The great transformation; Believing is receiving


The great transformation which Jesus brought in the life of the Gadarene demonic. Mark 5:1-20.

One day, Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee, with His disciples on a boat to the region of the Gerasenes, with the specific mission of saving a demon possessed person (Mk.5:1). Gerasenes is the region around the city of Gadara, 6 miles south east of the sea of Galilee. Capital city of Geresa was 35 miles south east of the sea.

A. Condition of the demon possessed man. Mk.5:2-5.
a. He used to live in the tombs. Mk.5:2.
He was living inside the caves where there were tombs.
b. He was so strong that he couldn’t be controlled even with chains, Mk.5:3,4.
c. Day and night he would cry out, roaming everywhere and would cut himself with stones. Mk.5:5
d. He wore no clothes and lived like an animal. Luke 8:27
e. He was very violent that people could not pass that way. Matthew 8:28.

B. Demon possessed man’s encounter with Jesus. Mk.5:6-13.
a. From a distance, he ran to Jesus, fell on his knees in front of Jesus. Mk.5:6.
b. Jesus had compassion on him and ordered the evil spirits to leave him. Mk.5:8.
c. He was begging Jesus to not send them away. Mk.5:10.
d. The demons begged Jesus to send them to the pigs. Mk.5:11.
e. The evil spirits came out of the man and went into the pigs. They all rushed down to the lake and were drowned. Mk.5:13.

Legion- A Roman Legion usually consist of 6000 soldiers. This does not mean that the man had 6000 demons but had many.

The evil possessed man was a terror to all the people around him, but here, he was kneeling down and begging in front of Jesus. Nobody could control him so far but at the words of Jesus, the demons obeyed and came out. Even today at the name of Jesus, any number of evil spirits will obey. We can cast out evil spirits in the name of Jesus.

C. Response of the people Mk.5:14-17.
“They saw the man…sitting there, dressed and in his right mind” Mk.5:15.

a. They were afraid. Mk.5:15.
Earlier they were afraid of the evil possessed man, now they are afraid of Jesus. Because of Jesus, they lost around 2000 pigs, a big financial loss.

According to their superstitions, the demons should have had the upper hand over Jesus, but that didn’t happen. So it was difficult for them to accept that Jesus had the upper hand

b. They pleaded with Jesus to leave their region. Mk.5:17.
They didn’t seem to mind having the demon possessed tormented man in their midst, but they didn’t want to have Jesus around. Maybe they were worried that He might incur more financial loss to them.

D. Healed man’s new task. Mk.5: 18-20.

a. He begged Jesus to go with Him.Mk.5:18. To be with Jesus who gave him a new life.

b. The task which Jesus gave him. ..c
“Go home to your family and tell them…” Mk.5:19.

c. The new preacher in Decapolis. Mk.5:20.
So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis..

(In Greek.Deca= 10, polis=city. The 10 Greek cities on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee, which were mainly Gentile in population)
Jesus asked him to go to his home and tell his family. Now he started telling or proclaiming to everyone in those cities. Earlier, he used to roam aimlessly among tombs and hills, now he had a purpose and a message and was travelling through the cities to fulfill his mission. Earlier, his life was a demonstration of the power of demons, now his life became a demonstration of the power of God. Earlier, he used to live in the tombs, who used to roam naked, shouting and hurting himself and even attacking others..Now he became an Evangelist, telling others about Jesus.

(Please memorize 2 Corinthians 5:17)
Many of us were slaves to sin and Satan. Jesus saved us and transformed us. Let us go and tell others what Jesus has done for us.

There are lots of people around us who are a terror to the society. Let us share about Jesus to them, who can transform them…

To Jesus, this one man was important. He came all the way to heal him and went back. That one man started proclaiming the Gospel. Are we giving importance to individuals who are nobody in the society?

If your life is in a horrible situation, go to Jesus and He will transform you.

Is there any marked difference in our life after our encounter with Jesus?..Are we excited to share that with others?

Let us go around to share with others, what JESUS has done for us.
LET US DO THE WORK OF AN EVANGELIST.

Rev. C. V. Abraham.

Believing is receiving

For she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Immediately the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of the affliction.” Mark 5:28–29

You have heard people of the world say, “I will believe it only when I see it.” Generally, that is the way the world thinks. But God’s ways are not like the ways of the world. The world says, “If I can’t feel it or see it, I cannot believe the miracle is here.” God says, “If you believe it before you feel it or see it, you will see your miracle.”

Believing first before seeing the evidence of what we are believing for is called faith. Faith is like a spark and Jesus is the dynamite powder.

In the story of the healing of the woman with the issue of blood, there were many people who touched Jesus (see Mark 5:31), but nothing happened to them. They didn’t touch Him in faith. But when the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years came to Him and touched Him in faith, He felt power leave His body (see Mark 5:30), and it sparked off an explosion of healing in the woman’s body!

Hearing about how good, kind and loving Jesus was fired her faith to believe that He could and would heal her. So convinced was she (even when the condition in her body was still evident) that she said, “If only I may touch His clothes, I shall be made well.” Did she experience her healing first before she believed? No, she believed first in Jesus’ goodness and power, acted in faith and only then felt the healing in her body.

In the same way, God wants you to believe in His goodness and love toward you. He wants you to know how willing He is to act on your behalf to bless you, and how, with Christ, He will freely give you every good thing (see Romans 8:32).

He wants you to declare by faith that all is and shall be well with you, and to expect to see just that. And then, no matter how long you have had the problem, no matter how bad the experts say it is, an explosion of healing and restoration will take place, and you will receive what you are believing for!

Stay Blessed 😊
Ravi