Mark 5:1–20
1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.
14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
In the second half of this story (v. 14-20) we see two different responses to Jesus' power and authority on display.
First, we see the response of the crowd. As was the case in the previous story of Jesus calming the storm, the people's fear turns from the demon possessed man whom they couldn't bind even with chains, to the one more powerful than even him—Jesus. Whether it was their fear of him or their concern over the loss of revenue from the pigs, they ask Jesus to leave. Note the lack of compassion or even concern for the man who was possessed by demons. The fact that he is delivered doesn't even cross their mind. Their only response to him and his healing is fear. The loss of revenue should pale in comparison to the deliverance of a person. Their priorities and values were clearly out of whack.
As we talked about yesterday, fear and rejection is often a response to the power of Jesus. Perhaps we are afraid to admit his lordship and authority. Perhaps we are afraid of him upsetting the comfortable routine of our life. Whatever the case, when we are confronted with the power of Jesus our response shouldn’t look like the response from the crowd.
The second response to Jesus is the one we ought to model. The guy who had been delivered from the demons begged Jesus "that he might be with him". (v. 18) Note the terminology Mark uses here. Instead of using the more common depiction of "following Jesus" he simply wants to "be with him". This is a depiction of discipleship. Once we've been delivered from our sin, we should simply desire to be in the presence of Jesus—to commune with him in prayer, to read of him through his word and to experience his presence in the community of believers. This is a desire that can only be attained in part in this life but will be fully realized in the life to come.
Jesus, however, does not permit him to and tells him to go home and "tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." Instead of allowing this guy to be with him Jesus calls him to mission. This is the first person in Mark whom Jesus calls to a mission and he is ironically, a Gentile called to a Gentile territory. Later, he will send out the 12. Why does he do this? It seems strange that he tells this guy to go and talk about what happened when previously he has told people to remain silent. (Mark 1:44) The answer isn't clearly stated here but it could be that he is in Gentile territory where the false Messianic expectations of the Jews would not distort his true identity. Jesus has also been sort of banished from this region so it's likely he won't be returning. It also seems strange that Jesus wouldn’t allow him to simply follow him. But, if he were to follow him into Judea that would create a lot of complicated situations since he is a Gentile. This is all speculation however, since Jesus doesn't say.
In any case, this story is a good example of our call to mission as well. Sharing faith can be a scary thought for many of us. Yet, it can be as simple as what Jesus tells this guy—“Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” Your story of how Jesus has changed your life is powerful. Believe it. Share it.