Sharing Bread Mark 6:7-13

SHARING BREAD

⁷ Calling the Twelve to him, he sent them out two by two and gave them authority over evil spirits.

⁸ These were his instructions: "Take nothing for the journey except a staff--no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. ⁹ Wear sandals but not an extra tunic. ¹⁰ Whenever you enter a house, stay there until you leave that town. ¹¹ And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them."

¹² They went out and preached that people should repent. ¹³ They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

Mark 6:7-13 (NIV)

Here our Lord sends out His guys – two by two – temporarily equipped with the Holy Spirit’s power which they were to fully receive after His Ascension obviously now here pre His Ascension – seemingly, just a little taste of what was to come! Thus far they had been privy merely to sit at His feet hearing His teaching and being eyewitnesses to His miracles.  Yet the Lord Jesus had blessed them to be a blessing.  Now they were about to learn the valuable lesson that His power extended beyond His personal presence – some knowledge can be learned better on a fieldtrip rather than in a classroom.  The process of sending them out two by two would allow for mutual encouragement of both hands and heart.  Most assuredly, two are better than one.

Jesus sent themis H       to fulfill a specific special commission – His in-depth instructions were pertaining to that particular mission.  In other words, these instructions were not to be taken as “Law” for all further mission assignments.  He empowered them with His authority over evil spirits so that their message would be authenticated.  They were to depend upon God to supply them with life’s necessities through the hospitality of others as God’s Hand moved hearts to meet their needs.  They were not to depend upon their own resources and strength.  Much like the Israelites in the desert with the manna, our Lord wanted His disciples to trust and depend upon Him even in the smallest details of life.  I am reminded of our Lord’s Words in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew:

 ²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? ²⁷ Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?”  ²⁸ “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. ²⁹ Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. ³⁰ If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”  Matt 6:25-30 (NIV)

When Jesus sends us out on mission – be it overseas or to the grocery store or next door - we can be assured He has prepared the way for us as well.  It is His desire for us to bring the aroma of Christ to our every encounter - as we go forth, Spirit led, in His all-achieving power.  Remember Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians:

⁹ However, as it is written: "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" -- ¹⁰ but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.  1 Cor 2:9-10 (NIV)

We can be conscious of God’s leading at all times as we listen to His “still small voice”.  The Prophet Isaiah tells us:

²¹ Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This is the way; walk in it." Isaiah 30:20-21 (NIV)

“What is needed is not mere present professions, but perseverance to the end in the power of faith.”    Ignatius of Antioch

God’s Word to Moses in Exodus ring true here as well:

²⁰ “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared."   Ex 23:20 (NIV)

“God’s promises are like the stars; the darker the night, the brighter they shine.”   David Nicholas

Much like John the Baptist, the disciple’s message was one of repentance – turning from sin in repentance to the One true God.  The great goal of gospel preaching should be to bring people to repentance – to a new heart and a new way.  They were not out to amuse the public with clever anecdotes rather as the Baptist, plainly preaching the necessity of turning back to God from their point of departure.  The disciples were obedient to Jesus’ command and Scripture tells us they were blessed in their obedience – healing many sick and driving out demons.  When we walk with Jesus we walk victoriously – whether we readily perceive it or not.  Wisdom is eventually proved right by her actions.

What I glean from this:

·       I am blessed to be a blessing.  Jesus blesses me to bless others.

·       Jesus desires for me to trust and depend upon Him.  He loves me and I need not be anxious about anything.

·       I am to finish well – persevering to the end in the power of faith.

Sharing Bread Mark 6:1-6

SHARING BREAD

¹ Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. ² When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed.

"Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! ³ Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

⁴ Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." ⁵ He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.

⁶ And he was amazed at their lack of faith.

Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.

