Mark 5: 16-17 (NLT)
Then those who had seen what happened told the others about the demon-possessed man and the pigs. And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone.
Today we remove the focus off of the delivered man and shine the light on those around for this spiritual encounter. The people who lived in the area, those who were in control of the pigs. In verses sixteen and seventeen of The Message, it reads, “At first they were in awe – and then they were upset, upset over drowned pigs. They demanded that Jesus leave and not come back.” What is as nearly amazing as the miraculous deliverance Jesus just wrought, is the reaction of the surrounding spectators. They wanted Jesus to leave! They would rather have their pigs back and the man romping around the graveyard ripped apart by sin! Unbelievable! But it happened.
About a month and a half ago, John (the Pastor, not the Baptist) delivered a Sunday morning message about our focus. He discussed how we tend to recognize all the junk in our lives rather than focusing on Jesus and all the blessings we enjoy. He even threw in an illustration from the film Twister for good measure. The scene where the tornado-obsessed woman is desperately flailing to get her experiment ready amidst the swirling winds and thumping hail and flying cows. And she’s so focused on all this mess that she fails to notice the love of her life standing there shouting, “You got me! I‘m your hero! I love you!”
And that’s a beautiful word picture for such an ugly turn to a beautiful story. These folks – and us? – were so focused on what they were losing that they failed to see the Savior of the world standing right in front of them. With his healing of the man, Jesus was shouting, “It’s me! Your Savior! Your Deliverer! I love you!”
So what are you focused on?
