Sitting at His Feet

 

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK

SITTING AT HIS FEET

Mark 5:14-17

14 Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man — and told about the pigs as well. 17 Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.

NIV

We still have not reached the ending of this particular narrative, however, there is something in this portion that is both wonderful and bothersome. First, was the man not dressed when he was possessed by the legend of demons? From this reference that he was sitting dressed and in his right mind, we would have to surmise that he has not been dressed, but then where did he get his clothes? What information Mark does not give us but that Luke, who is so often the one to fill in certain details, tells us the man was sitting at Jesus' feet. What no one tells us is that it was most likely the twelve who were with Jesus, who had some extra clothing, were the ones who dressed this man, or at least offered him their clothing. We are not talking a pair of underwear, tee-shirt, Hopsack Jeans, and a nice bottom down stripped shirt. Just a simple tunic would have done nicely. Certainly, the man was filled with gratitude for being healed from the torment of all those demons as well as the kindness shown to him by Jesus and his disciples. Who of us would not be sitting at the feet of Jesus after receiving such miraculous healing? Sure many of us believe the reason we are healed is that we are already sitting at the feet of Jesus. But this man was not sitting at his feet but was a wild uncontrollable demon-possessed man who had no idea about Jesus as he was completely under the influence of evil.   We will see later the man surely desired to remain in their company, but let us leave that till later. The disturbing or bothersome portion of this narrative is the response of the people. Mark only tells us the people begged Jesus to leave the region, while Luke adds they were afraid. However, Luke does not tell us why they were afraid. Why do the Greek words indicate they were seized with great fear? Could it have been the owners of the herd of swine who incited the townspeople with fear that Jesus would hamper their financial security as he did theirs?  That might be doubtful, but we are not told the exact reason for their great fear. Still many today do not want Jesus getting involved in their securing their future financially. On the other hand, it could have been the legend of demons that came upon all the people as the pigs hit the water. The demons, not being mortal would not have drowned with the pigs but could have incited the people with this fear of Jesus so much they begged him to leave the area, thus living the legend of demons to continue on their path of destruction. Although we would think Jesus would have been aware the demons were part of this wanting Jesus to leave. Yet it was the demons who initiated the conversation with Jesus when he arrived, screaming out their knowledge of who he was. So it might be possible legend was hiding their identity, leaving the people to appear normal, but with great fear of Jesus. In reality, even today, those who are seized with extreme fear of Jesus would be under the influence of demonic powers. On the other hand, those like us who have been healed spiritually will be seen sitting, with new clothing, white as the driven show, at the feet of Jesus.