In Luke 8:26-39, we read about Jesus driving the Legion of demons out of a man and into a herd of pigs. Verses 38-39 say,

“Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away saying, ‘Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.’ And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.”

Then, in the same chapter (verses 40-56) Jesus went to Jairus’ house and raised his daughter from the dead. Verses 55-56 say,

“Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat. And her parents were astonished, but He charge them to tell no one what had happened.”

(As if none of the mourners or great crowd of people waiting outside would not notice that the little girl was alive?)

My question is, why did Jesus forbid some people from telling what He did for them, and command others to go and proclaim it? I pondered this for several days and I’d like to share my thoughts on a possible explanation.

The people on the side of the Galilee where the demon possessed man lived were Gentiles. They saw Jesus’ miracle and were afraid of Him. They had no trouble believing in His abilities. I’m sure they had never seen anyone who could do what Jesus did, so they asked him to leave out of fear. Jesus knew He would have no more opportunities to minister in their area, thus He left the cleansed man behind to testify of Him and His works.

On the other side of the sea was where the Jews lived. His own people saw His miracles every day and heard His preaching every week, yet when He came to raise the dead girl, the Bible says that they ridiculed Him because they knew she was dead. They did NOT believe He could do anything else, even though they had already seen miracle after miracle.

So, I think Jesus’ one reason for the command to proclaim or not to proclaim the news about His works was in reaction to how the people believed in His miracle working power.

Do we, too, seem to get desensitized to the ability of the power of God to work in our midst that we are a hindrance to His ability to perform miracles? I pray not! Let us believe and not doubt that He can do even greater things than these through us as we yield ourselves to His mighty hand. Don’t give up believing for miracles. Don’t stop praying for the Lord to work on your behalf. And do tell! Start proclaiming by faith all the good things that you are trusting the Lord to do for you today and look expectantly for the answers to come. Then be sure to tell everyone what great things the Lord Yeshua has done for you.

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