"The demons begged Jesus, 'Send us among the pigs; allow us to go into them.' He gave them permission and the evil spirits came out and went into the pigs. The herd, about two thousand in number, rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned." Mark 5:12-13
I want you to try and picture this: The region is on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. There is a man who is completely out of his mind and if that's not bad enough, he has superhuman strength. He could even break iron chains off of him. People in their beds at night would hear him crying out among the tombs and the surrounding hillside. One can easily imagine that people double locked their doors and mothers warned their children to stay away from the outskirts of the city.
One day Jesus came to the town and this demon-possessed man (or rather the demons in him) begged Jesus not to send them to their doom at that time. They asked Jesus to make a concession...let them go into a herd of swine. Amazingly, Jesus allows their request and about two thousand pigs drowned themselves.
In order to properly understand the significance of what happened here we must understand that Jesus is the Lord of all creation. Psalm 24: 1 says, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it." That means the pigs belonged to Jesus. As such he had the right to do with them as he wished.
The Deal
In Genesis 1: 24 God created everything after it's own kind. This included all of the animals. But when he came to the creation of man he said something different:
Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all of the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' " (Genesis 1:26)
Here we see that even though there are some similarities in the chemistry and biological makeup, human beings are distinct and different than the rest of the created order. While the other creatures were created after their own kind, man is the image bearer of God. Even observation of the man and animals reveals distinct differences. Animals aren't capable of things like science and the arts. They don't build and develop hospitals, universities and businesses.
Man is different!
And in the passage in Mark we catch a glimpse of the value God places on man versus the animal kingdom. This man was regarded as one of the 'undesirables' by society. The demons had rendered him completely insane and dangerous. Yet Jesus regarded this one human life to be worth more than the lives of TWO THOUSAND PIGS.
In our society today it seems that we regard animals and human beings as quite the opposite. Hunting out of season, keeping a fish that isn't legal size or exceeding the bag limit, declawing a cat can get you a hefty fine and in some cases, jail time. But aborting a full-term baby is completely legal in some states. Please understand, I do NOT advocate breaking any hunting and game laws, (and I think declawing cats is cruel) but we have placed greater value on the animal kingdom than on human beings
How far we have fallen.
It wasn't much different in Jesus's day. After the people heard about the drowned pigs and saw the demoniac dressed and in his right mind, they pleaded with Jesus to leave. Jesus had just freed a man who was created in God's image who had been enslaved by a legion of demons. And in the process, had made the townspeople safer\. Yet the people were more concerned about the pigs.
Having God's Perspective
"...But we have the mind of Christ." 1 Corinthians 2:16
"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." Proverbs 14:12
If we are to truly follow Jesus Christ than we must surrender our ideas and wills completely to him. God places far more value on human life than he does the animals. The notion that we are of no greater value than all other life is an example of philosophy that 'seems right to a man' and it has led to death. Not only by the millions of abortions that have been performed, but by the despotic genocides that have been committed as well.
We who follow Christ are to be different.
As image bearers of God we are of far greater value than the animal kingdom. We have also been given the mandate to be stewards of creation. We are to take care of the earth. But we are not to subjugate ourselves to the creation. That is the idolatry God condemns in Romans 1:25:
"They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the creator--who is forever praised. Amen."
I pray that we all will have the mind of Christ and see things the way he sees things and have our ideas and wills completely surrendered to him.
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