A friend whose son was involved in the Future Farmers of America (FFA) program, spent some time raising hogs. I got to go out to the farm hosting them once and I was amazed. I had never been that close to pigs before, they were really big and strong! One of them was even picking up the metal fence and dropping it with it’s snout.
There was a man who was approached with an opportunity. He lived in the tombs and hills with an evil spirit living in him. The man lived here, alone, because no one could control him. He had been bound physically by a chain, even irons on his feet and no one was strong enough to keep him bound. Instead, this man suffered alone and isolated, cutting himself and crying out. Maybe a temporary physical pain was what he was driven to seek out, to temporarily even momentarily forget his mental and spiritual pain.
Then, the man saw Jesus at a distance. He ran to him and fell on his knees in front of him. Imagine the sweat pouring off of him, running hard with hope in front and fear driving him, collapsing at the feet of Jesus. When he arrived, he shouted – not whispered, not spoke, but shouted, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!”(Mark 5:7). They were reacting to a voice of healing and authority. Jesus had just said, “Come out of this man, you evil spirit!” (Mark 5:8).
Then, Jesus asks the man, “What is your name?” The evil spirit responds “Legion, for we are many.” And again, that man spoke, or rather the evil spirit spoke and begged Jesus again and again not to send them away.
Imagine, here is this man who has been a threat to his home town. His family has worried, grieved, hurt, and even given up on him. He has been alone, living in the hills and among the tombs. A man living, walking among the dead. Stronger than chains of iron, this spirit now throws itself in front of Jesus and pleads for mercy. Jesus didn’t torture this man, he didn’t do anything but be present and his authority, strength, purity, holiness – they were enough in itself to reduce the strong evilness to it’s weakened state.
There is a large herd of pigs on the hillside. They were being kept to go to market. The demons begged Jesus to send them to the pigs. He gave them permission, and the evil spirits left the man and went into the pigs. The herd reacted, around two thousands pigs rushed down the hill and into the lake. They drowned themselves. The people tending the pigs ran off and told them in town what had happened.
The man now is still near Jesus, but without the demons inside of him. I wonder what happened in the time it took for the people to be told in town and come back out to see what had happened. It would have been a rather gory scene, pigs dead – 2000 pigs dead in a lake. The man is now dressed and in his right mind. I’m sure he was scarred and bruised. But, he is now whole, healed by the King of Kings.
The people began to arrive. They saw the man. They saw the pigs. They started to plead with Jesus to leave. Leave! They had just had a miraculous healing, yet they were terrified. Beyond that they were unhappy with the loss of this herd of pigs. The gain of one man’s life and the loss of a large herd of pigs. The gain of one family and the loss of income for perhaps several families. How do they total out? How do they equal one for the other? Does one mean more than the other? Is a miracle something we should be scared of?
The unknown is often very scary, especially when it involves such a dramatic change. I wonder if there were a few voices in the crowd who led the way, creating a mob mentality. The approached Jesus as he was getting into his boat. The man begged him, begged to go back with him. Not asked or pled, but begged. Jesus did not take the man though, instead he said, “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you,” (Mark 5:19).
The man left, he went and told in his home what Jesus had done for him and the people were “amazed.” Amazed, the mob mentality that had led in the moment, it changed to amazement. It changed with the story from the individual, the one who had walked through the dark tortuous days and lived to see the light. From that, many others I’m sure were encouraged, perhaps perplexed, but encouraged.
Do not let those who are focused on the pig market and forget the individual, who speak with the voice of a mob and not the heart of the individual, do not let them discourage you from sharing your story.
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