the Week of Proper 19 / Ordinary 24
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Daily Devotionals
Day by Day Devotional - Year 3 of 5
Mark 5:1-20
The Lord and His disciples come ashore in the country of the Gadarenes. The first person whom they meet is a man completely possessed by demons which make him wild and unmanageable. What a dreadful scene; we have in this madman the moral picture of sinful man, the plaything of the Devil, carried away and tormented by his wild passions, living with death (the tombs). He was dangerous to his fellow men and could only do harm to himself. What a frightful state to be in – and it is our state by nature!
We would probably back away from such a creature in fear or even horror. The Lord Jesus does not turn away from him. On the contrary, He is going to deal with this wretched man, not to bind him with chains as the townspeople had vainly tried to do, but to deliver him from his misery and slavery.
The inhabitants of the town could see in this miracle only the loss of their pigs! At their request the Lord goes away, but leaves behind a witness – and who is it? "He that had been possessed with the devil". Is this not a picture of today? Rejected by the world, Christ keeps in the world those He has saved and gives them a commission to speak of Him. How do we carry this out? (Psalms 66:16).
