Jesus is so kind, he’ll even say yes to demons if he’s able.
In a scene that could have been cut from The Walking Dead, two demon-possessed men roamed the graveyard, frothing at the mouth and ravaging any poor soul that attempted to visit the tombs. Jesus approached, and the demons went to talking, nervously. The demons apparently knew their gig was up, and they didn’t let Jesus get a word in edgewise. Apparently, they knew that the minute Jesus spoke, it was lights out. So the demons belted out a request. If you’re going to drop the hammer, would you send us into the herd of pigs scavenging the hillside?
Now I could think of a hundred better options than escape via swine, but perhaps when you’re flustered and time’s ticking, you just say the first thing that pops into your mind. I wonder if later, when they regrouped and were licking their wounds, if one demon slapped the other on the head and said, “Seriously? Pigs?”
At any rate, Jesus didn’t hesitate. “Yes. Go.” Into the pigs they went, as they’d asked. My hunch is that his doesn’t happen often, but on this occasion, Jesus answered the prayer of a demon. I wonder if there was a moment, after the herd of pigs went raving mad and hurled themselves off the cliff, that Jesus lamented the sad affair. “I only wish you’d asked for more. I only wish you’d asked for love.”
God’s impulse is yes. Like a doting Father who hates to say no, God will do a yes at every possible opportunity.
Interesting way of looking at that story. I’m going to have to ponder that. My favorite line of this whole post is “God’s impulse is yes. Like a doting Father who hates to say no, God will do a yes at every possible opportunity.”
I like it.
I have wondered lately, what about the swineherds? Did anyone compensate them for their loss? Shouldn’t Jesus have valued their personal property a little more? Or was he so radical that ownership of animals was anathema to him?
My thought on that, Marcy, is if the cattle on a thousand hills are His, then so are the swineherds. Also, didn’t the Jewish people believe that swine were unclean? Jesus allowed them, unclean spirits, to go in to what was unclean. I think the miraculous growth of believers that came from this man, who was once possessed, telling his story more than made up for the loss of the personal property. And, the Bible records they asked Jesus to leave because they were afraid. The peoples of that region, at that time, didn’t believe in Jesus or have any faith. I think Jesus was and still absolutely is quite radical. 🙂 We talked about this very story a couple weeks ago in church from a Jewish perspective. It was fascinating.
Looks like Debra’s got you covered. Since they shooed him out of town, seems like they wanted little to do with him. Who knows what kind of blessings would have come their way if they’d wanted Love to stick around.
One of my favorite accounts in the Bible. Interestingly, the man that was released from demons begged to go with Jesus, but told him to stay and tell everyone how much God had done for him. The equally incredible part of this story is that he did what he was told to do. When Christ returned to the region (Decapolis) He was met by crowds and they recieved Him. The formerly demon possessed man was able to change a region because he came face to face with the Christ, who changes everyone who meets Him.
If God can use a formerly demon possessed man, he can use me.
Thanks Winn, Jesus’s love is uncomprehendible. It overwhelms me.