I recently joined a Bible reading WhatsApp Group. We started the reading from three places —Psalms, Genesis and the Gospel according to Matthew. The aim is to complete the Bible in one year.
It is a bit of a steep gallop for me.
One of the things I find remarkable about Jesus is that one-third of his ministry was spent driving out unclean spirits. If that is the case, our churches today lack significantly in this department. We preach, we heal, but there is no and never has been a deliverance service. At least not that I know of.
As a person who went through the same upheavals as the Demoniac in Mark chapter 5, I feel very pained and concerned for people suffering from issues that have their root cause in the demonic. Sometimes, they don't even know it themselves.
Firstly, demons are not as rare as you would like to believe.
There are plenty of them, a third of heaven, to be precise and more unclean spirits (unrepentant persons) added to their number every day. What do these demons do? Their primary aim isn't to torture, as it was in the case of the Demoniac of Mark Chapter 5.
They aim to kill.
I was saved from 2 near-death accidents thanks to the grace of God. Both times I felt distinctly that my end had come, yet I would be saved. And both these times, it was mere mortals on the other side.
As far as I know, humans don't have immunity to the demonic. Sicknesses, family tragedies, early and strange deaths all have their root cause with evil.
Demons kill because that is what makes them happy. The lesser the number of souls being saved, the happier they are. So they position their victims in such a state that they are cut-off, lonely, and without any support from other humans. Then they begin to work their dark arts.
Among the techniques they use is fear and worry, easily the commonest and most classic modus operandi. Make a person afraid, and you have him in your grip. Make him worry, and precious time is lost.
But that's not what happened with the Demoniac in Mark's gospel.
The Demoniac had so many spirits in him that they were making him cut himself with stones. Why weren't these demons killing this man? A legion could have easily broken his neck or driven him down the hill into the Sea like the swine.
I suspect they were looking for a body or a host so they could dwell in "peace". If cast out, demons go through a wilderness and then return to the house where they were driven out from, bringing other worse ones with them. For them, living in a person's body is "relatively peaceful" to wandering or being cast to the Pit.
That's why if murder isn't the objective, torture is.
So that's how the poor Demoniac of Mark's gospel lived. He wasn't worked upon to die. He was a living host, a den, a hideout. That's painful. Until grace appears on the scene.
Not one part of this story puzzles me, except the ending.
Why didn't Jesus allow the Demoniac to follow him?
IF there was anyone in need of Jesus, it was this man. He needed God's constant attention and care. He needed to be rehabilitated. He needed a master to care for him. So why didn't Jesus accept him as a disciple?
It's hard to know.
There is only one guess I can make.
The man had issues elsewhere. At home. With his friends. With his fellow men. Perhaps that's how he became a demoniac in the first place.
You see, every demon needs an entry point. And the entry point is a wound, a sin, or a moment of weakness.
From that moment on, the demon begins its work. It will stay at that entry point and makes way for others to enter.
And finally, I had better explain myself a little more clearly. Why am I all of a sudden speaking so strangely? I'm talking about these things because this is ultimately the trajectory I want this blog to take.
I want to shed light on something very few people talk about, even in the church. I believe it's time this realm was opened up, and the fight became very real for people.
If you only knew…
You would have so much compassion on your fellow men and forgive them a multitude of sins.
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