After Jesus drives out the demons and the swine drown, the whole town comes out to meet Jesus. And do they thank him for helping the two people who were possessed? No, they beg Jesus to leave. Why do they do this? One thing that may not be clear at first is that the townspeople are Gentiles, not Jews, since they are tending “unclean” swine. Also those swine would have been a source of money and food for the people of the town. So why does Jesus cast the demons into the swine? Doesn’t he know that doing so would ruin their livelihoods? Perhaps this is exactly the reason he does this. He wants to remind us that the things of this world are passing away. He is the only true livelihood. He is the food of everlasting life. We should be more concerned with him than we are with earthly things, which are there one day and gone the next.
When we lose something we care about, what is our reaction? Do we blame others or God? Or do we try to learn from our loss and ground our reaction to it in faith, hope, and love?
O Lord, let us put our trust in you and the everlasting life you promise us.
Amen.
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