Show Don't Tell: Mark 5:1-20

Instead of saying "Jesus healed the Gerasene demoniac," meet the man in the tombs. They cross to the region of the Gerasenes. When Jesus gets out of the boat, immediately a man with an impure spirit comes from the tombs. He lives among the dead. No one can bind him anymore—not even with chains. He has often been chained hand and foot, but he tore the chains apart, broke the irons on his feet. No one is strong enough to subdue him. Night and day he cries out among the tombs and hills, cutting himself with stones. When he sees Jesus from a distance, he runs and falls on his knees. The demon shouts: "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? In God's name don't torture me!" Jesus asks: "What is your name?" "My name is Legion, for we are many." Two thousand pigs are grazing nearby. The demons beg to go into the pigs; Jesus gives permission. The herd rushes down the steep bank into the lake and drowns. The herders report it; the town comes out. They find the man sitting there, dressed and in his right mind. They're afraid—and ask Jesus to leave. The healed man wants to go with Jesus, but Jesus says: "Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you." He goes and tells his story throughout the Decapolis.