We Are Legion - Part 1

00:00:00 Speaker 1: What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him? Matthew eight twenty seven. Lord Jesus, we thank you for your unmatched authority over all things. Just as the leper came to you in faith, we come before you, acknowledging our helplessness and need. When we feel overwhelmed and in despair, remind us that nothing is beyond your power. Speak your words of healing and peace over our lives, calming every storm within us. Help us to trust in your will and surrender to your perfect plan, knowing that you are always able. Strengthen our faith to believe that you are willing and mighty to restore, heal, and make us whole. May your presence bring peace to our troubled hearts and hope to our weary souls. In your powerful name, we pray Amen. Thank you for praying with me today. You're listening to the Jesus Podcast. Remain here for a dark story about Jesus and demons. If you've gleaned anything from this podcast, we'd love it if you're left a review and shared it with a friend. Gabriel leaned his weight onto a long iron rod and watched the street with a longing stare. He watched his villagers meandered about their lives. To him, these strangers were like blank canvases for him to create stories for He imagined where each one came from and where they were headed. All of this was an escape from the life he had grown weary of. He eyed the giant rocks that sat in front of him. The stone was rough and jagged. He ran his hands slowly against the sir us, feeling every uneven spot. He mindlessly wrapped his hands around the iron rod. He hunched his sore back over and swung the tool into the air. It hit a chisel that was set in the stone with a sharp smack. Pieces of shale splintered to the ground. Though it wasn't pretty to the eyes, Gabriel could see the beauty that lay beneath the surface. Sweat dripped from his brow as he labored in the heat of the day. 00:02:30 Speaker 2: One day, you will be a part of a perfect. 00:02:33 Speaker 1: Little home, Gabriel spoke to the rocks as he shaved them. They had become his only companions during his long hours of work. As he swung his hammer once more, he daydreamed of freedom from the monday He was pulled from his work when he heard a familiar voice. 00:02:52 Speaker 3: Good morning, Gabriel, Good morning, Gabriel. I see your stones are coming along quite nicely. That's what I'll tell you. 00:03:02 Speaker 2: What would I know? 00:03:03 Speaker 1: Joseph was one of Gabriel's neighbors. He owned a local olive grove that pressed what many in the village considered to be the finest oil in the region. Gabriel admired joseph zeal for life and is seemingly always upbeat mood. Ah, Good morning, Joseph. Yes, yes, it's coming along fresh olives. 00:03:24 Speaker 2: I see hm. 00:03:26 Speaker 3: Yes, here, take a bag and tell me what you think. 00:03:30 Speaker 2: Of them, and will I have you. 00:03:32 Speaker 3: Some of the other men on the street are planning to enjoy the evening out by the water. If you're free after work, I'd love for you to join us. 00:03:40 Speaker 1: Gabriel thought for a moment. He knew he would be exhausted come nightfall, but the thought of connecting with others was too enticing for him. 00:03:50 Speaker 2: That actually sounds quite nice. Is there anything I can bring? 00:03:54 Speaker 3: No, just yourself That's more than enough. 00:03:58 Speaker 1: Joseph lifted his basket of about and headed down the road. Gabriel turned with a heavy sigh, counting the minutes until the day's end. 00:04:09 Speaker 2: Sometimes we choose the darkness. Other times we slip into the darkness by tragedy or circumstance. Either way, there's salvation given to us through grace. Welcome to the Jesus Podcast. Cinematic stories inspired by the life and ministry of Jesus. We've been going through a mini series about Jesus' authority over demons. Today's story is a setup for our next episode. We'll be introduced to a man named Gabriel. Now you may not recognize this story from your Bibles. That's because we're taking our time setting up the story of Christ's vanquishing over a legion of demons. Listen and be enthralled by the suspense. 00:04:51 Speaker 1: The evening was spreading across the region of the Garriscenes. Gabriel fumbled down the path to the sea. He mumbled to himself as went. He soon found Joseph and a few other familiar faces huddled around the fire. The others welcomed him and gestured for him to take a seat. The air was much warmer than Gabriel had expected. Around the fire, he thoughtlessly pulled his cloak off and cast it to the ground. 