Grace For Your Day June 17

Demon possession was a constant issue in Jesus’ ministry. He dealt with it repeatedly and one of the greatest examples of this is found in Mark 5:1-20 where it says:

They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.

Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!”

And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.

Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion”; and they became frightened. Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. And they began to implore Him to leave their region.

As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. And He did not let him, but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

In this amazing account, there are three forces at work: Satan, the Saviour, and society. First, Satan is seen in sending his unclean spirits to inhabit this man and turn him into a maniac who was screaming, hollering, and gashing himself with stones. In other words, he sent them to ruin his life.

Next, the Saviour is seen in delivering him. By the power of his Word, Jesus cast the demons out and set the man free! Whereas Satan came to destroy, Jesus came to heal him to the uttermost.

Finally, the society is seen in imploring Jesus to leave their region because He frightened them. Even though He had saved this man’s life, it did not matter to them ultimately because this miracle rattled them so much that they tried to get rid of Him. Just like the previous miracle of calming the storm terrified the disciples (4:41), this one had a similar impact on all who heard of it which is what we are going to talk about this week at Grace Fellowship Church.

This Sunday, we are going to look at “The Healing of the Gerasene Demoniac” in order to see how frightening Jesus was to those around Him. This is a story that many of us have read before but that should not take away from the shock and awe of it because that is the effect it had upon the original audience. They would have been shocked. When they were told that Jesus did this, it shook them to the core.

Have you ever looked at Christ that way before? When you read the Bible, have you ever put it down for a moment because it shook you? It should because there is no one like Jesus. However, not only is He frightening at times but He is also good and gracious and merciful. He is kind and compassionate and loving and willing to save anyone who believes in Him as we will see in our study of this text.

Please join us as we consider it together on Sunday morning. The service will begin at 9:30 and it will be recorded and posted on YouTube later for all those who cannot make it in person.

– Jeremy Cagle