Ryle on Mark 5:1-17

Imported boundary: J. C. Ryle's Expository Thoughts on Mark from the Internet Archive DjVu OCR for the 1858 Robert Carter St. Mark volume. Title pages, preface, contents, running heads, page numbers, OCR boilerplate, and indexes are not mirrored. The source includes Ryle's printed Scripture text and exposition; this scan-derived text remains needs-verification.

Primary passage: Mark 5:1-17.

Source Text

1 And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. 2 And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tomhs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 Who had his dwelling among the tomhs ; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains : 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. 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 tuou torment me not. 8 For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. 9 And he asked him, WThat 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. 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. 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 cloth- ed, and in his right mind : and they were afraid. 16 And they that saw it told them how it befel 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. These verses describe one of those mysterious miracles which the Gospels frequently record- the casting out of a devil. Of all the cases of this kind in the New Testa- ment, none is so fully described as this one. Of all the

* The sea of G-alilee, or Tiberias, on which the circumstance re- corded in this passage took place, is an inland lake, through which the river Jordan flows, about fifteen miles long and six broad. It lies in a deep valley, much depressed below the level of the sea - its surface being six hundred and fifty-two feet below that of the Medi- terranean- and is surrounded on most sides by steep hills. Owing three evangelists who relate the history, none gives it so fully and minutely as St. Mark.

We see, in the first place, in these verses, that the possession of a man's body by the devil, was a real and true thing in the time of our LoroVs earthly ministry. It is a painful fact, that there are never wanting professing Christians who try to explain away our Lord's miracles. They endeavor to account for them by natural causes, and to show that they were not worked by any extraordinary power. Of all miracles, there are none which they assault so strenuously as the casting out of devils. They do not scruple to deny Satanic possession entirely. They tell us that it was nothing more than lunacy, or frenzy, or epilepsy, and that the idea of the devil inhabiting a man's body is absurd. The best and simplest answer to such sceptical ob- to these last circumstances, sudden squalls or storms are reported by all travellers to be very common on the lake. The sea of Galilee and the country surrounding it, were favored with more of our blessed Lord's presence, during His earthly ministry, than any other part of Palestine. Capernaum, Tiberias, Bethsaida, and the country of the Gergesenes were all on its shores, or in the immediate neighborhood of this lake. It was on the sea of Galilee that our Lord walked. It was on its shore that He appeared to His disciples after His resurrection. Sitting in a boat on its waters and in a house hard by, He delivered the seven parables recorded in the thirteenth chapter of St. Matthew. On its banks, He called Peter, and Andrew, James and John. From it, He commanded His disciples to draw the miraculous draught of fishes. Within sight of it, He twice fed the multitude with a few loaves and fishes. On its shore, He healed the man possessed with devils ; and into it the two thou- sand swine plunged headlong after that miracle had been wrought. Few localities in the Holy Land were so immediately connected with our Lord's ministry as the sea of Galilee and the country round it. 89 jections, is a reference to the plain narratives of the Gos- pels, and especially to the one before ns at this moment. The facts here detailed are utterly inexplicable, if we do not believe Satanic possession. It is notorious that lunacy, and frenzy, and epilepsy are not infectious com- plaints, and at any rate cannot be communicated to a herd of swine ! And yet men ask us to believe, that as soon as this man was healed, two thousand swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, from a sudden impulse, without any apparent cause to account for their so doing ! Such reasoning is the height of credulity. When men can satisfy themselves with such explanations, they are in a pitiable state of mind.

Let us beware of a sceptical and incredulous spirit in all matters relating to the devil. No doubt there is much in the subject of Satanic possession which we clo not understand, and cannot explain. But let us not therefore refuse to believe it. The eastern king who would not believe in the possibility of ice, because he lived in a hot country, and had never seen it, was not more foolish than the man who refuses to believe in Satanic posses- sion, because he never saw a case himself, and cannot understand it.

We may be sure, that upon the subject of the devil and his power, we are far more likely to believe too little than too much. Unbelief about the existence and personality of Satan, has often proved the first step to unbelief about God.

