Deliverance – Mark 5:15

They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion;” and they became frightened.

Everyone had given up on this violent, self-destructive man.  The demonic legion that possessed him was so powerful that neither shackles nor chains could hold him.  Cast off by society, he raged and screamed among the tombs and gashed himself with stones.[1]  He was a pitiful, lost soul with no hope of healing or redemption.  He was doomed to live out horror-filled days until the wounds he inflicted on his body brought his death.

Then he met Jesus, and in one brief encounter, Jesus transformed and delivered him from his bondage and torment.  As the Lord sprinkled him with the pure, living water of salvation, He cleansed him from his filthiness.[2]  He instantly went from a raving demoniac to a presentable, reasoned human being.  Having had his faculties restored, he chose to become a follower of Jesus Christ, and as he obeyed the Lord’s instruction to go back to his home and tell of the extraordinary things God had done for him, he became a powerful witness for the restoring grace of the Lord.[3]

Just as Jesus healed and delivered this man along with a multitude of others when He physically walked on earth,[4] so He does today as He washes and renews the lost by the Holy Spirit[5] that they might have eternal life.  Just as the plea of the leper moved Jesus to compassion, causing Him to reach out His hand to cleanse him,[6] our pleas move Him to compassion for those living among us without light.

Remember the man in the tombs, and be assured the Lord still brings life from that which was dead, for a new creation emerges from the darkness after one touch of the hand of God.[7]  Entrust your loved ones to the Lord, and pray devotedly for those who have not yet received Him to have an encounter with Jesus, our Lord and Savior, and in encountering Him, be saved, delivered, and healed.[8]

Though Jesus is the cornerstone
He stood rejected and alone
Cast off by men, condemned to die
Upon a cross, hated, despised

And through it all, He did not rage
Nor call His armies to engage
In battle, though He surely could
Have slain them all, but then He would

Not have fulfilled the Father’s plan
Not have redeemed the soul of man
Not have made the blind man see
Not have set the captives free

So in obedience He prayed
“May Your glory be displayed
For not My will, but Yours be done
And may the victory be won”

And as He laid His body down
He wore a cruel and ugly crown
He bore the brutal slash and crack
Of our stripes upon His back

And though He is the cornerstone
He took our sins as His love shown
Through the darkness, through the night
Through the vastest of our plight

He endured the wrath and pain
Willingly for us was slain
Through His blood He reconciled
And purified what was defiled

Yes, Jesus is the cornerstone
The One on whom our faith has grown
He is our passion and our fire
Our pure and holy hearts’ desire

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[1] Mark 5:2-5

[2] Ezekiel 36:25

[3] Luke 8:39, Mark 5:18-20

[4] Mark 1:32-34

[5] Titus 3:5

[6] Mark 1:40-42

[7] Ezekiel 17:24, 2 Corinthians 5:17

[8] John 5:24