Date: May 03, 2023|Series: Youth for Jesus|Number: Vol. 5, No. 51
“Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man — and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.” (Mark 5:14-17NIV)
Why did the people mentioned in our opening bible text plead with Jesus to leave their region? Was it because they did not believe in His ministry? No! As the account goes, they just witnessed something about the power and effectiveness of His ministry. They just saw how He healed and made whole a man who had been mad and who had been a terror to all of them. So, even if they did not believe in Him and in what He could do before, what they witnessed was enough to make them believe.
Yet, as we are told in the account, they were not willing to experience more of the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ in their lives, homes and region. So, they literally begged Him to leave them alone. Why? Why would they not want a man who had enough power to set a demoniac free from years of torment to stay with them? Imagine what His stay among them for a few days could mean to them. Imagine the kind of liberty and joy His stay could have brought to all the people among them that were being oppressed of the devil.
But they would not have Him. And why? The reason was that they were afraid of the financial implications of His stay. And was it that the Lord needed them to pay Him in order to stay and minister among them? No! Truly, today we have many so-called preachers that the thought of the cost of hosting them will not allow many who will have loved to be beneficiaries of their ministries to dare inviting them. But our Lord Jesus was never like that. For Him, the principle of ministry is, “Freely you have received. Freely give.” (Cf. Matt 10:8)
Since the Lord, then, was not going to take any money from these people in order to minister to them, what financial implications were they afraid of? As we are further shown in the account, what they were afraid of was that the Lord’s stay in their land may bring more harm to their businesses. Why did they think like that? It was because when the Lord drove out the demons in the mad man that was healed, He gave them permission to go into a herd of pigs that was nearby. And all the pigs these demons went into, about two thousand of them, rushed into the lake close by and drowned. (Cf. Mark 5:1-13)
Now why did the Lord permit those demons to go into those pigs? We are not given any direct reason in the account. Yes, we know from Scriptures that the Israelites were not permitted by God to eat pigs – they were unclean for them. But there is nothing in Scriptures against rearing them. By the way, camels, for instance, were also among the animals that were unclean for them to eat. Yet many of them had these beasts of burden and were using them for their travels. So, using the ceremonial uncleanness of those pigs as the Lord’s reason for allowing demons to enter them may not really hold water. (Cf. Lev 11)
What, then, was the Lord’s reason for permitting these evil spirits to have their way on this occasion? To answer that, we need to first remember that it was those demons that requested that Jesus would send them into those pigs – it was not the Lord’s idea to do that. And why did they make this request? As Mark tells us in his account of the incident, it was because they did not want to leave that region (Mark 5:10). They wanted to continue their operation there, tormenting the people and destroying their lives. And the only way for that to happen was for them to have bodies (houses) to occupy or live in.
Now they had thought that those pigs would be able to house all of them, since they were many. But the Lord knew better. The Lord knew that those animals could not handle demonic possession. They would rather die than do so. And that, of course, would ruin the business of their owners. Yet He permitted them to go into them. Why? I believe it was to reveal what was really in the heart of the people living in that place.
Remember that God did something similar, when Satan sought permission from Him to attack Job and his possession. He permitted him to attack Job and all that he had to reveal the truth about the man’s devotion to him to Satan and others watching. And though the man lost everything and was terribly afflicted in his body, he did not disown God but held fast to Him till He brought him salvation and restoration. That shows that he valued God more than his own life and more than his possessions. (Cf. Job 1&2)
Unfortunately, that was not the case with the people of Gadarenes. They cared more about their businesses than the salvation of that mad man and the salvation of their own souls. They cared more about money than the presence of Jesus Christ in their lives. The presence of Jesus in their territory threatened their businesses. But the presence of that legion of demons did not threaten them. So, begged Jesus to leave, indicating that they preferred to have Satan reigning among them than to have Him reigning among them. How sad!
But then, the truth is that many today, including Christians, are not different from these people of Gadarenes. They too would rather have Satan ruin their lives, homes and relationships or the lives of others, as long as their money, fame or position remains intact, than to experience the salvation of Jesus and perhaps lose these things. And if you are one of such people, this word is coming to you now so that you can examine your heart and ways and repent. Otherwise, you may never ever be free from the dominion of darkness.