How was your last week after hearing the message about the storm training? Was it peaceful or stormy? Shannon overcame the sinful nature storm by faith. Maria Park wanted to hide from her storm but called Jesus right away. John Lee had the stormy week with many tests. He remained calm though Jesus did not answer all the questions. Last week Jesus demonstrated his power to calm the storm as the Creator of nature. In today’s passage Jesus heals a crazy demoniac. Jesus restores this man’s true identity as a child of God and appoints him as the director of ten cities. He demonstrates his power to drive out demons. Let’s learn Jesus’ healing mercy in this passage. Jesus sacrificed 2,000 happy pigs in order to save this man. Jesus valued one man’s life as more valuable than the whole world.  May God bless you to learn of Jesus’ compassion for a helpless, seemingly useless person. I pray that we may go and tell what Jesus has done in our lives.

PART I. A CRAZY MAN WITH AN EVIL SPIRIT (1-8)

Look at verse 1. “They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.” Finally, the storm training was over. The disciples were happy to see the land. They were happy that they were still alive. They were happy now that they could eat something and get some sleep since they had struggled in the stormy sea all night. As soon as they put their feet on Gerasene soil, who was waiting for them? Look at verse 2. “When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him.” A crazy man without any clothes came from the tombs and greeted Jesus’ company. Imagine how this man looked. He was big and with wild hair never combed and bush beard. He was smelly. According to Luke 8:27, he was naked and acted like an animal. Coming out of the tombs, he made a wild howl and rushed at them. He was ugly and scary. He was harmful and fearful. Brave Peter tried to protect Jesus while young John tried to hide behind Peter. He cried, “Peter, I am scared. Do something.” He was like a sea ghost to the blurry-eyed disciples. He made a strange cry.  It sounded like a wounded animal. The disciples did not expect this kind of uninvited guest. They became nervous and forgot about their hungry feeling. They were sleepy but suddenly fully awakened by the strange animal’s voice. It was not a good picnic for the disciples. This crazy man ruined their vacation spirit. Their vacation was canceled again. Who was this crazy man?
Look at verse 3. “This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain.” We can see this man’s unusual circumstance. This man lived in the tombs.  Ordinary people do not live in the tombs because it is the home for the dead people. Only the ghosts in the movies live in the tombs. This indicates that this man ran away from his home and became a homeless man. Someone said, “Home, home, sweet home.” Truly, home is the most importance place in the world. After a day’s hard struggle at work, people rush to their homes to see their loving families. Many men want to see their beautiful wives and smiling children at the door. As soon as they come home, their tiredness disappear like snow under the sun. S. David Brogi forgets all his tiredness comes from hard work when Mary Anna rushes and hugs him at the door. But this man could not go home and made the tombs his permanent home. What caused him to become the tomb resident? As you know, this is my conjecture to assist your understanding in a modern setting. Think about it as one of possible scenarios. Maybe his trouble began from his family. He was a good boy when he was young. His parents loved him whenever he brought his good report cards. But something happened to this boy when he entered to the high school. He felt a peer pressure from his classmates and began to drink alcohol and take illegal drugs. He experienced sexual relationship with a girl student. He began to enjoy his sinful life. He began to miss his class and his grades suffered. He began to argue with his parents and became very rebellious towards school authorities. He had a negative feeling towards any authority. Especially he hated the police. He did not know how to handle his life. He made his mother cry many times and made his father mad when he brought so many speeding tickets. His father put a curfew on him and told him not to drink and not to smoke and not to take drugs. He restricted him not to drive without his permission. But nothing stopped his wild living. As a result, his relationship with his family was getting worse and worse. He could not talk with his father any more because there was so much yelling and shouting. His sinful life broke his relationship with his parents. Of course, his parents endured his rebellious unusual behavior for a while. But their patience ran out. They could not love him any more. This man began to disobey his parents and hate them. Their relationship was broken. Their communication was broken. His parents gave up on him. Here we learn that it is important to provide caring, loving, supportive environment for troubled teenagers. Most school violence like the Columbine high school massacre is committed by teenagers with troubled family environment. Two teenagers killed fellow students and a teacher. Then they killed themselves. They maintained a web site praising Hitler and violence. Timothy Mcveigh destroyed a federal building in Oklahoma with explosives and killed 168 people including young children. His father had a good memory of him as a young kid. He did not believe he could commit such a crime. It was the work of the demons. Their actions were nothing but the work of the demons. Many human restrictions and many do’s and don’ts will not help any teenagers who want to enjoy unlimited human freedom. They need God’s help and the prayers of their parents. They need Jesus who has power to drive out demons. When your patience runs out with teenagers, ask God for more patience and more love and more prayers. 