We see, in the second place, in these verses, what an jiirfidly cruel, powerful, and malicious being Satan is. On all these three points, the passage before us is full of instruction. The cruelty of Satan appears in the miserable condition of the unhappy man, of whose body he had possession.

We read that he dwelt " among the tombs," that " no man could bind him, no, not with chains" - that no man could tame him - and that he was " always night and day in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cut- ting himself with stones," naked, and without clothing. Such is the state to which the devil would bring us all, if he only had the power. He would rejoice to inflict upon us the utmost misery, both of body and mind. Cases like this are faint types of the miseries of hell. The poiver of Satan appears in the awful words which the unclean spirit used, when our Lord asked, " What is thy name " He answered, saying " My name is Legion : for we are many." We probably have not the faintest idea of the number, subtlety, and activity of Satan's agents. We forget that he is king over an enormous host of subordinate spirits who do his will

We should probably find, if our eyes were opened to see spirits, that they are about our path, and about our bed, and observing all our ways, to an extent of which we have no conception. In private and in public, in church and in the world, there are busy enemies ever near us, of whose presence we are not aware. The malice of Satan api>ears in the strange petition, " send us into the swine." Cast forth from the man, whose body they had so long inhabited and possessed, they still thirsted to do mischief. Unable to injure any more an immortal soul, they desired leave to injure the dumb beasts which were feeding near. Such is the true character of Satan. It is the bent of his nature to do 91 harm, to kill, and to destroy. No wonder that he is called Apollyon, the destroyer.

Let us beware of giving way to the senseless habit of jesting about the devil. It is a habit which furnishes awful evidence of the blindness and corruption of human nature, and one which is far too common. When it is seemly in the condemned criminal to jest about his ex- ecutioner, then, and not till then, it will be seemly for mortal man to talk lightly about Satan. Well would it be for us all, if we strove more to realize the power and presence of our great spiritual enemy, and prayed more to be delivered from him. It was a true saying of an eminent Christian, now gone to rest, " No prayer is complete which does not contain a petition to be kept from the devil/'

We see, in the last place, from these verses, how com- plete is our Lord's power and authority over the devil.

We see it in the cry of the unclean spirit, " I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not/'

We see it in the com- mand, " Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit," and the immediate obedience that followed.

We see it in the blessed change that at once took place in him that was possessed : he was found " sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind."

We see it in the petition of all the devils - "send us into the swine," confessing their consciousness that they could do nothing without leave. All these things show that one mightier than Satan was there. Strong as the great enemy of man was, he was in the presence of One stronger than he. Numerous as his hosts were, he was confronted with One who could command more than twelve leinons of angels. " Where the word of the king is, there is power." (Eccles. viii. 4.) The truth here taught is full of strong consolation for all true Christians. We live in a world full of difficulties and snares. We are ourselves weak and compassed with infirmity. The awful thought that we have a mighty spiritual enemy ever near us, subtle, powerful, and malicious as Satan is, might well disquiet us, and cast us down. But, thanks be unto God, we have in Jesus an almighty Friend, who is " able to save us to the uttermost." He has already triumphed over Satan on the cross. He will ever triumph over him in the hearts of all believers, and intercede for them that their faith fail not. And He will finally triumph over Satan com- pletely, when He shall come forth at the second advent, and bind him in the bottomless pit. And now, Are we ourselves delivered from Satan's power ? This after all is the grand question that con- cerns our souls. - He still reigns and rules in the hearts of all who are children of disobedience. (Eph. ii. 3.) He is still a king over the ungodly. Have we, by grace, broken his bonds, and escaped his hand? Have we really renounced him and all his works ? Do we daily resist him and make him flee ? Do we put on the whole armor of God and stand against his wiles. May we never rest till we can give satisfactory answers to these questions.*

