◄ Mark 5:7 ►
And he shouted in a loud voice, "What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God not to torture me!"
Study Bible
And he shouted in a loud voice,

The demoniac's loud cry signifies the intense spiritual turmoil and desperation within him. In biblical times, shouting was often associated with strong emotions or spiritual manifestations. This loud voice can be seen as a reflection of the demonic influence, as demons often caused physical and vocal disturbances in their hosts (Mark 1:23-24).

Luk 8:28 When the man saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down…
Mrk 1:26 At this, the unclean spirit threw the man into convulsions…
Act 8:7 With loud shrieks, unclean spirits came out…

“What do You want with me, Jesus,

The demon recognizes Jesus' authority and presence, indicating a spiritual awareness that transcends human understanding. This question reflects the demon's fear and acknowledgment of Jesus' power over evil spirits. It echoes other instances in the Gospels where demons recognize Jesus' divine authority (Mark 1:24, Luke 4:34).

Mat 8:29 “What do You want with us, Son of God?” they shouted.…
Mrk 1:24 “What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth?”…
Luk 4:34 “Ha! What do You want with us, Jesus of Nazareth?”…

Son of the Most High God?

This title acknowledges Jesus' divine nature and His unique relationship with God. "Most High God" is a term used throughout the Old Testament to denote the supreme sovereignty of God (Genesis 14:18-20, Psalm 78:35). The demon's use of this title underscores the spiritual realm's recognition of Jesus' identity, contrasting with the often slow recognition by humans.

Luk 1:32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High…
Mrk 3:11 And when the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down…
Act 16:17 This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting,…

I beg You before God

The demon's plea is a direct appeal to Jesus' authority, acknowledging that any power it has is subject to God's will. This phrase indicates the demon's understanding of the spiritual hierarchy and its subservience to divine authority. It also reflects the common practice of invoking a higher power in oaths or pleas during biblical times.

Mat 8:31 So the demons begged Jesus, “If You drive us out,…
Luk 8:31 And the demons kept begging Jesus not to order them…
Mat 26:63 But Jesus remained silent. Then the high priest said…

not to torture me!”

The demon's fear of torture suggests an awareness of impending judgment and punishment. This reflects the eschatological belief in the ultimate defeat and punishment of evil (Matthew 25:41, Revelation 20:10). The plea not to be tortured highlights the demon's recognition of Jesus' power to execute judgment and its desire to avoid immediate punishment.

Rev 20:10 And the devil who had deceived them was thrown…
Mat 25:41 Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me,…
Jud 1:6 And the angels who did not stay within their own domain…

Persons / Places / Events
1. Jesus
The central figure of the New Testament, recognized here as the "Son of the Most High God," indicating His divine authority and identity.

2. Demon-Possessed Man
A man possessed by an unclean spirit, living among the tombs, who recognizes Jesus' divine authority and pleads for mercy.

3. Gerasenes
The region where this event takes place, highlighting Jesus' ministry extending beyond Jewish territories to Gentile regions.

4. Demons
Spiritual beings opposed to God, acknowledging Jesus' authority and fearing His power to judge and torment them.

5. Most High God
A title for God that emphasizes His supreme authority and power, recognized even by the demonic forces.
Teaching Points
Recognition of Jesus' Authority
Even the spiritual realm acknowledges Jesus' divine authority. As believers, we should live in recognition of His lordship over all aspects of our lives.

Power of Jesus Over Evil
Jesus' encounter with the demon-possessed man demonstrates His power over evil. We can trust in His ability to deliver us from spiritual bondage and oppression.

Fear and Reverence for God
The demons' plea not to be tormented reflects a fear of God's judgment. We should cultivate a healthy reverence for God, understanding His holiness and justice.

Jesus' Compassion and Mission
Jesus' willingness to engage with the demon-possessed man shows His compassion and mission to seek and save the lost, regardless of their condition or background.

Spiritual Warfare Awareness
This passage reminds us of the reality of spiritual warfare. We must be vigilant and equipped with the armor of God to stand firm against spiritual forces.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does the demon-possessed man's recognition of Jesus as the "Son of the Most High God" challenge or affirm your understanding of Jesus' identity?

