(Mark 5:1-20)
When Jesus came to the region of the Gerasenes he encountered a man possessed by demons. The man was what we would consider today to be mentally ill and was violently psychotic. But the demons recognised Jesus and said to him, What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” (Verse 7) Jesus said to the demon, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” (Verse 9) They sought to be cast into a nearby herd of swine, but when they went the swine fled and drowned themselves in the sea.
What we see here in the name the demon gave was not just a name, but a description. He called himself “Legion” and then said that there were many demons in this man. A legion in the time of Jesus was a military term and it represented a great number of soldiers. A Legion was essentially a complete army in the Roman times and comprised anywhere up to about six thousand men. It included troops, cooks, medical staff, armourers, and so on. Basically everything that was necessary to enable an army to function and go to war.
Now here we see this demon call itself “Legion, for we are many.” So we can presume that there were so many demons in this man that they were equivalent to a legion of an army, that is, up to six thousand demons. These demons had taken complete control of the man and tormented him day and night. He was a prisoner of this legion and they tossed him to and fro causing all kinds of injuries to him. Jesus came to this man to release him from this bondage and to set him free.
Demon possession is a terrible thing. Demons can also oppress without possessing a man too. We see that the Apostle Paul was occasionally oppressed by a demon as he wrote, “And to keep me from being too elated by the abundance of revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan, to harass me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I besought the Lord about this, that it should leave me; but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9) The word “messenger” used in this translation comes from the Greek word “agollos” which literally translates as “angel.” The demons were the angels of Satan cast down upon the earth with Satan when he rebelled against God.
So even Christians can be oppressed by the demons. To obtain release from this when or if it occurs, we must do as Paul did and beseech the Lord that the demon should be gone from our life. In Paul’s case the Lord left the demon so that Paul should not become proud. However we see numerous other instances of where the Lord sent the demons packing never to return. Such was the case when Jesus casts out the legion from this man in the country of the Gerasenes. Another who was released from demon possession in Jesus’ time was Mary Magdalene from whom he cast out seven demons. (Mark 16:9)
It is evident in all these things that Jesus had power over both the physical and the spiritual realms. He had power and authority to heal both the physically and spiritually sick people. His power is with us still today to heal those who are physically and spiritually sick. We need only to come to him and call on him to receive the blessings of his freedom and release from all forms of bondage.
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Hi! I’m John, the owner, author, and editor of this site. Over the past 50+ years as a Christian I have been teaching, preaching and writing about the Bible to help Christians gain a deeper insight into the scriptures that are easily understood. I also answer specific Bible related questions, so feel free to contact me.
Comments
6 responses to “Jesus Casts Out The Legion”
How can Jesus break the chains of a sinners and Jesus will had to deal with demons
Hi Daniel,
I’m not sure I fully understand your question, but will try to answer anyway. If I have misunderstood, please feel free to let me know further.
It was through Jesus’ death that He broke the chains of sin. The penalty man pays for sinning is to die. But Jesus did not sin and yet He died. He paid a debt or penalty that He did not owe.
What God did in His grace was to allow man to enter into Jesus’ death. Through baptism we take on Jesus’ death as if it were our own and by faith we believe we too have died with Jesus & thus paid the debt for sin. Also we believe we have been resurrected already with Jesus by faith and are born again as new creations, freed from sin & with the old debt paid in full, and unable to sin again for sin ends at death and the law too, which condemns us as sinners also ends at death (See Romans 7:1)
This is a quick summary of how Jesus broke the chains of sinners.
As for Jesus dealing with demons, in the way He did this it showed clear proof that He was the master of all for He had power and authority over all things including demons. They had no choice but to obey the command of Jesus as we saw in this post & section of scripture.
Hope this helps, but if you need more information, please feel free to email me at the address in the post.
All the best & God bless,
John
John, this is powerful scripture. I love reading this. There is no name like the name of Jesus demons have to go and satan has to bow at that name. That’s my Jesus. Each time you open your Bible you will learn something new. God will reveal something different to you in the same scripture you have read before, it’s like a light bulb that suddenly lit a dark room. God Bless You
Hi there are using WordPress for your site platform? I’m new to the blog world but I’m trying to get started and set up my own. Do you need any coding expertise to make your own blog? Any help would be really appreciated!
Yes this is a WordPress platform and no coding experience is necessary unless you want to change the standard themes. They provide plenty of the support in the FAQ’s and help forums, but usually this is not required as the WordPress process is quite user friendly. Best of luck.
Many thanks for sharing.