CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 5
Here you get the Lord dealing with the oppression that rests on man in a very full form. He is dealing with the state of man. In the former cases it was more the pressure of what men are suffering from. Fever is not will, it is the infirmity of the creature. So also leprosy was not will; neither was palsy. But in this chapter it is more the state of man, and it gives a new phase of the work of Christ. The three following cases describe the whole of man’s condition. The first, the power of wickedness; the second, the extremity of weakness; the third is death.
This blessed One comes in to meet not only the distress, but He deals with the distressed one. The figure depicts the most distressed state that could possibly be. No one could bind him - no, not with chains. It is a fearful picture of the condition of man. No restraints would keep out Satan.
Education has been a tool in the hands of Satan. But One comes who can dislodge him. The unclean spirits know Him, they ask to be let go into the swine. The people had no right to keep swine. What they could not use for themselves they were keeping for [p. 151] others. It is a serious thing for christians to be selling to others what they could not use themselves. There is a moral action here - the Lord gets rid of their covetousness.
But what a change in the man; he is just the opposite of what he was before. He is clothed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, and in his right mind. Another interesting trait about him is that when Jesus went into the ship he besought Him that he might be with Him. You cannot get higher than that - “with him”. It is what Paul longed for in Philippians 1. There are two prepositions that mark the christian, ‘with’ and ‘for.’ I long to be with Him, but if it is not His pleasure that I should be with Him, I will be here for Him. A person is not honestly saying ‘Come’ to the Lord unless he would like to be with Him. There is no value in your saying to a friend, I wish you to come, unless you care to be with him. The right state of soul for us is to be where He would be. The thought was really to be following Him, to be in company with Him. It shows what a change was wrought in the man. Before, he was dwelling in the tombs, now he seeks the company of Jesus, like the thief on the cross, what an alteration in his tastes! He used to be dwelling with robbers - now he would like to be where Christ reigns.
The Lord is doing His work on His way to the resurrection. The resurrection is really connected with Israel, but a poor broken-down creature gets His blessing on the road; she was the very opposite of the legion - that was the power of wickedness, but this in the extreme of weakness. I believe this is what takes place now. The Lord is not satisfied to see you merely relieved. He effects a wonderful change in the woman. Many are satisfied with relief; she was not only cured, but she formed an acquaintance with the One who cured her.
The point here is the ministry of Christ. He can so deliver a man from the power of Satan now that he [p. 152] can be found clothed and in his right mind, and with but one desire, to be “with Christ”. He is the same for the extremity of weakness - life ebbing away. The One I have to look to is Jesus; He counts me as one of His own; thus I get two moral gains in my soul. I know that I am cured, and I have come to Him. I know Him. Many look to be cured who never know the Person. When she comes to Him, self is gone - she falls down before Him.
In the case of the ten lepers, when only one came back, what did he gain? Confirmation! So it was with the poor woman. As you go through this book you get a greater thought of His service. The man is delivered from his wretched condition; the woman goes away in peace. Verses 38 - 42 are typical of the restoration of Israel. Grace to the gentile had come in on the way.
This is the first place where death is called sleep. Resurrection power is present. We get the greatest power in this chapter, and the greatest weakness. The Lord is equal to both. He charged them that no one should know it, and commanded that something should be given her to eat. What touching interest He takes in His people!