Jesus and Culture

Culture may kick Him out, but they can't get rid of Christ.

One of the bits I love about the Mark 5.1-20 story is Jesus' interaction with the crowd.  They simply don't know what to do with the scene at hand - a changed man, some dead pigs, a wild story, and an itinerant preacher from across the lake.  "Uhm.  Can you leave?  Just leave!"

And He does.  There's something about that.  They don't want Him so He leaves.  He gets in the boat, seemingly waving to the crowd.

But He doesn't leave, not really.  The former demoniac wanted to go back to Capernaum with Him but Jesus didn't permit that.  He sent the man back into the area, back to the culture which asked Jesus to leave, back to the people who had ostracized the liberated man, back to "normal."

But nothing was normal.  The man was forever changed.  Mercy had exploded in his life.  And Jesus, the liberator, sent him back to tell others about it.  The culture was done with Jesus, but He wasn't done with it.  He sent a missionary back to it.

He still does.