These small group studies of the gospel of Mark 5 contain commentary, cross-references, Bible study discussion questions, and applications to encourage life change. Visit our library of inductive Bible studies for more practical studies on this and other books of the Bible you can use in your small group.
Mark 5:1-20 Bible Study and Questions – Testimony of a Changed Life
Outline
I. The world is a dark place without Christ (1-5)
II. The light of Christ overcomes the darkness (6-13)
III. The light changes lives (14-18)
IV. Shine the light (19-20)
I. The world is a dark place without Christ (1-5)
Discussion Questions
• What are your observations about the region they went to?
• How could the demon-possessed land confront them so quickly? Is there anything going on behind the scenes?
• What are your observations about this demon-possessed man?
• Where did this man’s strength come from?
• What does this passage teach you about Satan and his demons?
Cross-References
1 Peter 5:8 – Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
Matthew 12:43-45 – When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, but finds none. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first. So also will it be with this evil generation.
Verse by Verse Commentary
1. A man from the tombs – For Jews, tombs were an unclean place. They were not allowed to touch bodies. Demons drove these people (Matthew 8:28 mentions two of them) to live in this horrific place. Demons seem to take delight in causing misery and torment to their hosts. Satan has always appeared as an angel of light. He often makes big promises about the fun and pleasure people can have if they give in to his temptations, but such people are always disappointed and find themselves trapped and enslaved instead.
James rightly said that we should resist the devil. Never give in and never give any foothold.
James 4:7 – Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
Ephesians 4:26-27 – Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.
2. This man met Jesus as soon as Jesus got out of the boats – Some questions immediately pop into my mind. How did he know Jesus was coming? How did he know who Jesus was? What was his purpose?
I believe this fact can give us some insight into the organizational ability and intel of Satan and his cohorts. These demons were seemingly sent to oppose Jesus’ work and cause disturbances and problems in hopes of preventing Jesus’ message from reaching the people.
Satan and his dark spiritual forces clearly knew where Jesus was and were waiting to oppose him. This fits with the parable of the soils in the last chapter. In that parable, we saw that where the sower was spreading seed, Satan was also there opposing the work of the sower and taking the seed from people’s hearts. This is a very stark reminder that Satan and demons are very real and are active in this world. They are actively working against God, against the church, and against believers.
Application – Do not underestimate the enemy. We should not be surprised to face opposition to following God. Rather, we should expect it. Satan doesn’t want us to follow the Lord. He will put temptations in our path. He also doesn’t want us to tell others about the Lord or teach others about Him. We have to be alert. That means being careful to avoid any potential temptations. Billy Graham is a good example. He knew that people would be out to discredit his ministry and therefore he always had people go into his hotel rooms to make sure no women were waiting there to entice him.
3. The demon-possessed man possessed uncanny strength – No one could subdue him. He was stronger than everyone else and, therefore, free to roam around causing turmoil. Obviously, people had tried many times to bind him, but every time, he broke free. This bears some similarity to Samson. The difference is that Samson’s strength came from the Lord, while this man’s strength came from demons. The problem was that people tried to subdue this man with their own strength. There is no evidence that they prayed or asked God for help. Their own efforts and their own strength were not enough. Demons are stronger than people.
Application – We cannot hope to win the spiritual battle against Satan and his demons by our own power. He is stronger than we are and smarter than we are. If we rely on ourselves, we will lose. We have to rely on the Lord, who is stronger than He is.
How can we do this?
We must be alert to temptations and always turn to the Lord through prayer and the Word. Follow the principles in God’s Word and pray for His help. The prayer, “God help me,” is very simple but extremely powerful.
II. The light of Christ overcomes the darkness (6-13)
Discussion Questions
• What do the man’s words show us about demons’ knowledge level?
• What was the demons’ request?
• What does their request show us about their understanding of who Jesus was and His power?
• Why was the man called “Legion?”
