<p>5:20 <em>And he went his way and began to publish in Decapolis the great things Jesus had done for him, and all men marvelled</em>- This preaching in Decapolis rather than to his family could be read as disobedience. The Gospels are transcripts of the twelve disciples&rsquo; own preaching and obedience to the Lord&rsquo;s commission for them to go into all the world and tell the news of what they had seen and heard of Him. Yet there is a theme in the Gospels, consciously included by the writers and speakers, of men being disobedient to the preaching commission which the Lord gave them. When some were told to say nothing, they went and told many others (Mk. 7:36). And as Acts makes clear, the disciples themselves were disobedient, initially, to the commission to go tell the Gentiles the good news of their salvation. Legion&rsquo;s disobedience is especially instructive for us:</p><div align=center><table border=0 cellspacing=10 cellpadding=0 width=80%>    <tbody>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p><strong>Mk. 5:19</strong></p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p><strong>Mk.   5:20</strong></p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>Go to   your&nbsp;<em>house</em></p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>He goes to the<em>&nbsp;ten cities&nbsp;</em>Decapolis</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>unto your&nbsp;<em>friends </em>relatives</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>He goes   to&nbsp;<em>strangers</em></p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p><em>tell&nbsp;</em>them Lk. 8:39 &ldquo;<em>show</em>&nbsp;them&rdquo;- by   personal demonstration to individuals</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>He &ldquo;<em>publishes</em>&rdquo;</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>how great   things</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>how great   things</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>the&nbsp;<em>Lord i.e. God</em>&nbsp;has   done for you</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p><em>Jesus&nbsp;</em>had done for him</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>and how he had   mercy on you.</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>ignored</p>            </td>        </tr>    </tbody></table></div><p>The record of the commission given him and his obedience to it are clearly intended to be compared. The man went to strange cities, indeed he organized a whole preaching tour of ten cities- rather than going home and telling his immediate friends / family. And how true this is of us. It&rsquo;s so much easier to embark upon a campaign to strangers, to do &lsquo;mission work&rsquo;, to &lsquo;publish&rsquo; the Gospel loudly, rather than&nbsp;<em>tell</em>&nbsp;and<em> show</em>&nbsp;it to our immediate personal contacts. And we notice too how he omits to tell others of the Lord&rsquo;s merciful grace to him personally. Rather does he speak only of the material, the literality of the healing. And he tells others what Jesus had done for him, rather than take the Lord Jesus&rsquo; invitation to perceive the bigger picture in all this- that this was the hand of God. One wonders whether the disciples were commenting upon their own sense of inadequacy in their initial personal witness. The Lord told the cured demoniac to go back to his friends (Mk. 5:19) and family (Lk. 8:39) and witness to them. Clearly enough, the man didn&rsquo;t have any friends- for he had a history of violence and lived alone, many having tried unsuccessfully to bind him due to the grievous harm he must have inflicted upon many. Yet the man went out and preached to the whole area (Mk. 5:20). Was this just rank disobedience to what His Saviour Lord had just told him? Perhaps, due to unrestrained enthusiasm. But more likely is that the man now considered the whole world around him to be his family and friends, and therefore he witnessed to them. His care for others in desiring to witness to them flowed quite naturally from his experience of conversion at the Lord&rsquo;s hands.</p>