“He said to her, “‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
~ Mark 5:34
Hi James and Ellen,
Have you ever seen a deranged guy or gal? A deranged guy or gal is a guy or gal who is unable for one reason or another to live life in an acceptable way in a society. A deranged guy or gal is said to be ‘off his or her rocker’. A deranged guy or gal no longer knows how to take care of himself or herself. A guy or gal who is acting out in a deranged way may have psychosomatic problems that are self-induced. A guy or gal who is acting out in a deranged way may have physiological problems that are physically related. A guy or gal who is acting out in a deranged way may have demons that Satan has embedding in him or her possessing the guy or gal. Your grandmaa and grandpaa in the summer of 1976 spent seven weeks in Colombia on a twenty-nine member summer team. As your grandpaa was walking on a Barranquilla, Colombia street one day with one of the young gals from the summer team, your grandpaa and the gal began passing a guy who was sitting close to the sidewalk that they were walking on. The guy’s clothes were dirty and ragged. It looked like to your grandpaa that the guy had not taken a bath or had shaven for a long time. As your grandpaa and the gal were walking past the guy, the guy suddenly lunged at the gal who was with your grandpaa – trying to grab one of the gal’s ankles. The young gal who was with your grandpaa sort of screamed and jumped in front of your grandpaa. Your grandpaa was carrying in his hand a camera – which had been your grandmaa’s dad’s camera. When the strange, scary looking guy suddenly tried to grab one of the ankles of the gal, your grandpaa immediately put the camera in the palm of his right hand and raised his right hand to hit the guy with the camara as hard as he could if the guy tried to grab one of the gal’s ankles again. The deranged guy did not try to grab the young gal’s ankle again but . . . it was a really unsettling moment for the gal who was with your grandpaa to be accosted by a guy who seemed to be nothing more than a wild animal.
Do you know how Jesus dealt with difficult, awkward incidents that involved guys, gals and kids? Mark – in his Mark Book – in Mark 5, recounts what Jesus did with a deranged guy, an outcast gal and a twelve year kid who died. Mark’s recounting of these occurrences begins with God the Son – Jesus, arriving in the Gerasenes region. The Gerasenes region is located along the southeast tip of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus went to the Gerasenes region by boat. When Jesus got out of the boat that he was in, He was met by a guy who was ‘completely off his rocker’. The guy lived in caves that were part of a graveyard, he cut himself with stones and he wandered the hills in the area yelling and screaming. Because the guy was so strong, the guy would break anything the guys in the area tried to tie him with or to – including chains, to keep him from hurting himself or from wandering around the hills scaring the guys, gals and kids who were living in Gerasenes region. When Jesus got out of the boat that had taken Him to Gerasa in the Gerasenes region, the crazed, deranged guy recognized Jesus as being God the Son. This crazed, deranged guy headed to where Jesus was standing. When this crazed, deranged guy got to where Jesus was standing, the guy fell down in front of Jesus and a voice came out from this demented guy begging Jesus not to torture him. Instead of picking up a stone to hit the crazed, deranged guy – in case that the guy tried to attack Him, Jesus asked this crazed, deranged guy what his name was. The guy told Jesus that his name was Legion. A Roman Legion is a military force of 6,000 soldiers. The voice who Jesus heard speak from this demented guy was not the guy’s voice but the voice of an evil spirit or of a demon who were living inside the guy. These evil spirits or demons were who were making this guy do the things that were totally out of the norm. These evil spirits or demons – who were minions of the devil or Satan, had recognized Jesus as being God the Son. These evil spirits or demons who were in the guy asked Jesus not to make them leave the Gerasenes region but to instead send them into a herd of about 2,000 pigs that were nearby doing what pigs do. Jesus did what the evil spirits or demons asked Him to do – resulting in the about 2,000 pigs running down a steep hillside into the Sea of Galilee where all the pigs drowned. The instant that the legion of evil spirits or demons left his body, the crazed, deranged, demented guy who had met Jesus at the water’s edge of the Sea of Galilee, became a totally normal guy who was ready to go wherever Jesus was going. Jesus told the guy though that he was to go home to his family instead of going with Him.
After Jesus crossed over the Sea of Galilee again in a boat, Jesus was met by a synagogue ruler by the name of Jairus. Jairus’ twelve year old daughter was deathly sick. Jairus wanted Jesus to come to his house and heal his kid. Jesus – while He was on his way to Jairus’ house, suddenly knew that a gal had touched Him and that the gal who had touched Him had been healed. The gal who had touched Jesus was a gal who had been living with a health issue for twelve years that just would not go away in spite of spending all her money on visits to doctors. This health issue that the gal had had made this gal a societal reject because per the Jewish law, if any guy or gal who for any reason had any physical contact with this gal, he or she would become ceremonially unclean and the guy or gal who had touched this gal would then have to go through a purification process. When the gal admitted to Jesus that she was the one who had touched His cloak, verse 34 says, “He said to her, “‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”’ Jesus then went on to Jairus’ house to bring back to life Jairus’ kid who had died. Jesus during His short ministry life on planet Earth demonstrated a real concern for the ‘down and outers’.
Mark 5 (493)