Hello again,
I am working my way through the Gospel of Mark and hoping to be more faithful to my blogging in 2018. There really is not much exciting to report about my life, but I love talking about the scriptures.
The next story in Mark is a healing story. But, it has a lot of elements that will make it sound very strange to our modern ears. The man in the story is demonically possessed. This was the name of epilepsy back in the day. This man is possessed by a crowd of demons; strange. The demons talk to Jesus and ask not to be cast out from the country, stranger. So Jesus sends them into pigs; stranger still.
Yet, if I go with my system of trying to hear the emotion and word of faith that the writer is talking about then I start to get somewhere.
I have known a number of people in my life who seem possessed by a crowd of demons. I can even understand the uncontrollable nature of the man and the demons speaking for him. In my teen years my brother was drinking and smoking pot too much. I remember my parents trying to control him; it did get physical at times. And he said things that really did not seem like things he would be saying. Today I see him each week. He will celebrate 14 years of sobriety in a couple of weeks. I think he would tell you that it was the healing power of Christ in his life that gave him his life back. So, in my experience, the healing was not as immediate, but it was healing all the same.
The Madman
5 1-5 They arrived on the other side of the sea in the country of the Gerasenes. As Jesus got out of the boat, a madman from the cemetery came up to him. He lived there among the tombs and graves. No one could restrain him—he couldn’t be chained, couldn’t be tied down. He had been tied up many times with chains and ropes, but he broke the chains, snapped the ropes. No one was strong enough to tame him. Night and day he roamed through the graves and the hills, screaming out and slashing himself with sharp stones.
6-8 When he saw Jesus a long way off, he ran and bowed in worship before him—then bellowed in protest, “What business do you have, Jesus, Son of the High God, messing with me? I swear to God, don’t give me a hard time!” (Jesus had just commanded the tormenting evil spirit, “Out! Get out of the man!”)
9-10 Jesus asked him, “Tell me your name.”
He replied, “My name is Mob. I’m a rioting mob.” Then he desperately begged Jesus not to banish them from the country.
At this point in the story you should remember that the Jewish community were not allowed to eat pigs. It just the way it was. And perhaps the writer wants us to know that demons have the power to destroy the lives of whomever they touch. Again, I can say Amen to that.
11-13 A large herd of pigs was browsing and rooting on a nearby hill. The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs so we can live in them.” Jesus gave the order. But it was even worse for the pigs than for the man. Crazed, they stampeded over a cliff into the sea and drowned.
14-15 Those tending the pigs, scared to death, bolted and told their story in town and country. Everyone wanted to see what had happened. They came up to Jesus and saw the madman sitting there wearing decent clothes and making sense, no longer a walking madhouse of a man.
16-17 Those who had seen it told the others what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. At first they were in awe—and then they were upset, upset over the drowned pigs. They demanded that Jesus leave and not come back.
This is the part of the story that is most like people I know. They see someone whose life has been made whole and they complain about the cost, then they kick Jesus out of town. We do not want the cost that goes with the Jesus-life. We want peace, and healing, and the power of the Divine without changing a single thing in our lives. Usually it is not until we are in complete pain and destroyed our lives that we are willing to consider what God could have for us. But, let’s be honest, we usually are still not willing to make changes in our choices.
18-20 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the demon-delivered man begged to go along, but he wouldn’t let him. Jesus said, “Go home to your own people. Tell them your story—what the Master did, how he had mercy on you.” The man went back and began to preach in the Ten Towns area about what Jesus had done for him. He was the talk of the town.
Finally, the man wants to go with Jesus, but he is told to tell the Good News to those he knows. We do not have to travel to far off places, we do not have to do extraordinary things, we just need to tell the good news of what God is doing in our lives.
That’s all.
If you are looking to change something in your life in the new year, ask God about that.
If you don’t think you need to change anything in your life, ask God about that.
Blessings and peace,
Mary
marysjourneyblog 