Mark 5:7 (NLT)With a shriek, he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In the name of God, I beg you, don’t torture me!”

One day, when Jesus went across the lake and landed in a place called Garasenes, a demon-possessed man came to Him. After approaching Jesus and knowing who Jesus was, he bowed to the ground and screamed out. This is a very striking occurrence because it says a lot to us as followers of Christ about Satan and his dark, evil forces in this world.

First of all, the man came to meet him. That’s interesting because if I were doing something wrong or living in a way that I shouldn’t be living, then I would not go towards the authorities but would instead avoid them at all costs. But this demon-possessed man was driven not only to approach him, but also was driven to his knees. That means that Satan and his demons tremble before Jesus and now that Jesus died and resurrected, they tremble at His Name! Every knee has to bow before the One true and Almighty God of the universe, including the devil. That’s great to know because since Jesus lives in you and me, we are more than protected from the evil one and his minions and we have authority, in the Name of Jesus, to rebuke Satan and his dark forces and send them away. That is why God reminds us through scripture that the One who is in us, Jesus, is greater than the one who is in the world (1 John 4:4).

The other thing to be aware of through the verse of scripture above is that the demons that were in this man (there were many and their name was Legion), were very concerned that Jesus was interfering with them. That is why Jesus came. He came to interfere with the devil’s plans and schemes to destroy mankind, God’s creation. Jesus came to set free all of the people that were held captive by sin and by the devil and to give them new life. The enemy has a plan for your life, and that is to steal, kill and destroy and it just so happens that your flesh (your sinful nature) cooperates with him. You and I have a propensity to sin and do wrong things and unless Jesus had come to set us free and to give us the power to live right, we would be doomed. But we are not doomed, praise God! Now, not only are we righteous in God’s sight but we have power to live upright lives. That power comes from the Holy Spirit who lives in us. Jesus came to destroy the devil’s work (1 John 3:8) and that began while He was here on earth and concluded when He made a public spectacle of the forces of darkness through His victory on the Cross of Calvary. Always remember who lives in you (Jesus) so that you will not be afraid, and so that you will be a vessel that God can use to continue to interfere in the devil’s work.

Pastor Joey