My high school reunion is approaching, and a large Face Book group has been formed to organize it. As the invitations to join have been accepted, I have been surprised to see faces I have not laid eyes on for years. Some I remember right away but others have changed so much that  even though we were once close, I don’t recognize them. Decades of living will do that to you. Whether you experienced great hardship or great plastic surgery during that time, none of us will arrive at the party looking the same as we did long ago.

The subject of recognizing people for who they are plays a big part in today’s lesson. The irony is that just one verse before today’s reading, the disciples yet again question Jesus’ identity. “Who can this be?” they say (Matthew 8:27). This was their response to Jesus’ stilling the storm from their boat! Two verses later, the demons instantly recognize Jesus, calling him “Son of God” (Matthew 8:29). How is it that agents of the devil know what Jesus’ closest companions did not?

Recognizing Jesus’ authority, the demons begged to be cast into a herd of unclean pigs. They hated to be idle and hoped to continue their destruction in a different form. This request would free the poor men who had been possessed by them. Their lives in the tomb must have been horrific years of torture, and finally they were restored and made whole by the Son of God. You would think that people would have cheered this, but alas, they did not.

Matthew 8 (Common English Bible)

²⁸ When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake in the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed came from among the tombs to meet him. They were so violent that nobody could travel on that road. ²⁹ They cried out, “What are you going to do with us, Son of God? Have you come to torture us before the time of judgment?” ³⁰ Far off in the distance a large herd of pigs was feeding. ³¹ The demons pleaded with him, “If you throw us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”

When the swine herders went to tell the townspeople what had happened, they told about the miracle of the two men’s deliverance. But the town reacted by coming out to see Jesus and asking him to leave. Their ingratitude for the removal of demons in their community is stunning. Granted, the men lived in the unclean tombs and perhaps they didn’t have much interaction, but to respond with rejection is unconscionable. Or is it?

³² Then he said to the demons, “Go away,” and they came out and went into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned. ³³ Those who tended the pigs ran into the city and told everything that had happened to the demon-possessed men. ³⁴ Then the whole city came out and met Jesus. When they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.

The great liberator had come, and they told him to get out. Do we ever do that? Do we ever tell Jesus to get out of our business when he calls us to change? Do we reject his ministrations when he tries to liberate us from our addictions, pre-conceived prejudices, bad habits, and laziness? Are we like the townspeople?

Jesus came to free us from our bondage and break the chains that prevent us from living whole, clean lives. May we recognize our deliverer when he comes.

Pig! by Becca Ziegler