A Bad Day To Be A Swineherd.

Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the sea, to the territory of the Gerasenes. When he got out of the boat, at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him. The man had been dwelling among the tombs, and no one could restrain him any longer, even with a chain. In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains, but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the hillsides he was always crying out and bruising himself with stones. Catching sight of Jesus from a distance, he ran up and prostrated himself before him, crying out in a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me!" (He had been saying to him, "Unclean spirit, come out of the man!") He asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "Legion is my name. There are many of us."  And he pleaded earnestly with him not to drive them away from that territory.                                                                                             

Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside. And they pleaded with him, "Send us into the swine. Let us enter them."And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine. The herd of about two thousand rushed down a steep bank into the sea, where they were drowned. The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. And people came out to see what had happened. As they approached Jesus, they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion, sitting there clothed and in his right mind. And they were seized with fear. Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened to the possessed man and to the swine. Then they began to beg him to leave their district. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him. But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead, "Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you." Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him, and all were amazed.

(Mark 5: 1-20)

There is a name for the situation the man that was possessed by the demons and that is a technical term that we still use today and that is the word, "hopeless."  This man is dwelling among the tombs in this area and hurting himself every chance he gets. The demons are having a hell of a time (forgive the pun.)  Attempts at restraining the man all fail as the demons give him the power to remove any shackles or fetters that they try to use.   

Now here comes Jesus and his apostles.  The demons recognize Jesus a long way off and cause the man to scream "What have you to do with us, Jesus, the Son of God?"  Once again, the announcement from demons as to the true identity of Jesus was not a thing that could be tolerated.  Jesus commands them to come out of the man and he asks the demon his name.  The reply is "Legion for we are many."  To be cast out would mean having to report failure to their boss, Satan, who would not be too pleased with them so they begged to be allowed to infest a herd of swine that was nearby.  Jesus allows this and the whole herd ran and plunged into the sea and were drowned.  It was a bad day to be a keeper of swine in this town to be sure. 

Once again, Jesus demonstrates that he has the power over everything, even hopeless situations where a man is possessed by a legion of demons. How many demons would that be?  A legion in the Roman army could be as many as six-thousand men if you include all the auxiliaries.  More typically so the army could move faster a legion normally had one thousand and forty troops.  So, one way or another, this man was in big trouble, in a hopeless situation, and Jesus was able to fix even this. 

But why did Jesus agree to the demon's request to be allowed to go into the swine?  Was it out of mercy to the demons?  Hardly! It was to show His power and to prove to those who had seen this miracle that there were countless demons expelled that day, not just one.   

Perhaps we should remember this story when our life takes some evil twists and turns and things seem hopeless.  We should remember that Jesus is the Son of God and can command all things.  We just need to ask and what is best for us in the situation will happen. 

How I wish it were true that everyone immediately goes to heaven when they die.  It is a comforting thought for those of us who mourn a person's passing.  While it is possible that we can die and go straight to heaven, most of us I fear end up in Purgatory where we will spend time making satisfaction for the temporal punishments for sins committed that we did not take care of during our life.  Please, remember those you love and pray for them by name. They may need your prayer and they may have no one who will pray for them.  Don't let your love for them end at the grave.  Thank you!