What does Mark 5:18 mean?
The once-possessed man wants to follow Jesus, as one might expect. If we can understand men like the apostles wanting to follow Christ, based only on His teachings, how much more would someone be willing to follow Him after being so miraculously rescued? Jesus has another plan in mind, for this man. This plan does, in fact, allow him to spread the good news of Christ's message, but to a different audience than the one Jesus will be seeing in the near future (Mark 5:19).The Bible doesn't explain why Jesus took the disciples across the Sea of Galilee to the Gentile region of Decapolis. Although He was trying to get away from the crowds on the Jewish side, a boat trip all night through a violent storm seems excessive. And unlike in Capernaum, where crowds mobbed Him, looking for healing or gathering around listening to His teaching, Jesus only heals one man and doesn't seem to teach at all.
But this account is consistent with God's heart. In Luke 15, Jesus tells three parables that express the love God has for the lost. The first is of a shepherd who leaves ninety-nine sheep to find the one who is lost. The second is of a woman who loses one of her ten silver coins and scours the house until she finds it. The third is the familiar story of the Prodigal Son. The father has property, wealth, and a responsible, obedient heir, but when his errant younger son returns, he abandons decorum, runs to him, and welcomes him home.
Jesus is both strategic and extravagant in His ministry. He lives on next to nothing, but graciously accepts Mary's gift of expensive perfume poured on His feet (John 12:3). He stops a mob and a synagogue official to address an unclean woman (Mark 5:24–34). And He gladly takes time from the important work of training the future church leaders to bless children (Mark 10:13–16).
To Jesus, there is nothing more natural than traveling all night, healing one man, and getting right back in the boat. He suffered on the cross for our sins, and He has all the time in the world for us. We should respond like this man—being willing to sacrifice everything to follow Him.
