An Unforgettable Encounter
“For He said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And He asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.” Mark 5:8-9
The time that I spend each day in studying God’s word is the best part of my day. All of my problems, the crazy world situations, and anything else that the devil might try to throw into my mind to distract me from gleaning the truths of the word seem to vanish for that 60 to 90 minutes. Even with my diligent and careful study, there is still so much more in the pages of the Bible that I have not yet discovered. The Apostle Paul, probably the greatest Bible scholar of all time since he wrote several books of the New Testament, recorded in Romans 11:33, “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!” Even if we cannot reach into the depths of the wisdom and knowledge of God, it is still worth the effort to learn as much as we can about Him. I have said before, if we plan on spending eternity with the Lord, would it not behoove us to learn as much as we can about Him while we are still on earth?
When I studied the gospels, in my mind’s eye I tried to put myself among Jesus and His disciples as they traveled across the dusty roads and small villages of Galilee. There was one particular event that occurred which, if I had actually seen it in person, it would have been etched in my mind for a long time. This memorable event was recorded in Mark 5:1-20. Jesus and His disciples had crossed over the Sea of Galilee into the country of the Gadarenes. Right away they met a man who lived among the tombs of the local cemetery. He was a wild man, not allowed to live among the local residents because of his demeaner and behavior. Some of the townsfolk had tried to capture and chain him, but he was very strong and would break the chains (think of the Incredible Hulk). He also cut himself with stones which indicated that he had some major emotional issues. I imagine that he was likely naked, dirty, with long matted hair, a long beard, and probably smelled so bad that his body odor could be detected from quite a distance away. The folks in the nearby village certainly didn’t want him around their children. Imagine how lonely and depressed he was–no family, no friends, and nothing to look forward to. Just existing. Miserable and forgotten. There are many today, while not in his particular situation, but still lonely, depressed, miserable, believing that they have been forgotten, that their lives do not matter.
Jesus had not forgotten him. When the wild man saw Jesus, he ran to Him and worshipped Him, which indicated that he did know who Jesus was, but, because of his condition, may have feared that Jesus would condemn him, asking that Jesus not torment him. However, Jesus knew that the poor man was possessed by demons and called the demons out of the man. Because the demons must obey the Lord, they exited the man. Jesus asked them their name. They replied that their name was Legion because there were many of them. (In the Roman army at that time, a legion of soldiers numbered between 3,000 and 6,000.) The demon begged Jesus not to send them out of the country. What Jesus did would have been quite a sight to see.
Up in the mountains, there was a huge herd of pigs feeding. Those who are familiar with Jewish law know that the Jews were not to eat pork, which would also mean that they were not to raise hogs or even be near them because they would render the swine herders ceremonially unclean. The demons actually requested for Jesus to send them into the pigs. I suppose that they thought that entering into the pigs would give them safe harbor until such time as they could find a new human host. As the old saying goes, “You should be careful what you wish for, because you might just get it”. Jesus granted their request, but what the demons didn’t realize was that their presence within the swine made the pigs wild just like they had caused the man to be wild. The pigs, 2,000 of them, ran violently down the hill right into the sea and drowned, killing the demons, which apparently were not invincible. When the townspeople heard what happened, they came to investigate. They saw the man, sitting quietly, clothed, and in possession of all his faculties, but they became afraid. And then they became angry at Jesus because He had destroyed their livelihood, and they begged Him to leave their town. How many today want nothing to do with the Lord? Jesus is a Gentleman, and He will not remain where He is not wanted.
The man who recognized Jesus was the winner, but all those who chose to ignore God’s word, being disobedient, were the losers. They not only lost their livelihood, but they also lost the presence of Jesus among them. It is incumbent upon believers to obey God’s word. We are no longer under the law as the Jews were before Christ came, but we discover how we are to conduct our lives in the pages of God’s word. If I put up a billboard on the highway, I would have a picture of an open Bible, and the caption would say, “Study God’s word as if your life depends on it, because it does.” In the scriptures, we not only can find the answers to the dilemmas of life, but freedom and joy in Christ. As my former pastor used to say, “The Bible is the only book that God ever wrote”, and I would add that God expects us, as believers, to read and study it on a consistent basis. How else can we come to know God in all of His glory and grace?