I stopped at a red light in the city of Atlanta recently and noticed a man about my age across the street. He was pacing the sidewalk in front of some small businesses talking to himself and occasionally shouting. No one walked close to the man and as I waited for the light to turn green, I wondered if the disturbed person had any place to go or anyone to take care of him. I also wondered what the owners of the small businesses thought about his presence.
Citizens of a town in Jesus’ day tried to deal with a man with serious problems. At times people had tried to contain this man with shackles, but with supernatural strength, he would break the chains. He wandered around the tombs near the Sea of Galilee without clothes, cutting himself with stones and shouting in a loud voice. I imagine the townspeople just kept their distance and tried not to think of him.
When Jesus and his disciples landed on the shore near the graveyard, the man encountered the One who has no fear and loves all people. He fell at the feet of Jesus and cried: “What do you want with me, Son of the Most High God?” Satan was the cause of the lonely man’s troubles. “What is your name?” Jesus asked. “The name is Legion, for we are many.” Begging not to be cast into the Abyss, the demons asked to enter another location and Jesus agreed. He cast Legion out of the man and the evil spirits entered a herd of about two thousand pigs. (See Mark 5 and Luke 8)
Our son Taylor was talking to me about this story recently. “What about the owner of the pigs, Dad?” I had never thought about the owner of the pigs. The caretakers were surely upset because the whole herd ran straight into the Sea of Galilee and drowned. When the townspeople arrived and heard the story, they were afraid and asked Jesus to leave. But we’re not told about the owner. “What do you think?” I asked Taylor. “I think he had to make a big decision. He had to either focus on the pigs or focus on the person.”
If the owner focused on the pigs, it was a dark day, possibly the worst of his career. But if he could look past personal loss, he would see a life rescued from evil and a man miraculously changed. Maybe we all face similar questions. Do we focus on the person or the pigs? Are people more important to us than possessions?
The healed man wanted to get in the boat and join the disciples, but the Savior said, “No, I want you to go to your hometown and tell everyone what God has done for you.” Maybe the first person he visited was the owner of the pigs. Maybe he helped the owner recover his loss. Perhaps the owner of the pigs became a lover of Jesus too. Maybe one day in Heaven we’ll learn the rest of the story…
“[Jesus] stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. Unrolling it, He found the place where it is written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’” Luke 4:16-19