There is a passage in the Bible about someone very strange.
Someone whose mind the Devil had invaded
Let's Look at Mark ch 5 v 1-17
This passage tells us about the encounter the man called legion had with Jesus.
1 Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes. 2 And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, 3 who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him. 5 And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.6 When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped Him. 7 And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.”8 For He said to him, “Come out of the man, unclean spirit!” 9 Then He asked him, “What is your name?”And he answered, saying, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” 10 Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country.11 Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains. 12 So all the demons begged Him, saying, “Send us to the swine, that we may enter them.” 13 And at once Jesus gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.14 So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that had happened. 15 Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 16 And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. 17 Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.
Below are some questions I asked the kids in our church one Sunday morning.
I'd like to ask you the same questions:
- What was his name?
- Where did he live?
- What did he do?
- Who loved him?
- Who didn't love him?
When we think on these questions we get a picture of the circumstances of this man's life. Not a life we would like to have.
He was tormented within and many people today are also tormented within, not perhaps in the same way as this man but still tormented within feeling unloved, lonely, no self-worth.
The answer to the last question is very important.
Satan doesn't love any of us.
Satan wants us to
- Feel unloved
- Be lonely
- Hurt others
- Hurt ourselves
- Hate God
- Blame God for everything that happens
- Or at the very least just not think about God
Satan DIDN'T solve any of Legion's problems because
he DIDN'T care about Legion.
Jesus DID care about Legion and deliberately went to help him.
Above we can see just a few of the titles or names that the Lord Jesus has.
In this passage of Scripture we are not told the names of the many demons that were trying to kill this man because their names do not matter.
It is the Lord who is in control over all and only His titles matter.
Satan wanted to destroy Legion's mind
And he wants to destroy our minds too.
Jesus loved Legion.
And He loves us too.
Legion became like a new person, a new creation, when he met Jesus, and so can we when we turn our backs on Satan and don't listen to him and instead turn to Jesus and let him be the Lord of our lives.
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I'm thankful that Jesus loves me and is my Lord.
Do you know that Jesus loves you too?
