Maniacs Welcome

Maniacs Welcome

And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes. And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains: Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him. And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones. But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him, And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not. For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit. And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many. And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country. Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding. And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them. And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea. And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts. And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.

Mark 5:1-20

Christ Welcomes maniacs. That should encourage us all greatly. We will dwell for the next few days upon this signal miracle which Christ performed in the country of the Gadarenes. As Christ arrived on the shore from His overnight trip from the western shore of the Sea of Galilee, this maniac met Him in all of his disheveled disarray. He throws himself at the feet of the Savior and the demons within him cry out in dismay at the Presence of their Enemy. It appears that Christ came to this part of the world to address this man’s condition expressly. The following events indicate that he was the sole object of the Savior’s Mission. This is remarkable when we consider that this is the hardest of cases. Everyone else had given up on this man. So we see that Christ takes on the hardest of cases. It is the intention of Christ to seek out those who seem farthest from the grace of God. Behold the ministry of Christ, that on every occasion where things seemed to be at their worst, Christ intervened with compassion, and miraculous power. From healing the incurable lepers, to giving sight to the blind; to raising the dead, Christ demonstrated that He reaches out to the worst of folk in the worst of conditions. This gives us great hope. We are not beyond the Grace of Christ. No matter how far we have gone; what we have done; who we have become, we are not farther than where the Grace of Christ can reach us. Christ takes on the worst of cases, and thereby demonstrates His miraculous power with deep compassion.

Our Gracious and Loving Lord, we give glory to You today,
that You condescend to those of us who are of low estate;
that you bring us back from self-destruction,
and bring us to the place where we are clothed and in our right minds,
and sitting at Your feet.

Where the Bush is Burning
Tomm Tice