13 Mar Mark 12: King of the demons

Mark 5:1-20

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. ² And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. ³ He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, ⁴ for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. ⁶ And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. ⁷ And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” ⁸ For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹ Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, ¹² and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” ¹³ So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

¹⁴ The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ¹⁶ And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. ¹⁷ And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. ¹⁸ As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. ¹⁹ And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

If this is your first time coming to our church, and you are puzzled by the sermon title, it is not your fault. “King of the demons? Is this a Satanic church? I thought this is a Christian church.” I promise it will make sense at the end of the sermon. Let me start with a quote from C.S. Lewis. “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or magician with the same delight.” I think Lewis is spot on. Both are fatal mistakes. Some people seem to see demons under every rock. They blame the devils for everything. For example, a husband was tempted to cheat on his wife with a girl he met at the bar. And he went through with it. And when he got caught, he said, “It wasn’t me. The devil made me do it.” Have you heard that before? So, he blamed the devil and refused to take responsibility for his actions. In my preparation for this sermon, I read that there is a church that has deliverance services where the demon of binge shopping is cast out of people. “I cast out the demon of binge-shopping. Out. Out. Out” And the demons are probably having fun watching the service with popcorn on their hands. This is the first mistake. Whatever the problem, the solution is to cast out demons. I don’t think many of us are in this category.

But the second mistake is equally fatal. And this is where many of us are. One of the greatest achievements of Satan is to convince us that demons do not exist. We try to explain everything through the logic of cause and effect. We think that it is irrational and illogical to believe in the existence of demons. But why? Why is it irrational and illogical to believe in the existence of demons? We believe that God exists. If God exists, why is it hard to believe that demons could exist? Our modern culture tends to downplay the existence of demons. And the demons love it. We fall right into their trap. Because the moment we underestimate our enemy, it is a perfect recipe for defeat. No wonder many Christians live a defeated life. Let me give you an example. Some of you have bad habits you cannot fix. You continue to do things you do not want to do, and you don’t know what to do with it. You are out of control. You tried to go to therapy. Your therapist explained what is wrong with you but that’s it. Therapy can show you how you got into that condition, but it cannot get you out of it. You are stuck. Do you know why? It is not because you lack willpower. It is because the demons have you in chains. And there is nothing you can do on your own to break the chains. So, if you deal with those bad habits merely with human resources, you are going to lose. And you are. Your enemy has blinded you from seeing the truth. So, I have bad news and good news for us. The bad news is there is a wicked supernatural force at work that is far stronger than us. The good news is Jesus can break the chains of evil and set us free. And this is the point of our passage.

Jesus and the disciples just experienced a violent storm at the sea. And Jesus stilled the storm by his word. And now Jesus gets to the other side of the sea, and he is about to meet a man with a violent storm inside of him. This passage is the longest and most detailed account of exorcism in the whole Bible. It tells us of the One who has power and authority over chaos. Just as Jesus overcame the chaos of the storm in the sea, Jesus overcomes the chaos of demons of hell in a person. And the purpose of this passage is not simply to leave us awestruck at Jesus’ power but for us to consider how much Jesus has done for us.

I separate this sermon into four parts: The fallen condition; The deliverance; The reversal; The wonder.

The fallen condition

Mark 5:1-5 – They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. ² And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. ³ He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, ⁴ for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

Now, we are not exactly sure of the exact location where this event takes place. There is disagreement as to where the country of the Gerasenes was. But we know for sure it is in a Gentile area. As soon as Jesus steps out of the boat, he is greeted by a very strange man. Look at the descriptions of this man and the context of the story. First, he has an unclean spirit. This is another way of saying this man is demon-possessed. He has demons living inside of him. Second, he lives among the tombs. If we know someone who lives among the tombs, we naturally avoid that person. That person must be crazy. But it is even worse for the Jews. A person who touched a dead body is considered unclean for seven days. And to live among the dead is the worst of all possible circumstances of uncleanness from the Jewish perspective. Third, this event takes place in a largely Gentile region. The Jews regard the gentiles as unclean people. Fourth, this man lives near people who raise pigs. And pigs are unclean animals for the Jews. So, let’s put it together. This man has an unclean spirit, lived among unclean tombs, in an unclean region with unclean occupation. This is a big no-no for Jews. This is a man no Jew would want to meet for any reason.

