Mark 5:14-20, Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon Part 2

14 The herdsmen fled [in fear] and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. [Was this Jesus’ plan all along to gather a larger crowd?] 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind [at peace with himself and his God], and they were afraid. [Why would they be afraid? Because the “natural” order they were used to was being upended by the supernatural.] 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. [Why did they want him to depart? Likely for purely economic reasons. The healing of the man came with an economic cost. We suffer the same dilemma today when it comes to healing when it upends the order to which we have become accustomed.] 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” [The people ask Jesus to go—and he did, never to return to that area—while the man begs to remain with Jesus. Jesus leaves the man behind, hoping he will be a better or different kind of witness to these hard-hearted people.] 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. [Is this man now a disciple of Jesus? Look at the length of Mark’s story (20 verses) versus Matthew’s (7 verses). What could be the reasons Mark’s account is longer than Matthew’s? One is that Peter was there with Jesus and gives Mark a fuller account. The other could very well be that Matthew chose to shorten Mark’s account because he wrote his gospel after Mark! While no one can prove this, it can be exciting to theorize.]