The Madmen & The Pigs

No sooner had Jesus and His disciples landed in the country of the Gadarenes that they were met by two madmen. These two madmen were just coming out of the cemetry. Victims of demons, they had terrorised the region for so long that no one considered it safe to walk down that stretch of road anymore. (See Mt 8:28-34)er

I read with interest -- and surprise -- at the way the demons responded to Jesus. What a stark contrast to the inhabitants of Gaderenes! The demons recognised Jesus, and so seeing Jesus, the two madmen screamed, 'What business do You have giving us a hard time? You are the Son of God!' And when they saw a herd of pigs browsing and rooting in the distance, the evil spirits begged Jesus to kick them out of the men that they may dwell in the pigs. Crazed, the pigs stampeded over a cliff into the sea and drowned.

The inhabitants of Gadarenes having heard what had happened to the madmen and the pigs, were angry that Jesus had caused their pigs to drown. A mob was quickly formed demanding Jesus to depart with immediate effect and that He never return to their town again.

Matthew was a Jew and I think about the Jewish crowd that he had in mind as he collated and wrote thedse curious stories about Jesus. I think about the Roman centurion that was to be the vanguard of the many outsiders that would later find themselves seated at God's kingdom banquet alongside Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (cf Mt 8:5-12) And I think about the chosen people of Israel who were confused and aimless, like sheep without a shepherd and how Jesus' heart broke for them -- a people who were the firstfruit to the promise but who were still helplessly blind to the Kingdom that was already at hand and the arrival of their long awaited Messiah (Mt 9:35-38).

'First things first,' said Jesus to a disciple that requested leave that he may take care of his father's funeral, 'Your business is life, not death. Follow Me. Pursue Life.' (Mt 8:22)

Jesus' purpose on earth was to bring LIFE - not just physical life but an awakening of the spiritual man inside. He came to throw off intimidation, take away the sting of death and call us into submission to the Lord who cradles our entire life -- body and soul - in His hands (Mt 10:26-28). His purpose was not to make life cosy, but to cut through our cosy domestic arrangements and free us for God (Mt 10:34-39). He has come with the express purpose of HEALING those who were not just bodily bruised but inwardly tormented -- to invite outsiders, and not to coddle insiders (Mt 9:12-13).

The message of 'life' should give us much food for thought, especially the story of the madmen and the pigs. One would think that the inhabitants of Gadarenes would respond with joy and thanksgiving that the two madmen were no longer held bondage by the evil spirits and were now free in the freedom that God had intended for each one of us right from the beginning of creation. Rather, they were more concerned about their perishable posessions - preoccupied with counting the loss of their profit, their agriculture. Their eyes were so fixated upon looking after their own cosy domestic arrangements that they had forgotten to consider how the freedom of the madmen had also freed them to roam the parts of the land that they had previously found unsafe to trespass.

So what response whould this illicit for a non-Jew -- an outsider like me? I often wonder how I should approach the Scriptures without the privilege of the Jewish traditions that helped establish God as the centre of their lives. Should I seek then to recover and revisit these 'roots'?

But if the story of the Roman centurious is anything to go by, the strongest point of connection (though by no ways downplaying the rich spiritual life that the Jews enjoy) that anyone can have is through Christ -- His work, and His part in the Biblical Story. Perhaps that is why Jesus is such a stumbling block, not just to the Jews in His time, but also today: that our salvation should have nothing to do with our history or ancestry, whether we have been working in the fields all day or have come at the last hour. For whether Jew or Gentile, slave or free -- the road to salvation is open for all through grace by faith in Jesus. 'And those who grew up "in the faith" but had not faith will find themselves out in the cold, outsiders to grace and wondering what happened' (Mt 8:12).

Far be it then, that I may respond to the story of the madmen and the pigs with self-righteous indignation - but rather with 'fear and trembling'; knowing that it is nothing about me that earns me a position in the kingdom of God, but that it is because of grace that I may be an insider to His Kingdom and come to the knowledge of Him -- despite my Gentile roots, despite the fact that I may never understand Him in the same way as the Jews would understand God if they believed in Jeuss, despite the that I am still living my life entrenched in the pagan philosophies that I've grown up with in a society that is shaped by the principalities and powers of this world.

I respond with thanksgiving and gratefulness. Like the way Jesus instructed the leper, may I quietly present my healed body along with the appropriate expressions of thanks to God. May my cleansed and grateful life bear witness to what the Lord has done. Amen.