~~~ Hebrews 11: 32-40 ~~~ Psalm 31 ~~~ Mark 5:1-20 ~~~
Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
People endured horrific tortures through their strong faith...
even being cut in half, devoured by lions and stoned to death.
One man tortured by unseen forces breaks his chains and presents himself
before Jesus. He begs to be released from the legion
of evil spirits that had held him hostage for many years.
Hearing of the powers of Jesus he drew all the strength
he had left within to come to Jesus.
Somehow he saw Jesus as his hope to be free of his chains
and tormented body.
By all accounts this man was uncontrollable.
He lived among the dead in the cemetery...where decay and stench
surrounded him night and day.
He was surrounded by death on all sides.
In his distraught state of mind he was bruising his body with stones,
nothing he could do would free him from the legions of demons.
Nothing can stop Jesus from saving anyone who comes to him.
This man had nothing to lose and everything to gain by coming to Jesus.
All in that time knew that a legion was some 6,000 soldiers.
No matter how awful.
No matter the number.
Nothing is too great or terrible for Jesus.
He was to conquer death itself.
Catching sight of Jesus from a distance,
he ran up and prostrated himself before him,
crying out in a loud voice,
“What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?
I adjure you by God, do not torment me!”
(He had been saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”)
He asked him, “What is your name?”
He replied, “Legion is my name. There are many of us.”
And he pleaded earnestly with him
not to drive them away from that territory.
he ran up and prostrated himself before him,
crying out in a loud voice,
“What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?
I adjure you by God, do not torment me!”
(He had been saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”)
He asked him, “What is your name?”
He replied, “Legion is my name. There are many of us.”
And he pleaded earnestly with him
not to drive them away from that territory.
Jesus even listened to the unclean spirits plea to be spared.
As they requested, He sent them into the herd of swine nearby.
The swine could not survive with these evil spirits inside their flesh.
They swine went mad and stampeded themselves right
off the cliff into the sea where they drowned.
The people who had witnessed these things were themselves terrified.
They were terrified at the power of Jesus.
His power was stronger than a legion of demons.
They feared his power.
They were not sure just how he might use it in the future.
What if he used against them?
What if he could see something within
that they themselves could not see?
We tend to fear the unknown.
We tend to fear that which we cannot understand.
They could not understand the casting out of demons from the tormented man.
The tormented man, on the other hand, did not seek to understand.
He was just grateful for his release from the demons
who had help him hostage for so long.
This is exactly what sin does to our soul...
sin holds our souls as hostage.
We try to make deals with ourselves.
We end up becoming more and more frustrated with each attempt until...
we abandon our self to Jesus.
He alone is the one who can cast out our demons.
Live in freedom!
Let your hearts take comfort, all who hope in the Lord.
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