Beached Pigs of Change

In the gospel of Mark there is a story of Jesus and His disciples going over to the land of the Gadarenes and a demoniac running straight at them just as soon as they got there. The man was very strong and had even broken chains that had bound him in the past. He would cut himself all the time, too. And what better place for the demons to take him than to the tombs to live in misery. But the demons feared Jesus and asked Him a favor. They wanted to be spared and to be cast into a heard of about 2000 swine. Once out of the man, he was perfectly fine and free, and wanted to always stay with Jesus, but the pigs, oh my! They all ran down a steep bank and right into the sea of Galilee and drowned!

The first point that I want to note is that the people of the place were not appreciative of Jesus coming there and asked Him to leave. After all, He had just sent a herd of livestock to their unprofitable death. But those pigs demonstrated God's power to those people for quite a long time. Can you imagine how the stench prevented people from enjoying the water for some time? Nobody wanted to fish there because of the stench of beached pigs. But every time someone saw the pigs (or smelled them) they probably thought about what had happened to the demoniac, replaying the story over in their minds. This man Jesus did something in five minutes that they hadn't been able to do in all those years of trying.

The second point is that the demons didn't want to leave the country. They obviously were succeeding in their objectives there. Not that it matters on an eternal scale, but these people that were raising pigs were not living the kosher life of the Jews, so they probably were Gentiles. What good would the demons do if they killed the herd of pigs? Well, for one thing, tormenting pigs would not progress their battle for men's souls. They probably killed the pigs to torment the pig owners and to be freed up to possess others who did not have God's protection. The land of the Gadarenes was a choice place for demons, and I wonder if they were assigned that particular area to subdue. No matter how ominous these demons were though, they were and will never be a formidable foe of Christ. He has given us, the redeemed of the Lord, His power in the fullest.

We who now can spiritually see know that we were like this man. The sacrifice that God's Son Jesus Christ freely made once and for all, is still enough to forgive anyone who cries out for forgiveness and mercy. Even if we were not possessed we were on a dark road that only took us to death and destruction. Sin, although it offers the illusion of control, was indeed our master, and we did its bidding. But thanks be to God our Saviour for buying us out from that which was death and transforming us into new creations through His mercy, forgiveness, and love.

--Johnie