Mark 5:18-19 As
Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to
go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your own people
and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on
you."
An interesting point in this
beautiful story of redemption is that Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee to the
Gentile region of Gerasenes for the sole purpose of this encounter with a Gentile
man with impure spirits. He was so filled with evil that he could not reside among
the people of the Gentile cities of Gerasenes and had to exist in the tombs
close to the seashore. Mark tells us that attempts from the people of the local
cities to bind this man with chains had failed because he would always break
free from the constraints. When Jesus had cast out the evil spirit from this
man, he was so grateful that he wanted to follow Jesus wherever He went.
However, Jesus commissioned this newly freed human to go to his own people,
which would have been Gentiles, and be a witness of the great things Jesus had
done. This man had been set free by Jesus and he wanted nothing but to be near
Jesus. He was not seeking only what Jesus could do for him, but only to be
close to the one that had saved his life. He would be asked by his own people
to tell of how this great change came about and what a great testimony of the
saving power of Christ Jesus to share with all those around him.
Most of us have never been so
filled with evil spirits that our neighbors had to restrain us with chains and
exile us to some secluded stretch of beach among caves. However, before we
accepted Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior we were bound by the bonds and
chains of the evil of Satan. The devil may not have had us in physical chains,
but he most certainly had us in spiritual bonds. Our Lord and Savior suffered
the shame and pain of the Cross of Calvary to free us from these bonds and
chains just like He freed that man in the cities of Decapolis so many years
ago.
The question that we have to
ask ourselves today is are we as tenacious about being near Jesus as that man
was that was freed from his physical chains. Christ Jesus stands ready today to
save the lost of this world and free all of those that are captive of the bonds
and chains of the evil of Satan. There is not a person that has drifted into
the domain of Satan that cannot be freed by the saving love, mercy and grace of
Christ Jesus. There is not a single heart that has been broken by the evil of
this world that Christ Jesus cannot show His love grace and mercy to by binding
up their damaged hearts. The final question we must ask ourselves is are we
going to be like that man so many years ago that was freed from his physical
chains and be a witness for the great love and grace of Christ Jesus. We have
the same commission that Jesus left the man in this account in the Book of
Mark. It’s called the great commission (Matthew 28:19-20 ).
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