Good versus Evil

The Life of Jesus Series:

How Jesus interacted with others.

Mark 5:1-20

(Use the link below to read the verses.)

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%205%3A1-20&version=NIV;NLT

 

My grandson’s favorite supervillain is Thanos, a fictional Marvel Comic character who most recently appeared in Avengers: Endgame.

 

 

 

 

 

Like Thanos, the demon possessed man in Mark 5 had super natural strength. He was a scary guy.

 

³ This man lived in the burial caves and could no longer be restrained, even with a chain. ⁴ Whenever he was put into chains and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones. NLT

 

The demon possessed man saw Jesus from a distance. After Jesus crossed the lake, the man ran to meet him as the boat landed. Then the story gets really bizarre as Jesus has a full blown conversation with the demons, and sends them into a herd of pigs who then plunge into the lake and drown; all 2000 of them.

 

In the Greek, demon possessed is translated as unclean. The NIV translates it as an impure spirit. You could legitimately say that we all have an unclean, or impure, spirit within us because of our sinful nature. There doesn’t have to be a demon for that to be true.

 

This story would make a great Avenger’s movie. Thanos versus Adam Warlock; good versus evil; with good winning out. Here, good and evil were battling over the man with an unclean spirit.

 

During the battle, he asked a profound question, and at the same time, made a profound statement. “What do you want with me, Jesus? Son of the Most High God.” We could ask the same question… and make the same statement. If we did, maybe good would defeat evil more often.