Matthew 8:28-34

Matthew 8:28-34

English Standard Version (ESV) 

  There are many reasons I think the Bible is true.  Sometimes, though, I think the Bible is true because who could make this up?  Imagine overhearing someone tell their friend about this --

  "Hey, did you hear about the pigs?"

  "What pigs?"

  "The pigs that Jesus sent the demons into.  Did you hear what happened to them?"

  "What demons?"

  "You know, the demons that possessed those two guys in the tombs that scared everyone away?"

  "Oh, yeah, the crazy guys.  What happened?"

  "So Jesus sent the demons into a flock of pigs who ran into the ocean and drowned."

  "Riiiiiiight."

  "And then everyone told Jesus to go away."

  It's bizarre, right?  Especially the part where they tell him to go away.  Can you imagine the scene there when they discovered that Jesus was the actual Son of God?

  

  "Hey, remember that time we asked God to leave?  Not so great on our part, was it?"

  I'm sure the people had their reasons.  They recognized the ways that Jesus was changing things, challenging their assumptions and their comfort levels, exposing the way the enemy was at work and demonstrating the awesome power of God.  It's not easy for us to deal with that today, and we know that Jesus rose from the dead and conquered sin and death!  We shrink back and politely ask Jesus to leave the dark corners of our life alone, only we often do it privately.  We hold onto things that rightly belong to God.  St. Augustine prayed for 'conversion, but not yet', because he wanted to experience things first, thinking that to follow Christ is to miss out. 

  What Christ teaches us is that we only gain through a life of discipleship.  Faithfulness is sweet when we truly grasp it, for we recognize that while we sacrifice some things and are confronted, it's only because God wants to re-order our loves so that they are properly established and the things our hearts were made for, love of God and neighbor, are first.  Christ chisels away not to inflict pain, but to create beauty.  What we fear is loss is truly gain, as we are prepared for the eternal glory that awaits.