And not only that, but this man is also in a miserable condition. He is demon-possessed, and he cannot be tamed. People try to bind him with chains, but it does not work. He has supernatural strength that no one could subdue. He yells at people, he screams, he cries, he cuts himself, and he torments others. Basically, he is the worst neighbour you could ever have. No one wants to be near him. This man is a danger to others and himself. But contrary to all reasons and cultural expectations, Jesus meets this man. In fact, if you look at the whole story, it seems that the reason Jesus came to this place, the reason Jesus told the disciples to get to the other side, is that Jesus wants to meet a man no one wants to meet. People around him might have given up on him but Jesus has not given up on him. And this is good news. Some of you might feel like your situation is hopeless. People have given up on you. You might have given up on yourself. But Jesus has not given up on you. He wants to meet you. And an encounter with Jesus will radically change your life.

So here is a question that we must answer. Does demon possession still happen today? I never experience the kind of demon possession that we see in this text. The closest I came to meeting a demon-possessed person was a few weeks ago. It was the Monday when all trains in Sydney was not running. The traffic was a lot worse than usual. I was driving and suddenly a man in a van tried to cut into my lane. And like every good driver out there, I did not give in. And he was very upset. But the car behind me gave in and so the van ended up behind my car. And we were at a red light. So, he honked at me for a very long time, cursed at me, and gave me the wonderful finger. I responded by rolling down my window and I gave him the hand. Note, the hand, not the finger. And I yelled out, “What is wrong with you?” And he got even angrier. He told me to get out of the car and fight him. But there was no way I was going to do that. Not because I was a pastor, but because I peeked at my side mirror, and I was sure he could kick my butt. I thought that was it. But when the light turned green, he quickly switched to the other lane, drove past me, cut into my lane, and stopped his van in between two lanes. So, he stopped the traffic of two lanes just so that he can cuss at me in front of my face. He did that for 15 seconds before he eventually drove off. That’s the closest I came to a demon-possessed person. But I know people who met an actual demon-possessed person like the one in our text. One of them is my dad. There was one time in Bali when a man was demon-possessed, and my dad went to his place. And the demonised person had never met my dad before. But when my dad met him, he said, “Oh it’s you, Samuel. Where are Arifin and Franky?” So yes, ladies and gentlemen. My dad was an exorcist, and the demons knew him. You don’t want to mess with him. But in a modern country like Australia, this kind of demon possession is not common. But demon possession happens in a lot more subtle and effective way. Today, a demonised person can look like an ordinary person. They can even be leaders in the church. The truth is there is a cosmic struggle for the heart and soul of every human being. The man with an unclean spirit in this story gives us a shocking picture of what happens when Satan is winning.

Here is what the Bible tells us about our condition before Christ. In Ephesians, Paul gives a very bleak description of people outside of Christ. Ephesians 2:1-3 – And you were dead in the trespasses and sins ² in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— ³ among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. Did you hear that? We were not only dead in our sins, but the spirit of evil was at work in us. We were ruled by the kingdom of Satan, and we were by nature enemies of God. We were by default, demonised. The message of the gospel is not, “You need to turn over a new leaf and live a better life.” The message of the gospel is, “You are chained by the enemy and there is nothing you can do on your own to break the chain.”

Some of you might argue with me right now. “Yos, I don’t see people around me being demonised. I know many non-Christians and they are fine. They don’t look anything like the demon-possessed man in this story.” Are they? Look at the characteristic of this demonised man. In one sense, the demonised person becomes very strong. No chain could bind him. He is like the Incredible Hulk. In the other sense, he is very weak. He continuously hurt himself and he cannot stop. He is enslaved by what makes him strong. Do you see what happened? Every time someone makes a pact with the demon, the demon gives that person power. But that power always comes at a heavy cost. The demon gives extraordinary strength and enslavement at the same time. And some of you are thinking, “But no one is making a pact with the demon.” I am convinced many are. Listen. If we make anything more important to our meaning in life, if we make anything more important to our happiness, if we make anything more important to us than Jesus, that thing is our true master. We made a pact with it. I love the way Becky Pippert puts it. “The person who seeks power is controlled by power. The person who seeks acceptance is controlled by the people he or she wants to please. We do not control ourselves. We are controlled by the lord of our life.” She says that we must make a pact with something or someone. Every one of us has that one thing that we say, “If I have that, then I am somebody.” And that thing is the true king of our life. That thing gives us strength and it takes away our freedom at the very same time. And if Jesus is not the king of our life, then we have made a pact with the demon. We are demonised.

