What Is Your Name? Restoring the Image of God

Speaker A: 00:00:07

It's the pattern of God breaking through into the lives of people and touching and restoring his own image, buried but never destroyed, that is within them.

The deep waters way. Where Scripture, theology and transformation meet.

Welcome once again to the Deep Waters Way. I'm your host, Ray Cooper. Thank you for joining me on our continuing journey to explore the depths of our Christian walk.

Today we're picking up in the text where we left off last time. And if you haven't listened to that episode, that's okay.

I promise you won't be lost today. However, that being said, when you get the chance, go back and listen to that episode and to any others you might have missed.

For now, though, grab a cup of coffee or hot tea and settle in for the journey. It's time to slip the moorings and head for the deep waters.

Have you ever felt like you were somewhere you didn't belong?

I don't just mean you felt uncomfortable being there. I mean you truly felt like you were someplace you should not be.

Let me phrase it another way.

Have you ever felt like you were caught between two worlds, between two lives, between two realities, not fully alive to one and yet not free from the other? Have you ever carried something so long that you became convinced that when people looked at you, that thing was all they saw?

If you're like me, you've even felt that way when no one could actually see it except you. This is one of those places in the world where the boundary between what is and what should not be has grown thin. And most of us have visited such a place. Some of us have stayed longer than we intended, much like the man in today's scripture.

We're diving into Mark chapter five, verses one through 20, and we're going to look at Jesus' encounter with a man living among the dead. He was bound in more ways than one - alive, but surrounded and filled with death.

Now, this is a rather long passage, and it's much more robust than it's sometimes treated. So with that in mind, rather than reading the entire passage, we're going to work through it today in stages. Let's get started.

Mark 5:1-6 sets the stage for us. "They, that is Jesus and the disciples, came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.

And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs, a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 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. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him."

Now, let me address one point at the end of the passage as we begin. The ESV here says the man fell down before Jesus.

Most modern translations use a very similar phrase there. And at its heart, that is the basic meaning of the Greek word that's used here. It means to bow down or to become prostrate.

Some older translations, including the King James and the Revised Standard, translate it as worship. And this is an accurate translation because by implication, that's what the word means. It does mean to worship or to pay homage to.

In this instance, though, we have a demon possessed man who, while not calling Jesus Lord, recognizes who Jesus is and falls at his feet.

I'm not sure if it's exactly what we would call worship in the sense that we normally think of worship, but whether you want to use that word or whether you want to simply say he fell at his feet, know that both are correct. And either way it serves as a recognition of power and authority, and it also has foreshadowing of every knee shall bow.

At the end of chapter four, we saw Jesus and his disciples crossing the Sea of Galilee from Capernaum to the other side. It was a deliberate choice by Jesus, and it was not an uneventful journey.

During the trip, the disciples saw concrete proof of Jesus' authority over nature and his ability to calm the chaos inherent in a storm. And now they have arrived. Mark tells us this is the country of the Gerasenes. Matthew calls it the region of the Gadarenes. Why the difference?

Scholars aren't sure exactly, but the widest accepted answer is that these are two different town names within the same region. The region itself was called the Decapolis by the Romans because there were 10 cities located in the region.

And so it's likely that Matthew and Mark are simply referring to the region the way that they themselves are used to referring to it. One referencing Gerasa, the other referencing Gadara.

As far as where this actually occurred, tradition and modern archaeology point to a place on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee called Kursi. Here a 5th century church was found that commemorates this as the traditional site of Jesus encounter.

One important thing to note, however, this is Gentile country. And while traditionally it would have been land that belonged to the tribes of Manasseh and Gad, it is not now the land of God's people.

It by all accounts would be considered an unclean land. Mark tells us that as Jesus was getting out of the boat, a man came running to it. And then Mark tells us about the man. He has an unclean spirit.

He lives among the tombs, an unclean place, often bound with chains, which he breaks, crying out in his affliction and cutting himself with sharp stones. An unclean man in an unclean place, in an unclean land. See, tombs were thought to be places inhabited by spirits of the dead. And so it would have been seen as fitting for this to be the place a man with an unclean spirit lived.

And in this place he becomes a symbol for humanity separated from God, experiencing a never ending cycle of bondage and freedom, but never truly being free of living among the dead without ever truly knowing what it means to live. And this is where Jesus has chosen to take his disciples, where he has chosen to break through.

