Return to Thine Own House (Mark 5:19-20; Luke 8:39)

2023-12-19

Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him. (Luke 8:39)

Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel. (Mark 5:19-20)

The man with the Legion was delivered from a life of demon worship and possession, fascination with death, and self-harm. The first thing he wanted to do was follow Jesus to wherever He was going. In this case, the Lord told the man, now cleaned up from his destructive life, to go home. He would meet his friends and family who immediately would spot the difference. He was clothed and sane, with no need for shackles, no longer interested in the graveyard, and no longer harming himself.

What was the difference? The difference had to be supernatural. This man used to be sold out to the devil. Now all he talked about was a man named Jesus Christ.

Like Levi, he went to his friends and family and told them about Jesus Christ. Luke tells us that he went out to the whole city; Mark says that he even went to the larger metropolitan area. While the swineherds were telling how Jesus ruined their livelihood, this man demonstrated the miraculous power of a changed life. “...and all men did marvel.”

The man was not asked to give a theological discourse or an apologetic defense on Christ’s deity. Just “tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.” Clearly, we are to be like this man. Clearly, the world should see the difference.