February 14: Mark 5
A Demonized Man Set Free
5 They arrived at the other side of the lake, at the region of the Gerasenes.[a] 2 As Jesus stepped ashore, a demon-possessed madman came out of the graveyard and confronted him. 3 The man had been living there among the tombs of the dead, and no one was able to restrain him, not even with chains. 4 For every time they attempted to chain his hands and feet with shackles, he would snap the chains and break the shackles in pieces. He was so strong that no one had the power to subdue him. 5 Day and night he could be found lurking in the cemetery or in the vicinity, shrieking and mangling himself with stones!
6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran to him and threw himself down before him, 7 screaming out at the top of his lungs, “Leave me alone, Jesus, Son of the Most High God! Swear in God’s name that you won’t torture me!” 8 (For Jesus had already said to him, “Come out of that man, you demon spirit!”)
9 Jesus said to him, “What is your name?”
“Mob,”[b] he answered. “They call me Mob because there are thousands of us in his body!” 10 He begged Jesus repeatedly not to expel them out of the region.
11 Nearby there was a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside. 12 The demons begged him, “Send us into the pigs. Let us enter them!”
13 So Jesus gave them permission, and the demon horde immediately came out of the man and went into the pigs! This caused the herd to rush madly down the steep slope and fall into the lake, drowning about two thousand pigs!Depending on weight, the cost of two thousand live pigs today could be as much as $250,000. The economic cost to the community over the loss of this herd was significant.
14 Now, the herdsmen fled to the nearby villages, telling everyone what they saw as they ran through the countryside, and everyone came out to see what had happened. 15 When they found Jesus, they saw the demonized man sitting there, properly clothed and in his right mind. Seeing what had happened to the man who had thousands of demons, the people were terrified. 16 Those who had witnessed this miracle reported the news to the people and included what had happened to the pigs. 17 Then they asked Jesus to leave their region.[d]
18 And as Jesus began to get into the boat to depart, the man who had been set free from demons asked him, “Could I go with you?” 19 Jesus answered, “No,” but said to him, “Go back to your home and to your family and tell them what the Lord has done for you. Tell them how he had mercy on you.”
20 So the man left and went into the region of Jordan and parts of Syria[e] to tell everyone he met about what Jesus had done for him, and all the people marveled!
Two Miracles—Healing and Resurrection
21 After Jesus returned from across the lake, a huge crowd of people quickly gathered around him on the shoreline. 22 Just then, a man saw that it was Jesus, so he pushed through the crowd and threw himself down at his feet. His name was Jairus,[f] a Jewish official who was in charge of the synagogue. 23 He pleaded with Jesus, saying over and over, “Please come with me! My little daughter is at the point of death, and she’s only twelve years old![g] Come and lay your hands on her and heal her and she will live!”
24 Jesus went with him, and the huge crowd followed, pressing in on him from all sides.
25 Now, in the crowd that day was a woman who had suffered horribly from continual bleeding for twelve years.[h] 26 She had endured a great deal under the care of various doctors, yet in spite of spending all she had on their treatments, she was not getting better, but worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus’ healing power, she pushed through the crowd and came up from behind him and touched his prayer shawl.[i] 28 For she kept saying to herself, “If only I could touch his clothes, I know I will be healed.”[j] 29 As soon as her hand touched him, her bleeding immediately stopped! She knew it, for she could feel her body instantly being healed of her disease!
30 Jesus knew at once that someone had touched him, for he felt the power that always surged around him[k] had passed through him for someone to be healed. He turned and spoke to the crowd, saying, “Who touched my clothes?”[l]
31 His disciples answered, “What do you mean, who touched you? Look at this huge crowd—they’re all pressing up against you.” 32 But Jesus’ eyes swept across the crowd, looking for the one who had touched him for healing.
33 When the woman who experienced this miracle[m] realized what had happened to her, she came before him, trembling with fear, and threw herself down at his feet, saying, “I was the one who touched you.” And she told him her story of what had just happened.
34 Then Jesus said to her, “Daughter, because you dared to believe, your faith has healed you. Go with peace in your heart, and be free from your suffering!”
35 And before he had finished speaking, people arrived from Jairus’ house and pushed through the crowd to give Jairus the news: “There’s no need to trouble the master any longer—your daughter has died.” 36 But Jesus refused to listen to what they were told[n] and said to the Jewish official, “Don’t yield to fear. All you need to do is to keep on believing.” 37 So they left for his home, but Jesus didn’t allow anyone to go with them except Peter and the two brothers, Jacob and John.
38 When they arrived at the home of the synagogue ruler, they encountered a noisy uproar among the people, for they were all weeping and wailing. 39 Upon entering the home, Jesus said to them, “Why all this grief and weeping? Don’t you know the girl is not dead but merely asleep?” 40 Then everyone began to ridicule and make fun of him. But he threw[o] them all outside.
Then he took the child’s father and mother and his three disciples and went into the room where the girl was lying. 41 He tenderly clasped the child’s hand in his and said to her in Aramaic, “Talitha koum,”[p] which means, “Little girl,[q] wake up from the sleep of death.” 42 Instantly the twelve-year-old girl sat up, stood to her feet, and started walking around the room! Everyone was overcome with astonishment in seeing this miracle! 43 Jesus had them bring her something to eat. And he repeatedly cautioned them that they were to tell no one about what had happened.[r]
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