David Bahn – Reflections

Mark 5:18-20

As [Jesus] was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. ¹⁹ And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

The biggest problem of post-modern men and women is that they do not have any problems. Some simply refuse to admit their problems to anyone. Some numb their troubles in drugs and alcohol. Some have managed to make their lives so full and easy that they gloss over their troubles. If we do admit to troubles it’s usually about things we can control, count or (we hope) conquer.

We fail to realize that we have – ultimately – a God problem. If we gain all the money we could ever count but don’t have ourselves right with God we have a problem. If we are able to control all the people and chess pieces of our lives but ignore the reality of God’s place in all of life we have a problem. If we manage to conquer every bad habit and challenge to our happiness but fail to realize God is the One to whom we must one day give an account, we have a major “ugh” in our future, for there will come a day of reckoning.

When the man who had been demon-possessed wanted to go with Jesus, he was sent away with this instruction: “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” Mercy: a move of God’s heart toward us in kindness and love in response to our pain and trouble. Our biggest problem has to do with failing to realize that God’s heart is open to those who are hurting, and that we are all hurting.

Why else would Jesus instruct the man to tell his friends and family about what Jesus had done and how God had had mercy on him? We all need that reminder. And if we think we can sidestep this reality we will one day the reality of our sin and failure. Thanks be to God that he has had mercy, and that we know we need it!

Mark 5:13-20

So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

¹⁴ The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵ And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. ¹⁶ And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. ¹⁷ And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. ¹⁸ As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. ¹⁹ And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” ²⁰ And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.