Mark continues in verses seven through nine, telling us about the confrontation between this man possessed by an unclean spirit and Jesus. "Then he cried out with a loud voice, leave me alone, Jesus, son of the Most High God, I implore you by God, do not torment me.

For Jesus had said to him already, come out of that man, you unclean spirit. Jesus asked him, what is your name? And he said, my name is legion, for we are many."

Here we see the unclean spirit acknowledge who Jesus is. He proclaims him to be son of the Most High God. With this statement, he shows recognition of Jesus' divinity and his unique relationship to the Father. This isn't just a random title being used. It's a declaration about who is in control and who has authority.

If we look at what else is said to Jesus, we find a couple of ironic statements. Let's start with the second one.

The unclean spirits call upon God when imploring Jesus not to torment them. This is ironic and a little bit funny because God in the person of Jesus is standing right in front of him.

And the unclean spirit has already acknowledged this by calling Jesus son of the Most High God. By invoking God in the request, the spirits inhabiting this man are showing that they recognize a distinction between the persons of the Godhead.

This is a prelude to what would later become a standard way of talking about God.

The Father is neither the Son nor the Holy Spirit, the Son is neither the Father nor the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is neither the Father nor the Son, yet each is fully the one God, not a third of God nor One of three gods, but two together, and each wholly and perfectly God.

Now back to that first bit of irony. The man, under the influence of the unclean spirit, calls Jesus by name. Jesus responds by asking the man's name. But we're never told his name. Instead, we get the name that the many spirits within the man call their collective self. My name is Legion, for we are many.

This man, whose chains and condition have become what he is known for, living in the unclean tombs, the realm of the dead, has no identity of his own. His very existence, everything that would define who he is has been buried by these numerous spirits dwelling in him.

One thing that we need to understand is that in an ancient near east culture, a name was not a label. It was substantially more than just the sounds people make when they wanted to talk to or about you.

A name was your identity, your character, your reality. And all of that has been overwritten by these spirits. Understand, too, this is not an evasive answer. It is the reality of the man's existence.

It is a declaration of what he has become and a claim of ownership by the spirits inhabiting him. Mark makes this clear when he relates the man's interactions with Jesus. In answer to the question, we see him start with my name.

It's a brief glimpse of individuality very quickly swallowed by the for we are many. The same pattern is seen in verse 10 as Mark says he begged Jesus not to send them.

The spirits here are explicitly shown to be exerting control over the man, and the responses show plainly that that they see him as having no existence apart from them. He is their home. He is their plaything.

By asking, what is your name? We need to recognize Jesus is not requesting information.

He is beginning restoration. And this is very typical of Jesus.

And his questions almost always drive past the surface answers and and into the depths of what a person is dealing with. What is your name? Is the same question in a different form that we see in the scene at the pool of Bethesda.

There, Jesus asked a man in need of healing if he wanted to get well. Here he asks a man with no identity apart from what has bound him, what his name is.

Now, here's how deep that goes. At our most fundamental level, we humans are image bearers of God. What does that mean, you might ask? Well, let me ask you, what does it mean to be made in the image of God?

Some might say that it's our ability to think rationally, or to be creative, or to love, or any number of things. But there's a problem with those answers, they are categories that, when pursued to their fullest, mean some humans are not image bearers.

Let me explain. If critical thinking is what it means to be made in the image of God, then children up to a certain age do not carry the image of God.

Or on the other end of the spectrum, someone with dementia who has lost most of their reasoning faculties has also somehow lost the image of God. This cannot be. You see what I mean when I say these categories exclude people.

To be made in God's image is what it means to be human at its most basic level. So when Jesus asks, what is your name? He's not addressing the spirits. He doesn't need to know the names of the spirits to cast them out, like the superstitions of the day would suggest. Nowhere else does he ask about a name before he casts out a demon. So we know he doesn't need to do it here.

No, what Jesus is doing is asking if this man wants his identity restored. He's asking if he wants the image of God, the foundation of what it means to be human uncovered and built upon.

The description that Mark gives us portrays the man as somehow less than human. We see him cutting himself, howling and screaming at all hours, living in the tombs, bound in chains, and yet strong enough to break them.

