They were so savage that no one could travel by that road.
They cried out, "What have you to do with us, Son of God?
Jesus was antithetical to all that was savage, violent, and disordered. The energy of the tombs directed toward death rebelled and protested in his presence. The demoniacs recognized him, sensing that he had power over them, sensing that their violence which had dominated this road could not so much as touch him. We see here that Jesus is the light which the darkness does not comprehend and cannot overcome. He is the true life that is stronger than the forces of death, the life that is the light of men.
Have you come here to torment us before the appointed time?
Darkness could only feel the presence of the light as potential torment, since it undermined all that for which the darkness stood. But the two men whose lives had been dominated by darkness experienced the light of the life that was in Jesus himself. Where before there was irrational violence they were now calm and restored to their right minds. Where death held dominion Jesus brought restoration and life.
Thereupon the whole town came out to meet Jesus,
and when they saw him they begged him to leave their district.
The truly disturbing part about this episode was not the demoniacs, nor even the swine charging headlong into the sea, but rather these people and their response to the miracle of compassion that Jesus had done in their midst. Demons, of course, were already absolutely committed to darkness and their actions were no surprise. But these townspeople appear to have been so entrenched in the systems of savagery and violence that the demons maintained that they did not want to see those things uprooted, regardless of the cost for the two who were possessed. It seems that because the compassion of Jesus came at an economic cost to them, with the death of their profitable pigs, that they preferred economic gain to Godliness. And so with us, how often is the economy used as an excuse for holding back the compassion and mercy of Jesus from those in need? How often is that very economy tied up in systems of violence and oppression that we refuse to change for fear of losing the potential profit?
In politics we see that those in their right minds, freed by the compassion of Jesus, often find no place. But make no mistake, it isn't only the politicians who keep such voices on the outside. Those politicians are trying to appease us by promising us our desires and attempting to conceal from us the dire costs. The problem is not that we are fooled but that we often want to be fooled and allow ourselves to believe them. Although it often comes across as a torment at first, the voice of the Son of God is really the only thing that can overcome such entrenched systemic darkness. This isn't a matter of right or left, this policy or that, but rather of premises that can be concealed on either side in any policy. We are able to smuggle in our darkness under the best pig farming premises.
And he said to them, "Go then!"
They came out and entered the swine,
and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea
where they drowned.
What we need to recognize is that the freedom Jesus came to bring is worth the cost, even if that is an economic cost, even if it requires us to change practices that have sustained us since time immemorial. We must no longer build our world upon savagery and death. The only antidote, the only voice strong enough to wake us from this lethargy, is the voice of the Son of God. May we choose to listen.
As she sat opposite Ishmael, he began to cry.
God heard the boy's cry,
and God's messenger called to Hagar from heaven:
"What is the matter, Hagar?
Don't be afraid; God has heard the boy's cry in this plight of his.
God is so full of compassion that even his own plans for Isaac and Abraham don't become so political that he neglects Hagar and Ishmael. The Lord hears the cry of the poor, and he himself desires that we learn to do likewise.
When the poor one called out, the LORD heard,
and from all his distress he saved him.
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