“…they came to Jesus and observed the man…” Mark 5:1-20
Jesus and his disciples go from one impossible situation directly into another. No sooner had they touched the other shore after the storm than they were accosted by an infamous demoniac.
He was beyond human help, certainly beyond the medicine of the day probably beyond that of ours today. Why? Because his was a spiritual condition and not a physical or mental ailment. His violence was unrestrained and all attempts to bind him had failed. No one was strong enough to subdue him; no chain or shackle remained unbroken. The only solution left was to ban him from society. He then roamed the wilderness and terrorized the graveyard.
Why is it that the demons are so quick to spot Jesus and recognize who he is? Why does it take people so long to come to the same conclusion? On the one hand this demonized man sees Jesus from far away, runs to him and bows before him. On the other, his rebellion asserts itself by making a scene, crying out loudly, speaking truthful things, yes, but the same sort of things that Jesus had silenced on previous occasions.
They try to take control: “You and us have nothing in common. We have no business with you – leave us alone!” Further, they attempt to prescribe their own fate by demanding first that he not drive them from the area, then that they be allowed to enter a large herd of swine.
Jesus in no way yields to them. He is in control, and they know it. He has been commanding them to leave the man, yet they are stalling. Can you imagine their gall standing in open defiance of “the Most High God,” as they themselves had addressed him? Maybe the fact that they were not just one demon, but a great many, emboldened them. They demand that Jesus send them into the pigs. Perhaps the best sense of Jesus’ response is that Jesus did not hinder them from going. His main purpose is to save this man from the demons’ destructive influence and to keep them from harming the man, the disciples and any bystanders. At any rate, as soon as the demons gain control of the pigs, they destroy themselves and we do not hear of them again.
The townspeople are troubled when they learn what had happened. They became frightened when the see the formerly violent and powerful man sitting calmly, clothed and in his right mind. Then they begged Jesus to depart from their shores. It is ironic that they were willing to live in the presence of such evil and terror, but could not abide the presence of God in their midst. God had come too close for comfort and they sent him away.
In effect, they picked up the chains thrown down by the demoniac and bound them around themselves. Freedom was unknown to these Gerasenes. Bondage was at least familiar.
Jesus dutifully climbed back in the boat, for he forces himself on no one. But in his stead he left a mighty witness, who would not fail to boldly proclaim the mercy of the Lord and the great things that God had done for him.
Copyright 2019 David J. Cooley
