“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 5:16-17)
(Mark 5:16-17)
I was asked a question the other day, “What is the significance of `swine` being the animal the demons were cast into?” I believe Biblically there is no actual reason or hidden meaning behind the swine being the recipients of the demons, or at least the Bible does not tell us of one. But it does show us that Jesus was more concerned with the welfare of the man than with the welfare of the pigs. Now the people of the surrounding town that came back with the pig herders didn’t give a rip about the man or his soul, they only cared about what happened to their pigs. The man that had been a longtime tormented with these evil spirits was now free, they all saw & noticed that he was clothed & in his right mind, a man that they had tried to tie up & contain but couldn’t. But even with that, all they cared about was their pigs…yea their pigs.
They even wanted Jesus gone from their area. They wanted to trade the security, comfort, peace, love, and joy… everything that they would ever need for an abundant life…for nasty, smelly swine. They loved those pigs more than Jesus, they were scared of Him…so were the demons. But notice that the man who was freed from his torment wasn’t afraid; he wanted to be around Jesus more.
Maybe that is the meaning of this ordeal…so often we would rather have our nasty, smelly, rotten sin in place of Jesus. We see Jesus as restrictive, as no fun…we see our sin as freeing & fun, when in fact nothing could be farther from the truth. Sin is always what binds us, what holds us captive. Just like the demon possessed man was held captive by the demons within him, Jesus was the only one who could totally free him & when Jesus truly frees you…you want to be with Him, the closer the better, the closer the more free you are.
I also have often thought that when these people couldn’t control this man or cure him, they just gave up on him…left him to live naked among the dead in the graveyard. I can see one guy who lived in the town saying to another as they watched this wild man off in the distance screaming & cutting himself with stones, “That crazy nut will get better…when pigs fly!” Now that’s not Biblical, that’s just a little “Vernology”. But that day pigs flew and he was free.
Maybe that is the meaning of this ordeal…so often we would rather have our nasty, smelly, rotten sin in place of Jesus. We see Jesus as restrictive, as no fun…we see our sin as freeing & fun, when in fact nothing could be farther from the truth. Sin is always what binds us, what holds us captive. Just like the demon possessed man was held captive by the demons within him, Jesus was the only one who could totally free him & when Jesus truly frees you…you want to be with Him, the closer the better, the closer the more free you are.
I also have often thought that when these people couldn’t control this man or cure him, they just gave up on him…left him to live naked among the dead in the graveyard. I can see one guy who lived in the town saying to another as they watched this wild man off in the distance screaming & cutting himself with stones, “That crazy nut will get better…when pigs fly!” Now that’s not Biblical, that’s just a little “Vernology”. But that day pigs flew and he was free.
Vern
No comments:
Post a Comment