What Are They Afraid Of

Observe. After the pigs drown, the herdsmen run to town. The people come out to see for themselves. Mark records three things they see: the man, sitting, dressed, and in his right mind; the pigs, gone; and Jesus. Their reaction is fear, and their request is that Jesus leave. Nobody in the crowd says thank you.

Interpret. The fear is not primarily of Jesus's power to harm. He has just done nothing but good. It is fear of a power that does not fit their categories and that has already cost them something. A restored man was, to them, a less manageable outcome than a lost herd. Mark is showing that people can prefer a familiar misery to an unfamiliar grace, especially when grace disrupts the economy.

Apply. It is easy to read this story from the healed man's side. It is more honest to ask where we stand in the crowd. Where in your life have you asked Jesus to keep his distance because the change he brings would be costly or embarrassing or simply unfamiliar? What has his mercy already done that you have not yet stopped to thank him for? And who near you is a walking witness that you have been too busy or too afraid to hear?