Rev Gideon Lee
A Demon- Possessed Man Healed
26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!” 29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.
30 Jesus asked him, saying, “ What is your name?”
And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.
32 Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. 33 Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.
34 When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 36 They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon- possessed was healed. 37 Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned.
38 Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “ Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
If you read the chapter before this, it was about Jesus calming the storm. So imagine after that experience, they are confronted by a demon possessed man. How many of you know that's not a pleasant experience.
In the book of Mark, it says about 2,000 pigs. So that is a lot of pigs.
From a demon possessed man, he became a disciple of Jesus.
I want to start off by telling you a story.
There was one day a man who found himself alone in a hotel room and he was in depression. So depressed that he did not even want to go down to the restaurant to eat. He was a CEO of a shipping company but the demands of life caused him to lay just in bed totally depressed. He was worried about his work, business and all these things overwhelmed him. He has hit rock bottom. He says that life isn't worth living this way and he wished he was dead. So he looked up to God and told God he thought life is but a joke. When he uttered this he realized this is the first time he has spoken to God for a long time. So he started to pour out all his anger to God and when he finished, he heard a small voice that says, it doesn't have to be this way. He checked out of the hotel and talked to his wife and pastor whether that was God speaking to him. And the pastor says yes, that is what God came to do. That we may be set free so that our life need not be that way. Finally he realized that and he rededicated his life back to God. His problems did not go away but he faced them now with a smile.
That described the life of this demon possessed man. He was almost naked with just stripped of clothes on him. I think it's not hard for you to imagine his state. Dirty and smelly. Much like some of the homeless we sometimes see on the streets. He confronted Jesus and Jesus saw him and even in such a critical position Jesus had the authority to change this man's life.
He didn't leave this man the same way he was in. You have the opportunity to change your life in Jesus.
Three thoughts I want to share with you.
1. You don't have to be angry with yourself.
You don't have to be at war with yourself. Sometimes when we make a stupid mistake we get angry with ourself. Isn't that right? Or we despise the way we look, not tall, not thin enough, not fair and we have low self esteem.
This is one of the things I see when praying for youth that came out for prayer. In life things happen and we get angry with ourselves. This man was not in his right mind. But we don't have to remain like that.
There was once this young lawyer who went to see his pastor. He was in the dumps with everything going wrong. He was bitter and hostile. How his problems are many. He paused and he thinks his real problem is he don't like himself. And he said it taints everything around him.
If you feel lousy with yourself everything you touch becomes terrible. Don't remain in that state. You need to have a right picture of how God sees us. Don't be angry with yourself and have a low esteem of yourself.
Jesus casts the demons out into the pigs. The demon was called legion which means a lot. A lot of demons were in him. The demons went into the pigs which went over a cliff and drowned.
The people probably went to tell everyone, especially the pig owners. When the pigs die like that, you cannot eat the pigs. In the first place why would the pigs be there as they are unclean. But that's a lot of pigs. Many Bak Kut Tehs (laughs).
But this man became a disciple of Jesus. We rejoice but for many it's a lot of money that went down the drain with the pigs. Is this man's life worth more than these 2,000 pigs, the answer is yes. We are valued of God. We are worth more than 2,000 pigs.
In the islands like Fiji, when you want to marry a wife you need to pay a dowry. By the number of pigs. A good wife may cost 5 pigs. Not so pretty maybe 3 pigs. Illustration only ya. There was this father who has a daughter where the people thought not so beautiful. Maybe 1 pig.
So when someone came and ask for the daughter, the father says 20 pigs. But the man said she's only worth 1 pig. But when the daughter heard what the father said she walked around town like she's worth 20 pigs (laughs).
2. You don't have to be angry with people.
This man was violent and they had to chain him. He could break the chains. When he met Jesus he did not come in peace. He was angry with everyone. This morning you don't have to be angry with everyone.
How many of you has seen the show Avengers? In the last scene they were waiting for Dr Banner to turn up. And when he came, Captain America was telling him now is a good time to get angry. He becomes the Hulk when he gets angry. And he said the secret is he is angry all the time. So he turned green and bash up the enemy.
Some of us are angry all the time. It damage our system and health. Our blood pressure goes up. You've heard the phrase angry until our blood vessels pop. You can change and don't have to be the Incredible Hulk.
3. You don't have to be angry with God.
Sometimes when bad things happen we can get angry with God. You don't have to be angry with God.
There was once a father who was playing with his son and it got rough. The father accidentally elbowed the son on the face. The son when he was elbowed got angry and thought how can the father do that to me. He felt the pain and was about to cry when he looked up to the father and saw in the father's eyes the pain, the hurt and the regret and instead of crying the son laughed.
That's what Jesus is to us. He look at us with compassion. We can see the eyes of a father in Him. In His eyes is love and compassion for each one of us.
One way not to get angry with ourselves is to see how God sees us in his eyes. We are worth so much more. We are worth more than 20 pigs. Maybe not so good illustration ya. We are worth more than 10 iPhone 5. Or more than 100 Mercedes SLK. Tell your wife, your husband, you are worth more than the Mercedes SLKs.
Don't get angry with others. The beatitudes says blessed are the peacemakers. Christ has given us a ministry of reconciliation. That is to reconcile.
Don't be angry with God. There was a time I was angry with God. I didn't like the name Gideon. People would tease me in school. If they are not from church some people would call me what, Indian? (Laughs). But I thank God today I am called Gideon. I asked my father and he said he prayed and God told him to name me Gideon. The proper image of myself, a name given by God. I had thought of the name Michael and wanted to change my name when I am 21. Mike sounds nice. But I am glad I am not Pastor Mike. I am glad I kept my name Gideon.
We don't have to be angry with God. Amen?
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