Bible Verse of the Day Monday October 24th, 2022

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 he could not reside among the people of Gerasenes and had to exist in the tombs close to the seashore. Mark tells us that attempts by the people of the local cities to bind this man with chains had failed because of his breaking 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 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 what Jesus could do for him, only to be close to the one who had saved his life. Jesus knew the townspeople would inquire about the change in this man. He would then have the opportunity to speak of the saving power of Christ Jesus. 

 

Most of us have never experienced such a filling of 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 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. 

 

We must ask ourselves today whether we are as tenacious about being near Jesus as that man was that our Savior freed from his physical chains. Jesus stands ready today to save the lost of this world and release all those who are captive of the bonds and chains of the evil of Satan. No one has drifted into the domain of Satan that cannot experience freedom through the saving love, mercy, and grace of Christ Jesus. There is not a single heart that evil has broken in this world to which Christ Jesus cannot show His love, grace, and mercy by binding up their damaged souls. So the final question we must ask ourselves is whether we will be like that man so many years ago that was freed from his physical chains and witnessed 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).