“Abundant Mercy” 2-6-22
Overview
Abundant Mercy: The Many Rejections in the Story of the Gerasene Demoniac
The account of the Gerasene demoniac in Mark 5:1–20 is often read as a story of deliverance, but it is also a story shaped by a series of rejections—each one revealing something about the human condition and the mercy of Christ.
The first rejection is mutual: the town has cast out the man, and the man, tormented by darkness, has cast himself away from those he might harm. Bound by a legion of unclean spirits, he cannot be subdued by chains; he howls among the tombs, cutting himself with stones simply to feel something. The second rejection belongs to Jesus, who refuses to tolerate the evil at work in the man and commands the unclean spirit to come out. Notably, when the demons beg to enter the swine, Jesus does not reject their request. This permission echoes the boundaries God set in Job 1 and the sobering pattern in Romans 1:24–25: in His sovereignty, God limits evil, yet He also permits creatures to choose—and to live with the consequences. The third rejection comes from the swine themselves; even an animal nature cannot bear Legion and rushes into the sea. The fourth rejection is the most tragic: the townspeople, seeing the man clothed and in his right mind, are seized with the same fear the disciples felt when Jesus calmed the storm—and they beg Jesus to leave. They reject the Healer because His power is more than they can absorb.
The fifth rejection appears, at first, to be Jesus turning away the healed man, who begs to follow Him. But behind it stands an unwritten rejection planned before time: the cross. On Calvary, Jesus took into Himself every unclean spirit, every darkness, every madness, and cried the words of Psalm 22:1—"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" The Father had to turn His face from the Son so that we would never be turned away. As Luther sang, "one little word subdues him"—and that word, from the cross, is It is finished.
This is where Isaiah 55:7 lands with full weight: "Let the wicked forsake their way... let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Jesus did not reject the freed man; He commissioned him: "Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you" Mark 5:19. The man went throughout the Decapolis proclaiming Christ. That same commission belongs to us. God does not leave His people isolated in suffering or shame. Out of the abundance of His mercy, He claims us, frees us, and sends us to tell what the Lord has done.
Transcript
If you would, please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Mark the 5th chapter. 2s
If you are using a Pew edition of the Bible, you will find this on page 34 in the New Testament. 8s
We are studying today, a story in Scripture that we're all probably fairly familiar with. 17s
We know this story. It comes through the electionary every three years. 25s
If you've grown up in the church, you've heard it told time and time again. 30s
It's a story that is scarier filled with more terror than anything that Edgar Allan 36s
Poe could come up with. 42s
It's also a story of love and treasure. 44s
But today, today, we're going to talk about the story. 48s
The story of rejection. 52s
Rejection. 58s
So let's go ahead and just begin with rejection number one. 59s
Beginning in verse one, they came to the other side of the sea to the country of the 67s
Garasines. 71s
And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately, a man out of the tombs with an 73s
clean spirit met him. 77s
He lived among the tombs and no one could restrain him anymore, even with a chain. 80s
For he had often been restrained with shackles and chains. 86s
But the chains he wrenched apart and the shackles, he broke two pieces. 90s
And no one had the strength to subdue him. 97s
Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always howling and bruising 100s
himself with stones. 106s
The question of rejection here is did the town reject the man or did the man reject the 111s
town. 125s
He was filled with darkness filled with demons filled that he could not control it. 128s
And so he was cast out, whether he was cast out by the town or he cast himself out, 143s
isolating himself, trying to protect the people. 151s
And he cared about. 155s
And he was filled with so much darkness that all he could do was to howl. 158s
He had no words. 168s
He only had sound. 171s
And the only feeling he could have was to dash himself against the mountains, cutting 176s
himself with the stones. 182s
And that allowed him to feel something. 186s
Something. 191s
But he was wrapped up in the darkness. 194s
He couldn't be kept subdued by shackles, by anything that man had created to subdue 199s
him. 209s
Nothing, nothing could control him. 209s
Nothing. 217s
That's rejection one. 220s
Rejection two, we continue with verse 6. 224s
