This is a long, familiar story, but well worth the reading:
Jesus Heals a Man Possessed by Demons
“5 They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped 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 could restrain him any more, even with a chain, 4 for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces, and no one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before Him, 7 and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure You by God, do not torment me.” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region. 11 Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding, 12 and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.” 13 So He gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine, and the herd, numbering about two thousand, stampeded down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned in the sea.
14 The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the man possessed by demons sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion, and they became frightened. 16 Those who had seen what had happened to the man possessed by demons and to the swine reported it. 17 Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. 18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged Jesus that he might be with Him. 19 But Jesus refused and said to him, “Go home to your own people, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and what mercy He has shown you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone was amazed’'' Mark 5:1-20.
This story reminds me of of an observation Isaiah made centuries earlier, an observation about the grace of God. Both texts speak of God’s prevenient grace, which is the grace of God in a person’s life that precedes conversion:
“1 I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me.I said, “Here I am, here I am,” to a nation that did not call on my name.
2 I held out my hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices;
3 a people who provoke me my face continually, sacrificing in gardens and offering incense on bricks;
4 who sit inside tombs and spend the night in secret places; who eat the flesh of pigs, with broth of abominable things in their vessels;
5 who say, “Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.”These are a smoke in my nostrils, a fire that burns all day long” Isaiah 65:1-5.
Notice that Jesus lands at a location in the region of the Geresenes that is notorious for Satanic, pagan practices, a place that has never called upon God’s Name. This is an important point for all of us to notice today, namely, that the grace of Jesus is extended to a heathen world, to everyone, and not just to the holy confines of Israel or to our church. God searches out those who never searched for or thought about turning to God. Sinners who never seek God or even seek to change their lifestyles that desperately need healing — Jesus welcomes them and goes after them to give them His grace. People put off by notorious sinners coming into their churches ought to heed this story.
Many people today have no fear of demonic powers of Satan, who is always at work in our minds and hearts to sway us away from following Jesus Christ. But remember this: the powers of evil cannot be defeated on our own. It takes the great supernatural power of Jesus Christ to defeat the power of evil. Martin Luther’s own words are so applicable here:
Did we in our own strength confide
Our striving would be losing.
The solution is a power that comes from outside of our hard hearts. But the healing power of Christ has it’s costs, it’s consequences, and so we foolishly do not always wish for the sufficient grace of God. As Jesus said: “If any wish to come after me, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 25 For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life” Matthew 16: 24-26?
Today pray for God’s grace, and accept it and live in it!
Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.
From the Bible:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness”
2 Corinthians 12:9.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” Ephesians 2:8-9.
“For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” Romans 6:14.
"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” Hebrews 4:16.
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