I'm trying to imagine how I would have reacted to the sequence of events that occurred in this passage. I'm pretty sure I would have been stunned and amazed at Jesus' actions.
Mark 5 recalls the events of Jesus casting out demons from a man into a herd of pigs, as well as the healing of two other people. After reading this passage, I went back to re-read in order to get a better grasp on what was actually happening and how Jesus was being portrayed. I will get to these thoughts below.
Last week was my first lesson teaching the youth at Bear Creek. It was a great time! We are currently learning about different aspects of Jesus and His ministry. Two weeks ago, Michael taught about Jesus as healer and last week's lesson was Jesus as salvager. Obviously, this passage reminded me of two weeks ago where the focus was on Jesus as healer. After the second read of the passage, I was imagining in my head what the demon possessed man must have been like to see in person. Mark's record depicts him as one being very strong and wild, to say the least. One of the main things that I am always astonished at when reading a passage about Jesus casting out demons is that the demons always seem to recognize who Jesus is and the fact that He has complete and total control over them. Verse 6 and 7 show that the man saw Jesus from afar, ran to him and bowed, and called Him, "Son of the Most High God." The demon knew exactly who Jesus was and what He is capable of doing. This is seen when the demon pleads with Jesus to cast him into the herd of pigs and requesting Jesus not to torment him. At any rate, this is comforting to read, knowing that Jesus, the one who heals and saves is not powerless when it comes to anything! The demon possessed man had been cut off from society and attempted to be detained; however, his strength was too much for man's strength. Jesus on the other hand had no problems whatsoever!
May I bring to our attention and interesting end to such and amazing happening here. In verse 16 and 17, the people of this community see the (formerly) demon possessed man being calm and "in his right mind," yet are still afraid. Secondly, they were more concerned with their herd of swine that they "implored" Jesus to leave! I wonder what may have happened had the people not been so worried about the secular loss they incurred...
Although this passage demonstrates Jesus' ability to heal, I think it is trying to show Jesus' power over spiritual and earthly diseases/illnesses. There is much more to say about this chapter; however, I think I'll leave it on that note. So the challenge for today is to first recognize that Christ has power over all and in any circumstance, and secondly, remember that if we incur earthly loss for another's sake, let us be more concerned with that person's spiritual life rather than our earthly loss.
No comments:
Post a Comment
To help us in moderating our comments, we are asking all blog followers to e-mail michael@bearcreek.cc before their first comment. Please include in your e-mail your Blog user name. We are sorry for any inconvenience.