When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him and he shouted 228s
at the top of his voice, what have you to do with me, Jesus, son of the most high 234s
God? 242s
I had your you by God, do not torment me. 243s
For he had said to him, come out of the man, you unclean spirit. 247s
Jesus was rejecting in this moment the unclean spirit, the darkness which had filled this 257s
man's very being. 266s
Now remember, Jesus had just calmed the storm on a sea of galleley. 270s
He had calmed it and brought peace and stillness. 277s
He had just exited this physical storm and now he was coming face to face with a man 283s
who was in an anguishing storm of spirit, an anguishing storm of mental breakdown, mental 291s
control and Jesus calmly says, come out of this man. 302s
He does not submit to the evil. 310s
He does not submit or allow for the unclean spirit to continue. 314s
Verses nine through twelve, then Jesus asked him, what is your name? 325s
He replied, my name is Legion for we are many. 332s
He begged him, earnestly, not to send them out of the country. 336s
Now there were on the hillside, a great herd of swine feeding. 340s
And the unclean spirit begged him, send us into the swine, let us enter them. 344s
Now it sounds like a rejection should happen right here. 352s
It sounds like Jesus should offer up another rejection to the unclean spirit because Jesus 357s
should only reject evil and demons and the demonic at every turn when the demon gives his name. 364s
He says, we are legend, or legend because we are many. 375s
Allegion in the Roman army was made up of five or six thousand soldiers. 381s
And this man here who is cast out isolated, living in darkness has a legion of unclean spirit 387s
warring within him. 398s
Is there any question as to why he would have been holling and cutting himself and hurting himself? 403s
He had thousands. 414s
Thousands of unclean spirits warring within him at once. 417s
There should be a rejection here, right? 426s
But there's not. 431s
The unclean spirit begged him, send us into the swine, let us enter them. 435s
So he, that is Jesus, gave them permission. 444s
He didn't reject the request of these unclean spirits. 453s
It reminds me of the book of Job and how Satan comes to the Lord Almighty and he says, 461s
I don't trust that Job really cares for you. 473s
If he had anything bad going on in his life, he would dismiss you. 476s
He would reject you. 481s
And God says, the Lord said to Satan very well, he is in your power, 484s
only spare his life. 489s
God allowed bad things to happen. 493s
But he put a limit on it. 500s
In his sovereignty, he can put a limit and he does put a limit on every evil. 504s
But he also permits us to make decisions that go against his perfect and good will. 513s
And in that permission, he also permits us to deal with the consequences of what we choose 524s
and do not choose. 534s
In Romans, Paul writes, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, 535s
to the degrading of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie. 542s
God gives us permission to sin. 554s
He does not actively will us or want for us to sin, but he allows for us to make our own decisions. 556s
This side of heaven, whether to our blessing or to our detriment. 566s
He does not reject that. 573s
And so he allows these clean or unclean spirits to go into the swine herd. 579s
He gave them permission. 586s
And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine and the herd numbering about 2000, 588s
rushed down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea. 594s
And here we have rejection three. 599s
This herd of swine rejects the unclean spirit, the animal nature, the very nature of these swine reject the legion. 602s
And though they are filled with legion, though they are filled with the unclean spirit, they drown it. 618s
They cannot live with the unclean spirit within them. 626s
The group suicide by this herd was preferred than living with legion. 634s
We come to rejection four with verse 14. 648s
The swine herds ran off and told it in the city and in the country, then the people came to see what it was that had happened. 652s
They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clotheed and in his right mind, the very man who had the legion and they were afraid. 659s
Now this word for they were afraid is the very same word that is used when the disciples were afraid or filled with being terrified when Jesus had calm the storm. 672s
When they realized they were in the presence of the Lord, they were terrified. 688s
And here the towns people see what has been done for this man, 693s
who was a lost cause. 699s
They were letting him ride out his days alone in anguish and suffering. 703s
And here he was in his right mind. 712s
And they were very afraid. 720s
Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it, then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. 723s
