Out! Out! Out!

“They begged Him to go away and leave them alone.” Matthew 8:34

This is a very curious Gospel story. When Jesus went to the territory of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs came out from the area of the tombs. We are told they were so savage, no one could pass by that road. These men were evil, possessed by many spirits. Jesus exorcised them which to me is a good thing. But when the people of the town learned of this, they went to meet Jesus and begged Him to go away and leave them alone! Isn’t that the craziest thing? I would think they would celebrate! Two men were back to being normal, productive citizens, and they could all use the road to the tombs again. And a herd of demons were expelled from their midst! 

Sometimes however, people prefer the status quo to any form of change. The big thing for these people is they lost their herd of swine. The demons transferred from the demoniacs to the swine and the swine rushed down to the sea and drowned. Instead of rejoicing that Jesus was in their midst and they could learn things from Him, could ask Him to heal them, heal their daughters, even raise their people from the dead, they wanted him out, out, out! 

Some people think they’re religious and following God. I heard of one government secretary who starts meetings with prayers and quotes Bible verses. But those under him are dismayed because he shirks his responsibilities, hardly appears for work but shows up for pictorials. He squanders government funds and reprimands his people when they make too rigorous a schedule when they have meetings abroad. I am thinking this would be the kind of man who likes his life as it is, and would want Jesus out, out, out should Jesus appear in his midst. 

How about us? Do we want the Lord in our midst? Are we not afraid of change? If He asks us to give what we most hold dear, will we still choose Him? Or would we want Him out, out, out?