Mk 5:19b “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you…”

Summary Notes

What did Jesus say?

With a word Jesus performed a spectacular miracle to heal a man possessed by hundreds of demons. Jesus told the grateful man, who wanted to physically follow Him, to instead go home and tell everyone what happened.  

Why would He say this?

When Jesus commanded the demons to depart from the man they caused a huge herd of pigs to drown.  This event brought out the townspeople and their leaders to investigate. The man who was demon possessed, naked and bleeding when he came to Jesus was desperate to make any changes to his life in order to quench the torment of his soul by the demons. However the leaders of that region when they came to Jesus were not at all desperate and were thus unwilling to make changes to their lives. They were unwilling to even listen to Jesus before imploring Him to leave.

Many people dislike change in their lives. I’ve often said to myself and others, “Change is good provided it is good change!” I think that these people were too quick to judge as bad the potential changes that Jesus’ presence might bring to them. Therefore they implored Him to leave.

Click here for my personal application and your comments link, or scroll down for my full notes.

Command 190: “Go home… and report…”

REFERENCE:  

Mk 5:19; Lk 8:39
See also Mt 8:28-34. It includes this event but does not record the command.

RECIPIENT:  

Mk 5:17  …the man who had been demon-possessed…
Lk 8:38  …the man from whom the demons had gone out…

CONTEXT:  

Mark

Mk 5:1-19 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. ²When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, ³and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; ⁴because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. ⁵Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. ⁶Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; ⁷and shouting with a loud voice, he said, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!” ⁸For He had been saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” ⁹And He was asking him, “What is your name?” And he said to Him, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” ¹⁰And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. ¹¹Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. ¹²The demons implored Him, saying, “Send us into the swine so that we may enter them.” ¹³Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea.
¹⁴Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. ¹⁵They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the “legion”; and they became frightened. ¹⁶Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. ¹⁷And they began to implore Him to leave their region. ¹⁸As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. ¹⁹And He did not let him, but He said to him…

Matthew

Mt 8:28-34 When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. ²⁹And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” ³⁰Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. ³¹The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” ³²And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. ³³The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. ³⁴And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.

Luke

Lk 8:26-39 Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷And when He came out onto the land, He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. ²⁸Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.” ²⁹For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. ³⁰And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. ³¹They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.
³²Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain; and the demons implored Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission. ³³And the demons came out of the man and entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
³⁴When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country. ³⁵The people went out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened. ³⁶Those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well. ³⁷And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to leave them, for they were gripped with great fear; and He got into a boat and returned. ³⁸But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him; but He sent him away, saying…

COMMAND FULL TEXT AND IMMEDIATE RESULT:  

Mk 5:19b “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you”

Lk 8:39 “Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you.”

RESULT:  

Mark

Mk 5:20-21 And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
²¹When Jesus had crossed over again in the boat to the other side, a large crowd gathered around Him; and so He stayed by the seashore.

Matthew

Mt 9:1 Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city.

Luke

Lk 8:39b-40 So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
⁴⁰And as Jesus returned, the people welcomed Him, for they had all been waiting for Him.

MY  COMMENTS AND NOTES:

Sometimes when I read the Bible’s stories, it is the back story rather than the main story that speaks to me.  Here, the back story is the reaction of the region’s leaders and the main story is Jesus’s instruction to the man that was freed from his affliction with the demons.  I think that the nature of scripture is that you can apply its truth to different situations in life.  For instance, I have personally experienced a big career change and that is the perspective that I have right now.  If I had read this story after recovering from a major illness or while recovering from some addiction perhaps the main story about the demon possessed man would have captured my attention.  But at this time my attention focused on the regional leaders reaction.

They Implored Jesus to Leave

The man who was demon possessed was naked and bleeding and desperate to make any changes to his life in order to quench the torment of his soul by the demons. However the leaders of that region were not at all desperate and were unwilling to make changes to their lives. They were unwilling to even listen to Jesus before imploring Him to leave. Many people dislike change in their lives. I’ve often said, “Change is good as provided it is good change!” I think that these people were too quick to judge as bad the potential changes that Jesus’ presence might bring to them. Therefore they implored Him to leave.

When Jesus returned to the boats and left the region the people there suffered a greater loss than just the pigs. He would do no miracles there. In other places He healed many people and even brought some back from the dead. He would not be feeding thousands on the hillsides or causing the blind to see.  People from the region who had means probably visited Capernaum to hear Jesus speak and to witness the miracles or to be healed of their own ailments; but it did not happen in their own town.

Why the Difference?

The formerly demon possessed man strongly desired to physically accompany Jesus. However, Jesus told him to do something unusual instead. He told the man to follow Him by walking away and becoming an ambassador to the region. When Jesus healed other people He told them to tell no one about what He had done for them; but this time was different. This time Jesus told the man to tell everyone about the miracle and what had happened to him. Why the difference? Jesus encouraged the man to talk about how he was delivered from the demons. I think that the reason was because Jesus was departing from the area at the request of the local leaders. Therefore Jesus would not have the opportunity to speak directly to the people in the region. But this man would be a powerful witness for Him.

In the other circumstances where Jesus performed miracles He told the individuals to remain silent. Their disobedience caused such crowds of people to throng around Jesus and His disciples that the situation became a practical hardship for them to move about freely. The Sea of Galilee is and was only 13 miles across.  People would still have the opportunity to travel across it to hear Jesus in person if they were determined to do so. But  Jesus’ would not be hindered in His movement by the man’s testimony  because Jesus would simply not be in the Decapolis region.  

DEFINITIONS:  Key Greek Words – Removes ambiguity of the Bible text

home:  G3624 oikos  oy’-kos   —  a dwelling, by implication a family

people:  G4675 σοῦ  lam-ban’-ō  — thy, thee

report:  G312 ἀναγγέλλω  lam-ban’-ō  — to announce (in detail)

MY PERSONAL APPLICATION: I encourage you to make your own application and please share it in the comments

I need to be cognizant of my personal resistance to changes in my life, especially when I initially perceive it as a setback. I will more carefully evaluate the proposed changes or those forced upon me and look for the good in them. Change is good provided that it is good change. I will consider that the changes have good in them rather than dismiss them all as bad right away.   

RETURN TO COMMAND

© 2020 Christopher Carlson

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB

Please share a comment, question or perhaps another application for this command of Jesus.