Saved and Cursed
Life is all about setting priorities.
When he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way. Suddenly they shouted, "What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?" Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them. The demons begged him, "If you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine." And he said to them, "Go!" So they came out and entered the swine; and suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water. The swineherds ran off, and on going into the town, they told the whole story about what had happened to the demoniacs. Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood. - Matthew 8:28-34
In today's reading, we have a whole town that is content living with demons.
At the edge of town, swineherds are living and working in fear of the demoniacs who make it impossible to pass, and yet, in the end, they would rather live that way than pay the price of having them gone.
Their livelihood was dependent upon the pigs they raised, and when they had to sacrifice their livelihood for safety, they revolted, chasing Jesus away, as if he, in saving them, cursed them.
How many of us would like to get rid of the annoyances in our lives, but are not willing to pay the price?
The herders of pigs either had to start over. But that isn't what they wanted. And it wasn't Jesus who came up with the idea to have the demons go into the swine. It was the demons themselves who chose that end.
So, the demons were the ones who took away the livelihood of the town, not Jesus.
Yet they cast Jesus out.
When it comes to making choices, we are sometimes so clouded in our thinking that we don't see the truth. The town was living in fear, but they had come to accept that. They held the key to solving their problem but they didn't want to make the sacrifice, so they lived with the problem.
When given a chance to start over, they grew angry, wanting to go back to what they had.
They couldn't see the potential for a new life.
Maybe that is what Jesus wants us to see in this story. Sometimes we have to give up what we have to have a better life. And that is hard to do.
More to come...