Jesus
stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. (NIV)
After healing two
men possessed by demons, Jesus sends the demons into a herd of pigs who run off
a cliff. The townspeople come out and
beg Him to leave. You can just hear the typical big shot saying,
"You rubes have no idea who I am! You ignorant yokels! I just
performed a miracle in front of your very eyes, to say nothing of healing those
two insane men who had been terrorizing you. If you had half a brain among you,
you would be begging me to stay."
Or if it were the salesman type, hawking wares and obsessing with the
bottom line, it might have gone like this. "Now, folks, don't be so
hasty. I can replace those pigs. In fact, I'll double...make that
triple the herd. I just cured those two crazy men, right? And I
haven't even begun to show you all the things I can do. Tell you what.
Let me stay here with you for a few days. You can get to know me, I
can get to know you, and I think you'll see I can really help you guys
out."
Jesus does none of this. He walks away, gets into a boat, and rows
off. He is not going to bluster or persuade anyone into anything.
He is going to do what He is going to do, and people can either come
along or not. How powerful! How pure! And how dangerous, for,
being God, He leaves the choice entirely up to us.
Copyright © 2013 by Steven R. Perkins
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