THE BIBLE MEETS LIFE
People can probably be placed into one of two groups: those of us who love to travel or those of us who prefer to stay close to home.
Those of us who love to travel relish new experiences—different points of interest, different foods, and different ways of doing things. Those of us who prefer to stay close to home do so not because we don’t ever want to try something new, but because we’re more comfortable with what is familiar.
Either way, travelers and non-travelers alike share one common discovery: interesting people surround us whether we venture around the world or across the street. Even in our own communities, we meet people of various ethnicities, backgrounds, and cultures. We also meet people who seem “just like us” at first, but as we get to know them, we find they have diverse personalities and interests.
All of these people share one thing in common. They need Jesus.
Jesus called one man to go on the mission field—in his own neighborhood. Through this man’s encounter with Jesus, we see that we don’t have to go far to change the world.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
Mark 5:1-2
1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him.
This statement will not surprise you: we live in a broken world. The news reports mass shootings and bombings on a regular basis. Human trafficking is a global phenomenon, even in our own backyards. Racism is rampant, no matter which racial group you fall into. It’s easy to see the brokenness around us.
It’s easy to talk about the problems “out there.” But let’s not forget that our world is broken because we are broken people “in here.”
In Mark 5, we encounter a man who knew he was broken. Jesus and His disciples had traveled across the Sea of Galilee to an area that was populated primarily by Gentiles. The moment Jesus stepped ashore, this unnamed man appeared—alone. He was alone for a valid reason. Namely, he was broken physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
We don’t know how he became possessed “with an unclean spirit,” but his pain and struggle were obvious:
- His erratic behavior kept him isolated from the community and any family he might have had.
- The community’s only “treatment” for him was to bind him with shackles and chains, which he broke (see v. 4). This demonic strength only caused the people to fear him more, so he was simply left to fend for himself—in a cemetery.
- He was naked, which surely caused him further pain from exposure to the elements (see Luke 8:27).
- He was in such physical, emotional, and spiritual torment that he intentionally cut himself. This may have been some vain attempt to drive out the demons or an attempt to end his pain through suicide.
This man was not merely a crazy maniac. He was demon possessed.
It’s natural for us to want to avoid people with such brokenness. But we’re surrounded by people who are broken and hurt. They may not be driven by demons to hurt themselves and others, but they are broken nonetheless, just as we were before we met Christ.
Mark 5: 8-15
8 For he had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 “What is your name?” he asked him. “My name is Legion,” he answered him, “because we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region. 11 A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. 12 The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there. 14 The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon possessed, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
Jesus didn’t desire to leave the man in such a state, so He confronted the cause of his brokenness. He called the unclean spirit to come out, and He asked the unclean spirit to identify itself. Throughout Scripture, a person’s name was associated with his character. So, by asking, “What is your name?,” Jesus was leading the demon to confess the nature of the evil that had enslaved the man.
The demon responded, “Legion.” A Roman legion was comprised of about 6,000 solders. An army of evil had possessed this broken man!
The biblical writer then presented a shocking picture of the demons entering “about two thousand” pigs, and the herd rushing “down the steep bank into the sea,” where they drowned. While such mass destruction of the pigs may seem cruel, it’s important to note that Jesus did not command the demons to inhabit and destroy the pigs; He allowed the demons to go there.
There are several reasons for Jesus’ actions:
- It unequivocally showed the evil intent of the demons. What they did to the pigs was what they intended to do to the man.
- The demise of the pigs demonstrated beyond doubt that the demons had left the man; he was healed.
- It was a witness to the power of Jesus to heal. The townspeople came running when they heard about their pigs. They should have been amazed, but they chose fear.
What matters most in this story is that a broken man experienced freedom—a restored life in Christ—and so can we.
No matter how dark your life is, Christ can transform you by His grace. No matter what skeletons may be in your closet, Christ can cast light into the shadows and heal you. No matter how broken your relationships with others might be, He can open the door to a new day. Jesus is not only in the business of forgiving and healing your past, but He also wants to redeem your present and transform your future.
