"The entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone." - Matthew 8:34, New Living Translation
This text is from the story of Jesus casting out demons and sending them into a herd of pigs, who promptly jump off a cliff. You can read the whole story in Matthew 8.
Why would anyone send Jesus away?
If you are into "little Jesus meek and mild" or Jesus as a love-gushing guru--you wouldn't chase him off. If you are a maturing believer who has embraced his character and his mission for yourself, you would not send Jesus packing.
But sometimes an encounter with him can be a bit frightening. The work of God is sometimes threatening and unnerving. We have this convenient lie that we are always in charge and in control. Then Jesus comes along and does something that proves quite the opposite to be true. Then we would like Jesus to go away so we don't have to deal with the power and potential of his presence.
Because make no mistake. Jesus will not be tamed nor controlled.
(C) 2010 by Stephen L Dunn
No comments:
Post a Comment