Come Out of the Tomb!

Carol Croskey
Mark 5:1-20
And when He had stepped into the boat, the man who had been controlled by the unclean spirits kept begging Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus refused to permit him, but said to him, Go home to your own [family and relatives and friends] and bring back word to them of how much the Lord has done for you, and [how He has] had sympathy for you and mercy on you. And he departed and began to publicly proclaim in Decapolis [the region of the ten cities] how much Jesus had done for him, and all the people were astonished and marveled. (Mark 5:18-20)

The selected scripture follows the restless sea encounter of Jesus having just calmed his disciples’ nerves. He simply said, “Peace be still!” Even Jesus deserved an uninterrupted nap.
Chapter 5 begins on the other side of the “calmed sea” in the country of the Gerasenes. As soon as Jesus stepped out of the boat, he meets a man who is considered demon-possessed and lives in the cemetery. The cemetery, the place where the dead are buried; it is not a proper home for the living. Because of his madness, physical abuse of himself and the town’s inability to control him, this man lives among the dead. His encounter with Jesus is interesting. He knows who Jesus is because he kneels in worship and asks what does the “Son of the Most High God “want with him. Jesus goes further by asking the man his name. The answer is the all familiar, “Legion, for we are many.” Other translations give the name as army, lots or mob. A “legion” was at least six thousand military troops. It can be difficult to imagine a mind so tormented with so many personalities the he cannot tell Jesus his own name and yet this “man of the tombs” knows who Jesus is.
To make the twenty verses short, Jesus commands the tormenting spirit to come out of the man. The unclean spirit has no where to go and begs to be sent into a herd of pigs who fall off a cliff into the sea and drown. The town folk are upset because of what happened to the pigs and they ask Jesus to leave. Why do they want Jesus to leave instead of rejoicing over this man who is now clean, dressed and has no evidence of his previous behavior? He is healed - mentally, emotionally and spiritually! Why are these people more concerned for the pigs’ lives than receiving a “peace that passes all understanding?” It could be that the Gerasenes cared more for “swine” and their way of life and refused to recognized that Jesus cared more for human life and salvation. Like the man and yes the Gerasenes, what tombs do we need to give up? Do we want the things that keep us from Jesus? Do we care more about the way of the world, than the “light of the world?”

The man was so excited about his healing, that he begged Jesus to let him travel with him, probably to be a disciple. Jesus gave him another assignment instead. The man is now commissioned to tell his family, friends and all, “what the Lord has done for you and how he had mercy on you.” Not only his friends and family, the man goes to ten cities in the region and the people he told were amazed at what they heard.

Jesus asks us to give up the tombs, come out of the cemetery, drop the chains, pick up the pieces, let go of the unclean swine spirit (literally and figuratively) and become a new person in Christ. When we accept the Savior, we learn the lesson the Gerasenes missed: human life must be valued far more than a herd of pigs. The Lord has done so much for us! He died on the cross so that we would have life, better than that, “abundant life.” What will we do for Him?

Prayer: Jesus, thank you for calling us out of the tomb and to proclaim your love. Strengthen us to go far beyond ten cities to spread the good news to bring others to you. Amen.

Carol Croskey
St. Paul AME Church
Ocala, Florida