[Manny Varela]

MARK 5 – LEGIONS

2 And when Jesus[b] had stepped out of the boat, immediately they are met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 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. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 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.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” (Mark 4:1-8)

The Hebrews taught that a carcass, even a gravesite, was a place of defilement. Because of this Levitical law, it was common for the burial grounds of the dead to be located outside the city. A man named Legion dwelled outside the city gates in some remote gravesite.

Many people knew Legion as the one who “lived among the tombs” (3). Legion was known as insane as he was tormented, night and day, by an “unclean” spirit (2). And, “night and day among the tombs and on the mountains, he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones”(5). Because of his lewd and barbaric behavior, he was regularly bound and shackled so that he could be contained. Although he possessed extraordinary muscular strength, on one occasion, Legion broke his chains only to terrorize the townspeople.

As Jesus arrives ashore, Legion sees him from afar, and the Bible text says that Legion, discerning from a distance, begins to run towards Jesus only to fall at His feet.

Straightway, Jesus commanded the evil spirit to depart from Legion’s person, and immediately, for the first time he could recall, he found peace from a lifetime of torment, suffering, and pain.

 

CHALLENGE

Although we may not be haunted by an evil spirit, in some cases, we are haunted by evil vices. Perhaps this vice has tormented you day and night, and you have longed to subdue it but cannot.

My friend, the answer is found in a name who obeys His voice at His word – even the greatest physical elements (water, wind, and fire). He has power over evil spirits, power over the flesh, and even power over death. What is His name, you may ask? His name is Jesus. Are you wrestling with a legion? Then cry out to Jesus in your time of need, and in His perfect timing, God will rescue you. RPF

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