Those who had seen it told the people what had happened to the demon-possessed man—and told about the pigs as well. Then the people began to plead with Jesus to leave their region.
Mark 5:16-17(NIV)
Jesus gets out of a boat.
A demon possessed man that no one could even keep chained down, runs up to Jesus. The demons in the man begin to beg Jesus not to torture them, but rather cast them into the nearby pigs.
So Jesus actually honors their request and sends them into the pigs. The two thousand pigs then run off of a nearby cliff and drown.
The man was then completely better. He had been living in cave away from civilization, screaming and cutting himself at night. And just like that, he was free.
This should be a happy story. It should be only followed by praise and adoration of our amazing Jesus. And I suppose it would be, depending on who tells it. The man who got his life back, would tell you it was the best thing to ever happen to him.
But the pig farmers- their side of the story is different.
They had a whole herd of pigs. It was their lively hood. We aren’t talking about one or two. This is two thousand pigs they just lost. So yeah. They’re salty about it.
They leave the area and tell others what has happened. They don’t leave out the miraculous, man-is-free-of-demons part. But they also mention that their whole form of income just drown. So the people look at the man sitting there- restored, renewed, made whole. And they look at the cliff where a whole herd of dead pigs are floating at the bottom. And they make a decision.
They decide to ask Jesus to leave.
Jesus honored their request. Jesus got back in the boat.
I’ll admit, I’ve always kind of wondered why Jesus let the pigs drown. And one night I was thinking about the story and I heard Him say, “If they would have asked Me…”
You see, the farmers had the living, breathing, Son of God standing right in front of them. They saw His strength and capability to perform miracles. They had a compassionate, loving, Jesus right there to fix any problem they could possibly have and rather than ask Him to restore what had been ruined- they asked Him to leave.
Let that sink in. Jesus answered their request. But the story would have been much different if they would have asked a different question.
So now ask yourself this- how many times have you been the farmers?
How many times has something in your life just been suddenly ruined? Something just knock the wind out of you. Really just mess up your plans. And instead of running to Jesus to ask Him to make things better than before, we get angry with Him and ask Him to leave the situation.
Because I will be the first to raise my hand. I have been the farmers. I have gotten angry with God when I should have appealed to His all consuming love for me and asked Him anything.
“You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” John 14:14(NIV)
We have the miracle working, way making, gave His own life for us, Jesus just waiting to be good to us.
“Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” Isaiah 30:18(NIV)
A God of justice. He longs to make things right. He wants to give you double for your trouble. He wants to be good to you.
So don’t be like the farmers who could have left that cliff better off than they came, if only they would have asked Jesus a different request.
When the things in your life drown, run to Jesus for justice. Ask for more than you lost.
He is waiting to help you.
So today He says to you, “If you would just ask Me…”
Be Blessed!
Jordan W. Smith 