Legion Of Chains Series

Second, notice that the people asked Jesus to leave (verse 17). This is one of the most important verses in all of the passage and the most heartbreaking. Jesus has just worked a true miracle against the actual forces of darkness in this region and all He gets for His effort is a thumbs down and a request to leave. He came, He saw, He conquered, and they did not give Him the t-shirt. It seems like the people feared Jesus more than the demons or loved pigs more than people. The townsfolk rejected what Jesus was offering.

We need to understand that not everyone who encounters Jesus will accept Him. Some people will reject Jesus even though they experience Him. Some want their life the way they want it and they don’t want God playing in their sandbox. Some do not want to submit to Jesus as Lord and Savior.

It is heartbreaking when someone we love rejects Jesus. I think it is even more emotional when they accept Jesus for a while and then the struggles of this life or worry or temptation or doubts left untended steal away their faith and they walk away from God. People have a choice to do that. All of us do. Jesus does not force faith on any of us. Jesus could have demanded respect after He healed this man and helped their entire area, but Jesus let them choose. He lets us choose. He lets the people we love choose.

RE-READ MARK 5:18-20 (ESV)

As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with Him. 19 Jesus did not let him, but said, “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.” 20 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.

As the passage closes, we have a stark contrast of begging. Actually, we have had begging the whole time through the passage. The demons begged Jesus not to torture them and asked that they go into pigs. The townspeople beg Jesus to leave their region. Now, in verse 18, the man who had been healed begged to go with Jesus. What a contrast! In response to healing, the town wants Jesus to leave. In response to healing, the man wants to go with Jesus.

We learn several important truths from Jesus’ response:

First, it is the job of every convert to be a disciple that follows Jesus. Our desire as Christians above all else should be to ‘be with Jesus.’ More than one passage in the New Testament commands us to abide in Jesus… to pick up our cross and follow Him… to dwell in His presence… and to follow after Him on the narrow way. That means we deny ourselves and we submit to Jesus as Lord and Savior. That means we spend time with God in prayer, Bible study, discussing Scripture sharpening one another, worshipping, tithing, meditating on God, listening to Christian music, and practicing spiritual disciplines like rest, fasting, and solitude. We should be committed to anything that drives us towards God and allows us and encourages us to spend time with Jesus.

Why spend time with Jesus? Because it is Jesus Who breaks our chains [Essential King Jesus].