The Gadarene (5) - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2025

As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. And He did not let him, but He said to him, "Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you."
Mark 5:18-19

The Gadarene (5)
In this passage about the Gadarene, the Lord Jesus three times was asked for permission to do something. In two cases He said yes, in one case He said no. First, the demons asked Him to send them into the swine, and the Lord allowed them. Second, the people of the region asked him to leave, and that is exactly what the Lord Jesus did: "And they began to implore Him to leave their region" (Mk. 5:17). It is a very serious thing if we ask the Lord Jesus to leave a region. In some way we could perhaps say that, in our Western countries, people have long asked Him to leave them alone. If He "leaves" it is a judgment on such a country.

The Gadarene himself asked that he might accompany Him, to follow Him. That sounds like the only good and sensible request to make. But the Lord said "no." Why not? Because He had something different for him to do. He asked him to go to his house and tell his family how much the Lord had done for him. He should be a witness for the Lord Jesus first in his own family. That is the reason why we are still here: to witness for the Lord Jesus first in our closest relationships, in our own families, telling them how much the Lord Jesus has done for us.

The man did much more than that: "So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him" (Lk. 8:39). Let us simply start in our homes, and with our neighbors and colleagues, and the Lord will very likely widen the area of influence where we can be a witness for Him.

Michael Vogelsang