Mark 5:13-14
Have
you ever wished or prayed for something, and then when it happened it wasn’t at
all what you expected? It was what you had expressed in your wish or prayer,
but when you expressed the desire of your heart you hadn’t realized all that
having this particular end result would entail. You hadn’t thought about all
the other things that would be affected when it came true. You hadn’t looked at
the affect on your relationships, your bank account, your work environment,
your family. All you could see was the pain and you wanted it to go away.
Our
text has just such an outcome. The demons inside this man have had a place to
hang out for years. They have had the run of the place. They were in charge. But
that rule is challenged in an instant when Jesus’ boat pulls up on shore. They
know judgment has arrived on their sand and they want some way of wiggling out
of the inevitable turn of events.
Jesus
takes charge and they try to get Jesus to stop the proceedings, to go into a
recess, to give them time to think. But Jesus has one thing in mind: bringing
freedom to this man who has been in agony. The demons have wrecked his whole
being, body, mind and soul. Jesus wants to bring freedom to his whole being. They
don’t want to give up control. They are in such a hurry to keep some semblance of
control that they look around and see the pigs, a whole heard of pigs. There is
lots of empty space over there. We could each have a room to ourselves! No more
standing in line for the bathroom. No more bossy relatives. No more having to
do what someone else wants. I can be on my own. I can remain in charge.
But
what they hadn’t counted on was Jesus’ full knowledge of what would happen if
they entered the pigs. I am sure they didn’t count on the pigs staging a full
walkout, closing down the pork chop assembly line. But of course Jesus knows
the future. And Jesus has a plan.
Jesus
plan includes not only deliverance for this one man filled with the demons, but
a radical opportunity for that whole part of the land. He knows that when the
pigs run off the cliff those tending the pigs will become a new PR firm. The
public relations campaign that begins that day affects tens of thousands of
people in that whole region. In places that had not heard the name of Jesus and
the power of God that was demonstrated, suddenly hear of this man who has
authority that only God possesses.
The
shift workers run in to management and report the workplace accident. They were
following all the appropriate workplace policies and procedures, but then the
unprecedented happened. The whole line malfunctioned at once. They lost the
whole run. And all the equipment was destroyed in the process. All the pigs ran
off the cliff. This year’s crop and all the breeding stock run off the cliff
together.
When
those being told hear the news, they have to see it for themselves. They want
to make sure the shift hasn’t perpetrated some kind of heist in the middle of
the night and made off with their profit. They want to see the dead pigs for
themselves. When they arrive I am sure they can see the paths through the vegetation
next to the cliffs where the 2000 pigs ran. And then they look over the cliff
and there are the pigs, smashed to death at the bottom.
Now
I know I have used my imagination to fill in details, but doesn’t that sound
like what could have happened? I know I would want to see how my 401k went
belly up and hold the appropriate people accountable.
Not
at all what the pigs had expected. They are suddenly without a home, just what
they feared would happen when Jesus showed up. And Jesus has created a situation
that guarantees news of His authority gets broadcast to thousands who haven’t
heard.