Jesus' First Evangelist

Scripture: 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." 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. Mark 5:19-20

Observation: The Decapolis was a collection of 10 Roman-controlled, gentile-dominated cities east of the Jordan river. They were not part of Judea at that time. Most were in the area of the trans-Jordan tribal lands, which is today Jordan, and one of them evolved to now be Amman, the modern capital of Jordan.

Here we have a man, healed of demon possession, who begins a ministry of telling everyone in this 10 city region about Jesus. This would have been an area significantly larger than the region of Galilee, and maybe the size of Galilee and the northern part of Judea combined. In other words, from the perspective of territory, this man is about to undertake evangelism on a similar scale of Jesus himself. That is certainly a stretch, of course, but yet this man does without a doubt take the message of Jesus to this primarily gentile territory.

There is a surprising evangelical emphasis here. This early in Jesus' ministry, this unnamed man becomes the first major evangelist, reaching a people-group the disciples would not attempt to reach for years. The existence of a heard of pigs immediately indicates this is not a Hebrew place. The fact this man heads off into a named region implies a major undertaking. And the fact he was sent on this assignment by Jesus is clear. Jesus sends this man to his 'own people' with one simple message ... the Lord, and specifically Jesus himself, has provided for this man and had mercy on him. We see later how this might have played out ... it is near this same place where the feeding of the 5,000 occurs, so perhaps that crowd is the result of this man generating curiosity about Jesus.

Application: When God chooses to act, he does so both decisively and surprisingly. Jesus may have spent less than a day on the east side of Galilee, and in so doing identifies one crazy man to become the biggest single evangelist of his day. His choice of messengers is surprising, and yet logical, as it is a local with a great story to tell.

I wonder where, when, and how I am a local with a story to tell. I wonder what my simple message should be. I would like to be able to start telling my story in an easy way to others, where I am, in order to point others toward curiosity about Jesus. It is probably time for me to start figuring that out.

Prayer: Lord, forgive my slowness in action. You have done so much for me in life! May I have enough faith and humility to tell others of your great mercy and love. Amen.