The Healings of Jesus – Part 19
The MADMAN OF GADaRA
(John 21:25 AMPC) And there are also many other things which Jesus did. If they should be all recorded one by one [in detail], I suppose that even the world itself could not contain (have room for) the books that would be written.
There were innumerable healings and miracles performed by Jesus, but we do not have record of them all. We do have record of 19 of them and because the Holy Spirit instructed those men to record them for us, we should take the time to study them.
In studying these healings, we can learn that if we will do what the people did, we can receive what the people got. (Acts 10:34)
For this reason, we are looking at the details of each case.
(Acts 10:38 AMPC) How God anointed and consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the [Holy] Spirit and with strength and ability and power; how He went about doing good and, in particular, curing all who were harassed and oppressed by [the power of] the devil, for God was with Him.
(Acts 10:38 MSG) Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him.
(Acts 10:38 Williams) how God consecrated Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and then He went about doing good and curing all who were overpowered by the devil, because God was with Him.
Remember, pay attention to the details. Sometimes the key for you to be able to receive from Heaven is in the details.
In studying these healing miracles, we can learn how to receive healing for ourselves and learn how to minister healing to others.
This is a summary of the ministry of Jesus: He went about teaching, preaching, and healing.
(Matthew 4:23 NKJV) And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.
(Matthew 9:35 NKJV) Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
We want to emphasize what Jesus emphasized!
These truths belong to us!
Preaching is a proclaiming of the Good News and is designed to draw the attention of people. Teaching brings people into knowledge and revelation of what belongs to us as believers.
- We need to hear proper teaching on healing so that we can cooperate with the healing power of God.
- What you hear, is going to be what you have faith to receive.
- Jesus wants you to have a life of health and healing and for you to walk in it, you must know something about it and be skilled in what you know.
- In teaching these things, we are doing the works of Jesus, so receive your healing!
- As you hear these things being taught, you can receive your healing!
Mark 5:1-17 NKJV Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. (2) And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, (3) who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, (4) because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. (5) And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones. (6) When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. (7) And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.” (8) For He said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” (9) Then He asked him, “What is your name?” And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” (10) Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country. (11) Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. (12) So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them.” (13) And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea. (14) So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. (15) Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. (16) And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. (17) Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.
Not only is Jesus the Healer for the body, He is the deliverer for the mind.
Mark 5:1-2 NKJV Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. (2) And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
Notice the Scripture says that this was an “unclean spirit” that had taken control of the man. The Greek could also be translated “impure”. These spirits are polluted and they seek to pollute mankind.
No demon spirit is “clean”. The reason the Scripture says it this was is so that there would be a clear difference between a demon spirit and a Godly spirit.
Mark 5:3-4 NKJV who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, (4) because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.
This man had a supernatural strength that was from the demon in him. The Scripture says, “…that no man could tame him.” Jesus did not come on the scene to tame the demon spirit, He came to cast it out.
Mark 5:5 NKJV And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.
He was dwelling in uninhabited places – the mountains and the tombs.
This man was living in a place where men ought not to live – in the graveyard.
When the devil gets his way with people, he seeks to degrade people to such a low state as an insult to God. He was more like an animal than he was a man.
The devil will also push people to separate themselves from society and from other people. He seeks to isolate people so he can torment them. We were not created for isolation. It is OK to seek to be alone for a season for solitude but that is different from being “driven” into isolation.
He was crying and cutting himself. He is so tormented that he cries out and seeks to damage himself.
Don’t let the devil erase human dignity from you! Resist him when he is pressuring you in this way.
This man had no relief night and day. No peace of mind. He had no hope.
In the natural, it looked like this man was beyond all help. But when it looks like there is no help, there is One Who can bring help!
Jesus not only paid the price for you to be Born Again, a healed body, but He also paid the price for you to have a peace and calm mind.
2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7 AMPC For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.
Use your faith for your sound mind just like you do for anything else.
Mark 5:6-8 NKJV When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. (7) And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.” (8) For He said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!”
The man did the running TOWARDS Jesus telling us that the man sensed that this Man could be his help. Demons will never run TOWARDS Jesus, they always seek to hide from Him.
Also, the demon was not worshipping Jesus in sense that we worship Him, the Greek simply says that the man fell prostrate before Him.
Notice this in verse 7, that the man needed no introduction to Jesus because this is not the man speaking per se, it is the demon speaking through the man who knew Who Jesus was. The man himself would not have known Who Jesus is.
The man is running to Jesus and while he is on the way, Jesus commanded the spirit to come out of the man.
When you walk in your authority, demon spirits recognize that authority just like they did when Jesus walked upon the earth.
Notice the demon is tormenting the man, but when Jesus shows up, he doesn’t want to be the one getting tormented. Demons can dish out torment, but they certainly take torment.
How could Jesus torment the demon? By Jesus telling him he has to come out of the man. Demons do not have a body and therefore they desire to inhabit the bodies of unknowing people to execute their plans in the earth. They seek to find someone who will yield themselves to them so they can get expression. They are tormented unless they can express themselves.
Mark 5:9 NKJV Then He asked him, “What is your name?” And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.”
This demon spirit was in command over many other spirits. In the Roman army a legion would average beginning at 1200 and up.
Mark 5:10-12 NKJV Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country. (11) Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. (12) So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them.”
Why didn’t Jesus cast the demons into the abyss and rid the world of their influence? Because it was not time. There is a time when all demons will be case into the abyss, but that time has not yet come.
Matthew 8:29 NKJV And suddenly they cried out, saying, “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”
The demons know there is a time coming but they do not when that time is. Only the God the Father knows when that time is.
Luke 8:31 NKJV And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.
Jesus was not extending mercy to the demons by allowing them to go into the swine; it just wasn’t time yet for them to be cast into the abyss.
They did not want Jesus to send them out of the country. Why? Because they had worked very hard to affect that region as much as they could. All of their effort was going to be hindered and stopped by One Man with authority and the anointing.
You can stop the devil’s operation in your life any time you choose with the Word of God and the Name of Jesus. But, to minister deliverance to someone else, there must be the power of the anointing present by the Holy Spirit.
Mark 5:13 NKJV And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.
Notice this: if a man’s spirit can contain at least two thousand demons, how much more can a Born Again human spirit contain of God’s power by the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 3:19 AMPC [That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!
Mark 5:14-15 NKJV So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. (15) Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.
The people were once afraid of the man who was demon possessed, but now they are afraid of the Man that set him free.
Mark 5:16-17 NKJV And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. (17) Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.
Notice how wrong this scene is. The people wanted the Deliverer to leave their area.
Mark 5:18-20 NKJV And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him. (19) However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you.” (20) And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.
This is an instance of where Jesus instructed the man to go and proclaim what Jesus had for him. Jesus made him a preacher.
He went through the entire region of those ten cities and declared what Jesus had done for him. They might have known his reputation before he was delivered but now they could see him free and in his right mind.