Kinda Strange

Mark 5:7, 19

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There’s an interesting story that takes place during Jesus ministry, in which we are told that Jesus got on a boat and went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee to a region in which many gentile people lived. The region, known as the Gerasenes. As Jesus, gets off the boat he’s confronted by a man who many people would call crazy, absolutely out of his mind. The man is acting like a wild man. He lives in the local cemetery. He’s running around naked, and the townspeople have tried to contain him to restrain him with chains. But he’s had superhuman strength to break through those chains.

This man wasn’t crazy. In fact, he was possessed by a demon. In fact, not just one demon, but many demons, perhaps even thousands of demons. The first thing this man says to Jesus as he wants to drive out those demons is this:

“What do I have to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you to swear by God not to torment me.” (Mark 5:7)

It’s clear that the demons knew who Jesus was, and they were terrified of him. But Jesus had compassion on the man. And so he drives out those demons and he sends them into a herd of pigs. The pigs then go crazy and jump off a cliff and are drowned. The townspeople are very upset by all of this, and so they command Jesus to get out of there, to leave. Right as he’s leaving that man that Jesus helped comes to him and he wants to go with Jesus. But here’s what Jesus says.

“Go home to your people, and tell them everything the Lord has done for you and how he had mercy on you.” (Mark 5:19)

It’s kind of strange, isn’t it? We might expect Jesus to have said, sure, come follow me, become one of my 12 disciples. That’s not what he says. He tells the man, go home to your hometown among your own people. Tell them what the Lord has done for you. How are you shown mercy on you. I like that. I like that because so often when we think about telling other people about Jesus, we think about mission work and maybe going on a mission trip on the other side of the globe in a strange land among strange people who speak strange languages to tell them what God’s Word says. Or perhaps we think about it in terms of knocking on doors in our own community or in others to try to relay the nuances of Christianity to a complete stranger.

I wonder if part of the reason we don’t share our faith more is because we’re afraid. We don’t know all of the answers. What if somebody asked me a question that I’m not going to be able to answer? I’m sure if we gave that fear to Jesus, he would tell us. Don’t be afraid. Don’t worry. You don’t need to know everything. Just as you told this man, he would tell us, simply tell them what I’ve done for you. Simply tell them of the mercy that I have shown you. How simple is that? To tell others, I have a Savior, Jesus, who’s paid for my sins because of him, I know that I’m going to heaven.

Jesus certainly showed compassion on that man, he’s showed compassion on us to, hasn’t he? He has come to free us from our sin and give us a certain hope of everlasting life. He encourages now to do what that man did to go home and to tell our own people the wondrous things that God has done for us and the mercy that he has shown us through his Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.