Luke 8:32-37 (NIV) A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.

There are two groups that are terrified of Jesus in this event: the legion of demons, and the people of the area.

The demons knew who Jesus was, that He was the eternal Son of God who was destined to one day hurl them all into the abyss to be imprisoned forever. Not being omniscient, they were shocked to see Jesus suddenly come ashore and walk purposefully toward them. They believed that their time had come, and pleaded with Him not to utterly destroy them.

They saw the herd of pigs nearby, and begged Jesus to let them leave the man and go into them instead, which Jesus gave them permission to do, fully knowing what would happen. As soon as the demons went into the pigs, the pigs panicked, stampeded down the hill into the sea, and all of them drowned, leaving the demons to wander in search of other victims.

The people did not know who Jesus was. All that they knew was that He seemed to be at the center of the pig panic. Two thousand pigs (Mark 5:13) was a sizeable loss, but the mystery of why all of them should simultaneously lose their minds and drown themselves was frightening. The people of the area moved as a body to where Jesus and His disicples were on the shore of the lake, ready to demand an explanation, and even reparations.

But what they found when they got there moved them from righteous anger to full terror in a single step. There was that crazy, demon-possessed man, clothed and quiet, sitting and listening to Jesus like a school boy. They had tried everything to tame this wild man, including chaining him up. But he had simply broken the chains and run howling back to his shelter among the tombs.

In an instant, they decided as a body that someone who could cast out demons, destroy a whole herd of pigs in one fell swoop, and tame a wild man was not someone that they wanted around. But all of the “demand” had left them. This was someone to be reckoned with. Who knew what He was capable of if they made Him mad? So they politely “requested” that He leave the area. And Jesus, never one to stay where He wasn’t wanted, simply nodded and headed for the boat, followed by His disciples.

Father, being that close to that kind of power is kind of scary. Even among Christians, a real miracle can cause as much fear as rejoicing! We are uncomfortable with the supernatural, with things that we can’t explain and understand. But Your power unleashed in our world will always be beyond explanation, beyond understanding. Help me, Lord, to never be afraid of Your power, but to be a channel of it so that, as I do the things that Jesus did, and even greater things (John 14:12), the people of the world will see Your hand at work, and turn to You for salvation. Amen.