That's the image. That's the picture that we are meant to see. The image of God obscured, someone somehow less than human. But that's not what Jesus sees. He sees someone in need of redemption and restoration. Restoration to everything it means to be human.

And only the one who spoke all of creation into existence has the authority and the ability to make that a reality. What does that reality look like, though?

As is often the case, changing reality comes with conflict. And when there is as much uncleanness spread around here as Mark seems to indicate, changing reality also takes a fair bit of cleansing.

Let's look at verses: 10:13

Now, a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, send us to the pigs, let us enter them. So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs.

And the herd, numbering about 2,000, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea."

Twice, now we see the spirits begging Jesus - first to not torment them, going so far as to call on God in an attempt to control or bind Jesus to their will. And now they beg him not to send them out of the country.

In first century ancient Near East Thought and Judaic thought, this would have been seen as a territorial claim by the spirits.

Not only have they laid claim to this man, they're now laying claim to the country as well. And they begged Jesus not to send them into the abyss, but instead to allow them to enter a nearby herd of pigs. They're desperate to stay among the living. We see other spirits make similar statements or requests when Jesus casts them out.

They often remark that it is not their time for eternal punishment. The cry is the same here, let us stay here. Let us continue to run rampant and to do as we please in the place we've chosen.

And strangely, we see Jesus give them permission. This is a very direct indicator of who's in control.

Jesus has deliberately made this journey, entered into this encounter, and made it clear throughout that he is the one with all authority. But what happens next is the real surprise here. The unclean spirits leave the man and enter the pigs.

The pigs then, presumably startled by this spiritual invasion, or perhaps it's simply the result of the spirits themselves, now run amok, rush down the steep hill and straight into the Sea of Galilee and drown. Now that's not the surprising part. Most of us probably could have seen that coming.

The surprising part and the irony here in the situation is that in negotiating their own way, the spirits have unintentionally caused their own symbolic demise. Now, if you were with us last time, you'll remember that in Ancient Near East thought the sea is a physical representation of chaos and the abyss.

It is the embodiment of the place where unclean spirits belong, because they certainly don't belong among the living or roaming the countryside.

And in their attempt to maintain their status, they find themselves, at least symbolically, since we don't actually know what happens to the spirits themselves, they find themselves cast into the abyss. Now this has multiple echoes that can be heard if we listen closely to the Bible as a whole.

First, it is reminiscent of the Exodus. There, once the people had passed through the sea on dry ground, we're told that Pharaoh's pursuing army was drowned when God caused the sea to return to its natural place.

Second, it points to the cross itself. Paul tells us in Colossians 2:15 that through the cross God triumphed over rulers and authorities, putting them to shame and disarming them through Christ's death on the cross.

Here, these unclean spirits, which is what Paul means when he refers to rulers and authorities, and it's what first century Judaic thought would see them as - rulers and authorities, they are put to shame and defeated, all while thinking they're winning. Now, there's one other aspect we need to see as well.

In the defeat of the unclean spirits, this whole episode becomes a picture, a foreshadowing, of what God wants to do through Christ, and not just in Israel, but for all people of all nations. Israel's status as a chosen nation was never about them. The coming of the Messiah is not for the salvation of Israel from oppressive nations.

Israel was chosen by God to be a kingdom of priests, presenting him to the nations.

And the prophets, especially Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, make it plain that the Messiah comes to bring freedom from spiritual bondage and oppression to all people. And here we see that played out on a small scale.

Jesus the Messiah, coming into the nations, that is Gentile territory, into an unclean place of bondage and and oppression to one man bound by an untold number of unclean spirits, and there driving out that which has perpetuated that bondage, driving the unclean spirits out of the man and the land they've inhabited and into the abyss that is their rightful dwelling place. This is the picture of of Messiah bringing, cleansing and healing to the nations.

Before we continue our journey into the deep waters, let me encourage you take a moment to subscribe so that you never miss an episode and then follow us on Facebook and Instagram at The Deep Waters Way. Now let's get back into our text and see the responses that come from Jesus actions.

Every action by Jesus that we see produces a response from the people around him. It almost stands as a universal law, like gravity or Newton's laws of motion, whether it be wonder, anger, or worship.

When Jesus acts, people respond. And the same is true here. Now let's look at verses 14 through 17.

"The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country, and people came to see what it was that had happened. 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. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon possessed man and to the pigs.

