This biblical teaching is a production of The Walk Ministries with Pastor Jeno Shaw. You can watch the video below, and then read the teaching notes that follow.
Overview
A Pastor was robbed on live TV. This got my curiosity because I’m like, “Wow, isn’t that very blatant?” How did this happen? Let me present to you without judgment but presentation.
Holy Spirit led me to this passage in the Bible:
Mark 5:1-20 1 “And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.”
- Gadarenes: It was part of the Decapolis which was of the 10 cities. Deca means 10, which we still use it to this day. How strange. These cities were like their own states with their own rules. They were Hellenistic influenced meaning Greek culture, in language and worship. They had adopted idol worship of Greek gods, such as Zeus and the Olympians. Hmm, is this where we get today’s Olympics from? Okay, I’m not touching that one just yet.
This group of people, gentiles, would eat pigs and sacrifice them to Zeus or other idols.
Obviously, this went against the Jews who didn’t eat pig because it was considered unclean, so you can see that, by Jewish perspective, these people were unclean as well.
2 “And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, …”
- Bad weather: Remember, in the last chapter, Jesus told his disciples to go to the other side. Jesus didn’t tell them ahead of time, “Hey, there’s going to be a storm.” Why? Think about it; if Jesus told you ahead of time all the things you were to go through, you probably wouldn’t want to do it. He tells us a step at a time, when we are ready. So anyway, what I’m getting at is this, who sent the storm in the first place? It was demonic. The demonic was trying to discourage the disciples from even coming over there. The demonic was hoping they would turn around. How many of you ever thought of turning around? That’s what the enemy wants. He wants you to consider turning around. Don’t do it. Also to consider here is that Jesus had been pouring himself into the disciples, and he wanted to see who was going to rise to the occasion. In this case it was Peter. Peter walked on the water. Let us not just be hearers of the word but also doers of the word, amen. Jesus knew full well what was going on, and that’s why he was asleep in the boat during the storm. He wanted to give his disciples the first crack at it. Kind of like how you teach your son how to play baseball, and then finally the game is on the line, and your boy hits a home run! You’re like, “That’s my boy! I taught him that! Look at him!” That’s the joy of being a teacher, a rabbi, to see your students perform.
3 “Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:”
- Tombs: It’s interesting that at that time the devil still had the key to the grave, and that’s where this demoniac was dwelling. That’s door number one.
4 “Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. (5) And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.”
- Cutting: I would like to add here that cutting yourself is demonic, not normal.
6 “But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, (7) And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.”
- Nothing in common: Jesus had nothing in common with the enemy. There were no open doors or legality that they could mess with Jesus. He walked a sinless life, amen!
- Demons knew Jesus: Jesus’s fame was spreading not only on the earth, but it was also spreading under the earth.
8 “For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. (9) And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. (10) And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.”
- Territory : the demons didn’t want to be sent out because they would have lost their territory over that land.
11 “Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. (12) And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. (13) And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.”
- Swine: The legion asked to go into the swine. This is another open door. The pigs were probably stolen for one thing, and for two, they were being used as sacrifice unto idols. So the demons were looking for open doors to move by. They were looking for any legal way to get out of the situation they were in at the moment being confronted with Jesus. The man obviously had a huge open door which allowed the demons to manifest in him, so the demons were simply looking for another open door. The demons didn’t say let us go into one of your disciples. No, instead they chose open doors to move to, which in this case was the pigs. The enemy travels door to door.
14 “And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. (15) And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.”
- Upside down: See how this is so upside down? Normal people would have been happy that the man was delivered. These people were so engrossed in their sin and deception that the good became bad and the bad became good. They weren’t afraid of the demon possessed man that had demonic strength to break away his chains. It says they were afraid once they saw the man was delivered and normal.
16 “And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. (17) And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.
- Rejection: These people were sick and they didn’t realize it at this point. They rejected the Great Physician.
18 “And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. (19) Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. (20) And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.”
- Mercy: Even in rejection, Jesus extended mercy for these people by leaving the man there so he could evangelize throughout that area. He left someone there that could witness to them, and these were Gentiles not Jews. The Jews considered these people to be an enemy of God, unclean and unworthy. We see here that Jesus did not give up, and that he truly came to save the world and not condemn it for all who would accept him. Notice the word all. It doesnt matter your background — Atheist, Muslim, Buddhist, whatever. Jesus doesnt care. He just wants you! Repent now, and follow Jesus!
Doors
Now we see how the enemy uses doors to move around from the man to the pigs. So, yes, this means animals can be demon possessed, but that’s not my point at this time.
This brings me back to the pastor. He and his wife were robbed on live TV of 1 million dollars of jewelry they had on them!
So now I’m trying to learn from this event. I have questions. Was there an open door? Did the 1 million dollars in jewelry open the door? Was it because of misappropriated funds? How did the demonic move in this scenario? Like an investigator, I want to follow the demonic trail, so to speak.
What do you all think? Type in the chat. I want to hear from you about this.
I truly love you all,
Pastor/Coach Jeno
