Bowing Before Jesus

Mark 5:1-7 (NKJV)
¹ Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes.
² And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
³ who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains,
⁴ because he had often been bound with shackles and chains. And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.
⁵ And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.
⁶ When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him.
⁷ And he cried out with a loud voice and said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me."

This encounter is with a man who is not in his right mind. He lived a tormented life in a graveyard, if you can call that living. Mark says he was not tormented by illness, but by an unclean spirit. Later in the story we learn there are many spirits residing in this one man. Notice in verse 6 that the man comes running to Jesus when he catches sight of Him.

The New King James Version states that he ran and worshiped Him, translating the Greek word proskune as worship. Other translations state that the man, or unclean spirit is more accurate, fell or bowed before Jesus. The word proskune seems to be derived from another word which means more “like a dog licking his master’s hand”, according to (Biblesoft's New Exhaustive Strong's Numbers and Concordance with Expanded Greek-Hebrew Dictionary. Copyright © 1994, 2003 Biblesoft, Inc. and International Bible Translators, Inc.).

I don’t think the spirits worshipped Jesus as I think of worship, done with a joyful heart at mercy received. They were asking Jesus in the next verse not to torment them. They knew He had power and authority as the Son of God over heaven and earth. They did not want any part of Him, but acknowledged His Kingship.

One day every knee will bow to Jesus, just as this man did. The question will be in what spirit that knee will bow. That question is put forth to us in the revelation of the gospel. How we answer is up to us.