That there was a very large herd of pigs in the area indicated that Jesus had left Jewish districts and had moved to the Gentile area of the Decapolis (5 :20). The main point of the story is to show that Jesus had the power to deal with any number of demons, in fact, with the entire demonic force of evil which Beelzebub was said to have at his command and which was in opposition to the Kingdom of God. This was an important message for the early Church. In contrast to what Jesus had said to Jews whom he healed, he told this man, apparently a Gentile, to return home and witness that the power of God had restored him to sanity and a new life (5: 19-20). The people of that area were terrified about what had happened and asked Jesus to go away (5:17).