We will meet for our Wednesday Evening
gathering at 6 PM. We will share a very special meal followed by Bible Study
and children's ministry and then Choir Practice.
Doing some reading recently, I was amazed to
learn about the terrible trend our society is seeing in the area of self-injury
or self-mutilation, which some are calling an epidemic among young people.
It breaks my heart to think about young women
and men who are burdened with such internal pain that it leads them to this kind
of self-abuse. It points us to a story of a man in Scripture, who was consumed
with pain, and who cut and abused himself until He encountered the One who could
bring healing to his soul, as well as his body.
Mark 5:1
ff: "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."
Prior to this story we read about how the
disciples had been with Jesus on a boat on the Sea of Galilee when a terrible
storm rose up and threatened to destroy them. They cried out to Jesus, and with
a word He calmed the storm, demonstrating His power over the natural world. In
the aftermath of this miracle, the disciples asked themselves, "Who is this?"
In fact, the demons themselves would answer that question about who He is.
Immediately after the storm, they landed on
the east side of the Sea of Galilee, in what is Gentile territory, and
encountered a different kind of storm. They saw a horrible scene: this man
whose life had been devastated by evil forces, who lived alone among the tombs,
all day and all night, crying out in agony and cutting himself, trying try to
counteract the pain in his heart and mind. This was a man was consumed by
madness and pain.
Apparently the people who lived in that area
had tried to control him by chaining him, but he was so strong that he had
broken free from the chains. Demonic forces had occupied his life, and they had
brought him great strength…and great pain. Then, much to their surprise, they
saw Jesus. Others may not have known who Jesus was, but these demons had no
question about who He was; they were terrified as He approached. "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 [that is, I
solemnly appeal to you], do not torment me.' 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."
No doubt people had long been running away
from this dangerous madman, but Jesus approached him and commanded the demons to
come out of him, using the same word that was used to describe how Jesus
commanded the storm to be still. Under the influence of these evil forces, the
man fell down before Him—as if in an attitude of worship—and begged to be left
alone. It is very revealing that the man immediately knew Jesus, and
called Him "Son of the Most High God".
Just as they have referred to Him by name,
Jesus asked the man his name. He said, "My name is Legion, for we are many." A
Roman legion consisted of about 6,000 soldiers-- his response is intended to
convey that he's under the control of multiple evil forces—a demonic mob.
These demons knew Jesus could destroy them
with a word. We are invited to discover that there is nothing beyond His power
and authority. Because of that power, Jesus can transform our pain into
freedom.
In the words of Tom Wright, a New
Testament Theolgian and scholar from Great Britain, "That's what we need to know
as we ourselves sign on to follow Him. He isn't just somebody with good ideas.
He isn't just somebody who will tell us how to establish a better relationship
with God. He is somebody with authority over everything the physical world…and
the non-physical world…can throw at us. This is a Jesus we can trust with every
aspect of our lives."
The demons knew Jesus had the power to
remove them from the man, so they begged Him not destroy them. When they asked
to be sent into the swine, Jesus granted them
permission; but much to their surprise, as soon as the demons fled into the
pigs, the herd rushed down the bank and fell into the sea to their death.
As we can imagine, the herders who were
responsible for the pigs were shocked and ran to report on this turn of events.
"The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and
in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they
came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who 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. As
He was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged
Him that he might be with Him. And He did not permit him but said to him, 'Go
home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how
He has had mercy on you.' And he went away and began to proclaim in the
Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled."
People came to see what had happened to the
pigs, but they were more shocked when they saw what had happened to the madman
of the tombs. No longer shrieking in agony, he was now clothed and sitting
calmly with Jesus. The One who has authority over storms of every kind had
calmed the storm in this man's life, and they saw him transformed. The demoniac
had become a disciple. That is the greatest
type of miracle we will ever see. There are miracles of physical and emotional
healing. There are miracles that demonstrate God's power over the natural
world. However, the most compelling miracle is the one in which Christ ,
transforms a demoniac in to a disciple. Jesus welcomes prodigal home. He
brings new life to one dead in sin. Jesus can transform our pain into
freedom.
In Him,
Brown
http://youtu.be/rg9Uv0wUZdM?list=RDrg9Uv0wUZdM
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