Tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you. Mark 5:19
Darryl was a baseball legend who nearly destroyed his life with drugs. But Jesus set him free, and he’s been clean for years. Today he helps others struggling with addiction and points them to faith. Looking back, he affirms that God turned his mess into a message.
Nothing is too hard for God. When Jesus came ashore near a cemetery after a stormy night on the Sea of Galilee with His disciples, a man possessed by darkness immediately approached Him. Jesus spoke to the demons inside him, drove them away, and set him free.
When Jesus left, the man begged to go along. But Jesus didn’t allow it, because He had work for him to do: “Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you” (Mark 5:19).
We never see the man again, but Scripture shows us something intriguing. The people of that region had fearfully pleaded with Jesus “to leave” (v. 17), but the next time He returned there, a large crowd gathered (8:1). Could the crowd have resulted from Jesus sending the man home? Could it be that he, once dominated by darkness, became one of the first missionaries, effectively communicating Jesus’ power to save?
We’ll never know this side of heaven, but this much is clear. When God sets us free to serve Him, He can turn even a messy past into a message of hope and love.
Read: Mark 5:1-20 (NIV)
5 1 They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes.a 2 When Jesus got out of the boat,p a man with an impure spiritq came from the tombs to meet him. 3 This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. 4 For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones.
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. 7 He shouted at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me,r Jesus, Son of the Most High God?s In God’s name don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had said to him, “Come out of this man, you impure spirit!”
9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“My name is Legion,”t he replied, “for we are many.” 10 And he begged Jesus again and again not to send them out of the area.
11 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside. 12 The demons begged Jesus, “Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.” 13 He gave them permission, and the impure spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legionu of demons,v sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
18 As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your own people and tell themw how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolisb x how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed.
INSIGHT
- What has Jesus set you free from?
- How can you share with others what He’s done for you?
Jesus has power over all creation, as is clear from today’s passage (Mark 5:1–20). This includes the spiritual world as well. The owners of the pigs would have suffered a large loss when their herd was destroyed in an instant. But we might wonder how the Jewish observers reacted. Bible teacher D. A. Carson makes the point that Jesus’ Jewish audience would have seen the loss of the pigs as of little consequence. Pigs were considered unclean animals (Leviticus 11:7). In 167 bc, Syrian tyrant Antiochus IV (Antiochus Epiphanes) had even sacrificed a pig on the altar in the temple—a despicable act of sacrilege in Jewish eyes.
PRAYER
Beautiful Savior, I praise You for Your amazing power! No darkness can stand against You! Help me to walk in Your light today. In your name, I pray and believe. Amen!!
Read: Mark 5:1-20 (NIV) | Bible in a Year: Proverbs 25–26; 2 Corinthians 9
