In the Gospel of Mark chapter 5 we read two stories. In one story we read that Jesus heals a demon-possessed man and in the other story we read that Jesus heals a woman and raises a girl from the dead. Both stories have something in common. After Jesus does something incredible he gives people instructions on what they should do. The instructions are if they should share what he has done with others or not.
At the beginning of chapter 5 we read that Jesus travels from the northwest side of the lake to the east side of the lake. The difference in locations here is key. The place that Jesus is at in the beginning of chapter 5 is somewhere in the region of Galilee. We don’t know for sure but we know they traveled to the other side and ended up in the region of the Gerasenes. Also known as the Decapolis. This is a region full of people that were not Jewish.
In the first story he casts out thousands of demons from one man and tells the man to go share this news with everyone. “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.” Jesus is telling this man, who has just been given his life back, to go share it with his people. In this story he is in the Decapolis, a non-Jewish region.
In the second story he tells everyone that saw him raise a girl from the dead to keep quiet about it. He tells them not to go tell this message to anyone else. In this story he is back in a Jewish region.
So why does Jesus tell the non-Jewish man to tell everyone he knows about him but he instructs the Jewish people to keep quiet?
I believe Jesus does this because the heart condition of the people sharing his message matters.
The Jews would have taken what Jesus did and their hearts would have turned it into something its not. The Pharisees would probably want to kill him for making them look bad. The people would want to follow him because he can raise the dead. I wonder if the Jews in that room would have kept it a secret and thought about what it means for Jesus to actually be the Messiah, would it be possible that what they witnessed may have had a bigger impact on their hearts? Jesus is not about fame and power in the way most Jewish leaders were. This paints a brand new picture of the Messiah for those particular witnesses. He probably wanted this message to grow in their hearts before the thorns of the Pharisees choked it out in public.
On the other hand Jesus tells the demon-possessed man to share what happened with everyone. There was probably very little in this man’s heart that believed in a Messiah. Or at least he didn’t believe in the Jewish Messiah. The Jewish Messiah would have been exclusive but Jesus wasn't. On that day the demon-possessed man received a message from Jesus that was life changing. He probably thought to himself “my life was like hell but this man has given me a new life”. This is the kind of news that Jesus loves to spread. This is the message of the Gospel, the good news.
The condition of our heart matters when we share the message of Jesus Christ. Let’s never forget that none of us are worthy of the message of Jesus Christ. Not one person who ever lived can claim the message of God’s love like his son. We can only claim the message of life through the redemption of our messed up stories. We don’t deserve it. When our hearts accept the grace of Jesus Christ rather than trying to claim ownership of it we become messengers of His good news.
Is this not the message you want to leave with people? I sure do.
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