2. In what ways can we apply the authority of Jesus in our daily battles against spiritual and moral challenges?

3. How does this passage encourage us to respond to those who are spiritually oppressed or marginalized in our communities?

4. What does the reaction of the demons teach us about the nature of spiritual warfare and our need for spiritual discernment?

5. How can we cultivate a deeper reverence for God in our lives, recognizing His holiness and authority as demonstrated in this passage?
Connections to Other Scriptures
James 2:19
This verse highlights that even demons believe in God and shudder, similar to the demon's reaction in Mark 5:7, acknowledging Jesus' divine authority.

Philippians 2:10-11
These verses speak of every knee bowing and every tongue confessing Jesus as Lord, reflecting the recognition of Jesus' authority by all, including spiritual beings.

Luke 8:28
A parallel account of the same event, providing additional context and details about the interaction between Jesus and the demon-possessed man.
Sermons
Jesus Confronting DemonsC. H. Spurgeon.Mark 5:7
Man ResponsibleC. Wadsworth, D. D.Mark 5:7
Nothing to Do with JesusMark 5:7
The Antagonism of Evil Provoked by GoodC. H. Spurgeon.Mark 5:7
A Man in RuinsH. W. Beecher.Mark 5:1-20
A Man with an Unclean SpiritR. Green Mark 5:1-20
Christ and the DemoniacF. Wallace.Mark 5:1-20
Christ, the Redeemer of the IntellectE. Johnson Mark 5:1-20
Demoniacal PossessionL. W. Bacon.Mark 5:1-20
Eastern TombsR. Jamieson, D. D.Mark 5:1-20
Gadarene or Gergesene DemoniacsJ.J. Given Mark 5:1-20
LegionA.F. Muir Mark 5:1-20
Nature Sitting At the Feet of JesusJ. Cumming, D. D.Mark 5:1-20
Our Great EnemyBishop Wilson.Mark 5:1-20
Power of Evil Spirits, and Power Over ThemD. C. Hughes, M. A.Mark 5:1-20
Sin and SalvationThe Pulpit AnalystMark 5:1-20
Sin DestructiveSunday School TimesMark 5:1-20
The Country of the GadarenesH. B. Hackett, D. D.Mark 5:1-20
The Demoniac of GadaraJ. B.Mark 5:1-20
The Demoniac of GergesaE. Stock.Mark 5:1-20
The Evil SpiritsBishop Wilberforce.Mark 5:1-20
The Gadarene DemoniacCongregational PulpitMark 5:1-20
The Gadarene DemoniacC. Gray.Mark 5:1-20
The TombsDean Mansel.Mark 5:1-20
People
Jair, Jairus, James, Jesus, John, Luke, Peter
Places
Decapolis, Galilee, Gerasa, Sea of Galilee
Topics
Adjure, Afflict, Business, Cried, Cruel, Crying, God's, Hast, Implore, Loud, Mayest, Says, Shouting, Swear, Torment, Torture, Voice, Won't
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Mark 5:7

     1205   God, titles of
     2218   Christ, Son of God
     4133   demons, possession by
     4165   exorcism
     5584   torture
     8407   confession, of Christ
     9155   millennium

Mark 5:1-7

     5838   disrespect

Mark 5:1-13

     5300   drowning

Mark 5:1-20

     5285   cures
     5333   healing

Library
September 12 Morning
I have seen his ways, and will heal him.--ISA. 57:18. I am the Lord that healeth thee. O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.--Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.--All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do. Come now, and let us reason together, …
Anonymous—Daily Light on the Daily Path

The Looks of Jesus
'And He looked round about to see her that had done this thing.'--Mark v. 32. This Gospel of Mark is full of little touches that speak an eye-witness who had the gift of noting and reproducing vividly small details which make a scene live before us. Sometimes it is a word of description: 'There was much grass in the place.' Sometimes it is a note of Christ's demeanour: 'Looking up to heaven, He sighed.' Sometimes it is the very Aramaic words He spoke: 'Ephphatha.' Very often the Evangelist tells …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Lord of Demons
'And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. 2. And when He was come out of the ship, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3. Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: 4. Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. 5. And always, night and day, he …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

