Often, when we read the Bible, it may become stale or boring especially if we have read it many, many times. Some of you may think I’m nuts, and say that it’s never stale or boring and every time God’s word opens up new insights for the reader. Personally, I agree with both opinions. So, if you are in a state of boredom, consider looking into what’s around the corner.
A good example for those not sure what I mean….let’s read from the Gospel of Mark. In Chapter 5
we see the heading (in some Bibles) “Jesus Sends the Demons into a Herd of Pigs”. You may know the story, so I will set the stage. In Chapter 4 Jesus had just calmed the storm as they crossed the Sea of Galilee and now they had come to the region known as Gerasenes. Jesus and his Disciples were immediately met with a situation. A man with an evil spirit lived among some tombs and saw Jesus from far away. Jesus knew he was demon possessed and rebuked the spirit named Legion. Jesus sent the “many” spirits into a herd of pigs (at the request of Legion) and the pigs then drowned themselves in the lake.
TWO THINGS OCCURRED NEXT:
1) The people were mad at Jesus and wanted him to leave (Mark 5: 14-17)
2) The formerly demon possessed man wanted to follow Jesus (Mark 5:18-20)
Let’s look at 1), why did the people want Jesus to leave? Let’s see what’s around the corner. We can pretty much know that these people were Gentiles since they were pig herders and Jews did NOT handle pigs. Jesus’ message was NOT for the Gentiles yet. Jesus was also disrupting these Gentiles’ lives. Their pig herd was dead! Their source of income was gone! They most likely could not understand the grace and mercy Jesus had just shown toward the demon possessed man.
Let’s look at 2), the freed man wanted to follow Jesus. Jesus said no. Why? Let’s see what’s around the corner. This man was living in tombs, had been chained and no one could subdue him. It’s apparent he had caused harm and had probably done a lot of damage to people and possessions in the area. If all of a sudden you were forced to face these people, wouldn’t you want to leave too? I’d be right on the boat to follow Jesus! We know that Jesus knows our hearts, and Jesus knew the true motive of this man. We can’t say for sure what that motive was, but we know Jesus told him to “Go home and tell your family everything the Lord has done for you…and all the people were amazed [with what the man said].” Was the man afraid to face his peers? Maybe. Was Jesus’ plan better? Of course.
It’s not wrong to investigate the details surrounding scripture and to seek out better contextual insight into the word of God. We must however be careful that we don’t stand on our opinions as if they are written in the Bible if they are not in fact clearly written in the Bible.
Blessings!
Filed under: Bible Questions, Encouragement, Interesting Bible Insight, Religion, Study | Tagged: boredom, Christianity, demon possessed, God, herd, Jesus, pigs, Reading the Bible | Leave a Comment »




