Mark 5:14
And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done.
The keepers had seen the swine drown and the two men restored to sanity, and they fled to the city and the country to report the loss to the owners and the people, and their report of both the destruction and the healing brought a crowd out to see what had been done. Those who came cared more for the loss of the herd and their property than for the deliverance of the two men, and fearing further financial loss they treated His visit of mercy as unwelcome and asked Him to leave. The destruction of the swine was meant to turn the people away from Him and keep them from hearing His words. Even so, what was meant to repel them instead stirred the whole region, drew attention to Him, and prepared the way for the gospel to be heard there. The healed men remained after His departure as witnesses, telling their households and neighbors and going throughout Decapolis declaring His saving power and how He had freed them, becoming the first missionaries to that region.
Setting and Report
Jesus had crossed to the eastern shore of Gennesaret, a sparsely populated and largely non-Jewish region where He sought solitude, yet people followed Him there in boats. The nearby city was Gadara, a prosperous and partly Gentile city set above the lake, and the events of this verse belong to the surrounding country about it. The healing at Gadara took place just before He returned to where Jairus met Him to ask healing for his dying daughter.
The keepers had witnessed both the drowning of the swine and the two men restored to sanity. Having to account for the loss, they fled to the city and the country to report to the owners and to the people. Their report spread news of both the destruction of the herd and the healing of the men. That report brought a crowd out from the city and countryside to see what had been done.
Response, Rebuke, and Witness
The keepers' flight to the city and country brought a crowd out to see what had been done, but those who came cared more for the drowned herd than for the two men restored to reason, valuing property loss above the blessing of their deliverance. From fear of further financial loss they treated this visit of mercy as unwelcome, asking Him to depart and driving Him away. The destruction of the swine had been intended to turn the people away from Him and keep them from hearing His words, and in that rejection its purpose was for the time served. Yet what was meant to turn them away instead stirred the whole region and drew attention to Him, opening the way for the gospel to be heard there and preparing the region to hear the message of salvation.
The permission of the destruction was a rebuke to those who were raising unclean animals for gain, while His restraint of the demons protected the keepers and owners from greater harm and kept them from being destroyed as well. Though He departed, the healed men remained behind as witnesses, and their testimony interested the people in Him and His salvation. In obedience to His command they told their households and neighbors what had been done, then went throughout Decapolis declaring His saving power and how He had freed them from demons. They became the first missionaries to teach the gospel there, though they had heard no sermon and could only tell what they had seen and heard and experienced of Him. The account stands as an example of power to restore the afflicted and encourages the sick to hope for cure, for at His word the madness left the demoniac and he worshiped Him.