67. A Walk With Jesus pt 13

"They went across the lake to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus got out of the boat, a man with an evil spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man lived in the tombs, and no one could bind him any more, not even with a chain. For he had often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart and broke the irons on his feet. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and in the hills he would cry out and cut himself with stones." Mark 5:1-5

Application:
No self-respecting rabbi would dare to defile himself by being in the land of the gentiles, later revealed to us as Decapolis (lit. 10 cities). No Jewish teacher would degrade himself by walking around in tombs, the place of the dead, a very unclean place. Those who are religious are very concerned with what appears to be so on the outside. This is not so with our Lord who is more concerned with the inner man than His deeds, for no deed saves but only faith. And it could be said that Jesus was no man of self-respect, He condescended Himself to the form of man and in humility came to this earth to serve, not to be served. Jesus had a mission, to save that which was lost. He came to save, to redeem, to rescue humanity from the cancer that's within us all. Here we see Jesus dealing with a mad man, a man most of us would run away from. Not Jesus, the more socially outcast they were the closer Jesus got to them. A man out of His mind, cutting Himself, living in a graveyard... and Jesus travels across land and sea to find this man. I wonder if i would dare cross the street to seek out someone so strange and dangerous as he? Would i dare lose face and associate with someone as this? and in such a way that i was moved by compassion and love for the lost soul?

"...Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all." Mark 10:44-45

Lord, provide us such a heart, out of our service to you, may it flow naturally that we become slaves to others, casting down all self-righteous forms of personal dignity, lowering ourselves to the level that You Yourself lowered. May we in all integrity, and authenticity imitate You our Lord.