       In the course of living in rebellion and hatred, this man became a source of sorrow and anguish to his family. Soon, he left his home and moved to an apartment. He invited his drinking buddies and threw many wild parties with loud rock music. They sang songs like “Millions of dead cops”, and “highway to hell.” Neighbors complained about their noise and they called 911 and he was arrested. He was kicked out of the apartment because he did not pay the rent for several months. He robbed the Gerasa 7-11 store to feed his hungry stomach. He was arrested again. He became a frequent jail bird. Look at verse 4. “For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him.” He became a strong man like Mike Tyson. No one was able to subdue him. The community felt that he was a threat to the society and sent him to many psychiatric doctors who tried to help him but they failed to subdue him. They locked him up in a mental hospital with a straight jacket. They tried to solve his problem with chains and irons. But he broke the chains and fled to the open country, the tombs where no one lived. They tried to bind him up to control him with chains. But they failed. Now he had no place to go but the tombs. He became a disaster in the society in which he lived. Many people began to hate him. Nobody wanted him to be around. He became the most unwanted man in the world. He really wanted to become his own man. Did he become his own man when he lived in the tombs? No, he was cutting himself day and night. Look at verse 5. “Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones. “ What was he doing in the tombs?  He took off all his clothes because he felt that wearing clothes was burdensome. (Lk. 8:27) In the past he cut all relationship with others. Now nobody bothered him. He escaped from his family. He escaped from his neighbors and people who bothered him. Now he gained a complete freedom. But he was not free at all. During the summer hungry mosquitoes bothered his freedom. In reality he could not escape from himself. He wanted to be himself. But he then wanted to escape from himself. He could not escape from his sinful reality. When he was alone, he did not like himself. He began to hate himself. With the power of anger, he was torturing himself with stones and blood began to flow from his body. He was very miserable. As we know, sleeping is one of our human joys. He worked overtime to cut himself during the night. He did not sleep. Due to coughing, I was unable to sleep well for several days. It drove me crazy. But this man was so restless that he could not sleep. He roamed around the tombs and ran up and down the hills, crying out and cutting himself with stones, in order to overcome his restlessness. He felt lonely. He wanted to have fellowship but dead people did not answer his cry. He cried out, “Someone, help me! Help me! I am dying.” But no one heard his desperate cry for help. When he used his human freedom to enjoy his sinful life, he was not happy. He felt death every day. He was not free at all. Instead, he was captured by many demons. Demons grabbed him. Demons drove him crazy. He was out of his minds. When he lived according to his sinful nature, he did not enjoy freedom; rather, he became the objects of God’s wrath. He became a crazy Gerasene demoniac. 