• Why do you think the demons asked to go into the herd of pigs?
• Why would Jesus give them permission?
• What does this encounter show us about spiritual warfare?
Jesus’ Encounter with the Demons
1. The demon-possessed man bows to Jesus – Clearly, these demons were not submitting themselves to Jesus’ authority. Their words make this very clear. So why did the man bow? It could have been mocking him (like the Roman guards who put the purple robe on Jesus.) If not mocking him, they could have been patronizing him in an attempt to get mercy and obtain a more favorable outcome to this confrontation.
2. What do you have to do with me, Jesus?
The answer to this question is clear. They have no business with each other.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 – Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said,
“I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
Therefore go out from their midst,
and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch no unclean thing;
then I will welcome you,
and I will be a father to you,
and you shall be sons and daughters to me,
says the Lord Almighty.”
There could be no cooperation. No mutual goals. No helping each other. No peace. The two sides are diametrically opposed and there is no hope of compromise or reconciliation. We should understand this and stay far away from evil. Do not consider doing something bad for a good purpose, telling white lies, or compromising for the greater good.
We should avoid even the appearance of evil. The idea is not to see how close to the line we should get. That attitude is often seen in the sentence, “The Bible doesn’t say I can’t do it, so it must be OK).” We should instead try to stay far away from the line. A better question to ask would be, “Does this glorify God? If He were here, would I do it?”
3. The demons had head knowledge –
These demons understood who Jesus was, but they weren’t willing to accept him. This is a reminder that intellectual agreement with the facts about Jesus does not equal a saving faith.
3. Do not torment me! –
Luke 8:31 – And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss.
This request is very interesting. They are asking not to be prematurely confined to the “abyss.”
To understand it, we need to look at the full Scriptural context.
Jude 1:6-7 – And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
2 Peter 2:4-6 – For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.
Likely these passages are a reference to fallen angels (called ‘sons of God’ in Genesis 6:4) sinning egregiously by committing sexual immorality with the “daughters of men” prior to the flood.
Genesis 6:4 – The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.
Some fallen angels have so disregarded the natural order and committed such abominations that God has seen fit to bind them there awaiting their final judgment and preventing them from influencing the world. The rest of the fallen angels and Satan will one day be judged and thrown into the lake of fire as well.
These demons in this man were hoping to keep their freedom for as long as possible and avoid being bound in this abyss. That shows again that they knew their punishment was coming. Yet they still kept doing evil deeds. They had done them so much that there was no going back and no repenting even though they knew the final outcome was their complete destruction and punishment.
The story of the binding of demons who go too far is an encouraging reminder that God is sovereign. Though He allows some freedom, even freedom to make sinful choices, He is still actively restraining sin and evil in the world (2 Thessalonians 2:6).
Application – Sometimes we know ahead of time that something is sin. And yet because of the temporal pleasure that comes from the sin, we might just do it anyway and not care about the results. Make up your mind not to do this.
Sinning willfully against the Lord is a very dangerous proposition and those who do it are living very precariously. God could strike you down immediately like He did Ananias or Sapphira (Acts 5). Or your heart could become increasingly hardened and insensitive to sin as you get farther and farther from the Lord. Or your life could be completely ruined like Samson’s was.
5. Legion – This man was possessed by many demons. Perhaps a person possessed by multiple demons could show multiple personality disorder. Some things diagnosed in the modern day as mental illnesses could be manifestations of demon possession. This is not always the case, but we should consider it in some extreme situations.
6. The demons requested to be sent into the herd of pigs –
Their request likely had two motivations. One was probably that this was a convenient alternative to the abyss. The other is that perhaps they foresaw that the pig herders would become angry and this would lead to Jesus’ departure from that area. Their goal would have been to oppose Jesus’ work by causing as much chaos as possible.
These pigs were unclean animals so it could show that the Jews living in that area cared not for the law.
7. Jesus gave the demons permission to go int