Our scripture reading for this morning is taken from Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter 5. Mark chapter 5, we will be reading verses 1 through 20. Hear now the word of our God. They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me. For Jesus had said to him, Come out of this man, you evil spirit. Then Jesus asked him, What is your name? My name is Legion, he replied, for we are many. And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, send us among the pigs, allow us to go into them. He gave them permission and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about 2,000 in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there, dressed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him, but Jesus did not let him. Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you. So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and all the people were amazed. In just a few days, we've moved from marveling over a baby in the manger to Jesus Christ and His power and His mercy as He confronts a legion of demons. It's an appropriate transition. For over the past week, we've been reminded rightly of the greater significance of Christmas. It's not merely, of course, about a baby in a manger, about that quaint setting and beautiful songs. It's much more. It's about God who came, became man. It's about Jesus who came to be our Savior. The reason we sing about this season is because the birth of Jesus marks the beginning of His perfect life, saving death and resurrection. It is in the birth of Jesus that we see then the great unveiling of our great hope as Christians. We see there, even at the beginning, our only comfort in life and in death. We have been blessed to see these things. We have been so blessed to see and to have some understanding of the significance of Christmas and Jesus and all that He came to do. And yet so few did. And so few still today do. Confusion seems the common way of things when it comes to Jesus. Rather than clarity over the significance and meaning of Christmas, there was and remains great confusion over just who Jesus was and what he came to do. The Gospel of Mark repeatedly highlights this confusion as even at the end of Jesus' ministry, even those closest to him in this time of greatest need desert him. And as Jesus stands before Pilate, approaches imminent death, He's asked one question. One question. Are you the king of the Jews? This question of Pilate highlights the confusion of the people of Jesus' day and it's pretty good to represent the confusion of our day. The question highlights the problem that for centuries the Jews had been looking for a second David. They've been looking for another earthly king. A second Moses, a second David, someone who would come and grant them deliverance from the political powers of their day. But rather than a second David, they got a second Adam. Rather than coming to do what David did, Jesus came to do what Adam didn't. He came to cast out Satan and to establish an everlasting peace. for all of his people. Mark wrote his Gospel, at least in part, to underscore these points, to clear up the confusion of Jesus' identity and his purpose. Already in the first chapter, we are told that Jesus is the Christ. He is the Son of God. We are told of his immediate goal to engage and battle Satan as he's cast out into the wilderness to be tempted. And we are told of his great purpose to establish, to proclaim and establish the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of everlasting life. Yet even as Mark presents these great truths, he also makes clear that no one, it seems, understood. No one came to grasp the great wonder of Jesus. Even as the power and mercy of Jesus is unveiled again and again throughout his life, it seems that no one understands. Rather than faith, Jesus is met with confusion and unbelief. It was true then and it's true today. The great question of Christian history was and remains to be just who was Jesus and what did he do anyway? What really did he do? There remains, for instance, a great number of people that believe Jesus came at Christmas in order to fight Herod or the emperor or the Egyptian pharaoh, that Jesus came to establish political freedom and to establish that old kingdom of David once again for his people Israel. That, they say, is what he came to do. The problem is that the Jews didn't believe it. The Jews rejected him. And so rather than set up that kingdom that he came to establish, Jesus proceeded to deal with the Gentiles. Some go so far as to say that Jesus failed. He failed in His mission. Mark says to us, and he says to all of those who believe such things, no, that is not why Jesus came. Jesus did not come to fight the Romans or the Persians or the Egyptians. He came to fight, to take on, to battle. the ruler of all of those kingdoms. He came to take on the prince of darkness himself, the ruler of all the kings of the earth, Satan. The whole Old Testament is a witness to the fact that God's people needed much more than another Moses. They needed much more than a David or a Solomon. They needed much more than the great prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, for none of them could meet the great need of God's people. What the people of God needed, we see