They live among us!

`February 24, 2018

Mark 5:1-20

As I read this account of Jesus reaching the other side of the sea, in the region of the Gerasenes and as soon as He got out of the boat a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met Him. This is what Mark shares with us about this man, in Mark 5:3-7.  “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. 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.”

Most of the time we have lived in this area of Texas, my wife has volunteered at a lock-up for girls removed from their home for many reasons.  One of the most common things she encountered as a mentor was cutting, these young girls ages 12-17 cut themselves.  Now the professional counselor had all kinds of reasons why these girls cut themselves, but none were that they had an unclean or evil spirit living in them.  Heavens, how could anyone be that out of touch with our social understanding and psychology as to have such thoughts?  The same girls, when angry would require two healthy adults to get them to the ground and hold them to keep them from hurting others and themselves, but all they needed was more and better drugs to control them.  Does this sound like the man who came out of the tombs and approached Jesus?

 I must be out of my mind to even ask such questions, but since I have, let me ask you a few, how often when depressed have you wanted to cut your self?  Where have all the demons or unclean spirits gone?  And are our mind-altering drugs opening the person’s mind to allow demons access?  We know from the medical record that has been unsealed by the courts, these drugs have been taken by many of the people who have gone on a shooting rampage and killed a group of people.  In the drug company’s ads, it is stated that they may cause you to have the following side effects, including suicidal tendencies and even homicidal thoughts.  These are questions that you and I should give more consideration to.

Now back to Mark 5 and what happens, first this man who had never seen Jesus called Him by name and knew that He was “Jesus, Son of the Most High God.”  Picking up the account in verses 8-13, “For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 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 two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.”

Pigs are smart, and they would rather die than have an evil spirit living in them.  And it is clear from what Jesus did and taught, mankind is not that smart, and Jesus never said go for therapy or get on Prozac, He encountered the demons and commanded them to come out of the man.

The people of the town were so thankful for this man's healing they threw a party and invited Jesus to be the honored guest, wrong!  They asked Him to leave, not the town but the whole area.  What! That does not make sense, because when the herdsmen ran to town and told what had happened, the people came to see.  This was what they encountered; “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 their region.”

This is very important when asked to leave, Jesus left, He did not preach or speak, and He got into the boat.  Now the man who had the demons and was now free of them begged Jesus to allow him to go with Him in the boat.  This was what Jesus said to the man; “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”   Now this man healed of demons went home to Decapolis and proclaimed all that Jesus had done for him; he may have been the first foreign missionary.

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice