BREAKING FREE: Encountering the Powerful Jesus

On the first Sunday of 2025 at Lakeview Wesleyan Church, I shared a message entitled The Pursuit of Freedom. This series of articles is based on that message from Mark 5.

We often settle for a comfortable, tame version of Jesus—one who meets us where we are, accepts us as we are, and forgives our missteps. This gentle portrayal feels safe, but it misses a crucial aspect of who Jesus truly is. The Jesus revealed in Scripture isn't just compassionate and forgiving; He's also incredibly powerful.

Mark 5:1-20 gives us a striking picture of this powerful Jesus. In this account, Jesus encounters a man possessed by a legion of demons—a man so violent and strong that the community couldn't subdue him even with chains. This tormented soul lived among the tombs, howling and cutting himself with stones day and night, terrorizing the entire region.

The community had tried everything. They attempted to restrain him. They tried to chain him down. When all else failed, they simply abandoned him to his fate among the tombs. Their best efforts were insufficient because the evil controlling this man was beyond their capacity to overcome.

Then Jesus arrived.

Notice what happens: When Jesus was still at a distance, the demon-possessed man ran to Him and fell on his knees. The demons, speaking through the man, begged Jesus not to torture them. Think about that—the very forces that brought terror to an entire community were themselves terrified of Jesus!

With just a word, Jesus commanded the demons to leave the man. These supernatural forces that broke physical chains and overpowered entire groups of people immediately submitted to Jesus' authority. This isn't a tame or timid Jesus. This is a powerful, victorious Savior who makes demons shudder.

When was the last time you encountered Jesus and found yourself in reverent awe at His power?

Too often, we've domesticated Jesus. We've made Him safe and predictable, a comforting figure who asks little of us and poses no threat to our comfort. But the Jesus of Scripture is anything but tame. He's the one who calms storms with a word, heals incurable diseases with a touch, and sets captives free with a command.

The outcome of this encounter is remarkable. The man who had been unreachable, violent, and tormented is suddenly "sitting there, fully clothed and in his right mind." Complete transformation came through an encounter with the powerful Jesus.

This is the consistent pattern of Jesus' ministry: He sets people free, changes their lives, and then employs them in His mission of changing the world. After being delivered, the former demoniac begged to go with Jesus. Instead, Jesus sent him back to his community with a mission: "Go home to your family, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how merciful he has been."

The man obeyed, and "everyone was amazed at what he told them." The one who had once been a source of terror became a messenger of hope.

What chains are binding you today? Perhaps you're struggling with emotional burdens like depression, anxiety, or shame. Maybe you're caught in relational dysfunction marked by bitterness, anger, or unforgiveness. Your chains might be financial stress, physical illness, or spiritual bondage. Whatever holds you captive, the powerful Jesus stands ready to set you free.

Some of us have prayed for deliverance and, when nothing seemed to happen, stopped believing Jesus could—or would—set us free. Others have never considered that freedom is even possible. But the message of Mark 5 remains: Jesus can break any chain.

This doesn't minimize the value of counseling, accountability relationships, support groups, or medical intervention. These are God's gifts to help us grow and heal. But ultimately, true freedom requires the miraculous intervention of Jesus in our hearts.

Freedom begins when we stop trying to tame Jesus and instead kneel before Him in submission, acknowledging both His lordship and His love. When we approach Him honestly with our burdens and chains, we position ourselves to experience His liberating power.

Will you pursue freedom? Will you bring whatever is holding you back—physically, emotionally, relationally, financially, or spiritually—to Jesus? Will you kneel before Him and ask Him to set you free?

The powerful Jesus is waiting to do for you what He did for the man among the tombs: set you free, change your life, and employ you in His mission to change the world.

Reflection Questions:

1. What areas of your life have you been trying to manage on your own instead of surrendering them to Jesus' power?

2. How might your view of Jesus—seeing Him as merely gentle and compassionate rather than also powerful and authoritative—be limiting your experience of freedom?

3. What would it look like for you to kneel before Jesus today, bringing your chains to Him and seeking His liberating work in your life?

4. If Jesus were to set you completely free from what binds you, how might He use your story to impact others around you?