August 10: Living among the tombs

Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the region of the Gerasenes. As soon as He got out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came out of the tombs and met Him. He lived in the tombs. No one was able to restrain him anymore — even with chains — because he often had been bound with shackles and chains, but had snapped off the chains and smashed the shackles. No one was strong enough to subdue him. And always, night and day, he was crying out among the tombs and in the mountains and cutting himself with stones.    (Mark 5:1-5 — Holman Christian Standard Bible)

Jesus had just calmed a raging sea, and now He is confronted with a raging man, that He later calms and sets free. Three times Mark mentions that this man lived among the tombs — caves where the bodies of the dead were placed. This was considered an unclean place for the Jews, and even today, who would choose to live in a cemetery? And yet this was simply an outward sign of what these spirits were intent on doing to this man. 

The New Testament frequently mentions demon-possessed people, but this man was the worst of all that are mentioned. His life leaves no doubt about the real aim of Satan; he wants death, anger, depression, separation, and destruction. In most people the devil tries to work undercover and blame anyone or anything for his work, even God. But with this man of the Gerasenes, he no longer tried to disguise himself and was blatantly out in the open.

Insanity, insomnia, self-harm, rage, super-human strength, and extreme misery were all clear proof that Satan was at work in this man. But it’s important to note that in spite of being terribly possessed, this man was still able to approach Jesus for help. Though his situation seemed more than impossible, he had the strength to fight against it and walk up to the one Person that could help him — and we can do the same.

No matter how bad off you are, there is always hope. But we need to remember that life on earth is first and foremost a spiritual struggle. Our enemies are not the people around us, or situations, but negative spiritual forces. Demons and the devil are our enemy, and at the root of any problem we will find them in one form or another. Not every problem is a demon, but many are, and if we refuse to copy Jesus’ example and fight them, there will be problems that we cannot overcome.

Let’s use this tool that Jesus introduced to us.