Mark 5:1-13 “Jesus Heals the Inner Person”
INTRODUCTION
There are many memorable people in the Bible. There is Moses, Ruth, David, Peter, Mary and Martha.
The man in our story this evening is one of the most memorable people in the Bible, for me, because of his total misery and brokenness.
THE DEMONIAC
Mark provides us with a powerful description of the demoniac.
· He lived among the tombs, which indicates that he was a social outcast. Touching anything or anyone who was dead made a person ritually unclean. No one would want to associate himself or herself with this man.
· The man was tormented. He regularly broke chains, which was a demonstration of strength inspired by pain.
· He howled to express his pain and suffering.
· The man demonstrated self-destructive behavior by bruising himself.
· Other people could not restrain him. He was a threat not only to himself but also to others and society.
The man pictured in this story by Mark is an amalgam of all the pain and suffering of society.
A MIRROR OF OURSELVES
We may look fairly put together, in the view of others, but each and every one of us is aware of the pain that we carry.
Many of us know the pain of loneliness. We experience the reality of being on the outside looking in. Sometimes others turn their backs on us. At other times, suffering separates us from others. Many of us can’t find good friends and companions who will share the journey of life with us.
We are wounded by broken relationships. The man was not only an outcast, he was a threat to others. He had done things to break the relationships he had with family and friends. There is great guilt in the way we seem to most often hurt the ones that we love the most. We need forgiveness and healing.
No one escapes the torments of life. The torment that the man experienced was excruciating. Many of us know what he experienced. We are tormented by memories. We are enslaved by secrets. We are driven by fears that we are so bad we are unlovable—not even God can or will love us.
JESUS HEALS
Jesus touched the life of the demoniac. He commanded the demons to come out of the man and they had to obey.
Jesus can touch our lives, too. God is in our healing whether it is physical, emotional, social, or the healing of memories.
Jesus responds to expressed need. The demon sought Jesus out. It is a fact of the healing process that we must admit our need to God in order for God to minister to us at the place of our need and to heal us.
CONCLUSION
Now is a time for prayer. It is a time for us to bow before God, confess our need for God’s healing touch in our lives, and open our lives to that touch.
I invite those who want to come forward in order to have their needs individually prayed for. Or, people may sit quietly in their seats. Hands could be raised in order for others to pray.
God is present. God hears our prayers and will meet our needs and heal us.
Amen
