When People Asked Jesus to Leave

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.     Mark 5:20 ESV

Jesus had just cast a bunch of demons out of a man.  This man, who had been a serious mess, now was stable and healthy.  To say that he was grateful would be an understatement!

The local people, on the other hand, were not so grateful.  Even though Jesus had freed their friend from the demonic possession, in so doing he had probably done some damage to the local economy.  When the demons left the man, Jesus permitted them to enter some pigs, and the pigs – all 2,000 of them – ended up committing suicide.  They ran straight into the sea and drowned.

This event left the townspeople with a dilemma.  On the one hand, their friend was healthy, clothed, and no longer a danger to them.  On the other hand, there was no bacon!  Seriously, though, they just didn’t know what to think.  And so the safest thing they could think was to get Jesus to leave.

And while that’s kind of sad for them, it created a curiosity, and apparently, an opportunity. 

I’m always a little puzzled by Jesus’ follow-up with those whom He healed.  Very often in scripture, we find that after Jesus had healed someone or cast demons out of them, His instruction to the people would be, “Don’t tell anyone.”  Of course, they always did tell.  I’ve sometimes wondered if Jesus told them that because He knew that human nature often dictates that people do the exact opposite of what they’ve been told…

But to the man from who He had cast out the legion of demons, Jesus said, “Go and tell.”  And so the man did just that.  He went and he told his friends.  And apparently he told a bunch of other people, too.  Mark tells us that he went to the Decapolis – the ten cities – and shared what had happened to him.  And he made an impact.

The scriptures tell us that everyone marveled.  I find this both significant and convicting.

I haven’t had a legion of demons cast out of me, but the Lord has done many wonderful things in my life.  Have I shared as freely as this man?  I have shared, certainly.  I mean, this blog is one means by which I do that.

But, have people marveled?  When the formerly possessed man shared, people marveled!

When the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave, He left.  The healed man asked to leave with Jesus, but Jesus told him to stay.  Jesus left the man to tell the Good News in a place where He Himself was not welcome.  And the man made an impact.

We are certainly living in a time and place where the people around us have asked Jesus to leave.  We often become righteously indignant about the attitudes and actions of those people, and particularly where this pervasive attitude works its way into the political realm.  But we need to remember that Jesus has us here for a reason.  He wants us to make an impact.

So here is a simple thought for this day: maybe not in ten cities, but at least in the one that you are in, what might happen if you freely shared what Christ has done for you?  Instead of being angry and offended by those who are trying to remove God from our culture, instead of rebuking them and opposing them, instead of blaming them for the mess around us, let’s passionately (and compassionately) simply share what Christ has done.  Maybe – just maybe – we will see them marvel, and we might just have an impact.

Share with the people who asked Jesus to leave.

…Just a thought…