Mark 5:1-20 -- Gerasene Demoniac

HIS WORDS: Mark 5:1-20 

MY STUDY: Great exposition of the passage HERE

MY WORDS

They came to the other side of the Sea of Galilee where the Gerasenes lived. When He got out of the boat, a madman, with an unclean spirit who lived among the tombs and graves in the cemetery, came up to Him. No one could restrain him-he could not be chained up or tied down with ropes because he always broke them. He was screaming in the cemetery and in the mountains on a night and day basis, slashing himself with sharp stones.  

When he saw Jesus coming from a distance, he ran up and bowed before Him and shouted in a loud voice saying, "What is there in common, Jesus, Son of the Most High God, messing with me? I swear to God, do not harass me!" (For Jesus had just commanded the tormenting evil spirit, "Out! Get out of the man!").

Jesus asked him, "Tell me your name."

He replied, "My name is Legion, for we are great in number" (a Roman army legion was anywhere from 3,000-6,600 men). Then the man begged Jesus not to banish him and the demons away out of the region.

A big herd of pigs were feeding on a nearby hill. The demons begged Jesus, "Send us to the pigs so we can live in them." Jesus gave the order and the unclean spirits entered the pigs, and the herd of two thousand stampeded over the cliff into the sea and drowned. 

Those who herded the pigs ran away and reported what happened to the people in the town and country. The people came to see what  had happened. They came to Jesus and saw that the man who had been a demon-possessed madman was sitting down, clothed, and calm. This made them frightened. 

Those who had seen it told others what had happened to the demon-possessed man and the pigs. Then they began to beg him to leave their region. 

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was begging to come with Him; but Jesus would not let him. Jesus said, "God home to your own family, relatives, and friends. Tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you." The man went back and began to preach in Decapolis (the region of the ten cities) how much Jesus had done for him, and all the people were amazed.  

I WILL

From my "listening time" with the Lord, God pointed out that I did not give glory to Him for how I came out of the frustration I was in from my freewrite in the last post. I forgot to mention the spiritual dynamic of the day, and how I gave the devil a good swift kick. I believe that most of my problem yesterday was spiritual more than anything else. I will give glory to him by editing my freewrite that I wrote this morning to acknowledge the spiritual dynamics of yesterday. 

Interesting that there were also some spiritual things going on with our friends in Phoenix at the same exact time, and I did not know it until our Skype meeting a few hours later. 

God also pointed out to me that I could be a "low-maintenance" project for the enemy, and that is not His will for me to be so.