Two Thousand Hogs Drown
November 6, 2022
Commentary
It was night time (Mk. 4:35) so you can imagine the eerie scene. At the legion of demons’ request Jesus allowed them to enter into a herd of two thousand hogs coming down the mountain nearby (vv. 11-12). Immediately these swine ran into the lake and drowned (v. 13). The men taking care of the pigs ran to the town and farms nearby to tell the owners what happen (v. 14). When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed with the demons, sitting there with his clothes on and in his right mind, and they were terrified (v. 15). Those who had seen what had happened told about the man and the pigs (v. 16). The hog owners were full of greed and asked Jesus to leave the area (v. 17). If Christ was going to interfere with their business they didn’t want Him around.
When Jesus was getting into the boat, the man who had been controlled by the unclean spirits kept begging to go with Him (v. 18). However Jesus would not let him and instead told him to go home to his family and tell them what the Lord had done for him (v. 19). This man went to the area near the ten cities known as Decapolis which was located southeast of the Sea of Gailee and everyone who heard what had happened was amazed (v. 2). The world hasn’t changed much today and people are still making the same choices. It is interesting to see how the human mind works. Instinctively people say:
Don’t disturb my comfort. It is human not to want to have our comfort disturbed; it is divine to be willing to be disturbed that others may have more.Don’t disturb my possessions. Here is another aspect of the same thing. No man really willingly gives up anything he may possess. The older we get the more we want to clutch it. Don’t disturb my religion. There is a type of religion which says, “What was good enough for my fathers is good enough for me.”
Application
I never want to get into a comfort zone where I will become disturbed because my possessions are removed or my comfort is being interrupted. I want to be content in whatever state I am in (Phil 4:11).
Mark 5:11– 20 (NET)
11 There on the hillside, a great herd of pigs was feeding. 12 And the demonic spirits begged him, “Send us into the pigs. Let us enter them.” 13 Jesus gave them permission. So the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs. Then the herd rushed down the steep slope into the lake, and about 2,000 were drowned in the lake.
14 Now the herdsmen ran off and spread the news in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man sitting there, clothed and in his right mind—the one who had the “Legion”—and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen what had happened to the demon-possessed man reported it, and they also told about the pigs. 17 Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their region. 18 As he was getting into the boat the man who had been demon-possessed asked if he could go with him. 19 But Jesus did not permit him to do so. Instead, he said to him, “Go to your home and to your people and tell them what the Lord has done for you, that he had mercy on you.” 20 So he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him, and all were amazed.
Illustration: An Archbishop of Cape Town
A former Archbishop of Cape Town once said, “When missionaries came to South Africa, they had the Bible and we (the Africans) had the land. They said, ‘Let us pray.’ We closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible and they had the land!” (Source Unknown).