Mark 5:18-20
18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been
demon-possessed begged him earnestly that he might
remain with him. 19 Jesus did not let him but told him, “Go
home to your own people, and report to them how much the
Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.”
20 So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how
much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.
Jesus frequently sent His followers to new places. For example, after Jesus commissioned His twelve disciples, He sent them out from village to village to “proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (Luke 9:2). Later, Jesus sent out 72 disciples to tell others about the kingdom of God (see 10:1-12).
But not this time. Jesus told the once-possessed man to “go home.” The townspeople had begged Jesus to leave their area, but Jesus still cared about their community. He would not leave them without a witness—and that witness would be one of their own.
Understand this: God wants you to share your faith story with others, and He wants you to do it now. You can tell of your own encounter with Jesus and engage others in spiritual conversations. He wants to use you to be His hands, feet, and mouth to declare the gospel to this lost and broken world. Now.
The beautiful thing is that Jesus has promised to be with us and to give us the words to say when we speak about Him. “Whenever they bring you before synagogues and rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how you should defend yourselves or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what must be said” (Luke 12:11-12). God will guide your words and your conversation. And if you are asked a question you can’t answer, don’t be afraid to say you don’t know!
When Jesus heals your brokenness and calls you to Himself, He’s also calling you to participate in His mission. God wants to use you to display His healing power and His ability to redeem. So invite others into your life and let them see “how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.”
LIVE IT OUT
How will you share your transformed life in Christ this week? Consider the following suggestions:
- Write. Write down the names of three people in your life who are far from God. Pray daily for an opportunity to have a spiritual conversation with each one.
- Walk. Walk across your street, hop over your fence, or knock on the cubicle next to you. Start a spiritual conversation with someone you see on a regular basis.
- Research. “Hasn’t science disproved Christianity?” “How can you take the Bible seriously?” “If your God is so loving, why do you believe in hell?” We can respond with grace and intelligence to the questions of skeptics. Launch your study with a book like Jeremiah Johnston’s Unanswered or the Holman QuickSource Guide to Christian Apologetics.
You don’t have to travel far to share your transformed life in Christ. The first place God calls you is often not across the world, but across the street. Will you go?
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Teacher Notes
Click Here to Watch
Are you one to travel afar or to stay close to home?
Either way, travelers and non-travelers share one common discovery:
- Interesting people surround us. Whether we venture around the world or across the street. Even in our own communities, we meet people of various ethnicities, backgrounds, and cultures. We also meet people who seem “just like us” at first, but as we get to know them, we find they have diverse personalities and interests. All of these people share one thing in common.
- They need Jesus.
Jesus called one man to go on the mission field—in his own neighborhood. Through this man’s encounter with Jesus, we see that we don’t have to go far to change the world.
I. Mark 5:1-2
1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. 2 As soon as he got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met him.
How far do we have to go to find broken people in the world?
We live in a broken world. The news reports mass shootings and bombings on a regular basis. Human trafficking is a global phenomenon, even in our own backyards. Racism is rampant, no matter which racial group you fall into. It’s easy to see the brokenness around us. It’s easy to talk about the problems “out there.” But let’s not forget that our world is broken because we are broken people “in here.”
In Mark 5, we encounter a broken man who knew he was broken. How broken was he? He was broken physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
How do you react to this type of brokenness?
It’s natural for us to want to avoid people with such brokenness. But we’re surrounded by people who are broken and hurt. They may not be driven by demons to hurt themselves and others, but they are broken nonetheless, just as we were before we met Christ.
II. Mark 5: 8-15
8 For he had told him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 “What is your name?” he asked him. “My name is Legion,” he answered him, “because we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the region. 11 A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. 12 The demons begged him, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs. The herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there. 14 The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon possessed, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
Now, what all do we experience in these 8 verses?
