One With a Mental Illness
Mark 5:1-13; 18-20
The Argument of the text:
Question to Guide the Lesson
Mental illness is Real
Key Verse: Mark 5:20
Following the extended description of the demoniac in vv. 3–5, the action resumes in v. 6. The demoniac takes the initiative, running to Jesus and then prostrating himself before him. The action of running itself, something no elder or person of rank or authority would do, demonstrated a lack of regard for dignity and propriety. The verb to “fall down before” him is jarring in this context. It is surprising following the description in vv. 3–5 and suggests nothing of the conflict that will follow. The verb proskynein is a compound verb (“to kiss” + “before”) and means to fall on one’s knees or face before a superior or a deity “to express in attitude or gesture one’s complete dependence on or submission to a high authority figure” or “to welcome respectfully.” Interestingly enough, in the New Testament, where the term appears frequently in the Gospels and Revelation but almost never in the epistles, “the object is always something—truly or supposedly—divine.”5 Falling on one’s face before one who has just stepped on your shores would be an appropriate way to welcome a conqueror.
The man’s request echoes the commissioning of the disciples: he asks to “be with” Jesus (cf. 3:14). Jesus has other plans for the man, however. Having a Gentile disciple would no doubt have provoked further hostility when Jesus was in Jewish communities. Instead, Jesus sends the man to his home and to his “friends” (5:19 NRSV), or to his own people, to tell them “how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.” The title “Lord” sounds strange here on the lips of Jesus. It echoes the early Christian confession, “Jesus is Lord.” The recounting of what the Lord has done and how great is God’s mercy is a recurring theme in the Old Testament (Exod 33:19; Rom 9:15–18), suggesting the conclusion that Jesus’ mighty acts reveal that he is the Lord and that the redemptive acts of God in the history of Israel are now continuing in him. The command to “go” is Jesus’ characteristic instruction to those who have experienced his deliverance (1:44; 2:11; 5:34; 7:29; 10:21, 52; 16:7). The command to go and tell, however, is curiously inconsistent with Mark’s emphasis on the “messianic secret,” which is suggested by Jesus’ pattern of telling others not to tell anyone about what he has done (e.g., 1:34, 44; 3:12; 7:36). Going and announcing what the Lord has done echoes the mission language of the early church (Acts 15:27; 26:20). Verse 20 presents three significant differences in the language of v. 19: (1) having been sent to “tell” (apangeilon) he began to “proclaim” (kēryssein), which is one of the functions of a disciple (1:14, 38, 39, 45; 3:14; 6:12; 7:36; 13:10; 14:9); (2) having been sent to his home and his own, he went to the Decapolis, the region named for its ten prominent Gentile cities [The Decapolis]; and (3) having been instructed to tell what “the Lord” had done for him, he preached what Jesus had done. In effect, Mark justifies the Gentile mission by tracing it to Jesus himself. If Mark’s community was located in a Gentile area or was predominantly Gentile, one can understand the importance of this point. It gives his Gentile readers a place to find themselves in the “gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God” (1:1; cf. 13:10). Not only is the demoniac restored, but Jesus’ great mercy also transforms the Gentiles from pigs and scorned outcasts to persons to be included in the good news of the kingdom.
Key Points
to make public declarations, proclaim aloud
to be extraordinarily impressed or disturbed by someth., act.