'LORD, THAT I MAY SEE.'
A SHORT COMMENTARY ON THE GOSPEL OF THE DAY.
Gospel
Mark 5:1-20
The Gadarene
Swine
Jesus and his disciples reached the country of
the Gerasenes on the other side of the lake, and no sooner had Jesus left the
boat than a man with an unclean spirit came out from the tombs towards him. The
man lived in the tombs and no one could secure him any more, even with a chain;
because he had often been secured with fetters and chains but had snapped the
chains and broken the fetters, and no one had the strength to control him. All
night and all day, among the tombs and in the mountains, he would howl and gash
himself with stones. Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and
fell at his feet and shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What do you want with
me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? Swear by God you will not torture me!’ –
for Jesus had been saying to him, ‘Come out of the man, unclean spirit.’ ‘What
is your name?’ Jesus asked. ‘My name is legion,’ he answered ‘for there are
many of us.’ And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the district.
Now there was there on the mountainside a great herd of pigs feeding,
and the unclean spirits begged him, ‘Send us to the pigs, let us go into them.’
So he gave them leave. With that, the unclean spirits came out and went into
the pigs, and the herd of about two thousand pigs charged down the cliff into
the lake, and there they were drowned. The swineherds ran off and told their
story in the town and in the country round about; and the people came to see
what had really happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting
there, clothed and in his full senses – the very man who had had the
legion in him before – and they were afraid. And those who had witnessed
it reported what had happened to the demoniac and what had become of the pigs.
Then they began to implore Jesus to leave the neighbourhood.
As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed begged
to be allowed to stay with him. Jesus would not let him but said to him, ‘Go
home to your people and tell them all that the Lord in his mercy has done for
you.’ So the man went off and proceeded to spread throughout the Decapolis all
that Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.
They implored Jesus to leave the neighbourhood.
There must have been many sick people in the district, many suffering
from evil spirits. This man, worst of all, was perfectly well again, but at
what cost to the people! They didn’t want any more loss even if many people would
be healed and their lives saved. Let them suffer, but we don’t want any
inconvenience.
Every soul has its price. If we want to help others, spiritually or in
any way, then we have to pay the price. Because believers are generally like
the people in the country of the Gerasenes, that is, unwilling to pay the price
for the salvation of their fellow men and women, the world and the state of
religion is as it is in so many countries. Are we willing to do what it takes
to save others? The Lord is willing, are we?
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