that way. Suddenly they shouted, “What do you want with us, you, Son of God? Have you
come to torture us before the time?”
At some distance away there was a large herd of pigs feeding. So the demons begged him,
“If you drive us out, send us into that herd of pigs.” Jesus ordered them, “Go.” So they left
and went into the pigs. The whole herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned.
The men in charge of them ran off to the town, where they told the whole story, also
what had happened to the men possessed with the demons. Then the whole town went
out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
Reflect
Ifind immense comfort in the fact that God cares even when no one else does. Hagar
and Ishmael have been sent away into the desert where they face dying of thirst, alone
and abandoned. Yet God hears the child’s cry and responds with care, compassion, and a
promise of future greatness. In the Gospel, Jesus reaches out to two men possessed by
demons. The men lived on the outskirts of the city, in a cemetery. Since there are pigs
in the story, we know that it is not a Jewish town. Yet Jesus reached out to these troubled
foreigners with compassion and healing.
Hagar and her son and the possessed men are invisible to most people in the community,
but God sees them, recognizes their needs, and reaches out to help them. When we feel
least worthy of God’s notice, he is watching us with love. We are called to follow this example,
reaching out to the margins, to the poor and vulnerable people who are easily ignored and
forgotten. We are called to see them and reach out to them in love.
© Copyright Bible Diary 2023