Mark 5: 1 – 13

 

Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon

 

“They 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.   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.”  For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And Jesus asked him,  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.

 

I have no doubt that the culture you and I live in would look at this story in a much different way than I hope you do.  Let us return to that thought later, but first let us recall the morning has come: the storm on the sea of Galilee is over and they reach the Gentile side of the sea.  

 

The account and as Mark likes to report, immediately they encounter a strange man, I have no doubt his body odor was not a fragrance you desire, and he had cuts all over his body.  This is somebody's son, grandson, uncle, and cousin, or brother, yet at some time evil spirits have taken control of his body and could have been at first he was intrigued with the dark side.  This we now understand, he is not only an outcast, but he is also one scary dude, no one is safe and those who know him, those who he is kin to have written him off a long time ago.  He has no value to anyone he is a liability.

 

Now back to my first thoughts, what is a man like this valued?  Does the skid row bum, the homeless have value in our thoughts or do we just not think about them.  I hate this kind of soul searching, for I’m often found guilty, I often do dismiss them as having little or no value.

 

When Jesus saw my messed-up life He loved me, when He saw Legion Jesus was already commanding the unclean spirits to come out of him.  Now Jesus disciples admired Jesus, they were drawn to Him, but they were still not sure who He was. The unclean spirit that had control over me, and the ones living in this man who had the same goal to steal, destroy, and kill.  They knew that Jesus was the Messiah, God in flesh, and He had authority over all things.

 

Now as we return to the question of value, 2000 pigs, that’s a lot of bacon, baby back ribs, and porkchops, not to mention the cured hams, it was someone’s full 401K.  Now you may not understand pigs, but they are very smart and way too smart to allow life with an unclean spirit, so they made a choice.

 

The pig or someone’s income, they have value, did Jesus place the value of the man at a much higher value than the pig, the answer is yes, but now the question, where do you put the value?

 

From the Back Porch,

 

Bob Rice