Mark 5:18-20
How
do you express gratitude to other people for their acts of kindness toward you?
Do you brush off their acts as if it was nothing? Do you act as if every
kindness was the greatest act in human history, making sure everyone knows
about it? Or are you somewhere in between these two extremes? We all need to
learn to show gratitude to the appropriate level, a level that matches the
gift.
In
today’s text we see the man who has received his life back, as if back from the
dead. He at some point in his life he opened the door to demon possession. We
don’t know how or when, but the inescapable fact was his life had become
unlivable for him every since. He had lost everything. He lived in a cemetery, his
friends and family having given up trying to help him.
But
then! Those are great words. But then Jesus enters his life and everything
changes. Now he is seated, dressed and in his right mind. And this
transformation has brought fear to everyone around him. They want nothing to do
with this Jesus who changes lives so radically. They want Him gone as soon as
possible. This is a power they don’t understand, just like the power that had
destroyed the man’s life. They don’t know how to control it, let alone
understand it.
Their
reaction is very much like that of those who saw the first demonstrations of
electricity just two centuries ago. People would gather to see simple
experiments of static electricity. The people of that day didn’t know about this
mysterious power. So to hear talk of harnessing the same power as lightening
was very frightening. Lightening burned down barns! Lightening killed people.
Now
a man named Jesus comes to town, is able to cure the uncontrollable man who
lives in the tombs, and kills the whole herd of pigs by driving them off a
cliff. What is He going to do next? Where else will His power strike that we
don’t want?
This
man by contrast wants to follow Jesus. Wouldn’t you, if He had cured you?
Wouldn’t you want everything Jesus had to offer? Everything He did for this man
was miraculous. Who wouldn’t want more miraculous power working in their life?
But
Jesus turns down the request. He instead tells the man that he has a new job.
Instead of hanging out in the tombs, he is to hang out with everyone he used to
know before he was banished. He was to tell them everything that had happened
to him. He was to tell the great contrast between where he was and where he is
now, the great chasm between demon possession, and clothed and in his right
mind. That is how much the Lord had done. This is a quantifiable change.
And
this man telling his story sows the seeds of conversion for this whole area. He
introduces them to the transforming Messiah, the one who changes hearts, lives
and eternities. Later the full Gospel is told in this mainly non-Jewish area,
and they respond in droves. Could it be that this man’s testimony prepared them
to accept.
He
was also to tell them the extent of His mercy. This was not merely a physical healing,
but this man’s life was restored. And he had nothing to offer in exchange for
this transformation. Jesus extended mercy on him. No political favors came in
exchange for Jesus’ intervention. This man had nothing of value to give. Jesus
had everything. That is mercy.
How
much has the Lord done for you? Can you see this as mercy extended toward you?
What did you deserve instead? Can you see the ‘before’ and ‘after’ of your
life? Are you telling others this story?