Welcome or Not Welcome?

“And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw Him, they besought Him that He would depart out of their coasts.”  Matthew 8:34

As Jesus went about teaching and healing, people were coming to Him to be healed or see someone healed.  Others came promising to follow Him wherever He went, but Jesus knew whether they were sincere or not.  He would caution them about the rough road that lay ahead for Him, and most would change their minds about following Him.  They were more interested in seeing a show, than getting to know the Savior of the world.  If entertainment was all they were interested in, then the healing of the two who were demon-possessed would have made an impression on them, but not likely an impact.

Two men who were demon-possessed lived in a cemetery.  They were like wild men, and no one would go near them except for Jesus.  The demons who possessed them recognized Jesus as the Son of God and asked if He had come to torment them before the time.  Unlike many folks today, they knew that God would pass judgment on them, but hoped it would be later rather than sooner.  They knew that Jesus was about to give them a change of venue so they requested to enter a herd of pigs, not realizing how that would affect the pigs.  Jesus obliged them, and the pigs went crazy, running violently down a steep slope into the sea, drowning themselves along with the demons.  What a sight that must have been.

Now one would assume the townspeople would be happy to see these two outcasts healed, clothed, and in their right minds, able to become contributing members of the community, but quite the contrary resulted.  The people were upset that their livelihood had been destroyed.  (By the way, the Jews were not even supposed to eat pork or raise pigs.)  They were so angry that they demanded Jesus to depart from their town.  He was not welcome.  He granted their desire for He wouldn’t stay where He was not wanted.

How it behooves us to let Jesus know that He is welcome in our town, our home, and most importantly, in our heart.