Worried About Pigs

This was hard to imagine, when I read this account in God’s word this morning in Matthew 8:28-34, “When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. And suddenly they cried out, saying, ‘What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?’ Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. So the demons begged Him, saying, ‘If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine.’ And He said to them, ‘Go.’ So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water. Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.”

I realize they didn’t know who Jesus was and they didn’t have the New Testament Bible.  But they saw the miracles, these two men were demon possessed men in their right minds right in front of them and all they could do is beg Jesus to leave them.  It seems to me they should have been begging him to stay, bringing all their sick and possessed people to Him to be healed and delivered.  They knew these men were so violent that no one could pass by that way.  But all they seemed to be interested in was the pigs.  I realize this was part of their food supply but what about the two men who were in a state of calmness, without any screaming or threatening behavior?

This reminds me of the Pharisees when Jesus healed on the Sabbath.  All the Pharisees could say is, is it permitted to heal on the Sabbath?  All they could think about was the law, without any compassion on the people Jesus healed.  Then Jesus responded this way by saying in Matthew 12:9-14, “Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’—that they might accuse Him. Then He said to them, ‘What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’ Then He said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.”

It seems like we all have blind spots, and we can get messed up in our thinking at times.  Sometimes we can’t see the forest because of the trees.

It’s hard to imagine that the teachers of the law could be so blind that they wanted to kill Jesus for healing on the Sabbath.  And because I am privileged to have a bible to read, I know this wasn’t the only reason they had, but regardless, none of them were legitimate.  They were truly blind guides, believing the lies that they were privy to, and also making things up as they went along.

What about us, are we any different today, if we were privileged to see a miracle, how would we respond, negatively or positively?  I told a guy about a healing miracle I had at one time and all he could say was it probably was a familiar spirit, I responded, “you’re saying it was demonic,” to which he replied, “no,” not really knowing what he was talking about.  It seemed to me he was jealous, but he never gave the Lord any praise about my healing that I can remember.  This guy claimed he was a Christian, but only the good Lord knows for sure.  I know we need to be careful about our blind spots!!  

Enough said, I hope you and yours have a super day and that the good Lord blesses all of you!!