Main news for 25 January 2021

Reading the Gospel, we often encounter situations where Jesus is not welcome. They are very different, and each of those who is not glad to see Him usually has his own reasons. But they all have something in common: He is not welcome when people do not want change. Of course, not everyone admits to such motives for his own unwillingness to see Jesus. Deeply religious and often, in their own way, sincere people such as the Pharisees, for example, would never admit, not only to others but even to themselves, that they fear not for the people and not for the true faith, but for themselves, for their religiosity, which Jesus' witness threatened to destroy.

But in the region of Gadara lived the most ordinary secular people, whom we are accustomed to call pagans, although there is no reason to speak of any special religiosity of theirs, even pagan religiosity. They were simple people and frank in their own way, people who were frankly frightened and just as frankly sorry for the lost herd of swine.

And, as simple people, they were not embarrassed to express directly and bluntly their unwillingness to see the one whom they truly did not want to see. Of course, they had witnessed a miracle. And of course they understood it completely correctly: it was simply impossible to understand it otherwise. But the point is that fallen humanity does not have much need for miracles, at least not those that cannot be controlled. And fallen humanity usually does not need God. Fallen humanity needs not God, but a genie from a magical Eastern tale, the kind who could do everything but would demand nothing from his master and, when not needed, would sit peacefully in his bottle or magic lamp, in no way revealing his presence.

The people who had witnessed the healing Jesus performed, for all their simplicity, understood that this Wonderworker was not a genie. If He were allowed to remain, He would not limit Himself to one healing. And no one would say exactly what else He would do. The matter might well not be limited to the loss of one herd of swine. But the main thing is not even the material damage. Intuitively, in the depth of his own subconscious, everyone understood: if you allow this Man to act, you will lose not only herds, but also your life.

He will take your life for Himself. Yes, of course, not for His own sake. Perhaps for the sake of the Kingdom of which He speaks. But your life will no longer be yours. And you yourself will no longer belong to yourself, but will belong to Him, the King of an unknown Kingdom. And this is always frightening. The only question is whether to overcome this fear for the sake of the Kingdom or step back into the outer darkness, to one's herds, to one's life, and to one's death.