Jesus of Nazareth: What He Wanted, Who He Was

Many interpreters suppose that this conclusion to the narrative reflects the post-Easter mission in the cities of the Decapolis. The narrative, they say, presumes that the man was a Gentile, and he is now depicted as the first Christian missionary to the Gentile Decapolis. Therefore, following the logic of the narrative, he could not become a disciple in the direct sense, because the disciples of the pre-Easter Jesus were attentive only to Israel.

We may leave open the question whether the man was really a Gentile. In any case, the narrative shows that not everyone was called to be part of the group of disciples. The gospels take account of the possibility that someone, even though he or she wanted to be a disciple, could be sent back to his or her family. But that does not in any way mean that such a person was unimportant to the Jesus movement. The healed man of Gerasa will become a proclaimer of Jesus precisely in his circle and even perhaps prepare for the later mission. He will become a participant in the story of Jesus.

Apparently there were—like the healed Bartimaeus and the possessed man from the region of Gerasa—a good many other temporary companions around Jesus, those who “went with” or sympathized with him. They were not disciples in the strict sense. Nothing is said about their receiving a formal call to discipleship of Jesus. And yet they were important for the new thing beginning in Israel with Jesus.

Resident Members of the Jesus Movement

Bartimaeus accompanied Jesus from Jericho to Jerusalem. But there were many others who were never on the road with him and yet were indispensable for Jesus’ work: for example, the Lazarus household. According to the Gospel of John there was a very affectionate relationship between Jesus and the family of Lazarus: Jesus and Lazarus were friends (John 11:3). When Lazarus died, Jesus wept on the way to his tomb (John 11:35). The household of Lazarus, which was in Bethany, must have been a kind of support station for Jesus on the road to Jerusalem. But nowhere is it said that Lazarus belonged among Jesus’ disciples or followers.

Obviously Jesus’ circle included families of friends like that of Lazarus and his sisters whose houses were always at Jesus’ disposal. There were many men and women in Israel who listened to Jesus and placed their hopes in him, supported him and sympathized with him. But they were not among the disciples in the strict sense. They did not follow Jesus in his unstable itinerant life but remained at home. We can therefore call them “resident” adherents of Jesus. Foremost among them were those who took Jesus and his disciples into their houses overnight. As we have already seen, Jesus often did not know during the day where he would be staying at night.

This situation is illuminated strikingly by a little scene taking place on the road to Jerusalem. Jesus has sent out messengers to seek lodging for himself and his disciples in a Samaritan village, but Jesus is not received there because he is on the way to Jerusalem (Luke 9:51-56). That was by no means an innocuous thing. Josephus tells how, during the time of the Procurator Ventidius Cumanus (48–52 CE), Galilean pilgrims were traveling through Samaritan territory on their way to Jerusalem for a festival. They were attacked by the Samaritans, and one of the pilgrims was murdered.⁸

The danger to which Jesus and his disciples were constantly exposed is also reflected in the mission discourse.⁹ As we have already seen, the disciples, sent out deliberately without means or weapons, are meant to be distinguished from the armed Zealots. For that very reason, after they have been on the road all day, they need hosts for the evening. They need people who will provide meals for them and give them shelter and protection for the night.

But entry into strangers’ houses is not only about a roof over the head and security for their own lives; it is equally, in fact more, about gaining new people for Jesus’ message. The houses into which the disciples enter should become bases for the gathering of Israel. A network of houses into which eschatological peace has entered is to spread over the whole land. In this way a living basis comes into existence, one that will sustain the disciples’ work of proclamation. Jesus’ immediate followers, those who travel with him throughout Israel, and those among his adherents, friends, and sympathizers who remain tied to their own homes augment and sustain each other, offer mutual support and help, and so constitute an inseparable, organic whole.