Our First Commission

Our First Commission

Read: Mark 5:1-20

“Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

Mark 5:19

“The Church has nothing to do but to save souls; therefore spend and be spent in this work.”

—John Wesley

IN WORD Who is the first person in the Gospels whom Jesus commissions to be a witness of His mercy? A disciple who trained with Him for three years? A seminarian of the day? A centurion, government official, or converted Pharisee? No, it was the Gerasene demoniac. The man in whom a legion of evil spirits dwelt. A beastlike creature with superhuman strength who lived among the tombs. The village sideshow.

Children would have been warned by their mothers not to go too close to the cemetery, but they probably went anyway, lurking in the distance to catch a glimpse of him. He was the equivalent of the modern-day haunted house, the village enigma who defied explanation. He defied explanation even more after his encounter with Jesus, as he sat there dressed and calm, in his right mind. He begged to become a disciple, but Jesus called him to be a missionary to his hometown. “And all the people were amazed” (v. 20).

IN DEED We often think we need years of preparation and experience before we are useful to God. We don’t. We often think God needs His witnesses to have sterling reputations. He doesn’t. All that’s required is this: an encounter with Jesus and the will to tell about it. How we complicate things! We study apologetics, we wait for a call, we seek so much direction. These things are helpful, but not prerequisites. Like the ex-demoniac, all we’re asked to do is to “tell them how much the Lord has done” for us. It’s that simple.