Mark 6:1-6 (NIV)

Jesus here graciously returns to His hometown of Nazareth and His welcome was anything but warm.  I am reminded of the Prophet Isaiah’s words regarding how gracious our Lord longs to be towards us – even to the point of rising to show us compassion:

¹⁸ Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; he rises to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!   Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)

We see also in our verses for today the Truth of the old adage that familiarity often breeds contempt – Scripture states wickedness does so as well:

³ When wickedness comes, so does contempt, and with shame comes disgrace.   Prov 18:3 (NIV)

“Sin is the dare of God’s justice, the rape of His mercy, the jeer of His patience, the slight of His power, and the contempt of His love.”  John Bunyan

Preconceived ideas of others are a commonality and can prove to be a stumbling block as evidenced by the Nazarene’s in our verses.  God does not judge the vessel according to the outside of a person or their lineage rather He looks at the heart and the fruit which naturally flows from it – we would do well to do likewise.  A person’s consistent actions prove evidence of what is in the heart.  Remember God’s Word to Samuel when the prophet was in the process of selecting God’s choice for the next King of Israel:

⁷ But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."   1 Sam 16:7 (NIV)

As well as Jesus’ instruction to us in discerning a true prophet:

¹⁵ "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. ¹⁶ By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.   Matt 7:15-17 (NIV)

Despite the fact that they readily acknowledged our Lord’s wisdom and miraculous powers – both great proofs of divine origin – these Nazarenes could not get passed Jesus’ lineage.  His roots were simply too ordinary for their liking.  Our Lord amazed them with His teaching (as He so often did with those who heard Him) yet despite His impressive Words and deeds they were quite disparaging.  The derogatory questions just kept spouting forth from their faithless fountains:   “Isn't this the carpenter?  Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon?  Aren't his sisters here with us?”  Interestingly, there were only two possible answers for the wisdom and achieving power Jesus demonstrated through His Words and works:  His source was either from God or Satan.  Earlier in Mark we find the teachers of the law attributing His works to Satan as well:

²² And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub! By the prince of demons he is driving out demons."   Mark 3:22 (NIV)

It is no wonder our Lords states He is a prophet without honor.  His hometown hearers were offended and their bias was their downfall.  This should be a red flag for us as well – our prejudices and leanings can prove to be a stumbling block. Scripture rightly tells us in Proverbs not to trust in our natural inclinations rather in the Lord who makes our paths straight:

⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.   Prov 3:5-6 (NIV)

Because of their lack of faith and persistent unbelief – Jesus did few miracles.  His achieving power was never limited rather performed primarily in the presence of faith.  Sadly, so far as known, the Lord Jesus never returned to Nazareth.

“God’s willingness to show mercy appears by His joyfulness when sinners take hold on His mercy.  God’s goodness is that He rejoices at the salvation of sinners and is glad when His mercy is accepted.  God rejoices when a poor sinner comes in and takes hold of His mercy.  What an encouragement to believe in God!  He is a God of pardons.  Mercy pleases Him.  Nothing prejudices us but unbelief.  Unbelief stops the current of God’s mercy from running, shuts God’s bowels, closes the cavity of Christ’s wounds, so no healing virtue will come out.  As far as the heavens are above the earth, so far is God’s mercy above our sins.  What will tempt us to believe, if not the mercy of God?”  Glorifying God, Thomas Watson

What I glean from this:

·       Jesus longs to be gracious to me.

·       Preconceived ideas of others can prove to be a stumbling block to me.

·       God judges a vessel by the heart and the fruit that follows.

Sharing Bread Mark 5:35-43

SHARING BREAD

³⁵ While Jesus was still speaking, some men came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue ruler. "Your daughter is dead," they said. "Why bother the teacher any more?"

³⁶ Ignoring what they said, Jesus told the synagogue ruler, "Don't be afraid; just believe."

³⁷ He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. ³⁸ When they came to the home of the synagogue ruler, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. ³⁹ He went in and said to them, "Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep." ⁴⁰ But they laughed at him.

After he put them all out, he took the child's father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. ⁴¹ He took her by the hand and said to her, "Talitha koum!" (which means, "Little girl, I say to you, get up!"). ⁴² Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. ⁴³ He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Mark 5:35-43 (NIV)

Most assuredly, there are circumstances in our lives when we discover it more difficult to demonstrate great faith and trust than others.  In our verses for today Jairus is experiencing just this.  We must remember that our faith is built and strengthened one test or trial at a time as God proves Himself faithful and worthy to be trusted over and over again.  The child of God rests soundly in the will of God no matter how hard the wind may blow.  The will of God is the safest place on earth to be whether we comprehend this or not.  The Prophet Isaiah tells us:

³ You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you. Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)

“God is God.  Because He is God, He is worthy of my trust and obedience.  I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, a will that is unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to.”   Elisabeth Elliot

We learn to trust as we are given the opportunity to trust.  While Satan tempts us for evil - to get us to fall, God tests us for good – in an effort to ever increase our faith.  Remember Scripture tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God, Who rewards those who earnestly seek Him:

⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.   Heb 11:6 (NIV)

“It’s the painful testings that hold the possibility of powerful testimony — and every trial is but steps in your triumphant march.”   Ann Voskamp

I am reminded of Abraham when in faith God called him to lay his Isaac down.  Surely every ounce of his being wanted to run in the other direction – abort the mission and cling steadfastly to his beloved.  Yet in faith he chose the greater path believing what God had told him and because of this demonstration of faith Scripture tells us he was richly rewarded:

¹⁷ By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, ¹⁸ even though God had said to him, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." ¹⁹ Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death.   Heb 11:17-19 (NIV)

I find it interesting that Abraham’s trust was not void of reason or reckoning - and his faith was also credited to him as righteousness.  Genesis tells us:

⁶ Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.   Gen 15:6 (NIV)

God never calls us to blindly believe, just believe deeper, broader, and wider.  Jairus was confident Jesus could heal the sick; certainly that was why he approached the Healer in the first place.  He was not quite as sure, however, that our Lord could or would raise the dead.   

We do not know if Jairus had had the privilege of experiencing much of Jesus and His ways before he came face to face with his trial.  We are not made aware if he had been privy to have had as much history of God’s faithfulness in his life as Abraham brought to his test yet he had the enormous benefit of Jesus quite literally walking by his side.  When the messengers come with the news that his daughter had died and not to bother the Healer any more, Jesus sweetly encourages him with the words:  "Don't be afraid; just believe."  Jairus had a choice.  He could trust Jesus’ Word or he could cave – consider it hopeless - abort.  When we are given a Word from the Lord we have the same options and opportunity to either go further still with the Master or remain in the lowlands.   

Calling out His inner circle – His core team - Peter, James and John - they proceed to Jairus’ home.  There they discover the noisy clamor of many mourners and wailers.  Jesus rebukes the commotion proclaiming:  “The child is not dead but asleep.”  Lashing out with laughter and mockery mixed with jeers against our Lord, Jesus puts them out of the house.  It is quite a picture is it not of the faithful getting to remain in close proximity with the Lord while the unbelieving are thrust outside missing the eyewitness of the miraculous.  There are certain great advantages of faith.

The Healer speaks a Word and with His all-powerful hand raises the dead girl up.  Immediately - of course - she begins walking around to the astonishment of the onlookers. 

¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the LORD?    Gen 18:14 (NIV)

What I glean from this:

·       Great faith is built one test at a time.

·       Without faith it is impossible for me to please God.

·       God does not call me to blindly believe.         

Sharing Bread Mark 5:21-34

SHARING BREAD

²¹ When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. ²² Then one of the synagogue rulers, named Jairus, came there. Seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet ²³ and pleaded earnestly with him, "My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live." ²⁴ So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around him. ²⁵ And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. ²⁶ She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. ²⁷ When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, ²⁸ because she thought, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." ²⁹ Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

³⁰ At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, "Who touched my clothes?"

³¹ "You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?'"

³² But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. ³³ Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. ³⁴ He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

Mark 5:21-34 (NIV)

This dramatic scene opens with a large crowd gathering around the Master.  A synagogue ruler – Jairus – humbly approaches the Lord falling prostrate at His feet.  He earnestly pleads for the Healer to place His hands upon his dying darling daughter – the apple of his eye - so that she would be made whole – healed – and live.  In desperation, Jairus openly begs a cure for his sick child believing Christ possessed the achieving power to make her well and our Lord sweetly consents.  What parent would not do likewise when their wee one is physically sick but how about spiritually?  Are we as earnest then?  The spiritual health of our offspring is of far greater value and importance than even their physical well-being.  Paul’s prayer in Philippians is a great prayer to humbly and boldly pray over our children as well as ourselves:

⁹ And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God.   Phil 1:9-11 (NIV)

On their way to heal Jairus’ daughter the scene quickly changes.  A woman in dire straits - desperate for relief - clandestinely approaches the Healer in hopes of merely touching His cloak for her healing.  In faith she reasoned if she could simply get close enough to touch the hem of His garment she would be freed from her misery.  She held a strong faith in the achieving power of Christ to heal her.  For twelve long years she had sought help from many – spent all that she had – yet grew worse.   An outcast from society – much like a leper – she was considered ritually “unclean” because of her condition – excluding her from normal social relations and interactions.  Not allowing the crowds to hinder her pursuit she presses closer behind the Healer with a stretching reach for a touch of His cloak.  Immediately, Scripture tells us, her body was freed from her suffering.             

