After sedating a storm at sea, Jesus faced two wildly possessed men who slept among tombs and attacked anyone passing by. Immediately the demons within the men cried out, What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?

Jesus (with only a word), sent the demons into a nearby herd of pigs, who drowned themselves like so many lemmings. The local people, hearing of the pigs and especially what happened to the demon-possessed men, sought out Jesus and begged him to leave.

After seeing such miracles, why insist Jesus move on? Two formerly possessed men now chatting peacefully with the disciples unnerved this crowd. Jesus proved too much to handle. Oddly, the demons among them felt familiar, comfortable even, and now all that was wiped clean. Jesus scared these folks.

Many people who reject Jesus find him too much to handle. Following his way means surrendering to Jesus, and that idea frightens us. What will Jesus do to me? What demons might he take away that I like to keep around, those I take out and caress when I need them? When I take a hard look at Jesus I’m unnerved by his teachings and his ways.

The demons in this story begged Jesus to cast them into the herd of swine—which he did. The herdsmen watched the stampede and begged Jesus to go away—which he did. The night before, the disciples begged Jesus to calm a raging storm—which he did.

We’re all in a position of begging, so what are you and I begging Jesus for today? To go away, to send us away, or to enter in and convolute our comfortable lives?

Matthew 8 in reading the Bible in 2023

Photo by Egor Myznik