Our church is studying the book of Mark at the moment. The other week we got to the account of Jesus
freeing the demoniac from his multi demon parasites; AKA Legion.
"They came to the other side of the
sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And
when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately
there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could
bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for
he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains
apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue
him. Night and day among the
tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with
stones. And when he saw Jesus
from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And
crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son
of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My
name is Legion, for we are many.” And
he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding
there on the hillside, and
they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 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.
The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that hadhappened. 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. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 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.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marvelled."
As the pastor was explaining about Jesus’
awesome power over the demons I was reminded of the moment in the movie Aladdin
where the genie explains how he came to be stuck in a lamp and why he wants to
be free "It's all part and partial, the whole Genie gig. Phenomenal cosmic powers... itty-bitty living
space."
This account of Jesus’ life is sandwiched between him telling a storm where to go and raising a girl from the dead! All of these things are not only impossible for a genie but completely impossible for us humans - but not for God. Mark shows us that Jesus is not merely human, but he is in fact God walking around as a human. Phenomenal cosmic powers… itty-bitty living space indeed.
This account of Jesus’ life is sandwiched between him telling a storm where to go and raising a girl from the dead! All of these things are not only impossible for a genie but completely impossible for us humans - but not for God. Mark shows us that Jesus is not merely human, but he is in fact God walking around as a human. Phenomenal cosmic powers… itty-bitty living space indeed.
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