Who heard his endless cry for help? This man was waiting for Jesus eagerly in the early morning hours. We assumed that Jesus crossed lake to have a retreat. But he did not say, “Let’s go over to the other side for a retreat.” Now we can say that Jesus crossed the stormy Sea of Galilee in order to meet this crazy demoniac. It was not to have a picnic. Jesus heard this man’s cry for help and came to meet him. He went over, healed him and went back. Jesus is God himself but he gave up the glory of heaven and came to this world to rescue people who are suffering under the power of demons. Jesus understood this man’s agony to be free from sin and death. Jesus understood this man’s desire to have true relationship with God. People including his family concluded that he was a worthless man to exist in this world. They felt that he only deserved to live in the tombs. They gave up. Nothing they could do. But Jesus did not think that way. Jesus knew that he needed his help and came to help this man abandoned by everybody. Jesus knows we are crying no matter where he is. Nineteen years ago Shep. Bruce Hollinger was failing school and felt lonely and restless. So he ran up and down Maryland campus crying, “Someone, help me!” Jesus heard his cry and sent M. Esther Lee from Arlington, Virginia to meet him. M. Esther crossed the Potomac River and came to Maryland and met him to have one to one Bible study. When he met Jesus, God changed S. Bruce Hollinger from a crazy runner to a man of holy mission, a pioneer of GMU, and a father of twin boys.
How did Jesus help this man? People thought his problem was a behavioral problem or mental disorder problem and tried to correct his human behavior with law and chains. But that did not work. They failed to help this man. Why? His problem was not a behavioral problem. What was this man’s real problem? Verse 2 tells us that he had an evil spirit. Verse 9b reads, “’My name is Legion,’ he replied, ‘for we are many.’” “Legion” refers to a regiment of 6,000 Roman soldiers. Whenever he sinned against God, evil spirits who are also called demons, did not leave him alone. They entered him one by one until there were 6,000. His body became a playground of 6,000 demons. What happened to him when he was possessed by many demons? Look at verses 6 and 7. “When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!’” According to these verses, he likes Jesus, and at the same time, he hates Jesus. He was split by two forces. He was split between God and Satan. Still he was the possession of the evil spirits. This man seems to be speaking to Jesus, but actually it was the demons in him speaking through him. His madness began to explode because Jesus ordered the evil spirits to come out of him. Because of demon-possession, he could not rest. He cut his body with stones until his whole body was bloodstained. Jesus saw his problem from a spiritual point of view. Jesus saw this man’s problem not as a moral problem, but as a spiritual problem. Jesus saw his problem as demon-possession. As soon as Jesus saw him, he ordered the demons to come out. Jesus was ready to help this man and free him from many demons. We cannot ignore demons. We must know the existence of demons. Look at verse 8. “For Jesus had said to him, ‘Come out of this man, you evil spirit!’” Who can command the evil spirit come out but Jesus! The authority of Jesus is absolute. The demons are trembling in front of Jesus. They can not do anything without Jesus’ permission. Jesus came into this world to destroy the demons. Once we were possessed by many demons and did many strange shameful things. But we were freed from the demons by the power of Jesus. We are no longer demon-possessed. This passage does not apply to us but to unsaved people. As long as we trust in Jesus, we will not be possessed by demons again. Of course, demons try to influence and try to come back again. But that’s not possible because demons are afraid of Jesus. Let’s see how Jesus restored this man. 

