Today, I preached about Jesus? Power over evil. I wanted to give you guys a few notes from the sermon in case you want to dig a little further. First of all the passage that we used is Mark 5:1-20.

?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 any more, 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 two thousand 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. 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 in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.? (Mark 5:1-20 NIV)

What an intriguing story! We talked in depth about the story and way in which Jesus has power over evil. We mentioned that the name that the demons give Jesus is the name Legion. It literally describes a Roman army unit of 6000 men.

Legion

: A term referring to a unit of Roman soldiers about six thousand strong. The term Legion also makes the scene like a battle between the powers of evil and Jesus, who comes in the name of the kingdom of God. This imagery is likely intentional, for already Jesus has described his exorcisms as assaults upon Satan?s strongholds (see 3:23?27).
Matthew?s account of the story has a unique description of Jesus showing up ?before the appointed time.? That verse is Matthew 8:29.

29 ?What do you want with us, Son of God?? they shouted. ?Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time??

James also refers to demons and their belief in God. The verse is James 2:19.

James 2:19, ?Even the demons believe that [there is only one God]?and shudder.?

The final part of the sermon asked the question of who you most identify with in the sermon.

1. Are you the demon possessed ? are you ridden by evil and need rescue?
2. Are you the people of the town ? are you ignoring the forces at work in the battle and need to wake up to the reality of the battle

1. distracted by money, property, toys, and lures of this world
2. afraid to acknowledge the spiritual world

1. Are you the man who has been freed?

1. Perhaps you just want to hang out with Jesus, but he is calling you to step back into the town that has rejected him
2. Perhaps you just need to start sharing your story

I hope that you will take a few minutes and review this portion of scripture. As we continue to learn more about Jesus over the next few weeks, I hope you will take the time to read more about his life through the recorded Gospels. There is much to understand about Jesus and the details of these stories offer us an almost endless number of observations about Him.
I hope you have a great week.
Wade