the demoniac

i am simply blown away by this text. mark 5:1-20 tells a beautiful story of a man who was posessed by Legion. the amazing thing about it is the demon's reaction. he honors Jesus by telling him his name and aknowledging his power over him as the Son of the Most High God. in contrast, when the man goes back to the town the people recognize him as the former demoniac and ask Jesus to leave. their fear of Jesus and his power is so great that they dont want anything to do with him. however, the one who experienced that power does want Jesus around but he does not stay for his sake. i just cannot help but wonder where we lost that fear. i am guilty of looking at Jesus as the sunday school poster sort of man who holds a toddler up in the air and smiles. while that is a part Jesus' personality, i think i should (and so should everyone else) remember the Jesus that got on the edge and scared people with his power. he drove demons out of a man who could not be controlled by anyone else! someone like that SHOULD be feared, yet like the man healed in this text, embraced into one's life as well.