Day Five – January 11, 2013
Mark Chapter 5
What stuck out in this chapter for me?
The theme of this chapter of Mark’s Gospel could be titled: “The unclean become clean.” After all, the woman with the bleeding issue would be considered unclean in that day, as well as anyone who came into contact with a dead body (even if she is only 12 years old). But Jesus is not one to back away from the “unclean.”
I have always been moved by the first account in this chapter – the man living among the tombs from Gerasenes. His is a story of the demonic. He is possessed and because of this possession, he has been isolated. They have tried to chain him up and keep him away from the people living there. And so he ends up living among the dead instead of among the living.
Once again the demonic living in him is not fooled by this man getting out the boat after crossing the Sea of Galilee. He runs up Jesus and declares: “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” And thus begins the exchange that will forever change his life.
When you teach this lesson to Sunday School kids, the boys always remember that next part. Jesus sends the “legion” of demons into the herd of pigs who in turn, run off the cliff into the sea. I can almost hear the boys responding: “cool.”
But the telling part of this story to me is the man of the tombs, now back among the living, and no longer under that internal siege, begs Jesus to let him get into the boat and travel with Him. He doesn’t want to be apart from this “Son of the Most High God” who has given him back his life. Jesus was the only one who dared see the man under this horrible condition and to be able to set him free. It is this exchange that brings tears to eyes as I take the time to meditate on it. What a gift Jesus gave him.
I know that most likely, those who will take the time to read this post have no idea what it is like to live under the chains of this kind of possession. And yet, I find myself thinking that just because our lives have not taken us to the place where we have been banished from human contact, we are still moved by the story of this man from Gerasenes. Why?
I believe it’s because deep down, this account of being set free reverberates in our souls. We may not know fully why, but somehow we know that we are not as far from this shoreline as our lives might suggest. We too have stories to tell our family and friends. They are stories of being set free from the chains of our own making. They are stories of grace and love from this one whom demons tremble before and whose voice they hear and obey.
Are we telling our stories?
Back in the early eighties there was a popular Christian folk artist who wrote a song about this story that I still love to this day. If you’d like to hear it, click on this youtube link for Bob Bennett’s “Man of the Tombs.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylT58LXm3zI
So what do you think?
Reminder … If you are following the reading schedule, you now have two days off and we’ll return next Monday, January 14th with Mark 6. Have a blessed weekend.
No comments:
Post a Comment