“He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.” Mark 5:3–5
Intense? I know.
Relatable? More than you think.
I am not saying we have each struggled with demon possession, but I am saying that, in my life, I have been bound by things that tormented me day and night.
He was constantly up. He could not quit harming himself. Everything man tried to do to stop him or calm him did not work.
He was an outcast from society, living among the tombs.
Death surrounded him.
Hopelessness surrounded him.
There seemed to be no way out.
But then Jesus stepped in.
The demons were frightened because, for the first time, this man had met his Savior, the One who had authority over all the darkness within him.
But how gracious Jesus is.
He saw past the demons. He saw past what everyone else could see. He saw the man for who he was, the child God knew long before.
Jesus spoke to the darkness and commanded it to leave.
The demons had to flee.
And then we see the man Jesus could see all along:
Cleansed and restored.
Sitting there, clothed and in his right mind.
This was me.
Tormented by things that drove my decisions.
But then Jesus stepped in.
And when I met Him, He made me clean.
Maybe you feel like the demoniac.
Too far gone.
Too full of darkness.
Too far out of reach.
Maybe you have made mistake after mistake, and you are living among the tombs, feeling outcast from society, abandoned, and without friends or family.
Maybe you’re at the point of giving up because so many attempts have been made, only for you to make the same mistakes again.
Let Jesus speak to the darkness in your life.
Let His light expose the darkest sins, struggles, addictions, and thoughts that have tried to keep you bound, and let Him lead you into freedom.
Everything about God, Jesus, and the Bible is supernatural. So the same supernatural God can do supernatural things in you.
The man who once lived among the tombs was now talking to Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.
But it didn’t stop there, which is why I am writing this to you today.
When the man begged to go with Jesus, Jesus said:
“Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.” Mark 5:19
The same man who had been known as a demoniac was now being sent out to tell his testimony of how he was set free.
Why is this important? Because Jesus brings dead things back to life, and the only way people know this is if you, too, go and tell what He has done for you.
I have had abandonment issues, jealousy, insecurities, anger, unforgiveness, self-harm, self-sabotage, hatefulness, and addictions of all kinds occupy my life, but praise the Lord, God is gracious, and He has worked on me over the years. Don’t give up, no matter how many times you fall, because Jesus wants to see you through.
That is what Jesus does.
He steps into places everyone else avoids.
He touches lives everyone else has given up on.
He sees the person beneath the pain, the addiction, the darkness, the decisions, and the shame.
And when Jesus sets you free, your story becomes evidence of His mercy.
You are not too far gone.
You are not too full of darkness.
You are not out of His reach.
Let Jesus step into the tombs.
Let Him speak to the darkness.
Let Him lead you out.
Then go and tell how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you.
– Ashley Polston
Mark Chapter 5
5 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes.[a] 2 And when Jesus[b] had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.
14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed[c] man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus[d] to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.