Belonging - Day 23
Matthew 8:4 Whenever he was put into chains and shackles—as he often was—he snapped the chains from his wrists and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Day and night he wandered among the burial caves and in the hills, howling and cutting himself with sharp stones.
6 When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, ran to meet him, and bowed low before him. 7 With a shriek, he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had already said to the spirit, “Come out of the man, you evil spirit.”
As we continue the story, we see that there are super-ordinary things that are happening here as well. There is strength that seems overwhelming, behavior that was disturbing, and self-harm that showed he was dealing with some significant unhappiness and distress in his life. All of this is an understatement, to be sure. As we know, he was filled with an “unclean spirit.” This was a Gentile territory, and even the Gentiles often thought of graveyards as a place where demons were to dwell. But what is more disturbing is that we see the demons had taken such control of him, that they were harming him (in the form of self-harm) and they had no respect for the vessel which carried them. This led to him being ostracized and to be treated in an uncaring fashion by his own people. Of course, they didn’t know what to do in order to tame the man who had become a wild beast.
What comes next is fascinating by all accounts. The man sees Jesus and runs to meet him! You would think that this man and these demons would run the other way, in danger of their very existence. Rather, they ran toward him and bowed low.
Even the demons recognize the Authority of Jesus.
They submitted to Him at every turn. This is not the only exorcism narrative that we see in Mark. Previously, 1:32-34, 3:11-12, that of the disciples, 3:15, and a major controversy that arose out of a successful exorcism (3:22-30). As well, there would be further exorcisms recorded in this book (6:7,13; 7:24-30; 9:14-29). But this narrative is by far the most spectacular. The notion that it took place in a Gentile area, the severity of the possession, the naming of the multiple demons, and the success of transference of the demons make this story significant. It also shows us a window into the Almost world that Jesus also carries authority into.
When we say that even the demons recognize the authority of Jesus, we mean that his power is in no way confined to the physical world we inhabit, but it transcends into the spiritual world that we only get glimpses of at certain times in our journeys with Christ. But these glimpses remind us that we know very little of the way the universe works, especially in correlation to where God’s power and authority truly expresses itself. The demons bow, they submit, because they are of a lesser power, a lesser authority, and in this instance, while faced with the creator God of the universe, they were utterly terrified.
Now this fear is not fear of the unknown for them; it is fear of the awesome power they knew existed in Jesus. They bowed as a sign of respect and submission. We, at times, bow out of respect, but our submission is sometimes lacking, or at least waning.
6 When Jesus was still some distance away, the man saw him, ran to meet him, and bowed low before him. 7 With a shriek, he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!” 8 For Jesus had already said to the spirit, “Come out of the man, you evil spirit.”
As we continue the story, we see that there are super-ordinary things that are happening here as well. There is strength that seems overwhelming, behavior that was disturbing, and self-harm that showed he was dealing with some significant unhappiness and distress in his life. All of this is an understatement, to be sure. As we know, he was filled with an “unclean spirit.” This was a Gentile territory, and even the Gentiles often thought of graveyards as a place where demons were to dwell. But what is more disturbing is that we see the demons had taken such control of him, that they were harming him (in the form of self-harm) and they had no respect for the vessel which carried them. This led to him being ostracized and to be treated in an uncaring fashion by his own people. Of course, they didn’t know what to do in order to tame the man who had become a wild beast.
What comes next is fascinating by all accounts. The man sees Jesus and runs to meet him! You would think that this man and these demons would run the other way, in danger of their very existence. Rather, they ran toward him and bowed low.
Even the demons recognize the Authority of Jesus.
They submitted to Him at every turn. This is not the only exorcism narrative that we see in Mark. Previously, 1:32-34, 3:11-12, that of the disciples, 3:15, and a major controversy that arose out of a successful exorcism (3:22-30). As well, there would be further exorcisms recorded in this book (6:7,13; 7:24-30; 9:14-29). But this narrative is by far the most spectacular. The notion that it took place in a Gentile area, the severity of the possession, the naming of the multiple demons, and the success of transference of the demons make this story significant. It also shows us a window into the Almost world that Jesus also carries authority into.
When we say that even the demons recognize the authority of Jesus, we mean that his power is in no way confined to the physical world we inhabit, but it transcends into the spiritual world that we only get glimpses of at certain times in our journeys with Christ. But these glimpses remind us that we know very little of the way the universe works, especially in correlation to where God’s power and authority truly expresses itself. The demons bow, they submit, because they are of a lesser power, a lesser authority, and in this instance, while faced with the creator God of the universe, they were utterly terrified.
Now this fear is not fear of the unknown for them; it is fear of the awesome power they knew existed in Jesus. They bowed as a sign of respect and submission. We, at times, bow out of respect, but our submission is sometimes lacking, or at least waning.
- What authority does Jesus have in your life?
- How do you submit to God?
- Are you willing to let your obedience be anything less than the obedience of the demons we see in this story?
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