IIT UBF - University Bible Fellowship at IIT

Daily Bread

Jesus Heals a Demon-possessed Man

Date: Jan. 30, 2016

Passage

Mark 5:1-20  (ESV)

They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.

14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

Daily Bread

Key Verse: 5:19b

And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

First, Jesus drives out Legion (1-13). Jesus and his disciples went to the region of the Gerasenes. As he arrived, a man with an impure spirit met them. The townspeople didn't want this violent man around them, but Jesus saw him as a child of God. He healed the man by driving out the legion of demons into a herd of pigs, which promptly ran into the lake and drowned themselves.

Second, the aftermath (14-20). The man with the legion of demons was healed completely. The pig-tenders ran off and told the townspeople what had happened, and they all came and begged Jesus to leave their region. As Jesus and his disciples got into the boat, the formerly demon-possessed man asked Jesus if he could go with him. Jesus refused, telling him, "Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you." He did so, and all he told were amazed.

Prayer: Father, help me to know and tell others how much you have done for me.

One Word: Tell others what the Lord has done for me

Daily Bread

God’s Plan for Rebekah’s Twin Sons

Genesis 25:19-34

Key Verse: 25:23

And the LORD said to her,

  “Two nations are in your womb,
    and two peoples from within you shall be divided;
  the one shall be stronger than the other,
    the older shall serve the younger.”

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