Bondage Bacon
Bondage Bacon. Mark 5:1-17 is one of a few bible stories that has always bothered me. In this story Jesus arrives in the region of the Gadarenes and is confronted by a demon-possessed man that terrorized the region. (Note: Matthew 8 records this as 2 men) The bible says he was so violent that people didn’t dare to pass his way. He couldn’t be chained or subdued as he roamed the hills crying out and cutting himself. This man called himself Legion, for he claimed to be inhabited by a legion (6000 soldiers) of demons. That’s a lot of demons for a region, let alone a man . . . but it does imply something about the spiritual climate in the land of the Gadarenes, doesn’t it?
As the story goes, the demons beg Jesus to send them into a nearby herd of 2000 pigs. Jesus grants their request and the pigs rush down a steep bank and drown in the lake. The once demon-possessed man gratefully acknowledges what Jesus has done for him and spreads this news in the surrounding 10 cities. His hometown folks are overjoyed for him, elated and embrace Christ!!! Happy ending? Well, not quite that last part. Some people prefer their pigs to a Savior and reject the salvation afforded them. Instead, we see these people began to plead with Jesus to leave the region! Like the demons, some people desire to have nothing to do with Christ as a Ruler. But even demons themselves are aware they will have something to do with Christ as Judge.
How oppressed by darkness was this region that they collectively would prefer to see a man continue in eternal bondage and suffering at the cost of their share of a herd of pigs? (Choices: At the temple courts people also called for Herod to crucify Christ and free the murderer). How could the Gadarenes not celebrate the freedom Christ gave this miserable man and instead reject the Liberator standing at their city gates? Don’t we all have that choice to make . . . and make . . . and make? A despised gospel and the voice of the Spirit will go where it will be better received. “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” (Heb. 4:7) Think About It.