Jesus Casts out the Legion of Devils into Swine

Today I read Mark 5, where the Savior casts out the legion of devils into the herd of swine, heals the woman with an issue of blood and raises Jairus' daughter from the dead. I don't generally do this, but I went back and read my previous entries on these miracles to see what I had said because nothing really stood out to me during my reading today.

Mark goes into more detail about the casting out the devils into the herd of swine than Matthew did. Mark mostly focuses more on the person who had been possessed than Matthew did. The man was so tormented that he lived in the tombs and we are told he would cut himself with stones. Presumably he was naked as well because Mark makes a point that when the people came out to see him that he was clothed. The man could not be bound with chains because he would break them. That kind of gives us some insight into the powers that the devils and spirits who followed Satan have. Most people, even professional weight lifters cannot break chains, yet this man because he was possessed was able to do so. Now, we know that God can grant a man great strength, such as Sampson, but apparently the devil is able to do so as well. There have always been stories of man making deals with the devil to get what they want for probably as long as there have been people. It would only make sense that there be at least a grain of truth to them.

Now, possession by devil is not a topic most people tend to focus on and I really don't want to spend a large amount of time on it either, partly because I feel it is unhealthy to focus too much on the things of the devil as opposed to the things of God, but also partly because I have always been taught that the best way to avoid the power of the devil is to avoid him altogether. But I think it bears talking about just a little bit. We do not hear of people being possessed of the devil these days like we used to in the time of the Savior. I wonder if that is because it is not happening, or because we now say that such people are insane and we lock them away? I really don't have the answer but again I have always been told and taught that the best way to protect yourself from such things is by keeping the commandments, living a righteous life and avoiding situations where the devil may be present, like inappropriate parties, bars and other such places.

It is interesting to me how the people in that city reacted to the Savior cleansing the man of his many devils. Mark tells us that there were 2000 swine in the herd that the devils went into, but makes no mention how many devils were inside the man other than there were many. But when the citizens of the city heard the story from the swine herdsman and saw the man who had been possessed sitting calmly, clothed and in full control of his faculties, they were afraid and asked Jesus to leave. It is very odd that there was no rejoicing for the man and his being saved, there was no welcoming him back into society, although Mark makes it sound like this city may not have been his home as Jesus tells him to return to his family in the city of Decapolis. It makes you wonder what the people of that city were like that they feared such a one as Jesus who had power over devils.

This chapter also contains the story of the woman with an issue of blood which we will talk about when we come to Luke, and the raising of Jairus' daughter, which we talked about back in Matthew. It is important to note that when Jesus raised people from the dead, Jairus' daughter and Lazarus, and any others that we may have record of or may not have record of, He is raising them back to life and not resurrecting them. That means that they are still mortal and will die again as they were raised back to an imperfect body and not to immortality. I think most of you already know that but it is a good distinction to make.

The raising of Jairus' daughter is the first recorded instance of Jesus raising someone from the dead and we can infer that it was indeed the first time as when Jairus first approached Jesus, his daughter was merely sick. But when he was told that his daughter had died, he thanked Jesus for His time and care but told Him there was no need for Jesus to accompany him any further. It was not a common enough occurrence that people are raised from the dead back then, we only have a few instances of it happening in all the scriptures. I imagine many people did not believe it had happened, although perhaps those stalwart individuals who were faithfully living the commandments to the best of their ability did. After all, I would have no trouble believing a faithful priesthood holder had brought someone back to life with a blessing. Although a story like in the case of Lazarus would be a bit harder to accept, but I am getting ahead of myself.

As with all things of the Spirit, Jesus was both accepted and rejected, adored and feared, appreciated and treated with contempt. He still is. It is hard to listen to someone mock my Savior and my faith, but I remind myself when faced with such instances that everyone is entitled to choose their own path and I have no control over what they do just as they cannot control me, thank goodness! All I can do is live the best life I can and spread the Gospel by my actions and words and let the Spirit do the rest. That is what it means to do His will and be an instrument in His hands. Until tomorrow.