He begged Jesus to not go home, that he would rather be with him. Jesus instructed him to go home.
In the story of the Gadarene demonic (Scripture below), Jesus delivers a man who had a legion of demons. So many of them that when they were cast out, 2000 pigs raced to their deaths in the lake. The man was freed. Life was good. And he wanted nothing more to be with Jesus. But Jesus said to him that he would be best at home.
This story makes me pause for not the most righteous reasons. Seriously. When Jesus sends the demons into the 2000 pigs and they all die, I think first and foremost of the farmer. That was crazy, ridiculous wealth. And it was all gone in an instant. It truly shows the value of a man over that of all else.
Also it wasn’t Jesus who killed them. It was the demons. The demons brought the death to the pigs. The nature of demons is death and destruction, even for animals they inhabit.
There’s also something in here that touched me. The screams and agony of the demon-possessed man. I don’t believe it was just demons. But also
The agony of being alone.
The agony of the torment of emotional pain he likely felt from the abuse of others.
The agony of regret.
His whole life was nothing but misery and heartache and pain. Likely he got into that state not only because of rebellion but because of deep hurt that led him down a dark road instead of the road of forgiveness.
But then Jesus met him. Jesus restored him. And he was back to normal in his right mind.
I’m sure he didn’t want to be with the townspeople or any family members. He knew how they treated him prior to this demon possession and even during it. The hurt would have been awful. Not only that but the humility as people would stare at him, talk about him, and he would forever be “that one guy who was demon-possessed.”
There was much to forgive.
There was a humility to embrace.
There was a shame to overcome.
I was thinking of that guy this morning. How he probably got into the state he did because he hurt the heart of the LORD deeply and opened the way of the demons into his soul. I’m sure he felt how deeply he had been hurt by others, but maybe early on not so much how he had hurt the heart of God.
It’s always like that.
We feel the pain of someone who has hurt us. We barely feel the pain of those we hurt.
But Jesus had mercy.
The man was delivered.
He was free now.
And the grace and mercy he had now been given, Jesus wanted him to give to the townspeople. He was going to need to extend them grace and mercy for how they had treated him. Just as Jesus had granted him mercy.
This is the life of the followers of Jesus. To give away what has been given to us.
It’s why Jesus told him to go home. Perhaps the 2000 demons inside of him were not nearly as difficult as dealing with the townspeople. Forgiving them. Being merciful to them. And sharing with them what he himself had been given.
I haven’t researched it myself, but I have been told that the next time Jesus came to the area, the people were open. That wasn’t the case when Jesus had healed the man. The initially had asked him to leave the area. And he did.
It’s likely the fruit and labor and work of the formerly demon-possessed man had changed their hearts. His preaching mattered. His work opened the hearts of the people to the Lord.
And now their eyes were open and their hearts were open to receive Jesus.
It mattered that this man went home.
And did exactly what Jesus told him to do.
Tell others of the mercy and grace of God.
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They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when Jesus had stepped out of the boat, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit. 3 He lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. 6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him. 7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he was saying to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion, for we are many.” 10 And he begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, 12 and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.
14 The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed[c] man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 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[d] to depart from their region. 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.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.