Begging Jesus to Leave

How would you respond if Jesus visited your town or your neighborhood? I think almost everyone, non-Christians included, would be thrilled by the possibility. Most everyone likes Jesus. His morality cannot be improved upon, select portions of his teachings have been applauded for time gone by, and we sure would love to see something supernatural. In Jesus' day there was just something special about him and the miracles, the preaching, the tenderness mingled with strength, the verbal take downs of the religious--all drew massive crowds, with good reason! In our own time I doubt it would be any different. 

But I have often been bewildered at the Gerasenes (Mark 5:1-20) who pleaded with Jesus to leave their town. Put yourself in their shoes. Here is Jesus, this fantastical figure, and He has come to your time. Of all possible moments in human history He is walking the earth the same moment you are walking the earth! Humanity has been waiting for this for generation after generation, literally thousands of years, and He just so happens to show up during your brief span of existence. And it gets even better: He is here, He is in your town. He does not visit every town. He did not traverse the globe. But He has come here. Time and space converge and the miniscule odds have somehow struck in your favor. You have hit the global-historical lottery: the Son of the living God is in your town today.

Jesus comes in, casts out the Legion of demons from a possessed man, and sends those demons into pigs who go careening off a cliff to a watery doom. The people’s response to all this is not joy but horror (Mark 5:15). They are devastated and wracked with fear. And they beg him to leave. They plead with the Son of God to depart from their region, effectively declaring "we don't want you here any more, Jesus." As bizarre as this reply sounds, as utterly insane it may strike our ears, it really is not that uncommon of a response to Him.

There is something about Jesus many atheists admire. We like the idea of Him and we like select teachings of Him, but when He comes close to us personally the game starts to change. All of a sudden we go from something pleasant to something disrupting. We go from a nice story about a good man, to my pig farm being decimated. We go from calling Him "Good Teacher" to leaving sad because He just called us to give up the totality of our wealth (Mark 10:22). We go from ecstasy at the thought of His empirical conquest, to shouts of "crucify him" because He wouldn't solve our political oppression (Luke 23:21). We go from enjoying the free bread at first, to leaving because of some of his recent “hard sayings” (John 6:60).

Today the costs of following Jesus may differ in form, but costs they are and costs they remain. What if He will command me to give up the one thing I hold most dear? What if following him means I must affirm some fairly archaic and "bigoted" things? What if I must lose some friendships and be ostracized by the watching world? What if I actually have to pick up my cross and die, that I might find life? If these were the conditions you were confronted with, would you follow anyways? Would you ask to follow Him nevertheless, thinking no terms too hard to be with Him? Or would you fall in the line with the rest of the masses and beg Jesus to leave?

There is a cost to discipleship, a cross followers must carry. At a safe distance Jesus sounds lovely, and we assume we can retain everything the way it was before and merely add Him to our collection. But up close and personal His holy presence provokes our inward shame. It induces us to shout with Peter, "Leave me for I am a sinful man." Before the Holy One of Israel we cannot remain as we are. We must surrender everything or hide away. We must be made new or beg him to leave.

Hard as His presence is for us mortals to contend with, the secret is that there is freedom to be found on the other side. Difficult as it is to relinquish our grips from our way, true liberty is found in surrendering. The Gerasenes may have begged Jesus to leave their region, but the previously demon possessed man begged to follow Him. The former witnessed the disruption of Jesus' presence up close and wanted no part; the latter experienced the same presence and only wanted to be closer. And how could He not? He was once in bondage before Jesus, and after Jesus He was restored and free.

Who are you in the story? How will you respond to the intrusive disruption of this Son of Man? Will you beg Jesus to leave? Or will you beg to follow Him no matter the costs?

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Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-29