I don’t know his name, but I know his problem. Mark 5 tells us that there was “a man with an evil spirit.” His life is a mess. No clothes, no dignity, his body is ravaged by evil. He is bloody and bruised, a man beaten down by the malevolent spirit that inhabits his life. He runs here and there. No control, no sanity, lost. When Jesus speaks to him, the demons beg for mercy. Jesus has eyes for the man’s pain and torment. He sends the demons into a herd of pigs feeding nearby. The pigs stampede to their death, and a curious group of people come to see what has happened. There sits the man, “dressed and in his right mind.” It is not as uncommon as we like to think. I see people like this every day. I see it in the mirror. People with messy lives. No dignity, no hope, and no chance to fix it by themselves. Thank God that Jesus still moves. That He still heals the broken. That He still vanquishes evil. Thank God that Jesus has the power to bring sanity to my chaos.
| Date | Reading |
| February 26 | Mark 5:1–20 |
| February 27 | Mark 5:21–43 |
| February 28 | Mark 6:1–13 |
| February 29 | Mark 6:14–29 |
| March 1 | Mark 6:30–56 |
| March 2 | Mark 7:1–23 |
| March 3 | Mark 7:24–37 |
| March 4 | Mark 8:1–21 |