Jesus vs The Economy

Today at church the pastor went through Mark 5. It's in Mark 5 that Jesus drives thousands of demons out of a man. The demons then beg Jesus for permission to enter into a herd of pigs. Jesus obliges, and the demon possessed pigs run down a hill to drown themselves in a lake.

I've recently read this passage on my own, and was frustrated with the part when the pigs died. Not because it was inhumane for the pigs to die, but because these pigs belonged to someone. The passage states that the pigs were two thousand in number. Can you imagine a modern-day farmer losing two thousand pigs in one fell swoop? Now think about how it must have affected the local economy 2000 years ago. Must have been an epic blow to the owner's livelihood as well as the local economy. That would be the equivalent to half of Delta's plane fleet being demolished by a hurricane. The corporation itself, as well as Atlanta, would be in pretty bad shape. Who would allow something like that to happen?

The scripture shows that the local people felt the same way I did about their porky loss. They begged Jesus to leave the area.

Today I realized that I'm missing the point.

When I originally read the passage on my own, I wasn't really affected by the demon possessed man who was healed. My thought was, 'Hmmm, man is healed from two thousand demons.... TWO THOUSAND PIGS WERE KILLED'!

I'm pretty sure heaven's reaction was vastly different. Probably went more like, 'ALLELUIA, A MAN HAS BEEN SAVED! oh yeah, a few pigs caught the brunt-end... But he's healed!!

God is so in love with us that one man's soul is far and away more important than the local economy. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be surprised if God values one man's soul over the global economy.

See parable of lost coin, prodigal son, etc...

How do our priorities line up with that? Do we care more about a random person's well-being or our 401(k)?

I'm not trying to sound irrational, nor am I saying we should abandon economy and commerce. Just food for thought.

Fast forward two chapters... Jesus returns to the exact same area He had previously been begged to leave. He heals a deaf man. Four thousand people then flock to Him. Jesus feeds them all with 7 loaves of bread and a few small fish. Talk about a picnic.

You say something about some pigs?