And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
Jesus is not economically correct. In the above passage we read that Jesus cast the demons out of two men. Throughout this section of Matthew, Jesus’ healing and casting out demons is somewhat the norm. In chapter 5-7 of Matthew, the writer was showing Jesus’ teaching. In chapters 8-9 Matthew is showing Jesus’ power, healing, and compassion. All of this is to show Jesus’ authority. Soon, Matthew will show Jesus dying for mankind. The writer has to make the argument that Jesus was the Son of God (the Messiah), so he has to show the power of and authority of God, by Him, over the spiritual world and the physical world. Hence the healings and casting out demons.
In the above passage we read that Jesus chooses to cast out the demons that were in two men. Rather than just cast them out into outer darkness, Jesus cast them into a visible heard of swine. This is to demonstrate visually Jesus’ power. However, the town people mad they living off the pigs. So, when the entire demon-possessed-heard took a nose dive off the cleft, it did not settle well with the town. They all came out and compelled Jesus to leave. Never mind that Jesus just restored the life of two of their citizens in the town. It was the pigs that matter. It seems that healing by the power of God is not an economic strategy well received by the world.
In the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul will preach the Gospel in Ephesus. The entire town starts to turn to Christ. As a result they bring their idol worship books and start a fire in the town square. That really hurts the economy, when the main financial structure of the town was idol worship sales centered around the goddess Diana. Note:
Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver ... And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.”
When mankind thinks their wallets will be impacted by the Gospel they are not as willing to listen and place faith in Christ. The impact of Christ on the world from an economic point of view is hard for the non-believing world to accept. Our property and treasure tends to get in the way of our faith and commitment. Following Jesus means to put the power and teaching of Jesus before our income and well being.
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