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 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. 

 

- 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 of the Sea of Galilee.  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.  Here Jesus and the disciples, come to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.  My study Bible comments that the demons, who 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, it notes, they can do nothing against the will of God, and so they can only enter the swine at Christ's command.  The immediate destruction of the herd which follows shows that these men had been protected by God's care, otherwise they would have perished under this hostile demonic influence.  Moreover, it reinforces that swineherding was not lawful for the Jews.  Additionally, my study Bible says that this shows the incomparable value of human beings, whose salvation is worth every sacrifice.  

 

 This story of Christ's healing in this strange place on the other side of the Sea of Galilee appears also in the Gospels of St. Luke and St. Mark.  But here in Matthew, there are two, and not one demoniac.  (This phenomenon of two reported in a story in Matthew where one are reported in the other Synoptic Gospels occurs more than once.)  In the other Gospels there are more details, such as that the man responds that his name is "Legion," for there were many demons occupying him.  Also, the man when healed seeks to follow Jesus, but Jesus tells him to go home, and tell his friends what great things the Lord had done for him.  In all cases, however, this is a known Gentile region east of the Sea of Galilee. This is a mixed region of both Jews and Gentiles.  It is assumed that the swineherders are Jews who are cultivating swine to sell to a Gentile market; this would be unlawful according to Jewish law.  It's pointed out elsewhere how the swineherders and the people of the city respond to Jesus:  they want Him gone.  They are terrified, apparently, at the loss of the swine.  But of the men's healing they appear not to care, or at least that comes second in importance, as they simply implore Jesus to depart from their region.  The demon-possessed men had been living in the tombs, estranged from the population, so wild and out of control that no one could pass that way.  One would presume that their relief from such a condition would make a difference, but the people who've lost their herd of swine, and apparently the people in the city, do not consider that in their demands that Jesus leave them.  Perhaps we can look at this story as a kind of parable about what we tolerate in our midst and what we don't.  It might easily be a parable of healing of emotional problems in a modern day setting, in which disruption of established patterns and systems and relationships often takes place for a person to be healed of an addiction or other type of disorder.  So long as the demon-possessed men were away and confined in the tombs, the presence of the demons apparently was tolerated by the town.  As swineherding is also going on near this place, it's a sign that adherence to religious law has also become second-place to what is likely a valuable source of income.  It reminds us, somewhat, of the stories of the Old Testament Jewish kings who violated God's covenant by seeking a kind of syncretic existence, in which the "high places" and altars for the worship of pagan gods were also practiced, such as in the story of Manassah which is also part of today's daily lectionary reading (2 Kings 21:1-18).  It is Jesus who has taught us that one cannot worship God and mammon, but we must choose whom we will serve and be loyal to (see this reading), and we may take this story as an image of ourselves and the choices we make in our lives.  The people from the city make their choice clear when they ask Christ to leave.  Sometimes in our own lives we may have occasion for a kind of exorcism of the things we tolerate so long as they kept out of sight or perhaps just out of mind.  But healing may mean changes, and change can be difficult, even disruptive.  Often when faced with a need for change, it's simply hard to think of having to live in a different way with a different pattern.  But change is always part of repentance.  What or whom we decide to put first will rank our priorities, and what we count as valuable or essential to us.  While as Christians we do not follow the strict prohibitions of the Torah regarding swine, we can nevertheless observe that the exorcism of the demons, and the healing of the possessed men, is not something cherished by these people, who simply see Jesus as a disruptor, for He has disturbed the order of things in this place.  It also teaches us, importantly, to understand that the rejection of Jesus can be within whole communities and towns, as He certainly experienced in His life and ministry, and at His Crucifixion.  Again, in the other versions of this story found in Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 8:26-39, despite Christ's rejection by the local people as a community, Jesus sends out the healed man into the region nevertheless, to proclaim the great things God did for him.  Although this particular version does not have that detail, we can nonetheless understand the place of the healed men, for they know Christ's mercy and power, and they also have a choice before them of the path they will now take.  It tells us of the great importance of our faith -- that to find healing in Christ is to be given a tremendous gift of grace which we must treasure, and do all that we can to shore up and protect, putting our faith in Christ to lead us forward in life.  It is the same for healing of any kind, and the experience of God's grace and help, for we always have these options before us.  Will we stay on the path of healing, or tolerate what we know is detrimental to that?  We will always find temptations in the world and things that tear us away from our faith, as well as the "many" who do not take the path of the narrow gate or narrow way we choose when we follow Christ (Matthew 7:13-14).  But this is a picture of our world, just as Jesus in the wilderness was tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-11).  We will always be living in a world in which we face temptations and make choices, one in which evil is present and influences are all around us to give up the struggle for our own healing and wholeness in some way, to abandon the practice of our faith in one way or another.  These men, by their healing, have been called out of the world in this particular sense, just as we who have found faith in Christ and the grace and healing that results in us, must be vigilant to remember God.  It reminds us of Jesus' teaching about an impure spirit, being exorcised, returning to this place and finding it so clean, comes and brings more wicked spirits (Matthew 12:43-45, Luke 11:24-26).  This is a reminder that whatever goodness we cherish and have known from God, we need to remain alert and watchful and to continue forward on the path Christ sets us upon, to fill our hearts and lives with His presence, and live the life to which He guides us.  These two healed men now have choices to make, and a path to follow, as do each of us, all throughout our lives.  Change is not easy or simple, but nonetheless the path is always there.  Let us do our best to remain upon it for even our very lives.