The Inconvenience of Lost Pigs
Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell a story in which Jesus was approached by a demon possessed man. This man was frightful, and the townspeople could not contain him with chains of any sorts. He was loud and destructive. Jesus commanded the demons to leave the man's body and enter into some nearby pigs - possibly thousands. When the demons entered the pigs, they ran off a steep embankment and into the sea where they perished. Seems probable that the people would have been happy to not have to deal with this demon possessed man any longer (Matthew's text stated that nobody could pass by him any longer) or that they would have at least been caring enough to be happy for this man to be freed. Though the freed man himself was extremely grateful, the townspeople actually implored Jesus to leave. The text does mention that they were frightened, but it is believed that they asked him to leave because they were not happy about the financial loss of the pigs. ...