Mark 5:14 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Mark 5:14

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Those responsible for keeping the herd of pigs fled. Of course they would be defending themselves. They didn't want to be blamed for the loss of such a herd. They were poor men. So they wanted the whole community to know it wasn't their fault. It was the result of this strange visiting preacher-prophet, as they might have thought. They were well aware of the demon possessed man; they would have kept their distance from him because of his evil reputation. They knew the connection between the death of the animals and casting out of the demons and it filled them with fear. They had never seen animals behave in this way before and certainly attributed this strange suicidal behaviour to the demons, and this filled them with awe at the supernatural. They are simple herdsmen, but they find themselves facing something far beyond their normal experience, and they are terrified at the destructive intensity of the demons. They knew also that this had been done by Christ and they reported this in the city, so that when the people came out to see for themselves what had happened, ‘they came out to meet Jesus.’ Christ in his sovereignty, knowing what would happen, had allowed the demons to enter the herd and the whole herd to be destroyed. God may do what he will with his own creation.

Application

It is a strange reaction to flee from Christ and to be terrified by what he does, but it is the reaction of all of us without the Spirit’s work in our hearts. Although the herd of swine had been lost, it ought to have been a matter of wonder and thanksgiving to them, that this possessed man had been delivered from an affliction so great that no power on earth could help him. It should have caused them to come to this one who had such tremendous powers and had visited their region; they should have been drawn to him to learn more of him, and to bring their own intractable problems. But their reaction is to be terrified and alarmed. Why? Because they did not want anything to do with Christ and God, and this was challenging to them. ‘I do not want to have my life changed and be a follower of Christ.’ It terrifies us and we do not want to surrender our lives to God. To be in the presence of one who has such authority over the demons of darkness made them deeply uneasy, for, before the Spirit draws us, we are instinctively uncomfortable in God’s presence. Our conscience tells us that we are not fit to be in his presence and that our sins mean that we are worthy to be condemned. If we sense the power of Christ at all, we see him as one to be feared, not one to be loved.

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Mark 5:14 Commentary and Bible Study