Reaction: Mark 5:14-17

It is interesting how people react to a supernatural event.  Weird things happen.  Maybe they don’t happen every day, but weird things happen.  You might encounter one significant hard-to-explain event.  You might also encounter a string of tiny events that individually wouldn’t be worth noting but together they add up to something unexplainable.  When these things happen, people react differently.

Seeing the herd of pigs drown themselves, the herdsmen flee, go into the city, and alert anyone they can find.  Surely some of the ones alerted were the owners of the herd.  Some important city managers were probably brought in on the know.  Some religious leaders were likely consulted.  Of course, you also have your local gossips, busy-bodies, and ambulance chasers (not that they had ambulances, of course) wanting to be in the know.  It was a strange happening; I can only image how quickly the gossip spread.

Examine the herdsmen.  They head into town.  This is an interesting but completely normal reaction.  The herdsmen were likely employed and not the owners, especially as large as the herd was.  Therefore, they probably reported to the owners because they feared for their livelihood – and maybe even their life!  While that is completely understandable, it is surprising that they didn’t show any curiosity in Jesus.  The status of their job took on a higher priority than their spiritual curiosity for understanding.

Examine the man who was healed.  Free from the demons, the man suddenly sees the importance of clothing himself.  He also sees the importance of sticking close to Jesus.  Jesus performed the greatest powerful act the unclean man had ever seen, why wouldn’t he want to hang out with Jesus and get some answers?  Having been driven out of society, Jesus was the first person to show interest in allowing him back into any semblance of community.  Why wouldn’t the man be grateful and want to know more?

Examine the townsfolk.  It makes sense that the owners of the herd would be angry.  Who knows how much of their own livelihood was dead and floating away in the sea?  Yet, there is more to it than economic irritation.  Mark tells us the townsfolk came and saw the man clothed and acting calmly.  They were afraid.  They didn’t understand.  Instead of reacting with curiosity, they closed off Jesus and asked Him to leave.

This is the opposite of discipleship.  Jesus’ disciples became disciples because they were curious.  They asked Jesus questions.  They wanted to know more.  They gave Jesus opportunity to speak into their life.  The townsfolk were closed off.  They restricted Jesus’ opportunity to speak into their life.  Rather than wanting answers, they wanted Him gone.  Jesus would have little opportunity for discipleship here, even after such an incredible healing was put on display.

It is interesting how people react to a supernatural event.