Mark 5:14

Mark 5:14 says, And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. After Jesus allowed the legion of demons to enter the swine and the swine killed themselves, the ones that fed the swine went into the city and the country and told what had happened.  They may have been afraid that they would be blamed for the loss of the swine.  For whatever reason they did this, they were sharing the news of the power of Jesus.  Some people today may encounter a miracle and tell others what happened even if they do not really believe in God's power, but if they do, God's power is still being testified to.  Verse fifteen adds, And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. Then verse sixteen continues, And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine.  People came to Jesus to see what was happening and found the man who had been demon possessed sitting, clothed, and in his right mind.  No matter how sinful we may be, if we come to Jesus in faith, He will restore us to spiritual wholeness, and then we need to figuratively sit as His feet and learn from Him. Those who came, instead of celebrating the miracle, were afraid.  If someone who does not believe in God sees a great work of God, they will likely be left afraid.   We often fear that which we do not understand, but as Christians when we see God doing miraculous things we need to give Him our praise and share the news with those around us.  Verse seventeen continues, And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.  The people asked Jesus to leave after they were told what happened to the man and the swine.  They were evidently more concerned for the loss of the swine than they were of the healing of the man, and to many people today seem to be more concerned about what it might cost them materially to follow Jesus than about the miraculous salvation that He provides.  Verse eighteen says, And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him.  Jesus went to a ship to depart when those around Him asked Him to.  If you do not want to be with Jesus, He will not force Himself on you.  As a matter of fact, unless you invite Him into your life, you will never benefit from His death on the cross for you.  Though those who saw the man healed of the legion of demons and the destroyed swine asked Jesus to leave, the man himself prayed, or asked Jesus, if he could go with Him.  We should always want to be close to Jesus, but we cannot just spend all our time seeking what we think is the best way to do this.  We must ask God what He wants us to do instead of asking Him to endorse what we want to do.  Verse nineteen adds, Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.  Jesus didn't allow the man to go with Him, just as we may at times be told no when we have a plan to serve God in a particular way or place.  Jesus told the man to go home and tell his friends what Jesus had done for him.  We need to start where we are and tell people about the great things God has done for us because we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord.  Verse twenty continues, And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel. The man went to Decapolis and told the people there what Jesus had done for him, and they marveled at what Jesus had done.  We are not told if they accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord or not, but the man had done what Jesus asked Him to do.  That is all we can do as well.  We may not have been as demon possessed as this man, but we were all sinners when we encountered Jesus, and our salvation when we put our faith in Him is no less marvelous, and we should tell everyone about our salvation experience.