00:05:20 Speaker 3: You know, they say there's ghosts that haunt these waters. My sister said she came to do laundry recently and she heard one of them crying out. 00:05:29 Speaker 1: Gabriel sneckered he had outgrown childish tales, but found humor in Joseph's apparent la form. The night drew on as others shared their own fables of haunted shores and creeping creatures. For the first time in a while, Gabriel actually enjoyed being himself. He felt like he was finally becoming part of a community. The fire began to die down as a few men yawned. Deciding to save more stories for another night, they packed up and headed back to the village. About half way back to town, Gabriel had realized he had forgotten his cloak. 00:06:12 Speaker 2: Ah, I have to run back, but don't wait for me. I'll be right behind you. 00:06:18 Speaker 1: Gabriel jogged back toward the soft glow of the embers. He spotted his cloak in the moonlight and bent down to pick it up, but he paused when he heard several voices whispering. The noise glided over the water's milky surface, like a specter. Gabriel thought back to Joseph's story. 00:06:38 Speaker 2: It's it's just your imagination, nothing to worry about. 00:06:43 Speaker 1: But he heard the faint voices again. This time it seemed closer. Joseph quickly wrapped himself up in his cloak and turned to rejoin the rest of the group. Despite his attempts to quiet his nerves, Gabriel quickly ran himself up in his cloak and turned to rejoin the rest of the group. Despite his attempts to quiet his nerves, Gabriel could feel himself tensing. He subconsciously sped up, but the whispers only seemed to grow louder in his ears, panic set in as he began to run. He had lost sight of the rest of the men and gave up trying to catch up. Now all he could think about was the safety of his home. It was then that Gabriel heard a ghastly cry from behind him. He stopped dead in his tracks out of sheer terror. Before he could turn around, he stumbled by what felt like a band of robbers, stoning him from behind. He gasped for air just as his vision went black. Gabriel slithered his way into town twitching and moaning. 00:07:57 Speaker 2: With each step. 00:07:59 Speaker 1: He paced through darkened alleys and quiet pathways. He scoped the village like a spy with an unspoken mission. He paced all night, occasionally yelling at himself, slapping his face, and croaking. 00:08:16 Speaker 3: He had lost. 00:08:16 Speaker 1: Nearly all control of himself, possessed by a force so powerful and Gabriel felt as if a thousand men were grabbing his limbs, moving him against his will. Finally, out of exhaustion, he succumbed to the forces. 00:08:34 Speaker 2: At work within it. 00:08:36 Speaker 1: His whimperings morphed into hideous laughter. He mightded his time until morning, ready to spoil the joy of the unknowing villagers. Dawn's early rays rippled through the clouds. As the marketplace slowly built to its usual busyness. The demon possessed man proudly strode in to the center of the square. Friendly voices greeted the familiar face with a warm hello, But the voice that responded was nothing like the Gabriel they had known. It was low and hoarse, a most unwelcoming sound. Without warning, Gabriel began to decimate everything in his path. He sent earthern vessels shattering against the shops. Wooden crates splintered under his weight as he jumped around. Soon, dread spread through the marketplace. Villagers began shouting at Gabriel, begging him to come to his senses. 00:09:40 Speaker 3: He's gone absolutely bad. Someone stopped him, but. 00:09:44 Speaker 1: Everyone was too afraid to get close to the Latin. Gabriel continued with his work, pulverizing fruit into the ground, kicking over e fas of flower, and screaming at everyone who he thought to be in this way. Just as he was about to move on to another stand, he heard a voice from behind him. It was Joseph. He was barely keeping himself composed, fighting off tears of both fright and sorrow for his friend, Gabriel. 00:10:14 Speaker 2: Are you all right? 00:10:18 Speaker 1: Joseph was met with a voice that sounded like a thousand giants, all bellowing as one. 00:10:26 Speaker 2: We are not Gabriel. What a wicked name. 00:10:30 Speaker 3: If you are not Gabriel, then who are you? 00:10:33 Speaker 2: We need not answer to you. You have no idea what sort of power you stand against? 00:10:41 Speaker 1: Joseph began to cry. He couldn't help but feel pity for what used to be his friend, but his devotion to his village far surpassed his devotion to whatever Gabriel had become. He nodded to someone behind Gabriel. Before Gabriel could turn around, a bag was pulled over his head from behind. He felt several men grab his limbs and begin to bind them with coarse rope. They cinched the knots tight and hoisted his body over their shoulders. He felt a blunt object strike against his temper, then all faded. Gabriel's eyes opened, but it was no longer him who was the master of his body. He tried to make sense of his surroundings. He could tell he was in some type of cave, but his years of stone masonry told him this was no natural cave. The walls had been carved out with precision. He turned to his right and saw wooden boxes stacked into hollowed out openings in the cave wall. To his left, he saw long figures wrapped in beige cloths. In an instant, he knew where he was. He tried to move his hands to cover his face from the horrid smell of decaying bodies, but realized his arms and legs were shackled to the stone walls. His wrists and ankles had been rubbed raw by the metal, and he flinched as his wounds danced with pain. Before he could figure out his next move, he heard a voice, the same voice that had called out to him by night. An exhaustion, Gabriel fainted. Unfortunately for him, the stories of ghosts at sea were more than just rumors. A band of demons had roamed the region looking for an innocent victim and found Gabriel's solo return to the waters to be the perfect opportunity. Gabriel sat in the darkened tomb, the perfect prison cell for such a creature. For a time, this kept the demons at bay. They would rattle his shackles and shriek into the night, But the demons had grown tired of this life was long before the demons had mustered up the string to break free of the chains that bound his hands, free, free to roam his macabre little kingdom. The demons spent his days and nights howling from the hilltops that encapsulated the tombs. He would cry out like a phantom, carried to the frightened village by the water surface. As the afternoon light faded, billowing clouds as black as pitch loomed ominously on the sky. They sailed over the calm waters, bringing rocking waves torrents of rain with them. Gabriel stood in the downpour and wailed with full force as icy needles landed on his skin. The demons watched the peaceful sea turned to disarray, order to chaos. They sneered with glee at seeing God's creation rage war upon itself. Several knots from the shore, a boat was being catapulted through the waves. The demon watched out lines of sailors pulling ropes between the cracks of thunder. He could hear their strenuous shouts. The demon howled with laughter as he watched the frightened man. The demons were delighted to take in the spectacle, but his entertainment didn't last long. From across the tumultuous sea, the demons heard a voice as fierce as a lion's war. Even with the wind and rain, they could hear it as clear as day. 00:14:45 Speaker 2: Peace bee still. 00:14:48 Speaker 1: In an instant, the waves plateaued, the rain ceased, and the bright morning sun bore through the dark storm clouds. The demons nearly fell to the ground and shock deep down. Gabriel could feel his heart pounding in his throat. He looked back to the boat to see a man standing at the bow speaking to the now calm sailors. Gabriel sensed the demons distress, croaking out of his throat. Against his will. 00:15:22 Speaker 2: The demon sneered Tatsy not here. 00:15:33 Speaker 1: The demons raced into the tomb, as if preparing for the battle to come. They knew they were no match for the man who commanded the storms, but their pride wouldn't let them fall without a fight. 00:15:53 Speaker 2: If you've listened to the Jesus Podcast for a while, you know that we take these gospel stories and reimagine them with a cinematic flare. Today we teased out the possible origin story of the man possessed by a legion of demons in Mark chapter five. This man is described as having an unclean spirit. He's not just having a bad day. He's completely overtaken by evil forces. He lives among the dead, perhaps because society has written him off as a lost cause. His strength is supernatural. Chains and shackles can't hold him. He's self destructive, cutting himself with stones. In modern terms, he's a one man haunted house. A good way to recognize demonic forces at work is in self harm. That's because demons are the anti Jesus. While Christ came to heal and restore, demons want to hurt and destroy. This man was tormented, internally, tossed to and fro by an inner storm, but at the end of the episode there's a sliver of hope. Jesus is not far off shouting over the stem to be still, He's about to do the same for Gabriel. Buckle up and don't miss our next episode.