Hope for the Hopeless

Read Mark 5:1–20.

A cemetery is a place where the dead are laid to rest. A place of sorrow and loss, the tombs that dot a graveyard are a reminder that death is a foreign invader in the good world God created. So, it’s not surprising that when a cohort of demons took up residence in a man near the small Gentile town of Gerasa, they drove him to this desolate site, removed from the life of the village. It was a place for someone as good as dead. And to the people in the town, that’s what this man was.

The details that Mark provides paint a scene of helplessness. The locals had tried to restrain the man with chains, but the legion of demons within him gave him superhuman strength, and he broke through his restraints (Mark 5:4). The man cried out continually and cut himself with stones (Mark 5:5). It seemed nothing could be done for him.

And then Jesus showed up.

No one is beyond reach for Jesus. Even though many demons, likely numbering in the thousands, had overtaken this man, they were no match for Jesus. The dark spirits recognized Jesus as “Son of the Most High God” (Mark 5:7), and they caused the man they controlled to cower before Him. They knew Jesus had authority and power over them, and they pleaded with Him to let them enter a nearby herd of pigs. After Jesus granted permission, the demon-infested pigs streamed down the hillside and threw themselves into the Sea of Galilee (Mark 5:13). But the man, who had moments before been out of his mind, came to his senses (Mark 5:15). He had been set free.

Jesus can set you free from anything that may have a hold on you, whether that’s spiritual darkness, deep-seated addiction, or something else robbing you of life. He has authority and power to do so—and it is his will to set you free. He said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). No one need live among the tombs.

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