A Seeking Savior
2/12/25 Bible Thought
Jesus’ mission to seek and to save the lost is put on full display in Mark 5. Jesus and His disciples all make it to the far side of the Sea of Galilee to the region of the Gerasenes and there they encounter a man with some wild issues. I once heard R.C. Sproul teach on this passage and he pointed out so clearly that this guy was unclean in just about every way. First, he was a Gentile. Second, he lived amongst the tombs. Third, he had an unclean spirit (really a whole lot more than just one!) Lastly, he lived amongst pigs. All of these things within Judaism were unclean. Touching a dead body would render someone ceremonially unclean for a whole week (see Num. 19:11-22). Living amongst the tombs would also certainly qualify and he lived amongst the tombs perpetually! Obviously, this is just the tip of the iceberg as we find this man is possessed with an entire legion of demons (Mk. 5:9). A legion was typically 6,000 Roman troops and this guy clearly had enough demons to fill a herd of 2,000 pigs (Mk. 5:13). To say the least, this man was completely beyond help and without any hope.
Personally, this is the sort of character that I would want to stay super far away from. In fact, I don’t think I’d even want to view him from a distance. The people had tried to bind him with chains and that was no longer a possibility. He was a fearful man with supernatural strength. Surely most people just left him alone. But not Jesus. What’s amazing to consider, if we turn the page back to Mark 4, we remember that Jesus and his disciples encountered a cataclysmic storm on the Sea of Galilee that had professional fisherman crying out in fear of their lives. Jesus knew all about this. He knew about the storm that was coming, but He also knew about a poor lost soul that was on the other side of the storm. So, he had the disciples set sail.
In fact, the rest of the people in that region didn’t want much to do with Jesus. After He heals the demonized man, the people were afraid and begged Jesus to leave! (Mk. 5:17). Truly, this is a wild thought. They were more content with our poor friend being super possessed and scary than with the Messiah in their midst. Yet, Jesus went anyways. He went across a treacherous sea with this man on His mind. Then, after he is delivered, Jesus appoints him as a witness to the goodness of God in the region of the Decapolis (an area of 10 cities). But nevertheless, we see that Jesus sought him out specifically and this was the reason that they made their voyage across the sea.
The Lord Jesus came, “to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10). He taught about the love of our heavenly Father who is willing to search and search for that which is lost, to leave the 99 to go after the one, and to welcome the prodigal home with open arms (see Luke 15). This is exactly what we see lived out in the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ as He pursues after the one that surely everyone else thought didn’t stand a chance. The guy who was so messed up he’d never be delivered. This is the one upon whom the Lord Jesus sought to lavish His grace. What a reminder that no one is too far gone. The Lord Jesus is better at finding than we are at getting lost. His grace is unmatched, and no amount of sin or uncleanness can rival it. Jesus invites all to come to Him. He is a friend of the sinner. He is the One who will go where no one else will go in order to reach those that no one else would care to reach. What a Savior we serve! For all who have been found, let us rejoice that He first came seeking after us, way before we ever sought Him.