There’s a curious exchange between Jesus and the man who had the legion of demons driven out from him at the expense of a large herd of pigs. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with Him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return home and tell how much God has done for you’ (Luke 8:38).
There’s every indication that he is committed and sincere about following Jesus, and certainly his life has been transformed. Yet he is turned down and told to go back home. Why?
Perhaps it is because Jesus has something better in store: to return to his own people – those who have known him all his life – with his unique testimony of God’s transforming power. A life transformed within a community is a powerful witness; it has a credibility and immediacy that is hard to deny.
