Right Mind

Today's reading: Mark 4:26-41

'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 marveled. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him.' - Mark 5:18-20 ESV

This was one wild man that Jesus encountered. He was chilling in graveyards, naked. He had people trying to bind him with chains, to no avail. Mark records that he "wrenched" the chains, which is the Greek word diaspao, meaning that he tore the chains apart like one rips a piece of paper.

It didn't take a psychologist to know something wasn't quite right with this man, psychologically or physiologically. Jesus knew the source was unseen: demonic activity.

Jesus frees this man of the demons at the expense of 2,000 head of swine (trying to picture that is blowing my mind).

This man was found sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. Not only that, but the man asks Jesus for permission to become one of his disciples ("that he might be with him" is the same language used for the 12 in Mark 3:14).

In a strange turn of events, Jesus tells this man to do something he rarely said to anyone: "go and tell everyone what the Lord has done for you." The man obeys, reenters society, and paves the way for the Apostle Paul to do his work 20(ish) years later in this area.

An obvious question for us all is this:

Are we telling everyone we come across what the Lord has done for us? Let's keep the legacy of this man's faith going. We are preparing the way for future generations to be changed by the Gospel!