“There is nothing, indeed, which God will not do for a man who dares to step out upon what seems to be the mist; though as he puts down his foot he finds a rock beneath him.”  F. B. Meyer

"It is God to whom and with whom we travel and while He is the end of our journey, He is also at every stopping place."   Elizabeth Elliot

⁷ "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."   Matt 7:7-8 (NIV)

At once, we are told, Jesus realized achieving power had gone from Him and He turns towards the pressing crowd asking in tenderness "Who touched my clothes?"  Jesus’ question seemed ridiculous to His disciples considering the great throngs around Him all seeking closer proximity yet this did not hinder the Lord’s searching eye that He might commend and encourage the faith.  Falling at His feet and trembling with fear, the poor woman presents herself to the One who made her whole.  Our Lord tells her it was her faith – not His garment – that healed her.  Go forth, He tells her, in an untroubled and an undisturbed well-being – perfect peace.    

³ You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you.  Isaiah 26:3 (NIV)

What I glean from this:

·       I am not only to pray for my children’s physical well-being but also for their spiritual well-being.

·       I am to seek Jesus with all my heart.

·       I am kept in perfect peace as I steadfastly trust in Him.

Sharing Bread Mark 5:14-20

SHARING BREAD

¹⁴ Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. ¹⁵ When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. ¹⁶ Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man--and told about the pigs as well. ¹⁷ Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

¹⁸ As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. ¹⁹ Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." ²⁰ So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.

Mark 5:14-20 (NIV)

It is interesting is it not the differing effects the miraculous has on those privy to have been exposed.  Miracles do not save, they merely point to the Savior – the One who does.  In our verses for today we see three reactions to the miracle Jesus performed.  First we discover those tending the pigs – wide eyed and mouth gaping - excitedly running to the town and countryside shouting forth the phenomenon – much akin to the fervor or emotionalism of seeing a magic show or some circus event.  They were fueled by emotion and fervor but not faith.

Next we see the townspeople coming out to see what the hoopla was all about – the curious.  They discover the demoniac now delivered yet the pigs drowned and they didn’t seem to appreciate the tradeoff in the least.  This man’s life was not worth the economic loss to them and they feared even greater losses.  Fearful that Jesus would take away more than He would provide those that appeared to wallow in the worldly mire sadly chose the temporal over the eternal and beg Jesus to leave their region.

“We shall never find happiness by looking at our prayers, our doings, or our feelings; it is what Jesus is, not what we are, that gives rest to the soul.  If we would at once overcome Satan and have peace with God, it must be by ‘looking unto Jesus’.  Keep thine eye simply on Him; let His death, His sufferings, His merits, His glories, His intercession, be fresh upon thy mind; when thou wakest in the morning look to Him; when thou liest down at night look to Him.  Oh!  Let not thy hopes or fears come between thee and Jesus; follow hard after Him, and He will never fail thee.”     C. H. Spurgeon

Then there was the healed demoniac.  The one that lived in his personal hell on earth – the one that wailed and moaned in his darkness and depravity, the one who felt his skin being torn by his gnashing and cuttings and Jesus delivered him with His Word.  It is not so amazing his positive reaction of overwhelming appreciation and love.  Jesus had saved him and his appropriate response was love towards the Master.  This healed man was much akin to the sinful woman who anointed Jesus by washing His feet with her tears and wiping them with her hair – pouring perfume over them while continually kissing them and all the while the Pharisee sneered.  Jesus condoned her actions just as He did this healed man’s response:

⁴⁴ Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. ⁴⁵ You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. ⁴⁶ You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. ⁴⁷ Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven--for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little."   Luke 7:44-47 (NIV)

It is easy to compare ourselves to others and think we are not all that bad.   When we look around us instead of above us perhaps we do not seem like we need a Savior – big mistake.  Every soul born from Adam on – every soul – has been in need of saving.  Scripture tells us that no one is righteous not even one.  Scripture also tells us all have sinned and fall short of God’s standard – His holiness – His glory – and every sin carries with it a death sentence.  We are all cooked apart from Christ.  Those that know Him know this.  And Jesus says to us much the same thing He says to the healed demoniac:

"Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."      

