Matthew 8:28-34

I need to write about this passage a little to get the juices flowing as I pray about how God wants me to teach this passage...

So the disciples are with Jesus on the North edge of the Sea of Galilee, in an area familiar to them, filled with committed and faithful Jews much like them. I wonder if they enjoyed seeing old friends and family. I wonder if they went fishing.

Jesus hops into a boat and the disciples follow him. They are heading across the lake toward the Decapolis, toward the pagans. As the storm hits and the disciples remember their fears of the powers and the evils of the sea, Jesus stops the storm. He "rebuked" the winds and the waves. I find it fascinating that after all Jesus has done to this point the disciples are so blown away by this miracle. Perhaps it points to a culture which had an awe and fear of the power of the sea and what lied beneath. Still, they've seen him heal people and throw out demons and feed thousands with a couple baskets. But this still blows them away!! Jesus shows them that He is more powerful than the Sea, greater than the spirits of the water. He has authority.

As they near the region of the Gadarenes, I wonder what they were thinking. This was pagan land. I wonder if they had ever been there. I wonder what stories they had heard of these evil people. I wonder what their parents told them about the pagans just around the bend. It really isn't that far. You can see this place from the Northern edge where they just were. You can see it from the hill where the great Sermon was told.

I wonder if they were scared, or maybe they were excited about a little adventure. Was a part of these young men feeling like they just shouldn't be there? Surely their culture had told them this place was unclean. For goodness sake, there was a HUGE herd of pigs right there. As the crazy bloody demon possessed guys ran out to greet them, were their fears realized? Did they want to go back to Bethsaida or Capernaum? Did they want to get back in the boat and into the scary sea? Or were they starting to realize that Jesus was the One...He could do it...He would take care of it...and they got to be a part of it all.

As the demons clearly communicate that they are seriously freaked out about Jesus being there, did the disciples think, "Hmmm, these demons seem to think Jesus is seriously powerful."? As Jesus heals the poor man, as He restores this human being, as He brings healing, were they ready to charge into the pagan land yet?

But here's the kicker for me. The people beg Jesus to leave their town. They are freaked. Is it because the pigs are dead? Did he mess up the economy? Were the pigs a part of some sort of pagan worship that now needed some new sacrifices? Did they need some new meat to eat with their eggs in the morning? I wonder if a few of the people in the town really did rejoice over the men who were now in their right mind, the men who had been running around for years, scaring away visitors, scaring their children. What about the men's families? Surely they thanked Jesus. Surely they were a little appreciative. Surely they were stoked to see their sons or brothers back from crazy town?

I love that Jesus gets in the mess of a pagan land. I love that He doesn't stay in Capernaum or Jerusalem. He jumps into the craziness. He isn't scared of the pagan land. He isn't scared of some demon possessed naked bloody guys running around the hills. He isn't afraid to get his hands dirty int he mess of humanity. He showed his disciples that His power is over everything, everyone. His message and His hope, His Kingdom is for everyone, and everyone has a chance to enter His Kingdom, to enter a new way of life.

Maybe this is a quaint oversimplification, but this story reminds me that Christians shouldn't run away from crazy situations in crazy places. We shouldn't shy away from the ghettos. We shouldn't shy away from the Satan worshipers or the murderers or the rapists. We shouldn't just sit around and wait for God to push San Francisco and all those evil perverts into the ocean with a big earthquake. We are called, as followers of Jesus, to enter into the mess. We are called to be agents of healing and restoration. We are called to offer hope and a better way. We are called to humbly love and serve, and at the same time to be a conduit of the authority and power of Jesus.

let us not be afraid.