Tell them what God has done for you
God has always demonstrated great power through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus works great miracles now as He did when He walked and ministered from Jerusalem to Galilee. It’s critical that we proclaim the great and powerful works of Jesus but we must always remember the correct priorities in our testimony. Jesus prioritised the Gospel, how He gave His life to pay for our sin, died and was raised to life according to the Scripture, and promises to forgive, restore and raise those who believe in Him. and to empower them for faithful obedience. Whatever else He’s done, we must go and proclaim that He has done this for us.
Scripture
Luke 8:35-39 ESV Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 36 And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. 37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.
Mark 5:15-20 ESV And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
Bible Study Questions
At the feet of Jesus
After Jesus commanded the numerous demons to leave the man, he was found at peace and at the feet of Jesus. What does it mean that he was at the feet of Jesus?
Luke 8:35-39 ESV Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.
Acts 22:3 ESV “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city, educated at the feet of Gamaliel according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as all of you are this day.
Luke 10:39 ESV And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching.
Made whole, healed, saved
The same Greek word used in Luke 8:36 to indicate that Jesus had healed the man is translated saved in many New Testament references like John 3:17. Is there further evidence in Luke 8:38-39 that the man was saved?
Luke 8:36 ESV And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed.
John 3:17 ESV For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Luke 8:38-39 ESV The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.
Fearful and immeasurable power
While Luke and Mark only concentrate on one of the demon possessed men, Matthew tells us there were two of them. People we so afraid of them that nobody even passed by where they were. The people feared Jesus even more than these demon possessed men when they saw that He had delivered them. Why were they so afraid?
Matthew 8:28 ESV And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way.
Mark 5:16-17 ESV And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 16 And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. 17 And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.
John 18:5-6 ESV They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them. 6 When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
Being with Jesus and declaring His glory
The man who Jesus delivered was desperate to stay with Jesus, but Jesus gave him instructions to go and tell everyone how Jesus had saved him. Why was it especially important for the man to stay and proclaim his testimony in that particular area?
Mark 5:17-20 ESV And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And he did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
Marvelling at Jesus
Mark records that Jesus left the area of the Decapolis as requested but that He later returned. How was the peoples attitude different when He returned?
Mark 5:20 ESV And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
Mark 7:31-32 ESV Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him.
Proclaiming Jesus’ power
Jesus came to preach the good news of the Kingdom of God, the Gospel. When crowds became as intense as they were at His return to the Decapolis He was unable to focus on this objective. and so He asked them not to proclaim the miracles of healing. What did they do?
Luke 4:42-43 ESV And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, 43 but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.”
Mark 7:36-37 ESV And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”
Proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Jesus not only made a priority of preaching the good news wherever He went, but asks us to do the same. What can we learn from this when we are proclaiming what Jesus has done for us?
Mark 16:14-16 ESV Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at table, and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. 15 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.