Mark 4-6

The beginning of Mark 5 is the story of the man who lived among the tombs in the Gerasenes area. We know the story that he had been possessed by a crowd of demons. We recall that Jesus cleaned out his body of this evil malady. But how much time to we consider what Mark tells us about his life after his encounter with Jesus? The last Biblical record of this man is Mark 5:20 where he took up the task of a Gentile evangelist; telling everybody what Jesus had done for him. Can you imagine what that was like. A man with scars all over his body walks into your town. He tells fantastic stories during his years of torment. And then he met a Jewish teacher named Jesus. The demons drove him toward the man and he heard his distorted voice shouting out a divine title. An idea that he had never imagined before. And for the first time in years he felt the demons shudder at the command to come out of the man. His body was thrown to the ground and everything went dark. Slowly he regained consciousness and he noticed something different. The voices were gone. He had control of his body. Instinctively he tried to covered his nakedness. Jesus took off his outer robe and handed it to the man. Had it all been a dream? The scars told him otherwise. What could he do for the man who had restored his mind, his voice, his life? “Tell others what God has done for you.” That was the command he was given by Jesus. So that is what he did.

 

Stuart