“Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.” – Mark 5:17
Jesus had just healed a man who lived in nearby tombs and was tormented by demons. But as they say, no good deed goes unpunished, especially if Jesus is the One doing the miraculously good deed.
The farmers that day watched in horror as the demons left the man and entered the herd of some two thousands pigs they were tending. I don’t know about you, but seeing two thousand pigs, suddenly possessed by spiritual demons, running to a cliff and jumping into the water below to drown themselves? That would scare me too.
A few minutes later the whole town came to investigate what the farmers had witnessed. The man that had terrorized their town for many years, that ‘crazy guy who lived among the tombs,’ was now sitting at Jesus’ feet and of sound mind and body. We can easily envision the people seeing the man peacefully sitting at Jesus feet, joyfully thanking and worshipping Him.
But this truly joyous call for celebration was immediately met with fear. And not just the natural fear of seeing a Man who had the power to cast out spiritual demons, but probably a financial fear also. Jesus’ miraculous restoration of the man’s mind and soul, however good it may have been, had come at the expense of the farmers who were now looking at a lake full of their dead pigs floating on the surface of the water.
Then and there they begged Jesus to leave their town.
Jesus did as the townspeople had asked. He and his disciples got into their boat to sail back to Galilee on the other side of the lake. Luke, who offers his own account of this same story, continues with telling us what happened next.
“Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed him, for they were all expecting him.” – Luke 8:40
We cannot help but notice the enormous contrast here. Just a few minutes earlier Jesus was being begged to leave, and now the people on the other side of the lake had a joyous welcoming party for Him. They couldn’t wait to see Him and “were all expecting Him.”
If Jesus came back to earth just to spend one afternoon in our community healing the sick, I wonder what our reception would look like. Would we fall at His feet in worship and thanksgiving for His healing, His love, His kindness? Would we invite Him into our homes for dinner? Would we beg Him to stay over for a few days so we could listen to Him teach at the local churches? Or would we be like the farmers and townspeople of Gerasenes and beg Him to just go away and leave us alone?
On that particular day, one town rejected Him and drove Him away. But Jesus didn’t retaliate or strike back. He didn’t gripe and complain. He wasn’t discouraged, He didn’t quit. What did Jesus do? He immediately left those who rejected Him and continued His ministry elsewhere.
There’s an example there for us too. We will also face rejection for our faith in Christ. There will be those who tell us we’re not welcomed, to go and leave them alone. Jesus doesn’t want us to retaliate, to grumble and complain, or try to win them over with senseless arguments. Neither does He want us to become discouraged and quit. Jesus wants us to keep sharing this Good News through our respective ministries.
And for most of us, our ministry is simply trying to live each day as Christ lived; continuing to be kind, loving and forgiving, and to keep serving the needs of others when and where we can. Paul tells us in 2nd Corinthians 6:3, “Live in such a way that no one will stumble because of us, and no one will find fault with our ministry.”
Who knows… the same people who reject us one day might welcome us to share in their grief and suffering later on, and perhaps may even be receptive to hearing about our reason for the hope we have in Jesus.
Former Blackout Artist 