Restoring Sanity

Introduction

No one really knows what happened. One day he was a man with a wife and children and the next it seemed like he was completely different. Of course, it didn’t happen that quickly but it has been several years and no one really remembers how it all happened. The change was more gradual than dramatic, but with each passing day it became obvious that he couldn’t stay at home. He became a man filled with rage and anger. He hurt his family. He found that it wasn’t easy to go through the day to day routines of life. Some said he was possessed by an evil spirit. Others said they didn’t know for sure what was going on but he was more Satanic than holy.

Partly because of pressure from his family and partly because he had one last shred of decency left in himself, he decided to move out. At first he tried to live on the streets. He wandered from place to place seeking out a meal some way to survive, but then something would snap in his mind and he became so angry that he was like a wild animal. In fact, that is what people began to call him—an animal and they began to treat him that way. They tried to chain him like a wild animal but the chains couldn’t hold him. So the people did the only thing they could think of, they quit feeding him. What better way to kill an animal than to starve it to death.

But he quickly discovered that the best place for him was in the local cemetery. He survived on the food that people brought out for the dead. It was a pagan city with pagan customs. The dead needed food to help them to the other world. Little did the people know that a dead man was indeed eating the food. He was welcome among the rotting flesh and the stillness of death. And it was here that his final shred of sanity left him. He began to sleep less and less. Tormented within, he cried out in what could only be described as a cry of intense pain and the growl of a wild animal. Sometimes his mind was so consumed with these painful thoughts that he would pick up a rock and begin to drive it into his arms or legs or chest and then drag it across his skin. It was almost like if he could rip open his skin then all the bad stuff would come out.

All the people in town were fine as long as the man wasn’t around. But the man wasn’t insane. Evil occupied him. Not chosen evil, but evil inflicted. Tormented. Lonely. His heart matched his appearance. Broken, shredded, and dirty. He was a broken man and there was no hope of a return to normalcy. No one wanted him; spoke to him; wanted to be near him. No friends; no comfort; no solace. Chaos reigned. Between the fits of unexplainable mental torment and intense days of hurting himself was a man who had no peace; no help; no place to belong; no love. Chaos was his only companion.

Jesus Heals

Enter Jesus. Our translation of Mark 5:2 makes it sound as if the man comes out of the cemetery clean shaven with a nice suit on and with his hand extended in a friendly gesture as if he is welcoming Jesus into his home. This is the description of a man who comes charging at Jesus like a wild animal. He is probably yelling, screaming, running with naked feet over the rough rocks of the cemetery. His eyes reflect hatred and intense anguish. And Jesus stands there with a look of deep compassion.

We could talk about the conversation between Jesus and the man. We could talk about the demons and how many there were. We could even get into the nature of demons. But that isn’t the point of the text and any of those discussions would detract from what Mark is trying to do with this story. Jesus heals the man. Big deal. Jesus healed a lot of people. Don’t miss this point. Jesus healed this man. He isn’t a Jew. Jesus is in Gentile territory. This man is a total and complete outcast. He has no friends. He has been abandoned by his family. Chaos is his constant companion and into this hellish life, Jesus steps in with healing. He sets things right.

I can see Jesus coming down that road: eyes searching, ears straining. Eager to find any sign of that troubled heart. Eager to see and do what God would see and do. Eager to reach out to the demoniac—and to all who even remotely resemble him, through all time, through all history. For, you see, Jesus knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there is a God who embraces. A God whose arms reach out to all who are sent off, shut out, locked up, or chained down. A God who enfolds all who are enduring the deep, abiding terror of life on the edge.

Jesus plunged into those tombs on the far side of the sea, for there was someone there who needed to be brought back from the edge. To be brought back into the community of love. To know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there is a God who embraces, a God who reaches out to all whom the world would cast away. This Jesus knew the words of Isaiah in 65:1-5. Jesus went to the very place that no one else would go just so he could heal this man. And what he did for that man he will do for you. “I’m not like that man. My life isn’t filled with evil. I’m not rejected. I don’t try to hurt myself.” Do you think that Jesus heals only those who are like this man? Do you think that what is in your heart can be healed by this Son of God?

Have you not been broken? Do you feel like chaos reigns more often than order? Have you been shackled by the burden of sin? This man could not hide what was in his heart, but we can. We wear our nice clothes and put on our best face and use our perfumed soaps but in our heart resides turmoil, brokenness, and filth. Our lives have been shredded by events that have often been out of our control and at night we bury our heads into soft pillows which capture the tears which come from our eyes and muffle the sounds of despair that seep from our lips. Don’t miss this story. Jesus heals. Do you need healing today?

Jesus Sends

The man wants to go with Jesus. Where else will he go? Long forgotten by his family and friends, he may be healed but how do you start all over. The people in the area have already demonstrated that they liked the man a whole lot better sick than healed. It is kind of like having your child have a wreck in the car and all you can worry about is the damage done to the vehicle. The man begs and pleads for a new start with Jesus. But Jesus refuses. In one of the few places in Mark, Jesus tells the man to return to his family and tell them how much the Lord has done for him.

Here in Mark, we have our first Gentile missionary. Who will join him? Who will join him in telling others what Jesus has done for you? We live in a time when there is much focus on what we do for ourselves. Self-help guides and books rule. But Jesus is sending everyone of us to tell others what God has done for you. Jesus healed this man and now he sends him on a mission. What mission is Jesus sending you on? Are you willing to go?

Follow Jesus

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