“If only saints could see their souls as the ten afflicted lepers saw their bodies, they would pray far better than they do.”   J.C. Ryle, Anglican bishop of Liverpool

¹⁰ He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. ¹¹ He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. ¹² Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- ¹³ children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.   John 1:10-13 (NIV)

The freed from his chains man was obedient to the Lord’s Word.  He became an evangelist to the Gentiles by merely telling what Jesus had done for him.  Believer, what has Jesus done for you?  Are we faithful to share our story?

What I glean from this:

·       Miracles do not save – Jesus saves.

·       I am the loser if I choose to wallow in worldly lusts.

·       I am to tell what Jesus has done for me.

    

Sharing Bread Mark 5:1-13

SHARING BREAD

¹ They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. ² When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. ³ This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. ⁴ For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵ Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

⁶ When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. ⁷ He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!" ⁸ For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!"

⁹ Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"

"My name is Legion," he replied, "for we are many." ¹⁰ And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.

¹¹ A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. ¹² The demons begged Jesus, "Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them." ¹³ He gave them permission, and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

Mark 5:1-13 (NIV)

In our amazingly powerful verses today, we discover Jesus and His guy’s heading for a region on the lake’s eastern shore inhabited primarily by Gentiles.  To be sure, Jesus came to seek and to save those who are lost – He still does.  It was at this place darkest evil - embodied in flesh and residing among the dead in cave like tombs cut into the rocks - approaches the Lord Jesus just as the Master was  disembarking His boat.  Driven by demons to abide in a desolate and defiled by death area, this plagued person was kept in his own horrific prison type experience - demonic possession being the worst form of human suffering produced by Satan’s agency.  This poor oppressed soul could not be subdued even by fetters for his feet or by chains for his hands.  He was as an untamed wild animal – both night and day shrieking wildly in an inhuman howl and cutting himself with sharp stones.  The devil is a cruel master indeed. 

“What is man, when reason is dethroned and Satan enthroned?”   Matthew Henry

“No one overcomes the corruptions of his heart except by the enabling strength of the Spirit of God.”   Jerry Bridges

His pathetic condition demonstrated this was not a mere sickness or insanity rather a desperate satanic attempt to destroy and distort one made in God’s own image.  Praise God, Jesus is the One who saves the living from among the dead as we are about to discover.  Jesus tells us in Matthew:

³¹ “But about the resurrection of the dead--have you not read what God said to you, ³² 'I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”  Matt 22:31-32 (NIV)

Seeing Jesus from a distance the demoniac runs and falls on his knees in front of Him – not out of worship rather homage.  The demons were fully aware of Who Jesus was.  Using the fleshly vessel vocal chords of the man they were housed in to scream at the top of his voice, they shout out:  "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!"  By this statement the indwelling demons thus indicate they were fully aware of our Lord’s divine origin and superior power.  Jesus had already demanded the demon to depart his host.  After his outburst our Lord immediately asks him his name and he responds “Legion” for there were many indwelling this pathetic creature – a myriad of evil powers controlling this host subjecting him to intense oppression.  “Legion” was a commonly known term in Palestine denoting a regiment of about six thousand soldiers – suggesting this man was under the power of great strength and oppression.

Desirous to remain hosted in this desolate area these demons begged Jesus over and over to allow them to stay.  Jesus has official right and power – all authority in heaven and on earth given to Him.  These demons were fully aware of His power over them. We are not matches in our own strength against these powers of darkness but in the Lord and in His power and might we are able to stand against them.  Remember His departing Words to His disciples in the Great Commission:

¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."   Matt 28:18-20 (NIV)

Not wanting to be left without a host and in a desperate attempt to avoid being consigned to a disembodied state until the final judgment they beg Jesus to allow them to enter into a herd of pigs feeding on the nearby hillside.  Those like the pigs who wallow in the mire of worldly lusts are fit inhabitants for Satan’s minions.  Jesus gave them permission and the immediate destruction of the pigs ensued - all two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.   

“It is His love for man, His compassion for the human race, that prompts God to hate sin with such a vengeance.  He gave Heaven’s finest that we might have the best; and He loathes with a holy abhorrence anything that would hinder our being reconciled to Him.”  Billy Graham

What I glean from this:

·       Jesus came to seek and to save those who are lost.

·       Corruptions of my heart are overcome only by the enabling strength of the Holy Spirit.

·        All power and authority belong to Jesus.