And when He came out of the boat, immediately a man came out from the tombs to meet Him, with an unclean spirit,
Mark, without delay, presents the most painful picture of that place. Coming out to meet Christ is not a ruler of the city or a righteous man, but a miserable person whose life had been terribly shattered. Coming out from the tombs shows that he lives in an environment of death. This is not only an outward circumstance of his life, but also a symbol of his inner condition. The man who was called to dwell in life, peace, and the presence of God had now become a resident of the tombs. Matthew Henry views such a condition as an image of the deep ruin brought by sin, when a person is cut off from human society and from divine light. The unclean spirit working in him shows that this is not merely a matter of bad character or madness, but of severe demonic bondage. Yet it is precisely within this dark picture that the work of grace begins. That man comes out to meet Christ. This is a great comfort, because it shows that even a person in the deepest darkness is not beyond the Savior’s reach.