And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region

 

 When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out fo the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.  And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?  Have you come here to torment us before the time?"  Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding.  So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine."  And He said to them, "Go."  So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine.  And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.  Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.  And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus.  And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.

 

- Matthew 8:28-34 

 

Yesterday we read that when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."   Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"   

 When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.  And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?  Have you come here to torment us before the time?"  Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding.  So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine."  And He said to them, "Go."  So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine.  And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.  Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.  And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus.  And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.  My study Bible comments on this remarkable story that the demons, as they recognize Jesus as the Son of God, are surprised that their power is being terminated before the time of the last judgment.  Although the malice of the demons is great, they can do nothing against the will of God, which means they could only enter the swine at Christ's command.  The immediate destruction of the herd shows that the formerly possessed men had been under God's protection and care -- they would otherwise have perished under this demonic influence.  Moreover, it reinforces that swineherding was not lawful for the Jews, and shows the incomparable value of human beings, whose salvation is worth every sacrifice.  

It's frequently assumed about this story (and others which appear in Mark and Luke) that the swineherders are Gentiles.  But in the context of the stories it is more likely that they are Jews who do not abide by the Mosaic Law, as they live in a region of mixed populations, and so raise swine for the Gentile market.  Their materialist orientation shows in their complete failure to value the healing of the two men, and in that the loss of their swine is all that matters to them.  So much so, that they beg for Jesus to depart from their region.  They don't think about what healings Christ could do for others among them; they prefer things as they were, with these men demon-possessed and living among the tombs.  There's a not-so-subtle message here about what we tolerate and what we do not, and more than a hint that when we accept to deviate from what we know God would want from us, we're participating in demonic life.  Whether we realize it or not, God is present to us in spirit, just as these demonic beings are also spirits.  Of course they have no power against God, but we can make choices about what kind of life we participate in.  We separate the world into different realities of spiritual and material, but in the Church this is not really a truthful picture.  St. Paul writes that we are all temples of God:  "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" as he admonishes the Corinthians, "If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are" (1 Corinthians 3:16-17).  Our choices become significant and powerful because our bodies are not simply material but also spiritual, and included in those "energies," if you will is all the rest of us, including our minds, heart, soul, etc.  Therefore our choices do, indeed, have an impact on everything we are, because we are not really separated and compartmentalized even if we manage to believe we are.  Modern medicine has clearly established a link between self-destructive habitual patterns of thinking and the physical effect that can have on us, for example.  But let us consider the spiritual component of life as if it were always present to us.  If this were vividly the understanding with which we lived, how would we conduct ourselves differently in our interactions with others?  Suppose the throwaway insult handed to someone who was hurt was really hurting us spiritually?  (See Matthew 5:21-22 for Jesus' take on this behavior.)  If we thought about what exactly we were allying with when we took an action or made a choice, it gives us a deeper and richer sense of what life is all about, adding meaning and depth.  There are those who want to believe that what is unseen doesn't exist, but this doesn't hold water in any conventional or scientific sense either.  We can read in the Gospels -- and especially in today's reading -- of the destructiveness and malice of the demonic.  Without taking a deep dive into the theology of evil, let us simply observe and spot the patterns in life that echo what they do in the Gospels, even to the point where these men are forced to live among the tombs, are in total disorder, and cannot function in community.  Let us observe the materialist preference of the people of this region who beg Jesus to leave them.  They make a clear choice to reject Jesus, and they show a marked preference for the life which included the affliction of the demonic on the now-healed men.  Let us think then about the choices we make -- and the things with which we ally ourselves -- when we make choices, including the spiritual component to life that is present to us and within us at all times.