Living Room Study

Mark 5

“As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed kept begging Him to be with Him.  But He would not let him go; instead, He told him, ‘Go back home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord had done for you and how He has had mercy on you.’”  Mark 5:18-20

Having left the religious Jewish town of Capernaum, Jesus departed by boat to the “other side” of the Galilee.  Scripture says He did this, because the crowds in Capernaum were growing too large.  The region of the Gerasenes (aka: Gaderenes) was a Gentile region.   

It is important to know that religious Jews did not mix with Gentile communities.  I say this to point out the practical reason for Jesus’ journey to the “other side”.  If you want to be left alone by a huge crowd of religious Jews, the region of Gerasene was a good destination.

Therefore, it cannot be assumed that anyone Jesus interfaced with in the region of the Gerasenes was Jewish.  If there were Jews in the Gerasene region, there would not have been many, and they were by no means religious.  The plain fact that the community was farming of pigs is another strong argument for the absence of Jews.

While the Jews were prejudiced against the Gentiles, we know that Satan wasn’t!  Satan wants to control ALL nations & people groups.  When Jesus and His disciples sailed into town, Demons were tormenting the Gentiles, just as they were tormenting the Jews.  This posed a great opportunity for Messiah to communicate to His disciples: I am ultimately sent to redeem all nations.

“Prejudice” is basically, the “demonization” of a people group.  To undo prejudice, one must “humanize” the object of prejudice.  For His disciples, Jesus was “humanizing” this Gentile, known in scripture as a “demoniac”.  Once the demons had left, what remained was a regular, sociable, likeable guy.  Jesus was breaking down the prejudice of His disciples, preparing them for the “Great Commission”.

As Jesus and His disciples were leaving, the man pleaded with Jesus to let him go with them.  The Shepherd of Israel’s directive for this Gentile was for him to, “Go back home to YOUR OWN PEOPLE”.  Plus, the man evangelized the Decopolis, 10 Greek-influenced Gentile communities.  It’s all further evidence that the man was a Gentile.  Note the difference from Jesus’ directives in Capernaum, where He instructed those He healed to not tell anyone, but to go to the priest and offer the gifts Moses had prescribed.

In a sense, the “former demoniac” acted as a type of “John The Baptist” for the Apostles.  He went ahead of the likes of Paul, preparing the soil of the Gentile mission field, by testifying of all Adonai (the Jewish God) had done for him through His Son, Jesus.

Blessings.

Steve Wiggins