a blog for Ashfield Baptist Church
The Bible readings for Wednesday 6 and Thursday 7 June are -- Lev 14:15-15:12; Ps 27:7-14; Pro 6:23-26; Mk 5:1-20.
Labels: discipleship, mission
posted by Ps John @ 7:38 AM
1 Comments
Hi and welcome. Ashfield Baptist Church is a "caring community church sharing God's love". We are very diverse in our nationalities, backgrounds and ages, but united in our desire to grow spiritually and to reach out and help others. Our vision is "to be a body of Christ-like people living out the great commandment and the great commission in the Holy Spirit's power". This blog is mainly for people connected with Ashfield Baptist Church. It has been set up as an "info & chat space" as we start the "THRU IN 2" challenge. This is our program for reading the Bible right through during 2007 & 2008. Many are using the Every Day With Jesus Bible which also has daily devotions from Selwyn Hughes. As we read through the Bible together over these two years, we can use this blog to share insights, stories, reflections, questions etc. The goal is to grow spiritually together. So leave your comments. Together we can help each other grow. Blessings. Ps John. To leave a comment about the readings for a particular day, or to view the comments of others, just click on "comments" at the bottom of the post.
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I'll call him Legion. When Jesus asked him his name, that's what he replied, or at least, that's what his many demons replied (Mk 5:9). We don't know the name he had prior to his possession, but it wouldn't have been Legion. Nor do we know the name he used after -- probably his original name; or maybe a totally new name; or maybe he kept Legion as a reminder and testimony to the manifold blessings of having been set free from many demons. I'll just call him Legion (though I'm tempted to rename him Nunus).
Would you have recommended him for missionary service? What sort of reference would you have given him after his deliverance? At least you could have said he wore clothes and wasn't mad (5:15)! I think I would have been pretty wary of him. But Jesus sends him back to his own people to tell them what the Lord had done for him (5:19).
One of the remarkable things about this commissioning is that he is a Gentile sent to testify to his own people in the Decapolis area. (You wouldn't have found a herd of 2,000 pigs in a Jewish area!) This is the first time Jesus sends someone on a mission to the Gentiles. It's appearance here in Mark is startling because Mark records several times in the first half of his Gospel how Jeus commands people not to tell others about him or what he's done -- but they are Jews!
Another thing to notice is that the man begged to be with Jesus (5:18). It seems he wanted to be another disciple of Jesus, like the twelve. But Jesus sends him off to be a disciple in a different way and in a different context. He is sent to witness without a training or apprenticeship period. This is despite his recent shocking behaviour and experience and whatever led to it. Perhaps "because of" rather than "despite" -- he certainly had a story to tell and the motivation to tell it.
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