And they began to beg Jesus to depart from the region."

Mark tells us that when they saw the pigs plunge into the sea, the herdsmen fled, presumably in fear, and they told everyone they could what had happened. And naturally everyone came to see.

It's a very natural response when something incredible happens and everyone has to rubberneck or pull out their phone and record it. And now I can't unsee all of the townspeople standing around in the tombs with phones out, videotaping the man who destroyed the pigs.

It's a humorous thought, and I know it's an absurd anachronism, but you understand what this scene would have looked like.

They see the man sitting in his right mind, fully restored, clothed, normal.

They see the bodies of the pigs floating in the water and drifting back to shore. And they see Jesus. And they're afraid. It's easy to read that as they begin to cower in fear.

And while there may have been some of that, and the word used does support it, the word used here is the same word that's used in Mark 31 to describe the disciples' fear when Jesus calms the storm.

If you think about what they saw and believed, the spirits, the permeable nature of spiritual and material realities, the destruction of the pigs, the fact that an unbindable man was sitting there fully in command of himself, then you begin to understand their fear. I think it was a mix of awe, dread, reluctance, apprehension, and yes, even a little bit of reverence.

And all of that can be carried in the Greek word that's used here. And as a result, they ask Jesus to leave. And just as with the unclean spirits, Jesus responds to their request.

He gets back in the boat and prepares to leave. And the man he has delivered responds by begging to go with him. And here's where things take another turn.

On most occasions when we see Jesus heal someone, he tells them to either show themselves to the priests and offer the appropriate sacrifice or say nothing to anyone. This man is different. Jesus commissions him to be one of, if not the first, missionaries sent out to declare what God has done for him.

So that's what he does, verse 20 tells us, "and he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone marveled."

He becomes the first fruits of redemption for the Gentiles and shows the reality of what Paul would refer to as the wild olive being grafted into the cultivated olive. This man's commission is essential to the expansion of the kingdom. And so he must not be silent, but must now tell how much God has done for him.

And if we read a few chapters over in Mark 7, we see the result. Jesus leaves this place, travels back to Capernaum, then travels up to Tyre, leaves there, and returns to the Decapolis.

And when he arrives, a deaf man with a speech impediment is brought to him by people begging Jesus to heal him. Mark doesn't tell us directly that they knew of Jesus because of the man who had been possessed.

But it doesn't take much imagination to grasp that idea. And then Mark 7 ends with the people proclaiming, "he has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak."

So again, that idea is reinforced in the very things they say. This is not an isolated miracle story. It's not an isolated encounter with Jesus.

This man's story, his testimony, is the same story that we see repeated over and over again throughout both the Old and the New Testaments.

It's the pattern of God breaking through into the lives of people and touching and restoring his own image, buried but never destroyed, that is within them.

Whether it's Abraham and Sarah, Jacob, whose name is changed to Israel, the man at the pool of Bethesda, this man, or as we'll see later in later episodes, the Samaritan woman at the well, or even the parable of the prodigal Son. We repeatedly witness God look beneath the layers of bondage and shame that have obscured the individual.

He then redeems, restores, and transforms their identity, bringing a new beginning and a vocation, a sending and a purpose that brings glory to Him.

Many people we encounter on a daily basis know what it feels like to be burdened, bound, and covered by shame, disgrace, and self loathing.

They understand what it means to have their identity subsumed and overwritten by anger, hatred, trauma, abuse, failure, addiction, or incarceration - by their own personal legion, and to feel like they are living among the dead. Not quite dead themselves, but not truly living either.

Know this. The shepherd knows where the tombs are, and he has a habit of leaving the 99 to find the 1. The image of God that you were created with is still there. The enemy may try, but he can never destroy it.

And no matter how unclean it may have become, Jesus can cleanse it and bring healing and redemption. He's still asking the same question today that he asked then. What is your name? Who are you really, child of God?

It's not a request for information. It's an invitation to find out what it truly means to be human and to live your life in the fullness of the transformation only the One who made you in his image can bring.

Jesus seems, by all indications in Mark's narrative to have made this trip at night across a lake through a violent storm for one reason.

To set one person free from bondage and then to send them on a mission to proclaim all he had done. He still does that today.

Is he looking for you?

It's time to slip the moorings and head for the deep waters.

The deep waters way: Where scripture, theology and transformation meet.