“Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” (Mark 5:19b)
This was Jesus’ response to a demon-possessed man that He had just cured. And the man obeyed:
So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. (Mark 5:20)
The people were amazed by this man’s story, and who can blame them? He was possessed – not by one demon, which is bad enough, but by many – thus when asked he said “My name is Legion”. This may be a clue as to just how many demons there were – a Roman legion of that time was said to have upwards of 5,000 men.
That would also explain why Jesus allowed the demons to enter a ‘large herd’ of pigs. Maybe it was one demon for every pig… that’s some wicked bacon! The herd of pigs then proceeded to do like lemmings and run off a cliff and drown in the ocean (or as the AM News Radio would say ‘pork bellies are plunging… but I digress…). Jesus cured him, and out of gratitude and worship, the man wanted to follow Jesus wherever He went.
We were also cured – oh sure, most of us may not have been possessed by a herd of swine-murdering demons, but we all were broken and sick. Our great God and Healer made us whole again, and so we should want to follow Him wherever he goes.
This message is for all of us: Go and “tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you”! Go and tell!
#LoveMatters