Lent Day 20: Demon-Possessed Man

Pause

Take a few minutes to simply sit in silence before God. Focus on Him and His character.

Read & Journal

Read Mark 5:1-20. Reflect on these questions:

• What does Jesus’ interaction with the demon-possessed men teach you about His character? About His mission and purpose?

• What do the interactions in this passage with the demons teach you about Jesus’ power compared to that of the demons/Satan? Explain.

• How do you see Jesus entering into brokenness in these verses?

• These men were absolutely controlled by the demons. They had no choice but to do what the demons wanted—and Jesus set them free from that. Scripture tells us (Rom. 6) that before we place our faith in Jesus, we are slaves to sin with no choice but to sin. How has Jesus set you free from sin? How do you see Him continuing to set you free even now?

Ponder

By the fact of his demon possession, the man was already an outcast. He had no power over the demons and was absolutely under their control. He couldn’t live with his family, enjoy the smallest joys of life, and was seemingly trapped in a life of violence, self-harm, and devastation. Add to this the fact that he lived in a cemetery. He was already an outcast because of the demon possession, but by living in the cemetery, the man would have also been considered unclean because of his proximity to dead bodies.

He was unwanted, cast out, and stuck in a cycle he had no way of getting out of on his own.

And then Jesus stepped onto the shore and into the man’s brokenness. Overwhelmingly, this passage points to Jesus’ authority. The demons that controlled the man immediately recognized Jesus for who He was and also seemed to recognize that they were powerless against Him. Reread verse 13 and mull it over—Jesus had to give permission for the demons to enter the herd of pigs. While the man may have been powerless against the demons, the demons were powerless against Jesus.

It’s easy to think that we are powerless against sin or patterns of sin in our lives. And while we must take responsibility for our own choices, if we have a relationship with Jesus, we are not powerless to fight sin and temptation. Scripture tells us that Jesus has given us His Spirit who empowers us to live lives that please the Father. Jesus, through His life, death, and resurrection, stepped into our sinfulness, took it upon Himself, and set us free from it, just as He freed the man in today’s passage from the demons. Jesus is in the business of taking outcasts and bringing them into His family. Let Him be the ultimate authority over your life today. Confess any sin that is separating you from God and trust Jesus’ sacrifice to cover you. Then, let the Holy Spirit empower you to live a life that pleases God.