 Jesus encounters a demonic man.  “My name is Legion; for we are many” (v 9).  He could break free from the shackles (v 4).  He cried out night and day (v 5).  He sees Jesus from a distance and comes to worship Him (vv 6-8).  The demons beg to be cast into a herd of swine (vv 11-12).  Roughly 2,000 swine drown in the sea (vv 12-13).  Those feeding the swine go and tell what Jesus has done (v 14), and the townspeople come to find the demonic man in his right mind (v 15).

Jesus makes people uncomfortable.

Mark 5:15-20

 Why were the people afraid?  They were likely afraid of “magic.”  They were likely very concerned about their economic situation.  “Those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine” (v 16).  They were likely worried about their hearts.  “This is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (Jn 3:19).

 If you want God to leave you and never bother you again, that can easily be arranged.  “Whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels” (Lk 9:26).  “God... gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves” (Rom 1:24).

 C.S. Lewis said, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell.”

Jesus makes people uncomfortable.

 Jesus Himself promised that He would make people uncomfortable.  Count the cost (Lk 14:26-33).  “I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household’” (Matt 10:35-36).  “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you” (Jn 15:18).  That was the reality of His physical life.  Herod’s slaughter of the innocents.  “Many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (Jn 6:66).  Why does Jesus make people uncomfortable?  He demands our obedience.

 Jesus can make us uncomfortable because of His power.  The townspeople are likely worried about Jesus’ power.  Jesus has all power.  Creation (Jn 1:3).  Raising the dead.  Jesus poured the Holy Spirit on the Apostles (Acts 2:33).  God can “do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Eph 3:20).

 Do you ever get uncomfortable with Jesus’ power?  Pray “big prayers.”  The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (Js 5:16).  Commit to praying big prayers this week.  What does your life reveal?  Do you wish to walk in “newness of life,” or are you content to stay in some sin?  “Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:24-25).

 Jesus can make us uncomfortable because of His economy.  If Jesus could put a swine farmer out of business, what else can He do?  Jesus has always made people feel uncomfortable about money.  The Lord spoke more about money than He did anything else.  His words were not always welcomed warmly.  The rich young ruler “was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions” (Mk 10:22).  “The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him” (Lk 16:14).

 Do we get uncomfortable when we think about what Jesus said about money?  “You cannot serve God and mammon” (Lk 16:13).  “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).  “Render... to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matt 22:21).

 Take a hard look at your budget.  Where are your priorities?  “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matt 6:21).  Commit to generous giving.  The Macedonians gave far beyond their ability to give (2 Cor 8:3).  Why did they give so freely?  “They first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God” (2 Cor 8:5).

 Jesus can make us uncomfortable because of His perfection.  With a command, Jesus took care of the evil in a man’s life.  What can Jesus do with the evil in your life?  He can remove it.  “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).  “But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor 6:11).

 I must forsake my sin.  “Go, and from now on sin no more” (Jn 8:11, ESV).  Rom 6:  What sin do you need to put off?  We cannot live in sin and expect God to bless us.  “If we walk in the light... the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 Jn 1:7).  Eph 4:  Take inventory of your life.  What sin do you need to lay aside?

then  “I’ll clean up my life and then I’ll take care of my life.  You cannot make your life right on your own.  Paul prayed that God “would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man” (Eph 3:16).  When you come to Jesus, you have strength to put off the old self.  Do you need to come to Jesus this morning?