written through almost every page of the Old Testament, is a Savior. They needed the promised Messiah to come. They needed the seed of the woman to finally be realized who would crush the head of the serpent. And Mark wants to tell us He came. Jesus, Jesus is that one. Jesus is the fulfillment of all those great promises. Where Adam fell, where Adam failed, Jesus came and reigned victorious. Our text this morning is a sign to this great victory. We see the power in the text. We see the great power of Jesus as he executes judgments on the forces of Satan and His great mercy is seen as He proceeds to save a sinner. And so we see first in the text His power. Second, we see His mercy. And third, we see that His power and mercy are our great hope. Verses 1 through 7 are focused particularly on highlighting the power of Jesus. Let us look at those together. Verse 1 reads, They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes, and when Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. The first thing we're told is that Jesus has crossed over the sea, and he is now entering into the land of the Gerasenes. And the most important thing to realize about that land as it was at the land of the Gentiles. It was an unclean land. It was a foreign land to the Jews. And he wasn't merely in an unclean land. We read that he was met by a very unclean man, a man with an evil spirit. He was in an unclean land, and he engages with an unclean man who lived in a very unclean place. He lived among the tombs. A pious Jew would not have been among those people. But Jesus was. Jesus came in order to bring salvation even to the Gentiles. And we see that in our text this morning. It is a pointer to the great Gentile mission that his apostles, the disciples, would undertake and would fulfill after Jesus' work was done. They would go forth into all the world. And we can be glad that they did. After we are told that Jesus got out of the boat and came into this unclean land of the Gentiles, this land of the Gerasenes, we are then introduced to the second main character of the narrative. It is Jesus, and then we have introduced to us the demoniac. Verses 3 through 5 serve to describe to us the demoniac. Mark gives special attention to the significant character of this man. He was a most remarkable man. A most remarkable man. And Mark makes that very clear. Verse 3 reads, This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day, among the tombs and in the hills, he would cry out and cut himself with stones. Children, did you hear that description of this man? Can you imagine a more remarkable man than that? A man who could break chains, who could break the shackles off of his feet. A man who lived night and day within the tombs. As the description continues, we see that he's not merely a remarkable man. He's not merely a powerful man. He's a fearful man. He's a fearfully powerful man. And it is this man that Jesus encounters as he gets out of the boat. Verse 2 says that the man came to meet Jesus. It would be better to translate that as confront. Meet doesn't quite carry the kind of character of this meeting. The same word can be used to describe how Mary and Martha came to meet Jesus on the road. This man didn't come in the character of Mary and Martha. This man came to confront Jesus. We're told in verse 6 that he saw Him from a distance. He saw Jesus from a distance and he came running to confront Jesus from a distance. He ran and you can almost imagine, you get off the boat and here comes the most fearful man you could ever imagine running at you. And what happens? Well, if this was Hollywood, there would have been a remarkable battle that ensued. A fist-to-fist combat, maybe. Maybe flashing of lightning. Something significant, something dramatic. But when this man came to Jesus, rather than that, what we have is he falls on his face before him. Why? What was it that the demoniac saw? What was it that this most powerful man among men saw that he came running to Jesus and fell at his feet? Maybe he saw 13 men in a boat and it struck fear within his heart. That conclusion is rather unlikely. Given the kind of character and power of this man, 13 men would have been an opportunity for him. Not a problem. Maybe he witnessed Jesus calming the storm. In the preceding text, we read how Jesus and the disciples were crossing the sea and a storm arose and Jesus, with just a few words, peace, be still, calmed the whole of it, showing his great power over nature. And the demoniac, ranging through the hills night and day, certainly would have been a part of that storm and certainly would have realized how immediately it ended. And maybe he connected such power with Jesus. It's possible. Well, maybe he saw what Elisha's servants saw in 2 Kings chapter 6 when Elisha prayed for his fearful servant that God would open his eyes. And God did, and what did he see? But he saw the hills filled with the armies of heaven, chariots and horses surrounding the people of God to fight for them. Maybe the demoniacs had eyes to see that and maybe Jesus was surrounded with a host of heaven. It's possible, but we don't know. The text doesn't tell us what the demoniacs saw. The text tells us who he saw. He saw Jesus. What it is about Jesus we can't determine, but we do