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The Bible Study – Our reading for Friday, Feb. 23 is Mark 5:1-20. Again, in Mark’s Gospel, we have an account of Jesus healing a demon possessed person. We can focus on the details of this passage, or more importantly look to the higher meaning. Jesus travelled to a gentile area. We know this because they’re raising pigs, animals the Jewish people deemed unclean. Christ, the true exorcist, encounters a man afflicted by many demons, and delivers him from evil. It is Christ alone that delivers us from sin, death, and the devil. Freed from possession, the man wants to accompany Jesus. Christ accepts Him as a follower, yet tells the man: “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” Jesus has called the man to be a witness to those he knows. Then, “he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.” In a world broken by sin, Christ calls us to be His disciples of today, to witness to family, friends, and neighbours. Pastor Tom Steers Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto http://christlutherantoronto.org/sermons/new-to-the-christian-faith