Christ’s deliverance from death and decay — then and now.

by Sarah Schwerin

I clawed and bit myself as tears streamed down my face. Then I crossed to the other side of the room, looked at myself in the mirror, and screamed insults. “Worthless! Ugly! Unlovable!”

This scene would replay throughout my childhood, adolescence, and young adult years. For too long, I believed the lies of the Enemy — lies, like no one wanted to hear what I had to say. No one wanted to be with me. No one could ever love me. I felt I needed to punish myself for the trauma I had undergone.

Fearing hurt and rejection, I held others at arm’s length. After all, who would ever accept me once they knew my past? My depression and anxiety cloaked me in self-loathing, a wound deeper than the scratches I inflicted on myself.

In a bad place

In Mark 5:1-20, Jesus encountered a demon-possessed man who also had been driven to self-harm. Like me, he lived in isolation. Others had tried to help, but nothing seemed to improve his condition. The demons within him seemed stronger than everything else. Stronger than the chains used to bind him. Stronger than the love of friends and family. Stronger even than his own self-will. Nothing could help him.

This man faced not the fear of rejection but rejection itself. Driven away from friends and family, he was no longer known by his name but by his condition: demoniac. He lived in the tombs, a place of death and decay. A place that would make Jews ritually unclean.

Encountering Jesus

But then Jesus arrived and changed everything. He crossed the sea to meet the man where he was. Jesus didn’t wait for him to get control over his problems. He didn’t wait for the man to approach Him. Instead, He went to the tombs and met the man in the lonely place he had made his home.

Jesus knew the man needed freedom only He could provide. So with His words, Jesus commanded the unclean spirits to leave the man, freeing him from the terror that had stalked him, as well as his isolation and self-harm.

Unlike the religious leaders of the day, Jesus sought out those on the fringes of society — those on the other side of the tracks. Every move He made was intentional. Reaching out to those considered unworthy (Matthew 9:10-13), He didn’t fear that their sin and filth would pollute Him. He let a bleeding woman and lepers touch Him (Mark 5:24-34; Matthew 8:1-4). He showed us that the most important thing is not our outward appearance but the state of our heart — the genuineness of our faith.

Jesus provides healing

Jesus didn’t use the elaborate and ineffective ways of Jewish exorcists of the day. He drove out demons with His words and sometimes by laying His hands on people. Likewise, Jesus’ healing miracles frequently combined speech and physical touch.

I experienced this in my own life. When I was in college, God’s words reached me in my place of death and decay. Like the friends of the demoniac and the demoniac himself, I had tried everything. The problem within me seemed bigger than anything else.

Then I felt a tug in my spirit to go to a Christian counselor on my college campus. As we tackled my traumatic past, my depression and anxiety seemed to shrink. But that was only the beginning.

I began to read God’s Word anew. In the pages of Scripture, David’s laments spoke to my heart. Job’s questioning sounded like my own questions. Jesus’ message of love spoke to my lonely and broken heart. God spoke into my depression and anxiety. He met me in my place of death and decay and brought me to a new home filled with wholeness and healing.

I still struggle with depression and anxiety. But when I pray and read God’s Word, I remember how God worked in my past and how He continues to work in my life. God’s words are still healing and remind me that His power is bigger than any problem I may face in this world. 

New kingdom

Jesus’ exorcism in Mark 5, and the others mentioned in the Gospels, helped to usher in the kingdom of God in our present age. They show us that His kingdom is unlike the worldly kingdom in Jesus’ day and in ours.

The methods that the demoniac and his community used to solve their problems did not work. They used their own strength and power. Yet no self-help book, no human invention can fix the problems of this world. Only with God’s power can evil spirits be driven out. Only with God’s power can we all find the freedom and healing we desperately need.

Thanks to that power, the demon-possessed man was freed to leave his home among the tombs. He returned to his community to make a new home, where he would tell others of the mercy and freedom only Jesus gives.

God’s kingdom is not based on maintaining outward appearances, putting ourselves first, or fixing our own problems. It involves experiencing God’s healing power, then seeking others — especially those on the fringe of society — and telling them of the One who meets us in our places of death and decay. He is the one who gives us a new home filled with healing and wholeness.