know that it was Jesus that this man saw that brought into his feet the most remarkable power among men came running from a distance and flung himself before the feet of Jesus. And he says with a shriek, Jesus, Son of the Most High God. What his disciples didn't quite see even in the calming of the storm, what those closest to him didn't understand, as his family thought he was crazy back in chapter 3, what the scribes and Pharisees believed to be true, that Jesus was a demon, the demons themselves from a distance recognized Jesus, the Son of the Most High God. And they came and bowed down before Him. Not in worship. Not in worship. But to confront Him. To defy Him. To challenge Him. on their face. And it's remarkable how this parallels the story of Jesus and His temptation in Mark chapter 1, the very first encounter He has with the forces of Satan, Satan himself. How Jesus, after fasting for 40 days in the wilderness, encounters Satan and He stands. He stands through the first temptation. He stands through the second temptation. And what's the third? Satan says to Jesus, do you see all this? Do you see all the kingdoms of the earth? They'll be yours. I'll give them to you. If you'll but bow down and worship me. Jesus stood through the first two temptations and indeed he stood through the third and did not bow down to Satan for it wasn't the kingdoms of earth that Jesus came for at all. Jesus came to establish His own kingdom, that kingdom of heaven, the kingdom that would come and bring conflict and defeat to the kingdoms of Satan. As Jesus stood against the temptation to bow before Satan, here Satan's great host of demons come and bow before Jesus. This initial engagement between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan was only the beginning as throughout Jesus' ministry we see Him engaging with demons frequently, repeatedly. And so remarkable was His success and so frequent was His engagements that we read in Mark 3, verse 22 that the scribes, observing Jesus' interaction and power over the demons, concluded that he must be possessed. He must be a son or prince of Beelzebub. And Jesus says, no, a house divided cannot stand. A house divided is weak and cannot stand. I'm not the son of Beelzebub. I'm the strong man who's going to come and bind up that strong man and plunder his house, he says. Jesus came to bind Satan. to wage war against him, to bind him, to plunder his house, to take what he thought was his and to claim it for his own. In verses 1 through 6, we see the power of Jesus as he's confronted by the demoniac. And we also see his power as he converses, as he discusses with the demoniac. Verse 7, the demoniac comes running at Jesus, falls at his feet, and he shouts at the top of his voice. He shrieks would be even a more literal translation. It makes a pretty scary situation all the more unnerving to think about this running man, this fearful one, coming and now shrieking, screaming at Jesus with the top of his voice. And what does he say? He says, what is it between you and me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? At this point, we still see defiance. At this point, we still see confrontation. That phrase, what to you and to me, is an odd and rare phrase. It's used four times in the Old Testament. All four times. It's used in the direct conflict before the imminent battle proceeds. It's a term and phrase that is used to describe and to confront conflict. And that's exactly the character of this conversation between Jesus and the demoniac. Yet even as he continues in his defiance, the demoniac quickly realizes he's in trouble. He realizes that he can't make demands of Jesus. He realizes who it is exactly that his adversary is, the Son of the Most High God, and he proceeds now to beg Jesus. He starts merely on his face, proceeding in a confrontational discussion, and now he transitions to beg Jesus, repeatedly begging Jesus. In verse 12 we read what he begged for. The demons begged Jesus to send them among the pigs. They said, allow us to go into them. As we read that, we may wonder, why pigs? What's the significance of the pigs? What attraction did the herd of pigs have for these demons? As we consider these demons and their character, we may conclude that they had it in mind to go destroy something. If Jesus wouldn't let them destroy the man, at least maybe, maybe they could destroy the pigs. If they could just destroy something of God's creation, then they'd be satisfied. So send us into the pigs for destruction, we could conclude. Yet in light of their conversation with Jesus, it doesn't seem that they're merely concerned about the peripheral matters of what they can destroy. As they're repeatedly begging Jesus, it seems more likely to conclude that they're fearful themselves of being destroyed. And we see that from their own lips as they beg Him again and again, not to torture them. Not to torture them before the appointed time. While we don't know exactly why they wanted to go into the pegs, we can conclude that their great concern was their existence. And Jesus gave them the permission. We see Jesus' power as he confronts the demon. We see Jesus' power as he is in conversation with the demon and we see his power as this confrontation is concluded in judgment. Verse 13 reads, Jesus gave them permission and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs, the herd, about 2,000 in number, rushed down the steep bank and into the lake and were drowned. A dramatic conclusion for quite a dramatic story. 