Mark 5 and 6 are probably my two favorite chapters in all of Mark, and there is just so much to talk about. I’ve been wondering how I would boil it down to a single devotion and realized I just can’t. 😊 With your permission, I will do two today (part 1 and part 2). Perhaps this will make up for another day I miss.
Mark 5 has three amazing stories all packed together into one chapter: The deliverance of the Gerasene demonic, The healing of the woman with an issue of blood, and the rising from the dead of Jairus’ daughter. In a single chapter, Mark recounts Jesus’ power over Satan, over Sickness and over Death. It is a powerful vignette that helps us see who Jesus really is and what He is all about. I love Mark’s account of the Gerasene demoniac, because he gives so many details. He talks about how this man lived in the tombs (likely subsisting on the flesh of rotting corpses), how he had superhuman strength and could not be bound with chains, how he was always crying out in the wilderness and cutting himself with stones, and how everyone in the entire region feared him.
Yet, the one thing this man feared (or better said the thousands of demons inside him feared) was the Son of God, Jesus Christ. I have dealt with demon possession many times here in Africa and while every situation is different, there are always some commonalities. We cast them out by the power of Jesus and not by our power, shouting, wisdom or anything else. Also, demons are very evil and very clever. If you read the passage carefully you see that they were resisting Jesus and trying to debate with Him; even trying to bargain with Him. I have seen this many times where demons try to change the subject, trick you or make it all about something else and not about submitting to the authority of Jesus. In the end, they were no match for Jesus and he cast them into the pigs. Even when they thought they had won, as the pigs rush down the steep bank you see the demons actually lost.
But what I think is more shocking in this chapter than the power of Jesus and the wiles of the enemy, is the depravity and hypocrisy of people. So many characters are mentioned in this one chapter that it makes your head spin. There are the people who witnessed the deliverance of the demoniac. Rather than rejoice that the demoniac they feared was now changed, or worship the Messiah, they begged Jesus to go away because they were scared of His power and angry with Him for destroying their pigs. There are the crowds that pressed around Jesus, not because they loved Him but because they wanted something from Him. Yet, they were willing to stand in the way of a poor unclean woman who needed to get to the Savior. Some tried to convince Jairus to despair and leave Jesus alone because his daughter had already died… and there were the mourners at his house who were crying one minute (because they were paid to) and then laughing the next when Jesus suggested she would live again.
We see Jesus ministering in a world that was religious and yet confused, broken and resistant to truth. It reminds me a lot of what I see every day when I go outside my gate. I wonder how Jesus wasn’t constantly frustrated and annoyed with the sinfulness, the selfishness, the faithlessness and the hypocrisy of everyone He met (even His disciples). It is enough to drive a well-meaning missionary to despair. But, then, those are not the only characters in the chapter. Consider the former demoniac whose first reaction was to follow Jesus and Jesus (shockingly) said “No,” and sent him to be the first missionary to Decapolis and the ten cities heard the gospel from his lips. Consider the woman who had faith enough to break every social and religious barrier to get close enough to Him to touch the hem of his garment and be healed. Consider Jairus who after hearing the word that his daughter had died, looked Jesus in the eye and heard him say, “Don’t be afraid, only believe.” And he did, and he received his daughter back from the dead that day. Ministry in this world is tough, ministry at this time in history (especially with COVID-19) is exhausting, but Jesus is on the throne. Even though there are many people out there who don’t get it and who won’t respond, there are still those out there who understand their need and who will respond. He is always at work around us. Instead of despairing, let’s lift our eyes and see where He is moving amid the chaos.
