Tuesday in Advent 2: The pigs are gone

Opening Sentence

Watch, for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning, lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. Mark 13:35, 36

Creator of the Stars of Night



Commemoration: Nicholas of Myra

Almighty God, who in your love gave to your servant Nicholas of Myra a perpetual name for deeds of kindness on land and sea: Grant, we pray, that your Church may never cease to work for the happiness of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Texts: Psalm 30, 31 (M); Psalm 32-34 (E); Isaiah 22:1-14, Mark 5:1-20 (M); Isaiah 24, Revelation 13 (E)

The reaction of the people to Jesus' healing of the Gerasene demoniac is all too typical. Rather than welcome Jesus with open arms, they insisted that he leave. Why? Well, the pigs were gone. When Jesus ordered the demons into the herd of pigs, the pigs then "rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.”

The town had a lot invested in those pigs. Jesus might have been bad for business if he had stayed around.

Jesus responded to the people's demand the way he always responded to faithlessness. He didn’t stay where he wasn’t wanted. He would not force a stubborn people to accept him. He came to show them that they could be set free from whatever was keeping them in bondage. But their only response was, "The pigs are gone." They were a people who could not accept the gracious offer of God in the flesh.

Although he departed from them, Jesus did not leave himself without a witness. The demoniac, now healed, wanted to go with Jesus. Jesus, however, told him, "Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you. Jesus would often instruct those he healed to keep quiet about it. This one, however, he sent back to his home with instructions to tell everyone about the healing and transforming power of God. So, with great enthusiasm, the man went about spreading the Good News. The town was not ready for Jesus when he came in person. But the man he healed continued to be a witness to the fact that the Son of God had paid them a visit.

(JAG)

Come, Thou Long Expected Jesus