Episode 2106 - Lesson 5 - Monday July 29 - Can you hear a whisper above a shout?

Read Mark 5:1–20. What can we learn about the great controversy from this amazing account and, again, about the power of Jesus? ________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________ If the night before on the lake was unforgettable, the arrival at the Gadarenes the next morning was just as impressive. The history of the demon-possessed man is laid out in heartbreaking detail. Breaking away from all constraint, he lived in the tombs and cut himself with stones. “No one had the strength to subdue him” (Mark 5:4, ESV)—and then he met Jesus. The man rushed at Jesus—no word about the disciples (they probably ran off). When the man came near to Jesus, he fell down before Him. The words “fell down” translate the Greek verb proskyneō, usually translated “to worship.” It seems the man recognized that Jesus was Someone who could help him. But when he opened his mouth, the demons inside him shouted at Jesus, who could hear the man’s whispered plea for help above the demons’ shouts. When they asked to be released into a herd of pigs, Jesus permitted them to enter the pigs. The entire herd, about two thousand, rushed down the embankment and drowned in the water. It was a financial disaster for the owners. What’s amazing is that the demons knew exactly who Jesus was, and they also knew their impotence before Him, which was why they “begged Him” twice (Mark 5:10, 12, NKJV) to do what they asked. Obviously, they knew His power over them. This story has two overriding characteristics. First, it is filled with items of uncleanness or ceremonial defilement according to Old Testament law. Tombs and the dead were unclean (Num. 19:11, 16). Bleeding made one unclean (Leviticus 15). Pigs were unclean (Lev. 11:7). But, second, overarching this litany of defilement is the back-andforth battle between good and evil forces. Jesus drives out the demons (two points for Jesus), the demons kill the pigs (two points for Satan). The townspeople ask Jesus to leave (two points for Satan), but Jesus sends back the healed man as His witness (three points for Jesus). In some ways this man was the unlikeliest missionary, but he definitely had an amazing story to tell. What hope can you draw from this story about the power of Jesus to help you in whatever you are struggling with?