2,000 pigs, 2,000 pigs. Can you imagine 2,000 pigs or cows, 2,000 anything, rushing in a frenzy, rushing in a frenzy down a steep hill. 2,000 pigs went flying into the water, and they all drowned. They all drowned. What happened? Was this the outcome of the demon's desires to destroy the pigs? Considering the context of our verses, that's unlikely. For we see at the end of chapter 4 that Jesus publicly displays the remarkable power that he has, his power over nature. We see at the end of chapter 5, in verses 21 and following, Jesus' great power as it's publicly displayed as He heals the sick and raises the dead. The whole theme of our section here in Mark is to show the great power of Jesus. His power over nature. His power over sickness and death. And here, His power over the supernatural. His power to execute judgment even upon the foremost of foes. Oh, it is more likely that these demons wanted to go into the pigs in order to protect their existence. And when they did, Jesus placed upon them judgment and once again publicly proclaimed to all present, to his disciples, to the demoniac, to the people of the region, to all who would hear that Jesus pronounced judgment upon the legion of demons that no man could tame. This Jesus did. Jesus did it. Jesus destroys the demons along with the pigs in order to demonstrate to his disciples in the whole region of the Gerasenes that the kingdom of God had come. The king and the kingdom had come. These then point, this great miracle points as a sign of the reality which had come. The miracle that Jesus performs here is a sign to say to the people, to all who saw it, the Messiah and the kingdom of God had come. All that you had been waiting for, all that you had been longing for, what you had been praying for, for centuries has come. Look at, see the signs, see the power over nature, see the power over the supernatural, see my power to execute judgment, see my power over the healing of the sick, the raising of the dead, exclamation marks, underline all that Jesus says. These miracles are signs to say it's here. It's come. Our hope has been realized. It was a sign as well of the final judgment. Of the final judgment. It was a sign that the kingdom of God had come and in coming it shows and reveals the judgment of God. We read of that judgment in Revelation 20, verse 9. Revelation 20, verse 9. Verses 9 through 13. They, the enemies of God, marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God's people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. We read often of the last judgment. And often times we might see that the last judgment, and along with it all of the great blessings of heaven, are some place off in the future, off in the distant, not to be realized. Surely, surely the demon thought that was the case as well. As he begged Jesus not to torture them before the appointed time. He said, Jesus, it's not time for you to do this yet. But what he didn't realize was that the future was breaking into the present. The future judgment of God was being levied against all of his enemies in the work of Jesus Christ as he established his kingdom. And as he broke down the forces of Satan, that end time judgment, the last days were breaking into the present as Jesus Christ, the great judge and king, lived and served among them. And so we see the great power of Jesus in His confrontation with the demoniac, in His conversation with the demoniac, and in His concluding judgment. Jesus says, I am the sovereign ruler. And yet the story goes on, for Jesus didn't merely intend to destroy. He didn't merely intend to exercise His power to destroy, but to save. We see then the mercy of Jesus. Verses 14 through 20. Those tending the pigs ran off and reported in the town and countryside. And the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there, dressed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region. As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Yet Jesus did not let him, but said, Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you. So the man went away and began to tell the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. We read here of how the most horrendous of men, of how the most wicked of sinners, possessed by the most powerful of demons, who lived alone in the tombs, a raging madman bent upon destruction, was clothed by Jesus, was sitting at his feet, enjoying his presence, and was in his right mind. He was changed from one who lived in sleepless nights and bent upon destruction to a man of peace and with a purpose. Jesus tells him to go and tell of his great power and of his great mercy. It's reminiscent maybe of John 9 verse 25 where Jesus heals the man born blind. He heals him. He can see. And the scribes and the Pharisees wonder what is happening here. What's going on? Who did this to you, they say. And what does he do? He responds saying, I don't know. I don't know who did this to me whether he was a sinner or not. All I know is that once I was blind, and now I see. As great as that testimony was, how