Verse: Matthew 8:28-34
28 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29 “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”30 Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”
32 He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. 33 Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.
Devotion
What’s more important, pigs or people? Seems like a pretty straightforward question doesn’t it? But for the people living in this town, it was more complicated. The whole town joined together, unified under one request, and came out to meet Jesus. Now, their request could have been, “Jesus, thank you so much, come deliver and heal more of us, save us from our sickness, sin and death!” But instead, it is “Jesus, we don’t approve of how you’ve chosen to bring your Kingdom here on earth, please leave us.” You know the scary thing about this story? It isn’t the demons, or the pigs….it’s the fact that Jesus honors their request to leave.
What could have been for this town? Remember the town from John 4? A Samaritan town nonetheless, who had generations of animosity with Jews. When Jesus speaks words of revelation, truth and healing to the Samaritan woman, it says “the Samaritans came to him, [and] they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. (John 4:40-41).
What a missed opportunity for the Pig Town!
Now we can get distracted in this story. We can wonder, “why would Jesus let the demons go into the pigs? Didn’t that harm the finances of the pig owners? This seems unjust!” But we would be missing the point of the story. The point of the story is (1) demons are always set on killing and destroying, (2) Jesus has power over the powers of darkness, (3) when the Kingdom of God comes on earth, those in bondage to darkness are freed. The story has little to do with the pigs. But if it is a hang up for you, my suggestion is to choose to trust Jesus. Why would Jesus let the demons destroy the pigs? I don’t think the text tells us. There are some speculations out there that I have read, but that is what they are: speculations. What we know to be true from Scripture is that God is just and righteous. If he let the demons go into the pigs, it wasn’t unjust. He had a reason….we just aren’t told. So do we trust him?
Ironically, the reader (you and I) is asked the same question as the people of the town: When God moves in mysterious or powerful ways, will we trust him? Are we more interested in God’s kingdom coming in our lives, or in telling him what that should look like? Are we more interested in his will, or in our will? Or take it another way – are we more interested in people or money? People or our reputation? People or our free time? People or our comfort zone?
To follow Jesus is to be two things first: God and others. This story challenges us. There will be times where for the sake of the kingdom of God we will be asked to sacrifice our “personal pigs” (money, reputation, comfort, entertainment). We may even be asked to obey him without fulling understanding why. Are we willing? Will we be like the Samaritan town who “urged him to stay with them” or like Pig Town who “pleaded with him to leave.” The choice is ours!
Author: Christian Dunn
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