5:1And they came over unto the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gadarenes.
5:2And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
5:3Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:
5:4Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.
5:5And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.
5:6But when he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshipped him,
5:7And cried with a loud voice, and said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not.
5:8For he said unto him, Come out of the man, thou unclean spirit.
5:9And he asked him, What is thy name? And he answered, saying, My name is Legion: for we are many.
5:10And he besought him much that he would not send them away out of the country.
5:11Now there was there nigh unto the mountains a great herd of swine feeding.
5:12And all the devils besought him, saying, Send us into the swine, that we may enter into them.
5:13And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.
5:14And 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.
5:15And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.
5:16And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine.
5:17And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts.
5:18And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him.
5:19Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.
5:20And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel.
The nets are already being washed. That detail puts the command after the night's work, when the fishermen have moved from trying to catch something to clearing up the evidence that they did not. Simon states the result plainly and then obeys a word that does not arise from his own experience of the water. The boat first serves as a place of teaching; then its owner receives a demonstration that nearly overloads it.
The abundance produces an unexpected response. Simon does not ask Jesus to become a permanent business partner. He falls at his knees and names his own sinfulness. The catch has disclosed more than an exceptional knowledge of where fish gather. Jesus answers the fear without granting the requested departure, and the language of fishing becomes the language of a new vocation. James and John are not decorative figures at the edge of the scene: their partnership has already been needed to bring the catch in. The closing departure is therefore particularly sharp. They do not leave because the lake has finally failed them. They leave after a catch large enough to threaten both boats.