Matthew 8:28-34 Jesus Restores Two Demon-Possessed Men
When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”
Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”
He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.
When Jesus casts out the demons from the two men, why did the villagers ask Jesus to leave their town? I think its because we sometimes hold onto our demons, our addictions, our false-self out of fear. We get comfortable in, and with, them. Maybe deep down, we don't want to be healed and that's why we don't let our "demons" go. That denial of healing may prevent us from being who we really are created to be. Those unhealed demons, even the relatively small ones, end up defining us... falsely.
I can see a variety of areas in my life where I resist healing. Some are more defining than others. An example that I see in myself is my need to control things in my life. This "need" is made evident to me in a lot of ways and has sometimes resulted in poor choices and setbacks. Sometimes, I see it in seemingly minor, daily things like how my mind races while attempting to meditate on scripture in prayer. Often, my mind jumps from one thing to the next, then back again, while trying to resolve some issue or concern of the day. During these times, as I attempt to quiet myself, I find it nearly impossible to rest fully in Christ while my mind attempts to solve something that certainly doesn't need to be solved in that exact moment (or something that can't be solved at all!). It isn't until I am able to release the unnecessary concerns of life that I am able to finally bring myself to rest in God. That is when my transition finally begins and healing starts to take place. But, this is a daily process of letting go and it isn't easy.
The seemingly violent ending to the pigs tells me that healing is no easy transition. Years of mental and physical behaviors don't change easily after all. They are met with resistance and back-sliding. Sometimes, it takes years of struggle to heal what ails us. People around us may contribute to that relapse or to our recovery... hopefully it's the latter. In this case the villagers' negative reaction indicates that many people around us won't be all that supportive of the changes that occur in us as we continue to transition. Perhaps those are relationships that should be reevaluated. My guess is that the two healed men left that town and followed Jesus. The account of this event in the Gospel of Mark indicates this to be the case. In fact, at least one of them started spreading the word about this healing to others.
Ultimately, Jesus didn't change who the men were. He merely removed something from them that they had acquired. So, neither are we attempting to change who we are but, we may need to let go of some things that we acquired. The things that are falsely defining us. We aren't changing who we are as much as returning to how we were created to be. Why would we want to hold onto something that isn't meant to be a part of who we are? Worse yet, why hold onto something that is preventing us from being what we are created to be? All of this is the healing process that causes us to return to our glorious, created-self. The one we were meant to be all along.
