Set Free...and Enslaved

This poem is based on Matthew 8:28-34, the story of Jesus freeing two men from demon-possession, 2000 pigs running off a cliff and drowning, and the townspeople whose true loyalties were revealed as they asked Jesus to leave town - caring more for pigs than people, loving swine more than the Savior.

"Set Free...And Enslaved"

The men that day did not bow down
they thrashed and gnashed outside of town
their names we know not, but we do
that of their torturers: Many.

Fierce, they stood to block all men
from passing by their haunted den
they screamed at Jesus standing there
no love was lost in their disdain.

Wrong-minded, blinded in the fray
how dare He come here now today
they cried, shuddering, chilled by hate
fear and anger blending sadly.

The demons begged, the herd was drowned
the herders ran to tell the town
a league of innocent swine
hated as the Son's handiwork.

The Son who freed the men that day
was not welcomed, sent away
they loved creation more, so He
left them to their own devices.

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I am struck by how Matthew 8:28-34 ends with a thud due to the hardness of people's hearts. Jesus, the Sovereign Lord and Savior leaves, gets in a boat, and heads back across the Sea of Galilee on His mission.