A Changed Man, a New Creation

 

A Changed Man, a New Creation (Mark 5:1-20)

“...and when they came to Jesus, they saw the man who used to have the mob of demons in him. He was sitting there, clothed and in his right mind; and they were all afraid.” (Mark 5:15)

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You really would have to have seen it to believe it. The change in the man who met Jesus was so radical that you would never have known that the man had been utterly crazed and wild. It was like you had seen two completely different people.

But it happened. I know it happened, because I saw it with my own eyes. When we arrived at the lakeshore in the territory of Gerasa (still reeling from how Jesus had calmed the storm last night, mind you), this wild madman came running out of the burial caves, shouting at Jesus, but also bowing before Jesus. The man lived in the caves because nobody could contain his madness; he was uncontrollable in his lunacy. He was totally possessed and controlled by a whole host of mad spirits. There were so many mad spirits that had taken over the man that the spirits called themselves The Mob.

What happened next was truly unbelievable, except I saw it with my own eyes. I saw Jesus talking to the man, but he really wasn’t talking to the man himself – he was talking to The Mob. The Mob knew they had met their match in Jesus. They went into negotiation mode. They didn’t want to be cast into oblivion, so they begged Jesus to let them possess a nearby herd of pigs. Jesus said, “Okay,” and The Mob overtook the pigs. The pigs went wild, and ran straight into the lake, and they drowned.

I told you it was unbelievable.

I turned my gaze from the pigs, to the man. Gone was the crazed expression on his face. Gone was the look of terror in his eyes. Gone was the frantic violence for which he had been known and feared. He was sitting there with a look of peace on his face – joy, even. His eyes conveyed a spirit of gentleness within him.

It was like night and day. He was a changed man. Totally changed. A new creation, even.

The strange thing was, when the villagers heard what had happened, including the bit about the herd of pigs, and when they saw the man who was no longer the madman they once knew, their reaction was fear at Jesus. They actually asked Jesus to leave the area.

The more I walk with Jesus, the more I realize that not everyone is ready to welcome him. You see, to welcome Jesus is to welcome the change that Jesus will make within you. And not everyone is ready for the kind of change that Jesus makes in our hearts. 

Walking with Jesus will make a person into a new creation – the old way goes away, and the new way of living suddenly overtakes us. I have the distinct feeling that there will be others who will make this same point, so it’s not just I who realizes this.

I like to think that eventually the change in the madman will have the effect of inspiring others to want to walk with Jesus. After Jesus healed him of his madness, the man went back to his village and he told everyone how good God had been to him, and how much mercy God had shown him.

When some people have trouble accepting the new creation nature because it is so radically different from the old creation nature in us, I don’t think we should give up on them. I think we should simply continue to let them know how good the Lord has been to us. I’m pretty sure there’s a message in the story of the madman for me, and for all of us who walk with Jesus. I think Jesus tells us, too, to go and tell others what wonderful things the Lord has done for us and how merciful the Lord has been. And maybe, just maybe, their fear of Jesus will turn to desire and longing.

Dear Jesus, as I walk with you, I truly am amazed at the ways you change my life for the better. Not always as dramatically as you did for the madman. But little-by-little changes in my heart are pretty amazing, too. Help me, I pray, to be a person who shows others your goodness and mercy, so that they, too, will want to walk with you. Amen.