1 They came to the other side of the sea, into the region of the Gerasenes. 2 When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him. 3 He lived among the tombs; and no one was able to bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces; and no one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and cutting himself with stones. 6 Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; 7 and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do You have with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” 8 For He had already been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged Him earnestly not to send them out of the region. 11 Now there was a large herd of pigs feeding nearby on the mountain. 12 And the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us into the pigs so that we may enter them.” 13 Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the pigs; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.
14 Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And then they came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had previously had the “legion”; and they became frightened. 16 Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Him to leave their region. 18 And as He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was begging Him that he might accompany Him. 19 And He did not let him, but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
TODAY'S TAKEAWAY:
First let's observe the townspeople and their reactions. One would hope that they cared more about the man being delivered from the demons, than they cared about the pigs. But the pigs equated to a lot of money, so it really was all just about caring for themselves. And surprisingly, no one cared to know anything about Jesus, who had just performed this miracle. Like, how did this unmanageable man suddenly become sane?! And even though it was really the demons who had killed their livestock, they still blamed Jesus. Therefore, It was all about their finances and themselves, and they wanted nothing to do with the Lord God.
Now, it's interesting to observe that before the man became a believer, the demons were influencing his behavior. And fully recognizing who Jesus was, the demons influenced the man to hate and fear Jesus, also wanting nothing to do with Him. But after Jesus delivered the man from the demons, and from death and despair, now the man just wanted to stay as close to Jesus as possible.
As believers, the Lord God is always with us, no matter what, as God is not only omnipresent, we have also been given His indwelling Holy Spirit! Although this man didn't want to leave Jesus' literal side, maybe thinking that his life would be better as a direct disciple of His. But in obedience, even though this man was very much alone in this life, he joyfully did as Jesus asked him, and with God's help, he spread the good news about the Lord and His salvation, and impacted many, many people.
My final ah-ha thought in this is... our relationship with the Lord is the closest best relationship we could ever have! Even though He is not physically with us, we always have His Spirit with us. And if and when He calls us to do something that sounds scary, or lonely (and I've been there-done that), it is in those events where we have no choice but to lean on and look to the Lord for everything. It's not just about being in one's right mind, it's having a mind set on the Lord and His will and His righteousness. And this is when we will draw even closer to the Lord, and experience more of Him, and His love, peace, comfort, strength, wisdom, provisions, blessings and closeness.
