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Mark 5:1–20
“[The man who had been demon-possessed] went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled” (v. 20).
Even under the old covenant, God’s intent to include the gentiles in His blessed kingdom of salvation should have been plain to Israel. We have looked at three important passages from the Old Testament that highlight the inclusion of gentiles in the Lord’s saving purposes (Gen. 12:1–3; Josh. 2; Ps. 67), and these texts are but a few of the places where the Old Testament reveals that God called and blessed Israel in order to direct the gentiles to faith in Him. Sadly, however, we also know that old covenant Israel did not always live up to its calling to be a beacon of God’s truth to the nations. In fact, the old covenant community frequently lived no differently from its pagan neighbors, resulting in the Jews’ exile from the promised land (2 Kings 17; 25). Yet exile was not the end of the story. God promised to restore the good fortunes of Israel, adding the gentiles to His covenant people as well (Isa. 9:1–7; 60:1–3; 66:18–21).
The New Testament explains that Jesus brings about the true return of God’s people from exile. Matthew 4:12–17, for example, says that Jesus’ ministry in Galilee fulfills the promise in Isaiah 9:1–7 that after the exile, God would send a new King to rule over His people. In the sending of that King, gentiles living in the region of Galilee would see a great light, that they would perceive God’s truth of salvation.
In today’s passage, we read about the outworking of Isaiah’s prophecy more specifically in the salvation of a gentile who lived near Galilee in the northeastern portion of the promised land. Mark 5:1–13 recounts the well-known healing of the Gerasene demoniac, a man who suffered under demonic possession in the region of the Gerasenes, east of the Sea of Galilee. The man was possessed by a great many demons (v. 9), and the presence of pigs nearby when Jesus encountered the man indicates that this was a gentile area. Jews, after all, did not raise pigs, which were unclean under the Mosaic law (Lev. 11:7).
Normally, Jews stayed out of gentile regions so as to avoid ceremonial uncleanness. Jesus, however, ministered there freely because as the perfect God-man, He could make the unclean clean without contracting any uncleanness Himself. Jesus exorcised the demons from the possessed gentile man, though the local populace did not appreciate our Lord’s saving work. The healed man could not help but praise God for His salvation, going forth to the Decapolis, a loose confederation of ten gentile cities, to proclaim what Jesus had done (Mark 5:14–20).
Coram Deo Living before the face of God
Jesus’ earthly ministry was conducted primarily among the Jews. As we see in today’s passage, however, our Lord also ministered to the gentiles. His work among them fulfilled Old Testament prophecy, and as the new covenant church, we get to participate with Him in His mission to the world. As we pray for the nations and give funds to send the gospel to them, we are being used by God in His mission to the world.
For further study
- Jonah 3
- Malachi 1:11
- Matthew 8:28–34
- Mark 7:24–30
The bible in a year
- Job 13–15
- Acts 8:26–40