The Preacher Of Gergesa Series

This man who was freed from incredible bondage, and who wanted to remain at Jesus feet, was told by the Master, “return to your own house, and declare what God has done for you.” The man wasn’t told to go sit within his own four walls because he didn’t have any walls. Remember that he lived in the cemetery? What Yeshua meant was for him to declare God’s power to his family and extended family. He was so effective that he “preached throughout the city what Jesus had done for him.” Imagine the joy his family knew, now that this man of such horrible reputation was now clean, sane and spreading the good news of Christ.

Oh, if we would only do what this lunatic turned preacher did! In view of the Cause of Christ, he was as effective as Messiah would have been if He had gone on into Gergesa and preached Himself! The town already knew about this guy and had seen such an amazing change. Now, he made sense. Now, he had something sensible to say. Now, his control came from a Code of Conduct, not possessing demons or some idealistic philosophy.

The story about this incident is told in two other places in the New Testament, Matthew 8 and Mark 5, and yes, there are minor variations, something normal from different points of view.

Do you see now what or who God can use to change the world? We have the idea that a “man of God” must have a degree from a seminary, or be certified by some process to be an effective witness, but none of those things fit the demon-possessed man. This preacher was just set free. How different is one like this from the Pharisees with their law, political influence and status in the Temple! Education is good and not bad, yet when you have made the effort to wait for the Master and welcome His saving grace into your life, those flaws are forgiven and like the demons, drowned in the sea of forgetfulness.

How is this Gergesa man remembered? The majority of the story is about the demons in him. Add the images of his ravings, screaming, breaking chains and living in a cemetery, and he becomes the historical “demon-possessed man”. We should remember him as the preacher who was instantly equipped by God to be an effective and powerful witness.

There is another Biblical character who was pretty bad, and who was without the temperament and will to preach Christ. That person became the one who set the structure for modern Christianity—Paul.

How do we want to be remembered? Should our past or faults be an epitaph carved in stone because of a perceived critical and negative reputation, or what we have become through the grace of God? Should Christians focus on past evil and forever brand a person, or forgive as we are forgiven? Many times we continue to wear the cloak of habits or addictions, mistakes or shortcomings as a badge of how “bad” we were. Like the man in our story, the community already knew what he had been, but accepted his word about what happened because the change was clearly evident!