Mark: Vile Man Rid of Legion, Business Ruined

Read: Mark 5:1-20

Dear Dad,

I’m so thankful for the herd of pigs you trusted me with, an amazing, extravagant gift for which I am truly thankful. I just wanted to let you know that, because the strangest thing happened this morning, something you’re going to find hard to believe. Some guy named Jesus came through town today and all the pigs went crazy, ran to the lake and drowned. Seriously. It’s not my fault. Do we have insurance? We insisted that Jesus leave before more damage was done, but I have no idea how to recover from this catastrophe.

Sincerely,

Your Faithful Son

How do you read the story? The herd owners were either Jews or Gentiles, that’s basically all we talk about in the Gospels–you’re either in or out. If the owners were Jewish, they were propagating unclean animals, probably for profit. Destroying the herd would have been seen as disapproval for violating Levitical laws. On the other hand, if they were not Jews, perhaps this demonstrates the power of the one true God and His power in spiritual realms.

Oddly, whichever group was affected, neither of them protested about the incredible loss of revenue. It seems like 2,000 of any animal would be a sizable loss for any farmer, so why was there no uproar? Their only response was to insist that Jesus leave immediately.

What would our response be? Awestruck and dumbfounded are words that come to mind. I hope I would at least be brave enough to tap him on the shoulder and ask, “help me understand…”

Fascinating

This is what I find most fascinating about the miracle:

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.” So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. Mark 5:18-20

Jesus tells the man (still, no name) to be the voice in his own town, to hang around and show people how he has changed. There’s no doubt that everyone knew this guy, I’m confident he was notorious, that “crazy” man in the tombs. The greatest impact he could have on the kingdom is not to join the professional Christ followers, it was simply to stay in his little town and be the example for others to follow.

The song, If I Have You, comes to mind. When we tear away all the pretense and wrappings of this world, what do we have left? My prayer is that the center of our being is Jesus Christ, that He is so deeply rooted in our lives that we are one of many living out our call in our own towns.