A Refused Bequest
'He that had been possessed with the devil prayed Jesus that he might be with Him. 19. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee.'--Mark v. 18,19. There are three requests, singularly contrasted with each other, made to Christ in the course of this miracle of healing the Gadarene demoniac. The evil spirits ask to be permitted to go into the swine; the men of the country, caring more for their swine than their …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Talitha Cumi
And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and when he saw Him, he fell at His feet, 23. And besought Him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray Thee, come and lay Thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live. 24. And Jesus went with him; and much people followed Him, and thronged Him.... 35. While He yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Power of Feeble Faith
'And a certain woman ... 27. When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched His garment. 28. For she said, If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be whole.'--Mark v. 25, 27, 28. In all the narratives of this miracle, it is embedded in the story of Jairus's daughter, which it cuts in twain. I suppose that the Evangelists felt, and would have us feel, the impression of calm consciousness of power and of leisurely dignity produced by Christ's having time to pause even on such an …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Touch or Faith?
If I may touch but His clothes, I shall be whole.... Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole.'--Mark v. 28,34. I. The erroneous faith.--In general terms there is here an illustration of how intellectual error may coexist with sincere faith. The precise form of error is clearly that she looked on the physical contact with the material garment as the vehicle of healing--the very same thing which we find ever since running through the whole history of the Church, e.g. the exaltation of externals, …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Going Home --A Christmas Sermon
Now, this teaches us a very important fact, namely, this, that true religion does not break in sunder the bonds of family relationship. True religion seldom encroaches upon that sacred, I had almost said divine institution called home; it does not separate men from their families, and make them aliens to their flesh and blood. Superstition has done that; an awful superstition, which calls itself Christianity, has sundered men from their kind; but true religion has never done so. Why, if I might be …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

Christ's Curate in Decapolis
"And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, God home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee."--Mark v. 17-19. That is a striking name for a man, "he that had been possessed with the devil." It would stick to him as long as he lived, and it would be …
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 38: 1892

The General Observations are These.
There are in these relations proper circumstances of time and place, and the names and characters of persons. Of the miracle on Jairus's daughter, the time and place are sufficiently specified by St. Mark and St. Luke. It was soon after his crossing the sea of Galilee, after Jesus had cured the men possessed with devils in the country of the Gergesenes, Mark v. 21. And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him, and he was nigh unto the sea. And behold …
Nathaniel Lardner—A Vindication of Three of Our Blessed Saviour's Miracles

R. W. Begins his Fifth Discourse, P. 1, 2. With Saying, that He is Now
to take into examination the three miracles of Jesus's raising the dead, viz. of Jairus's daughter, Matth. ix. Mark. v. Luke viii. of the widow of Naim's son, Luke vii. and of Lazarus, John xi: the literal stories of which, he says, he shall shew to consist of absurdities, improbabilities, and incredibilities, in order to the mystical interpretation of them. I have read over his examination of these miracles, and am still of opinion, that the histories of them are credible. I. I will therefore first …
Nathaniel Lardner—A Vindication of Three of Our Blessed Saviour's Miracles

Conversion, Its Nature and Necessity.
Closely related to the doctrine of the power, or efficacy, of the divine Word--as considered in the last chapter--is the doctrine of conversion. It is the subject of conversion, therefore, that we now purpose to examine. It is an important subject. It deserves a prominent place in treating of the Way of Salvation. It is also an intensely personal subject. Each one who desires to be in the Way of Salvation is personally interested in it. The eternal destiny of every one who reads these pages is closely …
G. H. Gerberding—The Way of Salvation in the Lutheran Church

The Third Continental Journey.
1833-4. PART II.--GREECE On the 21st of the Eleventh Month John and Martha Yeardley left Ancona, and had a safe but suffering voyage of two days to Corfu, the capital of the island of that name. The atmosphere in this place, writes J.Y., soon after they landed, is different from Ancona in every respect. It has to us a feeling of home, and our minds are clothed with peace and, I trust, gratitude to the Father of mercies. What we may find to do is yet a secret to us, but He who has brought us here …
John Yeardley—Memoir and Diary of John Yeardley, Minister of the Gospel

