work of grace, meaning, and fruitfulness. So, seeing that this Kingdom is operating now and will culminate in a dominion of life all over the world, shouldn’t we rush to be part of the harvest? Why wouldn’t we clear the fields of our hearts so that the King can sow as much seed into us as He possibly could?

If there are things we don’t understand about His truth or His leading, that’s ok. But don’t stay on the outside. Become an insider by pursuing the Lord and saying, “Jesus, I want to understand. I want to be conformed by what I hear from You. I want to be brought into the work You’re doing.”

Now is the time for sowing and for growth and for the reaping of spiritual fruit. Don’t be a bag of soil unused on the shelf. Grow according to God’s leadings and designs, starting right now.