Let me give you an example. Let’s say that you live for your career. You might call yourself a Christian but what drives you, what gives you meaning in life, what you really after is a successful career. You made a pact with your career. On the one hand, this pact gives you power. You will be more driven than others. You will work harder than many others and you will produce a better result. You will move up the ladder. It empowers you. But on the other hand, it enslaves you. You will put your career above everything else. You will have no problem exploiting people on your way up. You will cut corners. You will put career over relationships and hurt many people whom you loved. You will be exhausted physically. You will keep hurting yourself, but you can’t stop. Do you see what happened? Whenever anything is more important to us than Jesus as our meaning in life, we are no different than a demon-possessed person. It is just a matter of degree.

And this is what is very frightening about it. The process doesn’t happen overnight. Look at Mark 5:3 – ³ He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. The word “anymore” tells us that it does not happen overnight; it is gradual. The demon does not come up to us and says, “Make a pact with me. I’ll make you very strong, but I am going to make you my slave. I am going to give you a successful career, but you are going to ruin your family, exploit many other businesses, and you are going to feel very empty at the end of it.” If that’s what the demon offers, I am confident we will say, “No, thanks. I am not dumb. Astalavista.” Right? But what happens is that over time, we can end up in the tombs cutting ourselves and thinking, “How in the world did I end up here?” Do you know how? Gradually. In the beginning, we feel power much more than enslavement. But over the years, things slowly change. We lose more and more control and before we know it, we are already enslaved. So, the question is, who are we making a pact with? Let’s move on with the story.

The deliverance

Mark 5:6-13 – ⁶ And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. ⁷ And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” ⁸ For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹ And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” ¹⁰ And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹ Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, ¹² and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” ¹³ So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

When the demon-possessed man sees Jesus, he falls down before Jesus. Jesus doesn’t even have to do anything. The demon trembles at the sight of Jesus. The demon knows exactly who Jesus is. He is not blurred to the real identity of the person before him. He calls Jesus, “Son of the Most High God.” And he says to Jesus, “Swear by God that you won’t torture me.” This is interesting. Why does the demon want Jesus to swear that he won’t torture him? Because all demons know that there will come a time when they will be tortured. They know that they will be utterly defeated. It’s not a matter of if, it is a matter of when. And they live in fear of that day. They know that day is coming and there is nothing they can do to stop it. However, this demon argues that now is not the time yet. Parents, it’s like how when you tell your kids to go to sleep, and they protest. “Mom, it’s still 9:58 PM. You say I can stay up till 10 PM. I still have two more minutes.” The demon protests to Jesus, “It’s not the time yet for you to punish us. We still have two more minutes.”

And Jesus asks him, “What is your name?” He replies, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” Legion is a military term. A Roman legion consists of about 6000 soldiers. The point is not that there are 6000 demons in this man but there is an army of demons that enslaved this man. But here is what’s amazing. An army of demons cannot do anything in the presence of Jesus. They don’t even try to challenge Jesus. They simply beg for Jesus’s mercy to not torture them. Just as the wind and the waves obey Jesus, demons from hell tremble before Jesus. They are powerless before Jesus. And they say, “Let us enter the pigs.” The demons not only tremble before Jesus, but they must ask Jesus’ permission before they can enter pigs. My friends, this is who Jesus is. Jesus not only has absolute power and authority over nature. Jesus has absolute power and authority over demons. Jesus is the king of the demons. So, Jesus gives them his permission and the demons enter the pigs and 2000 pigs jump into the sea and commit suicide.

Now, I know what you are thinking right now. “What’s up with the pigs?” Right? So, I looked at many commentaries to find the answer. And after I read them, I still don’t know what’s up with the pigs. The best one that I read says that the pigs live and die for the glory of Christ. These 2000 pigs become famous in history for being used by Jesus to demonstrate Jesus’ authority over demons. Yeah, maybe, I am not fully convinced. But I know that the way we think about these pigs and the way the people in that culture think about these pigs is very different. When we read what happened, our modern mind immediately thinks, “Oh, poor little piglets.” We think about animal rights. Or some of you might think, “That is a lot of bacon and pork chops.” But not them. The people in the story looks at what happened with the pigs and immediately think, “Look at all that money we lost.” For them, pigs equal money. I have friends in Surabaya who run a pig farm. And he told me that to have 10 healthy pigs is enough to run a good business. And what we have in this story is not 10 pigs but 2000 pigs. This is an extremely big business. And to lose 2000 pigs is extremely costly. It is an economic catastrophe to the owner. But here is the important lesson. In the eyes of Jesus, the restoration of one person is far more important than the vast amount of wealth. Jesus is willing to sacrifice 2000 pigs to rescue a demonised man. For Jesus, the value between the two is not even comparable and not worth mentioning. For what does it mean to have all the wealth in the world but to lose your soul? Jesus’ currency is very different from our currency.