The Legion Dispossessed. Mk 5:18,19
 …
John Newton—Olney Hymns

Christian Cemeteries.
Sanctity of tombs guaranteed to all creeds alike.--The Christians' preference for underground cemeteries not due to fear at first.--Origin and cause of the first persecutions.--The attitude of Trajan towards the Christians, and its results.--The persecution of Diocletian.--The history of the early Christians illustrated by their graves.--The tombs of the first century.--The catacombs.--How they were named.--The security they offered against attack.--Their enormous extent.--Their gradual abandonment …
Rodolfo Lanciani—Pagan and Christian Rome

The Service Common to Two and Many Female Martyrs.
At the Vespers, for O Lord, I have cried, the Stichera, Tone 4. Similar to: Thou hast given a sign... The virgin-maidens, united by the law of nature and manifestly sustained by the love unto their Maker, were by faith freed from the ties of the body; the impotent enemy they have valiantly destroyed under their feet, became resplendently adorned with the honours of victors and are rejoicing having found their abode in the intellectual bridal chambers. The all-honoured have endured fire and multiformous …
Anonymous—The General Menaion

The Demoniac of Gadara
"And they came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. And when he was come out of the boat, straightway there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling in the tombs: and no man could any more bind him, no, not with a chain; because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been rent asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: and no man had strength to tame him. And always, night and day, in the tombs …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

The Men of Gadara
"And they that fed them fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they came to see what it was that had come to pass. And they come to Jesus, and behold him that was possessed with devils sitting, clothed and in his right mind, even him that had the legion: and they were afraid. And they that saw it declared unto them how it befell him that was possessed with devils, and concerning the swine. And they began to beseech Him to depart from their borders. And as He was entering into the …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

With Jairus
"And when Jesus had crossed over again in the boat unto the other side, a great multitude was gathered unto Him: and He was by the sea. And there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name; and seeing Him, he falleth at His feet, and beseecheth Him much, saying, My little daughter is at the point of death: I pray Thee that Thou come and lay Thy hands on her, that she may be made whole, and live. And He went with him; and a great multitude followed Him, and they thronged Him. And a …
G. A. Chadwick—The Gospel of St. Mark

In the Creation of the World, and all Things in It, the True God Distinguished by Certain Marks from Fictitious Gods.
1. The mere fact of creation should lead us to acknowledge God, but to prevent our falling away to Gentile fictions, God has been pleased to furnish a history of the creation. An impious objection, Why the world was not created sooner? Answer to it. Shrewd saying of an old man. 2. For the same reason, the world was created, not in an instant, but in six days. The order of creation described, showing that Adam was not created until God had, with infinite goodness made ample provision for him. 3. The …
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

How I Know God Answers Prayer
How I Know God Answers Prayer The Personal Testimony of One Life-Time By ROSALIND GOFORTH (Mrs. Jonathan Goforth) Missionary in China since 1888 "They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy great goodness."--Psalm 145:7. "Go . . . and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee."--Mark 5:19. HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS NEW YORK AND LONDON Copyright, 1921, by Harper & Brothers PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA …
Rosalind Goforth—How I Know God Answers Prayer

Synopsis. --Arbitrary Criticism of the Biblical Narratives of the Raising of the "Dead. " --Facts which it Ignores. --The Subject Related to the Phenomena of Trance
III SYNOPSIS.--Arbitrary criticism of the Biblical narratives of the raising of the "dead."--Facts which it ignores.--The subject related to the phenomena of trance, and records of premature burial.--The resuscitation in Elisha's tomb probably historical.--Jesus' raising of the ruler's daughter plainly a case of this kind.--His raising of the widow's son probably such.--The hypothesis that his raising of Lazarus may also have been such critically examined.--The record allows this supposition.--Further …
James Morris Whiton—Miracles and Supernatural Religion

Jesus Heals Two Gergesene Demoniacs.
(Gergesa, Now Called Khersa.) ^A Matt. VIII. 28-34; IX. 1; ^B Mark V. 1-21; ^C Luke VIII. 26-40. ^b 1 And they came to the other side of the sea [They left in the "even," an elastic expression. If they left in the middle of the afternoon and were driven forward by the storm, they would have reached the far shore several hours before dark], ^c 26 And they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is over against Galilee. ^a 28 And when he was come into the country of the Gadarenes. ^c 27 And …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

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