- The demonic power in the world.
- Their intent in killing us.
- Jesus’ desire to heal.
- Jesus’ power over evil.
- People think Jesus is the evil one
What matters most in this story?
What matters most in this story is that a broken man experienced freedom—a restored life in Christ—and so can we.
Why is that so important to us?
No matter how dark your life is, Christ can transform you by His grace. No matter what skeletons may be in your closet, Christ can cast light into the shadows and heal you. No matter how broken your relationships with others might be, He can open the door to a new day. Jesus is not only in the business of forgiving and healing your past, but He also wants to redeem your present and transform your future.
III. Mark 5:18-20
18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged him earnestly that he might remain with him. 19 Jesus did not let him but told him, “Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So he went out and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and they were all amazed.
Jesus frequently sent His followers to new places. For example, after Jesus commissioned His twelve disciples, He sent them out from village to village to “proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick” (Luke 9:2). Later, Jesus sent out 72 disciples to tell others about the kingdom of God (see 10:1-12). But not this time. Jesus told the once-possessed man to “go home.” The townspeople had begged Jesus to leave their area, but Jesus still cared about their community. He would not leave them without a witness—and that witness would be one of their own.
How can you use your story of transformation to share the gospel?
Understand this: God wants you to share your faith story with others, and He wants you to do it now. You can tell of your own encounter with Jesus and engage others in spiritual conversations. He wants to use you to be His hands, feet, and mouth to declare the gospel to this lost and broken world. Now.
The beautiful thing is that Jesus has promised to be with us and to give us the words to say when we speak about Him. “Whenever they bring you before synagogues and rulers and authorities, don’t worry about how you should defend yourselves or what you should say. For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that very hour what must be said” (Luke 12:11-12). God will guide your words and your conversation. And if you are asked a question you can’t answer, don’t be afraid to say you don’t know!
When Jesus heals your brokenness, and calls you to Himself, He’s also calling you to participate in His mission. God wants to use you to display His healing power and His ability to redeem. So, invite others into your life and let them see “how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.”
Before You Go on a Mission Trip, Consider This …
If you were to go on a mission trip … why?
Over the years I have done my share of mission trips. I led many of these. Yet in recent years I have become more discriminate on the type of short-term mission project that is actually fruitful and productive.
For several years, I had friends who took two-week trips to India. They were understandably exited to be personally leading over a hundred people to Christ every day. Over two weeks, their small team would lead five thousand to Christ. I asked, “So in a Hindu culture where they will readily accept Jesus into their worldview of 330 million gods, what is being done to follow-up and disciple these five thousand people?” Crickets.
In recent days, I met someone preparing to go on a year-long mission trip. I checked out the organization she would be working with, and while the group is evangelical, the emphasis is on the adventure of it all and not on the work itself.
The allure of travel and adventure has always carried some appeal in planning a mission trip. I’ll confess that in my student ministry days, that was a part of my reason for choosing some of our locales. But if the allure of adventure is what it takes to get me to do missions and ministry, I have to ask myself the hard question of why I want to go at all.
Are you eager to do the same mission work in your own neighborhood that you’re eager to do overseas?
I am NOT nixing the prospect of a mission trip, but don’t travel a great distance to do something in an exotic location that you are not already doing at home.
Let’s come at this from another angle. The best way to do missions is to begin at home. The world has come to your doorstep. Don’t go to the ones “out there” until you have reached out to the ones who have come to you.
One man was radically changed by his encounter with Jesus Christ. The man was so deep in sin and darkness that he was possessed. People were afraid of him and he was isolated from family and friends, forced to live in the city cemetery.
But Jesus changed all that. It was so radical that the people were still afraid, but only because the man was now different from the man he was before. Understandably, the man wanted to go with Jesus when He was leaving the area. But Jesus told him, “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you” (Mark 5:19).
Want to do missions?
Start here: ““Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”
Hope to see you on Sunday!
In His Love,
David & Susan