The reversal

Mark 5:14-17 – ¹⁴ The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ¹⁶ And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. ¹⁷ And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.

The news of what happened travels fast. The herdsmen run into the city and say, “The pigs! The pigs! The pigs!” And the townspeople respond, “What happened to the pigs?” The herdsmen reply, “The pigs commit mass suicide! And the crazy tomb man is sane!” It is hard for them to believe. It is not every day that pigs commit mass suicide and crazy man is made sane. So, the townspeople come to see what has happened. And when they come to Jesus, they are shocked. They see the crazy man is now normal. This man was all over the place. They tried to chain him just to keep him in one place, but they could not. But now, he is sitting. He was always tearing his clothes and walking around naked. But now, he has his clothes on. And for years, he was crying out like a mad man and cutting himself. But now, he is in his right mind talking to Jesus. This is a complete reversal of who he was before.

What does it tell us? It tells us that no one is beyond the power of Jesus to restore. It does not matter how demonised you are, it does not matter how many years you have been in chains, it does not matter what sort of pact you have made with the demon, there is still hope for you. I may not know how bad your situation is, but I know Jesus. Jesus is able to restore a man with many demons at his word. And the same Jesus is more than able to restore your life. What is enslaving you right now? Is it porn? Is it drugs? Is it sex addiction? Is it homosexuality? Is it your career? Is it your boyfriend or girlfriend? The good news tonight is Jesus wants to set you free. You do not hear this message by accident. Jesus wants to meet you and he wants to restore you.

But look at the response of the townspeople. No praise for Jesus. No thank you. No welcoming of the man. But fear. Rather than celebrating the fact that a demon-possessed person is set free, the people are afraid of Jesus. They are so afraid of Jesus that they beg Jesus to leave their region. Why are they so afraid of Jesus? I can think of two reasons. First, they see what happened to the pigs. Remember that pigs are a source of income for them. And they lost 2000 pigs in one afternoon. And if that’s the cost of restoring one crazy man, how much more pigs will they lose if Jesus remain? It is clear from the story that the people are more concerned about the pigs than the man. They are more concerned about their financial gain than the salvation of one person. This begs questions for all of us. Are we more concerned with 2000 pigs or one soul? What do we truly value? Do we care more about money or people? Do we use money to spread the gospel to more people? Or do we use people to have more money? Do we have the eyes of Jesus? Or do we have the eyes of the townspeople? Because according to Jesus, we can’t put a number on the worth of an individual. Jesus is willing to trade 2000 pigs for the sake of one soul. Are we willing to make that trade with our money? Can you see why the people want Jesus to leave? That’s the first reason.

The second reason why the people want Jesus to leave is that they do not want to acknowledge the change in this man’s life. Because to acknowledge the change in this man’s life is to acknowledge the change they need in their own lives. Perhaps they are afraid of what Jesus might change in their lives if they let him stay around any longer. I know this sounds irrational, but it happens all the time. This is why some of you feel really uncomfortable about that friend of yours, who used to be a big mess but now living radically for Jesus. Seeing how your friend changed, confront you with the change that you need in your own life. But you don’t want to admit it. You might call yourself Christians, but you like to keep your distance from Jesus. Close enough for you to admire him but not close enough for him to change you. Why? Because you are happy where you are right now. You like your life the way it is. And you are afraid that if Jesus gets any closer, he might actually change you. This is why you want Jesus to leave because you don’t want to change. Am I wrong? So, the question is, are you more like the man who sits with Jesus? Or are you more like the townspeople who want Jesus to leave?

