Mark: A Wild Man
[Index] [Introduction]
Thursday, March 20, 2003
1. Additional Scriptural readings suggested: Mark 5:21-34
2. A short reading:
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"Because we cannot see Christ, we cannot express our love to Him,
but our neighbors we can always see, and we can do to them what,
if we saw Him, we would like to do to Christ."
(Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Life in the Spirit, 37)
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3. Text for meditation (in Italics):
5:1-13a They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. 3 He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; 4 for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones.
4. Reflections: The land of the Garasene people was forbidden territory to the Jews. It was Gentile country, and Jesus' disciples would have been a bit anxious as their boat touched land. As soon as they stepped out of the boat, the next thing they saw made the hair on their necks stand up. A naked, wild-eyed man, bruised and bleeding, yelling at the top of his voice was running toward Jesus. The locals knew him well, this wild man who lived on the mountains and in the graveyard. He was a menace to himself and potentially to others. They had tried to subdue him but to no avail. He was uncontrollable. The people knew he must be possessed by a demon. Their diagnosis would have been right, though not just one demon but many. We cannot help wondering how the man got to this state. What happened to him? Once he had been his mother's darling, now people were scared to death of him. No one wanted him around; he couldn't be helped.
We recall that the first encounter Jesus had with a demon-possessed person was in a synagogue (Mark 1:21-28). That man was a Jew; this man was a Gentile. One was in sacred space, the other in a foreboding place. The devil takes those he can and wherever he can find them. That Mark included deliverances in both Jewish and Gentile land is taken by some to mean that Jesus reaches out to all people everywhere, even though He came first to His own people, the Jews. Perhaps so. Certainly Mark teaches us that the devil is everywhere and trying to do people harm. Like the terrorists, the evil one is out to get you, simply because you exist. Your meditations and prayers therefore are more than "time out"; they are strength for the journey. Our Lord took time away for prayer and rest. Our daily time with Him is also rest for our souls, as well as refreshment.
Like you, I have seen some vile people. As you have, I have visited insane people, people dangerous to themselves and likely to be danger to others. It would be easy, and probably convenient, to say the man in Mark's account was mentally disturbed and leave it at that. But we cannot do that, since the cure, as we will see, was so dramatic. In his book entitled The Death of Satan, Andrew Delbanco writes that the western world no longer lives in "a world of transcendence" (220). That is, we "have relinquished" the notion that humans are receptors of truth from God; instead, we believe in what reason teaches us, even about the unknowable, such as deviant mental illness. This means most of us look at this story of a demoniac and think what he really needs is a psychiatrist. Specially trained people in mental health are very important to our culture, but there are some things beyond their capability, and this story is one of them. It is so important that we develop spiritually so we will be able to discern the causes of what evil people do.
5. Questions raised today for personal reflection:
Who is the devil? The world of the spirit is, for the most part beyond us, yet we do get a few hints about it in Scripture. Apparently, Satan, a created being, was once high in the courts of heaven. Through pride and disobedience he fell from his exalted post and became the great adversary of God. He has followers like God, but their collective power is not great, horror movies notwithstanding. His destiny--and those who work with him--is God's judgment and the abode of hell. Do not take him lightly but also do not grant him more power than he has.
How can we tell if a person is sick or possessed? This is sometimes a tough one. We certainly do not want to make a mistake here. Sickness, though its roots go back to Eden, may not be directly connected with sin. Possession, on the other hand, involves sinful acts. I would caution you to think of persons under great stress as being sick unless you have agreement between yourself and others of spiritual depth that possession is the issue. What clues does this story give us on how we might determine evil spirit possession? Aren't the spirits of the possessed man violent, filthy, fearful, and self-serving? I say "evil spirit possession" because all of us want to be completely possessed by the Holy Spirit of God, a Spirit of goodness, peace, and unity.
6. Suggestions for prayer: Let us include in our prayers occasional petitions for people who appear to be driven by the devil. We want none to fall victim to this doomed being and share his fate. Again, we should pray for discernment so we will know the spirits. Let us praise the Holy Spirit of God, the third "person" of the Holy Trinity.
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