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Gospel: Mk. 5.1-20
Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the sea,
to the territory of the Gerasenes.
When he got out of the boat,
at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him.
The man had been dwelling among the tombs,
and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain.
In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains,
but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed,
and no one was strong enough to subdue him.
Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides
he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones.
Catching sight of Jesus from a distance,
he ran up and prostrated himself before him,
crying out in a loud voice,
“What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?
I adjure you by God, do not torment me!”
(He had been saying to him, “Unclean spirit, come out of the man!”)
He asked him, “What is your name?”
He replied, “Legion is my name. There are many of us.”
And he pleaded earnestly with him
not to drive them away from that territory.
Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside.
And they pleaded with him,
“Send us into the swine. Let us enter them.”
And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine.
The herd of about two thousand rushed down a steep bank into the sea,
where they were drowned.
The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town
and throughout the countryside.
And people came out to see what had happened.
As they approached Jesus,
they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion,
sitting there clothed and in his right mind.
And they were seized with fear.
Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened
to the possessed man and to the swine.
Then they began to beg him to leave their district.
As he was getting into the boat,
the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him.
But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead,
“Go home to your family and announce to them
all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.”
Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis
what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Jesus has already shown his power over nature by calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee. Now he will demonstrate his power over evil within a human person.
As he steps ashore, he is immediately challenged by demonic powers, as if they’re jealous of their territory. “Are you here to torment us??” they cry out.
From a Jewish perspective, this was an unapproachable area. Caves, which were often used as tombs, lined the shoreline. Pigs roamed free. It was a dark and dreary place meant for the unholy and defiled.
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But Jesus steps right in.
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There’s a man dwelling among the tombs with superhuman strength. He’s been bound by shackles and chains, but smashes them against the rocks. “No one,” the Gospel says, “was strong enough to subdue him.”
Mark says this man experienced a “violent squall” within – likely comparing what happened on the Sea of Galilee to what’s happening inside this man’s soul. He’s living in torment.
No one but Jesus can save him.
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This Gospel scene describes in miniature the entire mission and ministry of Jesus: to seek and to save the lost.
Although none of us is tormented like this man, the demonic spirit within him demonstrates the power evil can have over us; to use Mark’s word, it “tortures” us.
Think about this in the context of a person subdued by addiction, greed, lust, anger, even death.
Jesus comes to set us free.
Using his own words, which he prayed from the Cross, may we offer whatever burdens us to the Lord, saying, “Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit.”
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Image credits: (1) Grace London, Jesus’ Power Over Evil and Sin (2) Pig Beach, Wikipedia (3) Diocese of Lansing