Mar 28 - "Demons"

"They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of Gerasenes. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him. When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before Him; and he shouted at the top of his voice, 'What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure You by God, do not torment me.', for He had said to him, 'Come out of the man you unclean spirit!'" --- Mark 5:1-20 ***************************** Here is Jesus again, as we saw yesterday, making no effort to hide who He is. This man who was tormented by demons comes to Him, and Jesus, with a few words, casts these evil spirits out of this wretched soul. Even the demons know who He is, addressing Him as "Son of the Most High God." What do most of us do today when we see someone "possessed" by unclean spirits? I am not talking about a pea-soup-spitting, head-rotating, evil-voiced possession, a la 'The Exorcist'. I'm talking about that person we see who is controlled by some addition or other self-imposed state; alcohol, drugs, crime...a homeless person on the street we pass by, as they beg for money. At best, we turn our head the other way and try to ignore the situation. At worst, we persecute the person, gossip about their affliction or ridicule them for their issues. Let's be honest; we all do it. But, what does Jesus do? He recognizes that it is the demons, not the man, who has caused him to stray from the flock. It is possible that the man lived a life that allowed or enabled these demons to possess him? Could it be that he even purposefully brought these evil spirits into his life? We don't know, by Christ sees that there is a lost sheep in front of Him, whose soul desires to be clean. He shows His love for this man by releasing him from the things that possessed him. How do the people who witnessed this exorcism react? They are scared...they are not sure what they just saw. They do not understand what has happened and are fearful. This Man controlled the demons; could He be one Himself? Could He be in partnership with this demonic legion who possessed the man? Instead of rejoicing in the miracle of a healing, they tell Jesus to leave. What would we do? How do we react when we see others ministering or associating with those we consider to be unclean? Do we invite Jesus in or send Him away? In spite of surely knowing how the people would react, Jesus still puts Himself and risk and saves this one lost sheep. We should be very glad that He was willing to do this...and will still do it today. Each of us is lost at some point. We may have the good fortune of not being possessed like this man was, by evil spirits and thoughts, addiction or affliction, but Jesus is willing to remove any of these things which possess us. So, call out to Jesus, Son of the Most High God. Ask Him to remove those things which possess and cause separation from the flock. Jesus can see the person you are underneath that which possesses you. Know that He is the Good Shepherd and He deeply desires that you, as one of His lost sheep, can be washed clean by His sacrifice and released.