In The Land of The Gergesenes

I've been speed reading through Matthew and I stumbled across a few interesting things in chapter eight. In 8:31, the demons begged Jesus to be sent into the herd of swine. Why did they do this? Jesus could very easily have not complied, but He did so anyway. Why would Jesus knowingly permit the demons to go into the herd of swine? He knew they would only drown the pigs and ruin some farmer's live stock. Was it a lack of clear judgment on our Lord's part; by being limited in his finite form? In verse 32, they do just that. It even says in the NKJV that they ran “violently”. In verse 33 it says the men who kept the swine were watching. Terrified and angry no doubt. Verse 33 also shows us they went into the city of the Gergesenes “and told everything and all that had happened to the demon possessed men. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him they begged Him to depart from their region.” These people cared more about the swine than the fact that these well known demon possessed men had been set free, delivered. Why was Jesus so willing to cause so much trouble? Because He loved those two demon possessed men more than He loved the swine. We find earlier in Matthew, in chapter 6, when Jesus was teaching His sermon on the mount, He said, “are you not of more value than they?” speaking of the birds. Matthew 10:29-31. “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” As He said,“Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin?” and onto 1 Peter 1:18-19 which says, “…knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold…but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”
God has not redeemed us with copper, but with His own blood. No doubt this was the very thing that drove Jesus to sending the demons to the swine. But another question arises; “couldn’t Jesus have just said no and cast them out any way?” To answer this turn to Mark 9:14-29, the situation is a boy that had a mute spirit. After one of the crowd, the boy’s parent explained the boy’s condition, Jesus asks in verse 21, “ How long has this been happening to Him?” After Jesus delivered the boy of the spirit His disciples asked Him why they could not cast it out. To this in verse 29, Jesus responds with “ This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.” In Mark 5, we find the man who had a legion of demons within him. In verse 8, Jesus attempts to cast them out, but fails? Then in verse 9, He asks its name and it is in verse 9 we find it is not just one but a legion of demons. This chapter shows that the demons had inhabited the man for a very long time. On both accounts in Mark, the demons had inhabited the subjects for an extensive period of time and in both accounts, it proved slightly more difficult for our Lord. Back to Matthew 8. Perhaps another reason why Jesus permitted the demons to enter the farmer’s swine was once again out of love the two demoniacs. He didn’t want the exorcism to take any longer than it had to.