much greater is this testimony of the demoniac who knew, who heard exactly who Jesus was. He could go into his home to his friends and to his family, and he could declare to the whole Decapolis, the whole region, the Son of God has come. Look! Look what he did. For me, marvel at His power. Rejoice in His mercy. The Son of God has come. And so we see the great victory of Jesus. We see how the last judgment came breaking forth into the present upon the demoniac. Jesus' judgment upon the demons. And we see how the great mercy of God came to grant freedom and life, peace and presence within the very presence of God. So great was Jesus' victory, and yet incomplete. While Jesus freed one man from the rule of Satan in this story, what of the countless others? This is just one of many episodes of Jesus' interaction with demons throughout the rest of his ministry. What hope did the demoniac have that the legion of demons wouldn't return with all the more power and ferocity that they had before? What hope did this man have as long as he continued to live in his sin? What hope did he have as long as he was left on his own? The answer we know is none. There was no hope. if Jesus' work for that man ended there, he was still left without a sure confidence and hope. In order for Jesus' victory to be decisive, in order for the kingdom of heaven to be full and final, Jesus had to die. He had to die. We read of this in Hebrews 2, verse 14. Hebrews 2 Verse 14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. For this reason, he had to be made like his brothers in every way in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God and that he might make atonement for the sins of his people. That's why Jesus came at Christmas. He came to die. And in his perfect death, he destroyed the power of sin. and destroyed at the same time the power of Satan. And it is this way, it is through Jesus' death, that his great mercy was made most manifest. Not just for the sake of one, or two, or three, but for the sake of all, all of us, you and me, for all who believe. The great power and mercy that freed the demon possessed man from his misery is at work for us today. As we take part in Jesus' death and the power of his death, we take part in it. We take part in it in the baptism. We take part in Jesus' death and the Lord's Supper through the proclamation of his word. We come to know the power of his death and the joy and certainty of his life. We come to know and enjoy the great decisive victory of Jesus' death and the certainty of His life, which we now enjoy. Remember, as the judgment came forth into the present, so for us, life abundant comes forth into the present. Why? Because Jesus has established His kingdom, and He's building His kingdom. He's building it through us. He's building it through His church, through the means that He has established. The kingdom of God is flourishing. And that's why we can have great hope. It's in light of this that we can rejoice. It's in light of this that Paul could have such confidence in Romans 8, 38 and 39 when he says, For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. That's a remarkable confidence. And it's with that confidence that we confess together our only comfort, our only comfort in life and in death is what? That we belong to Jesus. We belong to Jesus. Why? Because he has fully paid for all our sin with his precious blood. And he has freed us from the tyranny of the devil. And Jesus didn't leave us alone. He broke the power of sin. He broke the power of the devil. And he didn't leave us alone. For because we are his, we now, by the power of his Holy Spirit, are made wholeheartedly and ready from now on to live for him. That is our confidence. That is our hope. That is what is signified through this great miracle of Jesus in our text this morning. That, beloved, is why Jesus came at Christmas. He wasn't merely another Moses. He wasn't merely another David. He wasn't merely another great prophet or miracle worker. And let us praise God that he wasn't. Let us praise God that he didn't come to establish another earthly kingdom. For we have proven before us throughout all of Old Testament that our sinful hearts would have broken even that kingdom. Let us praise God that he came to establish his heavenly kingdom and to fully defeat the power of Satan, to fully defeat the power of sin and to grant for us the power of His Holy Spirit that we can live and die in the joy of His great comfort, of His great, powerful death and the certainty of His life and resurrection. Amen. Our great triune God, we praise You this morning for the wonderful salvation that You have secured for us. And even as we taste it and as we see how good it is, we recognize that we live within an age of bittersweet providence. The sweetness we taste of Your salvation, we rejoice in. And the reality of the bitter circumstances of life are all around us as loved ones die, as we undertake sickness, as we undertake sufferings of various kinds, may we be reminded that what we taste now is but a foretaste of the great life that is certain to be ours yet to come in Jesus Christ. Grant us a longing. Grant us a longing for the fullness of your kingdom to come. Come, Lord Jesus, we pray. In your name, for your glory, we ask. Amen.