The miracles of Jesus - Classical Christian Literature by Athleo.net

64 DEMONIACS IN THE
the Gadarenes do indeed pray to Him, they beseech
Him to depart from their border. That is the prayer
of the Gadarenes, a prayer which is a command, an
act of banishment, a sentence of exile. They say
unto Him, " Go ! and He goeth"
This is not a case for power. This is Christ's great
problem. To still the wind is easy. To heal the sick
is not hard. But power, however great, cannot even
enter the moral realm. Force does not exist for the
soul. The time may come when " e'en the witless
Gadarene shall own that life is sweeter when 'tis
clean
!
" But this greater miracle can be wrought
only by that which is greater than power, the spirit
and love
of God.
II.
But the swine !
What
shall we say of this feature,
so grotesque in itself, and so offensive in the eyes of
cultured people
Why will the Evangelists drag this in With all
the editing which we are told went on in former as in
modern times, why did no one cut out this absurd
incident
Well, what part the swine played in the actual
history is uncertain, but they are essential to the
parable. They explain the prayer. Christ's offence
was that He valued man above all things. If, for the
purpose of this man's complete recovery it
was necessary
to humour him by some visible sign, Jesus would
not hesitate. Man came before all things. Every
man, any man.