Mark 5:1–20
1 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.
As we have seen throughout the book of Mark one of the main themes is the authority of Jesus. His teaching carries greater authority than the scribes and the Pharisees. He has already cast out demons and healed people. He calms a storm at sea by simply telling it to be still.
Here we see the deck is stacked against Jesus so as to leave no doubt about his identity, authority and power. This is a common OT formula to illustrate God's transcendent power, beyond any false God. When Moses and Aaron go before Pharaoh (Ex. 7:8-13) they are asked to perform a miracle. Aaron throws down his staff and it becomes a snake. The Egyptian magicians are able to mimic this with their dark arts. But then, completely outnumbered, Aaron's staff consumes the magicians' staffs. When Elijah calls down fire from heaven (1 Kings 18:16-46) he is facing off against 450 of Baal's prophets. They prayed all morning and nothing happened. Then Elijah placed his offering on the altar, dug a trench and poured water all over it. Then prayed and the fire from God consumed not only the offering but the altar and the water with it.
This scene portrays a similar setting. As we saw yesterday Jesus was surrounded by uncleanness. This man is possessed by a legion of unclean spirits, in unclean territory, in unclean tombs, with unclean animals around him. This guy was incredibly strong since, "no one could bind him anymore." He isn't solely possessed by one demon but a legion of demons. Yet Jesus, who is here to bind the strong man (Mark 3:27), doesn't need to exert any effort at all. The man even comes running to him from afar and bows before him! He calls Jesus "Son of the Most High God". Most High God is a name for God which implies his absolute supremacy over any other pagan god. The demons begged Jesus not to cast them out of the region.
This is another scene where the antagonist is set up to be incredibly powerful, yet it is no contest. Like his authority over creation, his authority over the demonic is absolute.