PART II. “WHAT IS YOUR NAME?” (9-17)

Look at verse 9. “Then Jesus asked him, ‘What is your name?’” Why did Jesus ask his name first? Jesus wanted to expose the presence of demons and restore his identity. When we meet a new person, the first thing we do is to ask the person’s name. When the new admitted student comes to the school, the first thing is to issue a picture ID card to identify students. They have to show their IDs for school services. In the same way Jesus asked his name first. Since he became a homeless demoniac, nobody asked him, “What is your name?” They did not want to know. They did not care. One missionary gave me a ride when I went to Chicago last week. He gave me a ride in the previous trip. But I forgot his name. I could not ask again, “What is your name?” I still did not know his name. What an embarrassment! In the Bible, name represents his character or his whole person. God always called Abraham by name. Everybody has own name. Is there anyone who has no name? If we do not know the name, we do not know the person. We call Kristi Berkebile Krsti not Susan or Mary. Lawson is Lawson and Jay is Jay and Tinuke is Tinuke. Each one is unique and special to God. But this man was forgotten, rejected, ignored, and abandoned by people for a long time. This man lost his name in the middle of his sinful life. Probably this man’s real name had been forgotten long ago by others, and even by himself. The most sorrowful thing in the world is to be forgotten by people. This man’s name was forgotten and he was referred as the Gerasene demoniac or that crazy tomb man. But Jesus came to restore this man. When Adam sinned and hid under the tree, God came to him and called, “Adam, where are you?” God was looking Adam when he ran away. In the same way, Jesus came to restore this man lost in sin. Jesus saw him as human being, created by God in God’s own image. Jesus knew that because of demon-possession, he lost everything-his humanity, his happiness, and his true human freedom. Now Jesus wanted to bring him back to himself by asking, “What is your name?” Jesus’ question is indeed marvelous. Jesus wanted to help him discover himself all over again. At this point Jesus is asking us, “What is your name?’ We need to know who we are before God. Let’s discover our true identity before God. We are children of God saved by the grace of Jesus. Let’s say together, “My name is Jacob, a child of God saved by Jesus’ grace.” Amen! Apostle Paul was a violent man and persecuted many young believers. His former name was Saul. Jesus restored him to become a child of God. After conversion he became Paul. Jesus gave him a new identity after he was saved. He always maintained his identity as a chosen apostle of Jesus and introduced himself as “a servant of Christ Jesus”. (Romans 1:1) Sometimes we have many old sinful habits. We forget our identity. But we must remember our identity. Do you know my former name? It is Ilsung which is identical to Kim Ilsung, former North Korean dictator. I was like him in my sinful nature. I was quiet but very ambitious. I was possessed by many demons. But Jesus restored my true identity as his precious child and gave me a new name Jacob. First I did not like this new name because of Jacob’s human ambition and struggling character. But I like it now because I have a vision to raise up 12 disciples. 
What was the man’s answer? “My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many” (9). Here we clearly see his split personality. He said, “My name” first. But later he said, “For we are many.” He did not remember his name because so many demons like violent demon, fatalistic demon, hatred demon, rebellious demon, and jealous demon occupied him. His problem was exposed and Jesus was ready to help this man. Look at 10-12. “And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. The demons begged Jesus, ‘Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.’” Now the fortunes had turned. The demons realized that they were losing their prisoner. They wanted to inflict the damage to scare people. The price tag was very high. They looked around and saw a large herd of happy pigs grazing nearby. They demanded the 2,000 pigs as the ransom price in exchange for their hostage. How did Jesus respond? Look at verse 13. “He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.” Jesus regarded one man’s life as more valuable than 2,000 pigs. Jesus valued one man’s soul as more precious than the whole world. (Mk. 8:36) 6,000 demons went into the pigs. Then the pigs lost their joy of life: eating. They were miserable when possessed by demons. Pigs never do anything wicked; they only eat day and night. They really enjoy their lives. But even pigs don’t like to be possessed by evil spirits. So the pigs rushed down the steep bank and all fell into the lake and were drowned. It is indeed a tragic story. Two thousand pigs committed mass suicide by drowning (13). Later, Jesus sacrificed his own life in order to save us from our sins. Mark 10:24 says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Jesus was willing to give his own life as a ransom sacrifice to free us from the demons. Romans 5:8 says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Praise Jesus who loved us while we were great sinners. 
Look at verse 14. “Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened.”  The pig shepherds felt responsible and so they ran to their owners and reported the loss of 2,000 pigs. What had happened was indeed terrible to the owner of the pig industry. When the people of the country came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there, well-dressed, and in his right mind. Dressing well is a first sign of normal life. He looked like a handsome young man like Shannon Smith. They should have celebrated the homecoming of this man. But strangely they were greatly afraid. Why were they afraid? It is because Jesus ruined their pig industry in order to save a demon-possessed man. If one pig cost $500, they lost one million dollars. Yes, it was a lot of money. The price of pork chops and bacons went up. They were afraid of losing more pigs. They thought that the demon-possessed man should have rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned instead of their pigs. They valued money more than a demon-possessed man. What a surprising reaction! Look at verse 17. “Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.” They could have received Jesus’ spiritual blessings if Jesus stayed longer with them. They were business-minded. They lost spiritual blessings because of their fear of losing money. But Jesus was different. In order to save one apparently useless man Jesus spent a sleepless night in Gerasa. In order to save this man, he was hated, rejected and misunderstood by the townspeople. Finally, he was forced to leave the town. By healing a demon-possessed man, Jesus was rejected and despised. People hated him so much that he had to get into a boat again and leave. 

