2026 Reading Plan Reflections - Day 54

In today’s reading, Jesus steps into Gentile territory again. For most of us, that's pretty important. We’re the “outsiders” who got invited in.

The man in the tombs is more than a disturbing story. He’s living among the dead. Unclean. Isolated. Bound. Tormented. Pushed outside the city and outside the community. And then there’s Jesus...

Reading this passage alongside N.T. Wright's Mark for Everyone commentary, I couldn’t help but see the connection. This man’s story mirrors where Jesus Himself would go. Outside the city. Stripped. Surrounded by evil. At the place of the skull. Laid in a tomb.

But here’s the difference: when Jesus goes into the graveyard, He doesn’t stay there.

The healing of the demoniac in the Decapolis is a preview of something bigger. Jesus confronts evil not just in one tortured soul, but in the whole broken system of sin and death. What He does for this one man, He intends for the world.

The man is restored... clothed, in his right mind, sitting at Jesus’ feet. That’s not just mental stability. That’s salvation language. Reordered life. Restored dignity. A new mission: “Go home and tell what the Lord has done for you.”

Jesus heals. Jesus saves. And Jesus sends.

If He has brought you out of the tombs — whatever those looked like — then your story isn’t private. It’s part of His mission.

Identify one “graveyard” Jesus has brought you out of. A season, a sin, a struggle. Thank Him specifically for it.
Share one sentence this week with someone about what the Lord has done for you. Keep it simple. Keep it honest.