Mark 5:1-17: Seek Consolation – Possession
Friday, December 20, 2024
The Gerasene Demoniac
Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones.
In ancient days, epilepsy and psychological ailments were seen as possession by fiends or dark spirits. Spells and incantations murmured by magicians were the only hope of those suffering from mysterious illness. We can understand the suspicion Jesus caused when he cast out these demons and brought joy to common people. The authorities who benefited from the plight of the desperate sought to put an end to Jesus’ constant cures.
No one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; 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.
Today, science often guides us as we explore disease and look for healing; yet still some of us suffer from unseen – and misunderstood – torment. When we consider the story of the man possessed by an evil he cannot see and does not comprehend, we begin to understand our own hope for consolation when we are beset by troubles large and small. Today as we read this story of the Gerasene, let us run to Christ to fall on our knees as he does. And let us surrender all our troubles to the deep, healing, transforming and abiding consolation of Christ.
He was some distance away when he saw Jesus; so he ran, and fell on his knees before him.
For more on casting out demons, visit: https://bible.org/seriespage/9-gerasene-demoniac-mark-51-20
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