Mark 5:18-20 (NIV): As Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 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.
The demoniac is a good illustration of how a mustard-seed beginning (Mark 4:30-32) can produce abundant fruit. No one would have many expectations of this man who had fallen so far, who had lost so many years through being enslaved by the legion of demons. It would have been very understandable if, after being delivered, the people’s only expectation for him would be that he would live a quiet and NORMAL life among them.
The man himself had no great aspirations at this point, either. All he knew was that Jesus had freed him, so he wanted to go with Jesus wherever He was going; to serve Him and learn from Him; to devote the rest of his life to Him. But Jesus did have plans and aspirations for this man: “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” Jesus had harvested the crop of this man’s life, bringing him into the kingdom of God, and now He was giving those seeds back to the man to be planted, reinvested, so that more people, even among the gentiles, would be able to turn to Jesus.
But the man did even more than Jesus commanded. He told his family; but he was so passionate about what Jesus had done for him that he went all over the whole Decapolis (the “Ten Cities” region east of Galilee), telling his story of captivity and freedom to anyone who would listen. As he shared his own story, he was planting the next crop of seeds, some of which found a place in good-soil hearts, and started growing toward eternal life.
Three things are significant. First, it was the man’s gratitude for freeing him that motivated the man’s devotion to Jesus, and that drove him to share his story, not just with his family, but with those throughout the whole area. Second, Jesus told the man to tell people how much “the Lord” had done for him. The man’s testimony was “how much JESUS had done for him.” Even at this stage of his spiritual life, even as a gentile, this man had already placed himself under the lordship of Jesus, obeying Him to the fullest extent. And finally, this man needed no seminary classes, or even evangelism classes to be effective in sharing his faith with many others. The core of his “gospel presentation” was simply “how much Jesus had done for him.” It wasn’t theologically deep, perhaps, but it was passionately personal every time he told it.
In a nutshell, that is the core of evangelism for every single Christian: obeying Jesus’ command to go and tell our story, a passionate, personal, first-hand experience of how Jesus set us free. Powerful theology may sway a few, but a personal experience of life transformation is always compelling, as this man’s story illustrates: “And all the people were amazed.”
Father, we really do make it more complicated that it needs to be. How many of us have taken evangelism classes and workshops galore, but are still hesitant to tell others about Jesus because we “don’t know enough”! But it has always been the story of how much the Lord has done for me that is the core of my testimony. And I know all that I need to know about that! Like the man born blind, the powerful, passionate testimony of “One thing I do know: I was blind but now I see,” is all that I need to make a powerful impact on the lives of those around me who are spiritually blind, but who long to see, too. Thank You for Your work in my life. Amen.