That's the fourth rejection. 736s
The towns people, they had rejected this man when he became filled with legion. 738s
They had rejected him, they did not want to be near him, they tried to subdue him, they dried everything in their power to make sure that he would not come near them. 747s
They see him healed and they reject the healer. 761s
It's too scary. 769s
Everything we have tried has done nothing. 771s
And yet this man comes and with one word, the demoniac is healed. 776s
We can't take it. 788s
It's too much. 790s
And they reject Jesus and they beg him. 791s
They beg him to leave. 795s
Was it fear of the power that this man, Jesus must have had if he could stop the legion? 798s
They didn't just ask him. 811s
They didn't just ask him to go away. 813s
They begged Jesus to be gone. 816s
Leave our neighborhood. 822s
It's too much. 825s
It's too much. 827s
Rejection 5, verse 18. 832s
And he, as he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons beged him, that he might be with him, but Jesus refused. 836s
Did Jesus heal this man to just reject him? 850s
Did he make him right only to say no? 856s
Why go through all the trouble of casting out the unclean spirit? 863s
If all he was going to do was to reject him. 868s
That's not the rejection though. 878s
There's an unwritten rejection here. 882s
An unwritten rejection that had been planned before time, 887s
that affects all time, that affects all of creation. 895s
The unwritten rejection is the rejection that happened upon the cross two thousand years ago. 903s
We can read of it in Psalm 22, when Jesus cried out in these words, 915s
my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 926s
Why are you so far from helping me from the words of my groaning? 932s
Oh my God, I cry by day, but you do not answer in by night, but find no rest. 939s
When Jesus hung upon that cross, he was taking upon himself. 950s
Every unclean spirit, every darkness, every swirl of madness of all time, 962s
and he was taking it in, and the very unholyness caused the father to turn his face away. 971s
The father had to reject the son. 990s
The son had to live our rejection so that we would not be rejected by the father. 999s
In a mighty fortress, the song, Great Song by Martin Luther, the third stand-up stands us as, 1021s
the hordes of devils fill the land, all threatening to devour us. 1028s
We tremble not, unmoved, we stand, they cannot overpower us. 1034s
This world's prince may rage in fierce war, engage. He is doomed to fail. 1040s
God's judgment must prevail. One little word, subdues him. 1048s
The one little word is the word that Jesus Christ said before he gave up his spirit. 1060s
It is finished. 1069s
The rejection from the father taken on by the son for our sins. 1075s
It is finished. 1081s
Our sin is cast out in the name of Jesus Christ. 1087s
We are born new in his spirit, with his spirit, by his spirit. 1091s
In our reading, our Isaiah reading, it says, let the wicked forsake their way, 1103s
and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them return to the Lord that he may have mercy on them, 1109s
and to our God for he will abundantly pardon. 1114s
So you see the unwritten rejection, the unwritten rejection is good news for you and me, 1119s
because it means that the unwritten rejection of Jesus Christ, out of the abundance of his mercy, 1130s
claims you as his own, as forgiven, as freed, just as the demoniac was freed from the power of Legion through Christ. 1143s
So what's the man rejected? 1162s
Well, let's look back. 1167s
As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him, 1170s
but Jesus refused and said to him, go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, 1176s
and what mercy he has shown you, and he went away and began to proclaim in the decoupleus how much Jesus had done for him, 1185s
and everyone was amazed. 1194s
Jesus did not reject this man. Jesus saved this man. 1201s
This man was given new life in Christ and Christ alone, and just as this man was given new life in Christ, 1210s
we out of the abundance of Christ's mercy are given new life in his righteousness. 1218s
The man was given this new life, and he was told what to do with it, created new in this new image that Christ had given him, 1228s
Christ said, go tell your friends, tell your friends what the Lord has done for you, 1237s
and he did, and he didn't just tell his friends, he went on a 10 city speaking to her, sharing with everyone. 1247s
I was in darkness, I was in bondage to the evil, unclean spirit, and this man Jesus came, and in one word he made me clean, 1257s
and he has made me new in his abundant mercy. 1272s
See, God does not leave us isolated, he does not leave us alone in our suffering, but he comes to us, 1281s
and he says, you are forgiven. Go tell people what the Lord has done for you, you are forgiven. 1294s
Thank you. 1325s