Mercy in Gerasene | Mark 5:1-20
Tuesday | October 06, 2020 |
Mark 5Mercy in Gerasene | Mark 5:1-20
By Krista Vaughn
I did not want to copy and paste the first story of chapter 5 as it will take up too much space, so I highly recommend you read along. [Spoiler alert], Jesus brings hope to a demon-possessed man in Gerasene.
What is so important about Garasene? It was a place across the Sea of Galilee and separate from Jewish culture. It was a place of Gentiles. Now, as Pastor Josh mentioned, Jesus and his disciples goes from one storm to another and was greeted by this naked man amongst the tombs and clearly showed signs of being possessed by impure spirits. Jesus attempted to rid this man of torment, so the demons tried to intimidate and persuade him from doing so. This was the first time we see Jesus work extra hard to cleanse someone. By this time, this man from Garasene lived this way for probably many years! The people of this city were unable to bind him! He was living amongst the dead and cutting himself to no end...was there any hope? Of course. Jesus did not stop at the slightest amount of rebuff. The demons tried to coerce Jesus through the concept of saying they were many... He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country.
How many? It is not really mentioned in either Matthew, Mark, or Luke, but we do know it was enough to possess a herd of two thousand pigs. Why the pigs? All I can say right now was to show the authority Jesus had over the demons as well as the destructive nature of them. They exist to kill, steal, and destroy. Despite, their intentions of wanting to stay in the area, the demonsmay not have estimated what the pigs would actually do... Nonetheless, there was great loss and great gain. The man was released from supernatural turmoil and wanted to journey with his Savior, but Jesus had a better plan for him:
Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you.
“Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
Jesus comes to where we are in life. It does not matter what you have been through or what you have done. He is with you through EVERY storm you come across, even if it is back to back. That does not necessarily mean He will deliver you from it, though. Looking back to the man in Gerasene, he probably had to get help in finding mental healing because of what he went through, but he was able to share the good news of what Jesus did for him through his process of healing.
(Find out more: Through The Word by Kris Langham [Mark 5], https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/mark-5/)
