Kingdom Principle: Jesus’ encounter with the great tormentor Legion, shows that Jesus can overcome the greatest spiritual force. There is no enemy that Jesus cannot defeat through his power and mercy. Jesus is ____________________ to the _______________ Spiritual ForceLuke 8:28 (ESV) — 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” The legions were the best soldiers in the army. At different times in Rome’s history, the legion numbered between 4,500 and 6,000 soldiers. It was composed of differently skilled men: spearmen, commandos, skirmish specialists, calvary, and reserves.At the core of the meaning of the demon’s name was the reality that they were a force to be reckoned with. Each one of these details is intended to convey the extensive and overwhelming nature of the oppression of this demon over men. But Jesus is no ordinary man.Mark 5:3–7 (ESV) — 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.” …the main point is the demonstration of the power of Jesus to deal with an especially severe case of demon possession; through Jesus God did great things for an unhappy victim (8:39).There is no spiritual force that can stand against the power of Jesus Christ. If Jesus is able to overcome the demon Legion, he is able to overcome the power of your sin. And he has overcome it on the cross. Jesus is ____________________ to the ________________ of His CreaturesLuke 8:28 (ESV) — 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” Jesus willingly grants mercy to the least of these.Romans 9:22–24 (ESV) — 22 What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles? If Jesus is willing to show mercy to a tyrannical tormentor, he is all the more willing to show mercy to those who repent of their sin and give themselves to his saving purposes.1 Timothy 1:15–16 (ESV) — 15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. Question to Consider Do you feel like there is sin in your life that cannot be overcome by the power and mercy of Jesus? How is the Lord calling you to repent and trust in his power to save?