PART III. JESUS APPOINTED HIM AS A GOSPEL WORKER (18-20)
Look at verse 18. “As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him.” After receiving healing mercy, this man decided to follow Jesus. He wanted to become one of Jesus’ disciples. He came back to himself and became a normal man when Jesus drove out the demons by sacrificing 2,000 pigs. He was in his right mind. A desire to become a noble man and a useful man to God arose in his heart. Look at verse 19. “Jesus did not let him, but said, ‘Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” His request was not granted. Each one has a different mission from Jesus. Jesus sent him home to share his personal testimony. Jesus wanted to establish a gospel ministry in the Gentile territory starting from this man. They needed a gospel worker there. When Jesus revisited this area again later, the gospel work was growing. This man was fitted to serve this area starting from his family. Maybe the man wanted to run away from all his past messes and he wanted to start fresh in a new place. He wanted to forget all his troubles. But Jesus sent him back where he failed. Jesus wanted to restore his family. He used to be a tough guy and he was qualified to serve this tough area. He could convert his boundless energy to evangelize the area. He had cried a lot due to his restlessness in the past and now he could cry to preach the grace of Jesus. He had tasted God’s love through Jesus. Now he must declare God’s love through his Son Jesus Christ. He must tell everyone about what Jesus had done for him. Jesus appointed him to become the director of the Decapolis which means ten cities. Wow! It takes time to be a Bible teacher. It takes more time to be a fellowship leader and a director. But now he became a director. How come! He had a clear life testimony. As we know, the highlight of any conference is the life testimony night. There was no exception for our Spring Bible conference. Catherine from Towson University was quite and did not say anything during the whole conference. But after she heard the powerful life testimonies, she began to talk and opened her heart widely. She even volunteered to lead a singing practice. She liked M. Matthew Kim’s testimony because he mentioned about his romantic conversion after he studied Romans Bible study. As long as we have a clear life testimony to share, we can be a gospel worker. Now Jesus sent him on a mission. “Go and tell.”  He began his ministry-first to his family, next to his friends. The more he told about Jesus, the more he became powerful. 
To share God’s grace is the starting point of our mission life. Apostle Peter’ true life began when he began to declare God’s grace through Jesus, who brought him out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9) In the past S. Anthony Ahmed wanted to be a good Muslim with many wives. But he realized that he was a terrible sinner. When he confessed his sins before Jesus, he was saved by God’s mercy. Now he is telling his sheep how Jesus has had mercy on him. By grace of God he became a Bible teacher. In the past M. Andrea Han wanted to be a tough girl. So she acted like a boy. She wanted to date with one boy but he said, “You are too fat.” I think he made a mistake. She is a pretty woman of God. At that time she despaired and felt lonely. She felt deep pain when she lost her younger brother. Due to this event, she became fatalistic and became a child of darkness. But when she met Jesus through the summer conference in her college days, the peace of God flowed into her heart. She was changed from a child of darkness to a child of light by the grace of Jesus. Now she is testifying God’s grace through her one to one study with Ewellina. Not only Jesus healed this man from a demon-possession but also he restored his holy mission. Once we were worthless sinners living as the enemies of God. But Jesus sacrificed his own life to save wretched sinners such as us. At this moment, let’s remember what kind of sinners we were and how Jesus had had mercy on us so that we can go and tell Jesus’ amazing love for us. May God bless us to keep our identity as a child of God and serve his mission by his grace. Let’s read the key verse 9.