Now a large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. The demons begged Him, “Send us to the pigs, so we may enter them.” And He gave them permission. Then the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs, and the herd of about 2,000 rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned there. The men who tended them ran off and reported it in the town and the countryside, and people went to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the man who had been demon-possessed by the legion, sitting there, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. (Mark 5:11-15 — Holman Christian Standard Bible)
(Today’s passage is a continuation of the last two days)
This is not an easy passage to understand. Why would Jesus give permission for the demons to go into the pigs? He didn’t order them into the pigs, but He did give them permission. Why did the demons ask to enter the pigs? Nowhere else in the Bible do we see an example of this. On one hand, we know that death and destruction of people, animals, or property was not something that pleased Jesus, He always tried to bring peace, healing, and strength to people. He could not have been happy to see 2000 animals die. But we have to remember that His primary goal was to free the horribly possessed man, not the pigs.
In tomorrow’s passage you will see that the people of the city asked Jesus to leave when they heard what had happened to the pigs. It didn’t matter that the young man was free and in his right mind, they had lost money and that was more important to them. The entire situation forced the town to choose: Jesus or pigs. And yet, it wasn’t as simple as losing animals. The people of that area on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee were Jews — and forbidden by God to own pigs or eat pork — so the real choice that that town had was: God or the world, obedience or rebellion. Jesus was there to offer them a chance to repair their relationship with God, and they turned their backs.
Instead of concentrating on the poor pigs that died in the sea that day, we should be feeling sorry for the people of an entire city that rejected God and were spiritually lost. Never again do we hear about Jesus visiting that region.
But something similar happens today in every one of our lives. Whenever we make a bold step of faith, decide to let go of something negative, or start getting closer to God, we will be attacked. Setting that man free was a real victory for Jesus, and so demons created a distraction that enraged the entire town and caused them to hate Jesus. Before and after any big victory in our lives, we can expect to be attacked. The bolder our step of faith, the bigger the devil’s attack will be. What we have to do is stand firm, refuse to loosen our grip on God, and determine that we will make it through victorious.
I’m sure that freed man saved many more than 2000 people over the remaining years of his life. That’s the real story.
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