Tell Them How Much The Lord Has Done For You
LENT 2024 | DAY 11
Mark 5:1-20 (NIV)
(Gordon Tan, Associate Lay Leader)
Mark 5:18-20 (ESV) – As he [Jesus] was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
At the end of Mark 4, Jesus instructs His disciples to cross the Sea of Galilee to its eastern shores in the region of the Gadarenes. During the time of Christ, this region was inhabited mostly by Gentiles, not Jews, and the area had a strong Greek influence. This accounts for the presence of the large herd of swine (Matthew 8:30–33; Mark 5:1–17).
The demon possessed man was described as someone ostracised by society (lived among the tombs), incredibly strong (no one could bind him anymore, he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces, no one had the strength to subdue him) and tormented (crying out and cutting himself with stones day and night). When he encountered Jesus, the demons that possessed him immediately recognised who Jesus was. This suggested that he was not his natural self.
After the demons had left this man, his personality changed completely. He was described as “sitting there, clothed and in his right mind” (verse 15). I imagine that this man was very grateful for being delivered from his bondage. In fact, he displayed this gratitude by begging to be with Jesus and to follow Him. But when Jesus told him to go home and tell his friends “how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you”, he obeyed.
During this Lenten season, I am reminded of what the Lord has done for me and how, through the work of the Cross, God had mercy on me. I recalled how the punishment that I should bear was borne instead by Jesus. Sadness often fills my heart thinking about the physical pain He suffered. More than that, tears well up when I think about the feelings of shame He endured, the rejection He experienced from the community He lived with, and the estrangement He suffered when God forsook Him. All to deliver me from the bondage of sin. All to buy the forgiveness of my sins. All to set me free to live an abundant guilt free life.
Yet this passage surprised me as I meditated on it. God’s deepest desire is for everyone to hear the gospel. The one thing I should do in obedience is to go to my family, my friends, my colleagues, and tell them what the Lord has done for me. I should share with them how I experience God’s mercies and miracles daily. I should share with them how God has changed me and how He is restoring me to be the person He intended me to be.
I will take time each day to recall the blessings of the day. I will remember the people who touched and loved me. I will give thanks for the little blessings I encounter and not take them for granted. I will praise God for the opportunities to do something worthwhile and meaningful during my day. I will also remember to thank Him for the strength He gives me as I overcome trials and temptations.
I want to show appreciation to the people around me. People who thoughtfully take care of my needs. People who are considerate towards me. People who encourage me. People who affirm me. I want to remember to thank them. I want to reciprocate their kindness. I want to share with them what God is doing in my life.
DISCUSSION POINTERS:
1. List down the blessings you have received from God in this past one year. Say a prayer of thanksgiving for what God has given you.
2. Go and share with others in your family or your workplace “how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you”.
3. As you have been blessed, is there anyone in the family or the workplace whom the Lord has impressed on you to bless in this Season of Lent? Go and be a blessing to them!
