A Word about the Master of Spirits

Today I want to share a word about the Master of Spirits as I comment on Mark 5:1-20. Let’s begin by reading Mark 5:1-5:

And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 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. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. 

Sometimes we lose what pilots call situational awareness.  That is, we just forget the situation we are in and lose sight of reality.  That was the way it was for a man I recently heard about who owned five dogs, and he installed an “invisible fence” to keep them in his yard.  An invisible fence is a wire buried in the ground around the boundaries of his property.  This wire emits a signal that can be received by a collar worn by a dog.  When the dog crosses the wire, it is shocked. 

This invisible fence proved very effective, except when the man lost situational awareness.  Once when he was taking his dogs to the vet, he forgot to turn the fence off before he backed out of his driveway.  The dogs found that to be shocking experience!

They say, “what goes around comes around,” and so it proved for this dog owner the next time he lost situational awareness.  He called a man to come to his house to groom his five dogs.  To do this the man had to take the shock collars off of the dogs, and while he was holding them in his hand, he thought he’d go check his mail box.  The five shock collars activated the second he crossed the wire and reminded him of his mistake!

We, too, make a mistake when we forget that we are at war. I’m not referring to the war on terrorism or in Iraq. There has been a war raging since before time began. It is a spiritual war.  As Paul said in Ephesians 6:10-13:

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.  Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Humans struggle to overcome natural challenges, and we are totally unable to fight in the supernatural realm. We are blessed, however, the know someone who not only can fight supernatural battles, but also win them, every time!

A FEARSOME SPIRIT:

In the beginning of Mark 5, Jesus and His disciples were confronted by a fearsome spirit. This man was being used of Satan to strike fear in the hearts of people. People are afraid of Satan’s power as a supernatural being, and we are also afraid of his evil nature. Because we can’t see him, we are even more afraid of him.

Truth be told, much of this fear is unnecessary for Christians. We regularly confuse fact with fiction. We have been conditioned by Hollywood horror productions. We have been deceived by hyped stories of Satan worship. Most of these tales are false and misleading.  

At the same time, we should not discount Satan’s existence. He does exist, and he is evil and powerful. We ignore that reality at our own risk, and neither should we make light of evil, the way people do during Halloween and other cultural events which seem to celebrate evil. 

If we look at the subject of this story, we’ll see Satan at work. Satan had totaled destroyed this man’s life! He was living in hell!

A FREEING SPIRIT:

Let’s continue by reading verses 6-13:

But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, 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. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. 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.

What happened when the man saw Jesus? He immediately ran and worshipped Jesus. He begged Jesus for help. This is an object less for us as well. When we are tempted or oppressed by the Devil, we should do the same!

Jesus, of course, knew exactly with whom He was dealing. The spiritual world is not hidden to Jesus. Satan has opposed God to His face on many occasions, and Jesus, Himself had recently been confronted by Satan. The demons also knew who Jesus was, and they reacted with fear. But, how did Jesus react to this confrontation? Jesus acted to free the man from this horrendous situation:

• Satan oppressed him.
• Jesus released him.
• Jesus prevented the spirits from going into another person.
• The man ended up dressed and in his right mind.

This was a complete job! No plea bargain was accepted! The guilty were prevented from hurting anyone else and a complete restoration of the man was realized. In this way, Jesus showed His complete mastery over the demons and spiritual forces of evil!

A FEARFUL SPIRIT: 

As we read in verses 14-17, this dynamic event caused a mixture of reactions:

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. 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. And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.

No one who meets with Jesus goes away unchanged. The townspeople reacted one way. The former demoniac reacted in an entirely different way.

The townspeople reacted with a fearful spirit. They seemed to believe in the saying, “Better the devil you know than the one you don’t.” They did not know this Jesus and they rejected His power because of their fear. They would rather have the devil that they knew.

Even today, people are afraid of the power of Jesus in their lives. They are afraid to attend church. They are afraid to release control of their lives to Jesus. People are afraid to risk on behalf of God. We give Jesus our broken lives to mend, but then we try to snatch then back. Contrast that spirit of fear, with the new spirit possessed by the man who was formerly possessed by demons.

A FOLLOWER’S SPIRIT: 

As mentioned before no one who meets with Jesus goes away unchanged. Finally, in verses 18-20, let’s see how the man’s spirit was transformed:

And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. 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. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.

The Bible tells us of many people whose lives were transformed by meeting Christ. This man was released from demons. Others were released from physical illness. Lazarus was released from death. Many, many others have been released from sin.

When our lives are changed by Christ, how should we respond? Our best response is gratefulness! We should be grateful about what Jesus has done for us. Sometimes this does not happen; Jesus once healed ten lepers but only one returned to Him, but it always should happen.

Although we can’t ever repay Jesus, we should be grateful to Him and the best way to show that we are grateful is to follow Him. This is exactly what the former demoniac did, and this story ends with an example of what happens when we develop a follower’s spirit. People hear about Jesus and the power of God impacts people’s lives. People’s lives are changed, and abundant life in Christ happens!

CONCLUSION:  

When Jesus sent out the twelve and then the seventy, they came back to Him proclaiming that “Even the demons were subject to us!” Because they followed Him and ministered in His Name, they saw first-hand that Jesus is the Master of Spirits. He still is today.

If you are beset by spiritual oppression you can turn to Him and He will release you! Then, when you are released by the power of God, then you have the privilege and responsibility to help others be released. Have you experienced the spiritual power of Jesus?  If not, you can today, if you will seek it!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt