Legion: Mark 5:9-10

Legion.  We understand the word, but we don’t necessarily understand its true historical context.  For most people, legion just means many.  For the Romans, a legion meant at least 5,000 people and frequently as many as 6,000.  Furthermore, that only describes the fighting force; it wouldn’t count the auxiliary staff like cooks, blacksmiths, armor smiths, and farriers.

When Jesus asks for a name, it is the unclean spirit who speaks out.  The unclean spirit says there are many spirits within.  Returning to yesterday’s study, this gives an indication as to why Mark described Jesus’ attempt to cast out the spirit using the imperfect tense.  It takes a while to cast out a legion of demons!

Historically speaking, the legion was also the most powerful unit in the land at this time.  A fighting force of legionaries supported one another, filling in the gaps made by the warriors around them.  Facing a legion of trained Roman soldiers was like fighting a wall armed with spears and swords.  You never know from where the next attack would come.

This could also be the reason the unclean spirit named itself as legion.  These unclean spirits could be working so well together and supporting each other, making it difficult to cast them out.  It is possible they even came as a collective, preying on the man’s weaknesses until they were too powerful to resist as a collective.

Furthermore, legions were made up of Roman citizens.  This meant the legion was composed of people who were fighting for their own cause.  When a Roman legion stepped out onto the field, they weren’t mercenaries whose loyalty might waver.  The legion fought for their own glory and the expansion of their own people.

Here is another reason the unclean spirit named himself legion.  The unclean spirits likely believed this man was their home.  They may well have been telling Jesus they’d lived inside this man so long they had a right to stake a claim and were willing to defend their territory.

This is how evil and sin look in our life.  Seldom are we ever affected by a single sin; we are often struggling against a multitude of sin at any given time.  Furthermore, one sin typically leads to another and builds upon the effects of the last sin, making it more difficult to resist and struggle against.  Eventually, sin and evil roosts in our life for so long it feels like it belongs and we have difficulty thinking that we could live any other way.

In the end, the battle with sin often feels much like this man’s struggle with the unclean spirit.  The fight is hard.  The battle goes on.  Just when we think we’ve mastered one area of sin, another rears its ugly head.  The battle goes on.  Sometimes sin is in our life for so long we don’t even recognize it anymore.  The battle goes on.

Legion.