Mark 5:17

New Living Translation

And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone.

For Meditation

Wherever Jesus went, the crowd followed and demanded more of His teachings, healings, deliverances, and miracles. They left no room for Him to rest in solitude. They came to Him from everywhere when they heard about His miraculous healings (Mark 1:45) because what He did was new to them (2:12). Amazed, everybody brought their sick and demon-possessed to Him for healing and deliverance (6:56). Some pressed through the crowd to touch the hem of His garment for healing (5:27-28). Others climbed trees to see Him because of their diminutive stature (Luke 19:2-4). 

One time, Jesus engaged a Samaritan woman at a well at Sychar and stunned her with His absolute knowledge of her life. She reported to her town folks and brought everybody out to meet Him. What they heard ministered to them so much that they begged Jesus to stay with them. He stayed with them for two days and won many disciples (John 4:4-41). 

Why did the Gaderenes ask Jesus to depart their region after witnessing the deliverance of the demoniac who had been tormented for so long (Mark 5:17)? 

People lose their sense of reason when Jesus touches their economies. The rich ruler walked away from Jesus, sad and dejected because he had great wealth (Luke 18:23). 

How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God (24), Jesus said.

When the Gaderenes rushed from the towns and countryside to see the delivered demoniac, one would have expected them to be delighted and praising God for His mercy and grace. But, no! Jesus had touched their economy by drowning their pigs in the lake. They had lost their livelihood and couldn’t care less for the delivered demoniac. Money was their bloodline, and they would not substitute it for Jesus and what He had for them.

It is the same today, even among professing Christians. Touch our checkbook, and you might not like what you will hear. Someone has said that the checkbook is the best measure of our Christianity; it is true. 

People can look pious but cannot sacrifice their wealth to lift Jesus when it matters. The world cannot give Jesus a hearing and a place in their lives because they are too wealthy to lose it for the kingdom of God. Unfortunately, they have a limited choice: Jesus or their money.

So, what will you do should the Lord call you away from your lucrative job or business when you still have a young family? Will you give whatever He lays His hand on for a worthy cause in society, like feeding and sheltering the underprivileged, for His kingdom agenda? What if your pigs drown because Jesus sent some demons into them? What will you give away for His kingdom’s sake?