* The whole subject of the demoniacs, or cases of Satanic posses- sion recorded in the New Testament, is unquestionably full of deep mystery. The miserable sufferings of the unhappy people possessed - their clear knowledge that our Lord was the Son of God - their double consciousness, sometimes the spirit speaking, sometimes the man - all these are deep mysteries. And it can hardly be otherwise. We know little of beings that we cannot see or touch. We know nothing of the manner in which a spirit operates on the mind of a MARK V. 18- £ 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. 1 9 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. The after-conduct of those whom our Lord Jesus Christ healed and cured when upon earth, is a thing which is not often related in the Gospels. The story often de- scribes the miraculous cure, and then leaves the after history of the person cured in obscurity, and passes on to other things. But there are some deeply interesting cases, in which the after-conduct of persons cured is described ; and the creature with flesh and bones like ourselves. We can see plainly that there were many persons possessed with devils during our Lord's earthly ministry. We can see plainly that bodily possession was something distinct from possession of heart and soul. We can con- jecture the reason of their permitted possession - to make it plain that our Lord came to destroy the works of the devil. But we must stop here. We can go no further. Let us, however, beware of supposing that Satanic possession was entirely confined to our Lord's time, and that there is no such thing in our own days. This would be a rash and unwarrantable conclu- sion. Awful as the thought is, there are sometimes cases in asylums for the insane, which, if they are not cases of Satanic possession, ap- proach as nearly to it as possible. - In short I believe the opinion of not a few eminent physicians is clear and decided that Satanic pos- session still continues, though cases are exceedingly rare. Of course it would be presumption to handle so fearful a doctrine lightly, and to pronounce positively of any particular person that " he had a devil." But if such things have been - ami the New Testament puts this beyond question - no good reason can be assigned why they should not be again. Human nature is not changed since our Lord was on earth. Satan is not yet bound. Salanic possession is therefore neither impossible nor improbable, though limits may be set to the frequency of it, through the mercy of God. man from whom the devil was cast out in the country of the Gadarenes is one. The verses before us tell the story. Few as they are, they are full of precious instruction.

We learn from these verses that the Lord Jesus knows better than His people what is the right position for them to be in. We are told that when our Lord was on the point of leaving the country of the Gadarenes, the man " that had been possessed with the devil, prayed Him that he might be with Him." We can well understand that re- quest. He felt grateful for the blessed change that had taken place in himself. He felt full of love towards his Deliverer. He thought he could not do better than follow our Lord, and go with Him as his companion and disciple. He was ready to give up home and country, and go after Christ. And yet, strange as it appears at first sight, the request was refused. " Jesus suffered him not." Our Lord had other work for him to do. Our Lord saw better than he did in what way he could glorify God most. uGo home to thy friends," He says, "and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee." There are lessons of profound wisdom in these words. The place that Christians wish to be in, is not always the place which is best for their souls. The position that they would choose, if they could have their own way, is not always that which Jesus would have them occupy. There are none who need this lesson so much as be- lievers newly converted to God. Such persons are often very poor judges of what is really for their good. Full of the new views which they have been graciously taught, excited with the novelty of their present posi- tion, seeing everything around them in a new light, knowing little yet of the depths of Satan and the weak- ness of their own hearts - knowing only that a little time ago they were blind, and now, through mercy, they see - of all people they are in the greatest danger of making mistakes. With the best intentions, they are apt to fall into mistakes about their plans in life, their choices, their mores, their professions. They forget that what we like best is not always best for our souls, and that the seed of grace needs winter as wrell as summer, cold as well as heat, to ripen it for glory.

Let us pray that G-od would guide us in all our ways after conversion, and not allow us to err in our choices, or to make hasty decisions. That place and position is most healthful for us in which we are kept most humble - most taught our own sinfulness - drawn most to the Bible and prayer - led most to live by faith and not by sight. It may not be quite what we like. But if Christ by His providence has placed us in it, let us not be in a hurry to leave it- Let us therein abide with God. The great thing is to have no will of our own, and to be where Jesus would have us be.*

* I cannot help remarking, in connection with our Lord's words in this passage, that it admits of question, whether men do not some- times act unadvisedly in giving up a secular calling, in order to enter the ministry of the Gospel. In plain words, I doubt whether men, who have been suddenly converted to God in the army, the navy, the law, or the merchant's office, do not sometimes forsake their profes- sions with undue precipitation, in order to become clergymen. It seems to be forgotten that conversion alone is no proof that we are called and qualified to become teachers of others. God may be glorified as really and truly in the secular calling as in the pulpit. Converted men can be eminently useful as landlords, magistrates, soldiers, sailors, barristers or merchants. We want witnesses for Christ