Mark 5:1-5 - The Gerasene Demoniac

Mark 5:1-5
1 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. 2 When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, 3 and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; 4 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. 5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones.

Message: The Gerasene Demoniac

Time: Mark's personal connection with Peter gave him the source material for this book. This book was composed probably between AD 57 and AD 59. It's a book that is on the move, leading to the cross. 39 times is the word 'immediately' used. Mark reveals Jesus as God's servant, reaching into the lives of people and effecting physical and circumstantial change.

What the Lord is Saying:

I have often felt this past week that my life was in chaos. There were multiple things coming at me during the week. My mind was overloaded yesterday especially. As I sit here and read the word of God and think about the lessons from this past week, I remember that Jesus calmed the storm while the disciples were in the boat. And Jesus can calm my life. I wish I could figure this out because my countenance lowers when I feel stressed with more to do and not enough time. I want to keep my confidence in Him. I want to trust Him more. Jesus takes the forces from the outside and calms them. As I skim this chapter and read through it I see Jesus doing the same thing, but this time to demons are invisible spirits inside of a man. The writer Mark, through the work of Jesus, is reminding me that there are invisible forces going on in our lives as well, in people's lives, perhaps aiming to disrupt my content ways and yet Jesus continues to bring order to this chaos. If this was real in Jesus' day, I must think it is also real today.

My world is not perfect and on earth it never will be. All evil can be tied directly or indirectly to the devil. The devil introduced wickedness into creation by rebelling against our Creator. We saw this clearly in the garden as he confused and allured Eve to focus on something God wanted them to trust him on and that they didn't need to understand. At this point, Eve started questioning God and in the end to sin, doing what God said not to do.

In this passage, a man is possessed and not in his right mind. It says that no one was able to bind him and the chains had been torn apart by him and no one was strong enough to subdue him. He was screaming...and gashing himself. He was out of control. He didn't have control of himself. No one could bind him. No one could subdue him. And he was hurting himself.

One thing is clear, Satan has rebelled against God and therefore hates anything of God and will try with all his might to distraught the ways of God. Jesus had just come from a slew of teaching moments. He had spoken to his disciples and followers about the Gospel and the mission of those that He calls good. And upon landing on the sea, this violent possessed man runs up to him. I must realize that unrest and chaos is what Satan wants in my life. He wants questions.

I've been talking to a man this week who does not have a wife any more because she died and he can no longer see anything of value in his life. He raises a son and still wants the best for him, but only sees a less than perfect world now. I'm trying to reason and point him to Christ and God's word, but he is a hard sell and has already been brainwashed by other teachings that appeal to his pain. Also, this week I had lunch with a co-worker who shared that she and her husband live in the same house but are rarely together. He sleeps on the couch, his choice. They keep separate lives monetarily, at her choosing, for she is concerned about the bills. They share parenting but this is often tough and out of control. She loves him for he and her brought these children into the world, but she is not in love with him right now. They are dueling without speaking. 

What an interesting contrast that I saw this week. One man doesn't have his wife and is miserable without her. And then two people are married and are miserable together. Could there be demon possession? I think so. People have been lured away and living lives not yielded to Him. This isn't simply apathy but outright rebellion.

So my conclusion today is there are forces, demonic forces that want to lure us away from God and disrupt the peace that we have. They are at work everywhere and they are real.

Promise: Satan goes after human beings because he hates God. If we are united to Christ, God will put Satan finally under our feet.

Prayer: O Lord, how we need you, every day, every hour, every moment. Satan is real and has taken over so many people and he desires to make my witness less so he can defeat you. Lord, I pray for your protection and ask Lord that these people that I've spoken to this week would come under your control and then you would set up a hedge of protection around their lives so nothing can come against them. Restore relationships. Give people hope. Center them on You. Help people to submit and surrender to You. You God are in control. You are our creator and Lord. There is peace only in You. I praise and glorify Your Name.