Why, when the inhabitants of the town where this event took place see the possessed man whom Jesus has healed, do they ask Him to leave? It would seem that they should rejoice that such a Man had come to their region. When else could they have seen anything like it? Who else could have freed from the power of dark forces the demoniac whom the whole district feared? It would have been logical if, on the contrary, the townspeople had tried...
Why, when the inhabitants of the town where this event took place see the possessed man whom Jesus has healed, do they ask Him to leave? It would seem that they should rejoice that such a Man had come to their region. When else could they have seen anything like it? Who else could have freed from the power of dark forces the demoniac whom the whole district feared? It would have been logical if, on the contrary, the townspeople had tried to keep Jesus with them as long as possible, if there were no way to persuade Him to settle in their town forever. Yet they ask Him to leave as soon as possible—politely, it seems, but quite insistently. They do not deny the obvious or the miracle Jesus performed; perhaps they are even grateful to Him, but their gratitude does not prevent them from ushering Him out of town as quickly as possible.
The usual explanation is connected with the herd of pigs that perished in the sea and undoubtedly belonged to some local resident. The explanation is understandable but incomplete. Even a large herd, whose loss was unquestionably costly to its owner, seems a trifle compared with the power possessed by this Man who had appeared from nowhere. Enormous possibilities were evidently concealed here, yet it did not occur to anyone to approach Jesus with any request at all, as so often happened in the Jewish towns of Judea and Galilee.
The simplest, though rather formal, explanation comes down to the fact that these were not Jews but pagans who did not dare approach Jesus with requests. Yet their fear may have contained far more spiritual sobriety than the requests of believing Jews. Paradoxically, pagans sometimes understand better than believers in the One God—whether Yahwists, Jews, or Christians—that one must be very careful with God's power. When the townspeople learned of the miracle, they understood that they were in the presence of a Power as utterly unpredictable and uncontrollable as the Man who bore it. It would be better if the bearer of such a Power passed by, and did so as quickly as possible.
In their own way, these people were right: until a person has a stable and conscious relationship with God and with Christ, it is indeed unsafe to be in God's presence. At any moment it may reveal itself precisely as a Power, uncontrollable and unpredictable, from which it is moreover impossible either to flee or to protect oneself. Religious people sometimes lose some awareness of the reality of this Power. In their relations with it, they rely on their religiosity, hoping that this set of tools, if mastered well, is quite sufficient to regulate the action of God's power in their lives, or at least to avoid its attendant dangers.
Perhaps that is why religious Jews feel more at ease in Jesus' presence than pagans do. In reality, however, a religious person is in the same position here as a nonreligious one, although the former naturally has more illusions about himself than the latter. But illusions remain illusions, and they are of no use in the spiritual life.
5
5:1 Mat 8:28; Luk 8:26.
5:2 There met him a man with an unclean spirit - St. Matthew mentions two. Probably this, so particularly spoken of here, was the most remarkably fierce and ungovernable.
5:9 My name is Legion! for we are many - But all these seem to have been under one commander, who accordingly speaks all along, both for them and himself.
5:15 And they were afraid - It is not improbable they might otherwise have offered some rudeness, if not violence.
5:18 Mat 9:1; Luk 8:37;
5:19 Tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee - This was peculiarly needful there, where Christ did not go in person.
5:20 He published in Decapolis - Not only at home, but in all that country where Jesus himself did not come.