But here is a question that we must answer. At the beginning of this story, the man was roaming around naked, living among the tombs, crying out in agony, hurting himself, and he was crazy. But after he met Jesus, he is sitting, he is clothed, and he is in his right mind. What caused this man to be restored? What is the cost of this reversal? Let me tell you the answer. The cost of this reversal is a greater reversal. If we fast forward to the end of the book of Mark, we are going to see Jesus and this man exchange places. At the end of the book of Mark, Jesus is stripped naked. Jesus is crying out and bleeding. Jesus is driven into the tomb. This is the cost of this man’s reversal, and this is the cost of our reversal as well. At the cross, Jesus took our place and became sin. Jesus absorbed evil unto himself, and he died at the cross to pay the consequences of sins. So that when we put our faith in him, we can experience the great reversal. We who were dead in our sins, are now alive in Jesus. We who were naked in shame and guilt, are now clothed in Jesus’ perfect righteousness. We who were enemies of God, are now children of God. We who lost our minds and rejected Jesus, are now in our right minds to know and love Jesus. Do you see what happened? When we see the cost of our reversal, when we see Jesus willing to be naked and driven into the tomb for us, this is what set us free from the bondage of sin. This is the power that liberates us from the masters that enslave us. We see the cross of Jesus Christ and we know how much he loves us. Now we don’t have to look to our career or anything else to make us feel like we are somebody. We know our value to Jesus. We are worth the cross. It is seeing the infinite cost that Jesus paid to set us free from the bondage of sin that set us free from bondage. Now, career is just career. We can enjoy all the good things in life without making them masters of our life. We no longer have to make a pact with them because Jesus has already made a pact with us. He made us his. And look at what happens next.

The wonder

Mark 5:18-20 – ¹⁸ As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. ¹⁹ And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Unlike the townspeople who do not want to have anything to do with Jesus, the former demonised person cannot have enough of Jesus. So, when Jesus is leaving, this man begs Jesus to allow him to come along. And for the first time in the book of Mark, Jesus rejects the plea of someone who wants to be with him. But just because Jesus rejects the man’s plea, does not mean that Jesus is done with the man. Oh no. Jesus says to him, “You can’t come with me. But I have something better in mind for you to do. I want you to go home. I want you to go back to where you are from. And I want you to tell them what I have done for you. Tell them how I have had mercy on you.” This is beautiful. The townspeople might have rejected Jesus, but Jesus has not given up on them. He sends the former demoniac to be his messenger to proclaim the gospel. The townspeople might not want Jesus, but Jesus wants them. And this former demoniac becomes the first gentile missionary sent by Jesus to the gentile. And look at verse 20. It is staggering.

Mark 5:20 – ²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. Church, we don’t need a course on evangelism to get started as an evangelist. We don’t need to read ten books on how to share the gospel to share the gospel with others. All we need is to meet Jesus. Anyone who has met Jesus has a wonderful story to tell. The detail is always different, but the story is the same. Imagine this former demoniac’s story. As he makes his way home, his son looks out the window and says, “Is that? Can that be? That looks like… Mommy, mommy, it’s daddy. Daddy is here.” The mom replies, “Lock the door. Hide. Quick. Pretend you do not see him. Daddy is not on his right mind.” “But mommy, something is different. Daddy is wearing clothes. Daddy got a haircut. Daddy looks normal.” So, the wife and the son open the door, run to meet the man, and hug him. She says, “What happened to you?” And everyone in the area steps out to see the man. They recognize this is the same man who was demon-possessed. And they ask him, “How did this happen? How are you so different?” And the man replies, “I met a man. I met a man who is far stronger than the many demons inside of me. I met Jesus. He set me free from my bondage. He had mercy on me, and he made me a new man.” And everyone marvels at what happened.

Friends, do you want to see our city being transformed? Do you want to see people marvel at the glory of Jesus? It starts with us telling other people around us what Jesus has done for us. It starts with us telling others, “Listen. I thought I was a good person. I thought I had my life under control. But the truth is I was dead in my sin. I lived for myself. I was under the slavery of sin, and I could not escape from it. I was lost. But I met Jesus. He loved me. He was merciful to me. He forgave me. He restored me. And now I am free. And if Jesus can do this to me, he can also do the same to you.” Church, this is my story. This is your story. So, let us go and tell everyone what Jesus has done for us. Let’s pray.

Discussion questions:

1. Have you seen someone who is demon-possesed before (both the ancient and modern way)? What happened?
2. Explain the danger of making a pact with the demons.
3. The demons fall down before Jesus and they tremble at the sight of Jesus. Why? What does it say about Jesus?
4. Look at the two reasons why the townspeople fear Jesus. Is any of the two reasons resonate with you? Why?
5. How does the gospel set us free from bondage?
6. “Anyone who has met Jesus has a wonderful story to tell.” Spend 3 minutes each to share your story (atleast two or three people).