The Swineherd

Not all communities welcomed the teachings and works of the anointed. Consider the story of the mortician and his herd of swine.

On the other side, they came to a land in which groups of people with differing ideas had become walled off from each other, depriving themselves the benefit of healthy interaction. And as Y’shua stepped out of the boat, he was accosted by a man whose spirit had become unhinged from his soul. He had become feral, and he haunted the region’s tombs, which served as his den.

Accustomed, now, to a life of unwholesome isolation, the man answered to no one; and none could break through to him, not even with the strongest measures. His relatives had contrived schemes intended to win them greater influence over his life, but he simply ignored such interference unless the busybodies persisted and became personal nuisances, at which point he resolutely slammed shut every door, locking himself off.

Nobody was able to control him. Night and day, he moved about at will, doing whatever he wanted to do. Sometimes he would cry out, cutting himself with stones and bewailing his condition, claiming he wanted to be free of his peculiarities. He was confused, broken, lost. In defense against himself, he had become his own warden.

When, from a distance, he saw Y’shua disembark, he was desperate, anxious, haunted; and therefore, as it became clear that their paths would cross, he drew upon his courage and ran up to the rebbe in consternation. Crying out with a loud voice, he demanded of him, “What have I to do with you, Yahushua, Projection of the Highest?! I beg you by HaShem hwhy, that you don’t torment me. Please! Don’t mock me!”

Y’shua had already commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man, who was regaining consciousness of himself, but he was not yet free; and so, Y’shua called upon him to speak his name.

Growling, the man answered in agony, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” And the man begged Y’shua that he should not send the legion away, entirely. It was all that was left to him of life, and he had real need to take full measurement of his obsession, so that he could know its roots and perceive its end.

A herd of two b thousand a swine was feeding on the mountain slopes nearby: hungry
beasts b, they were unruly, driven by their explosive energy a.  And the legion of twisted thoughts and emotions tore a hole in the man as he moaned his plea, beseeching Y’shua— begging him: barely managing to stutter out—“Let the swine manifest my thoughts, that I may comprehend them.”

And when Y’shua gave permission, the unclean spirits went out of the man and entered into the herd of swine; and the animals, biting at each other, ran violently down a steep place and tumbled into the lake, where they were drowned, taking with them the two-thousand murmurs that had echoed back and forth in the man’s mind before they were choked off.

The core issues that had fed the unclean spirits fled the man; and the remarkable change in him was reported, both in the city and in the country thereabouts. His acquaintances, along with those who claimed the swine as their property, came out to see what it was that had been done; for the rumor of a new rebbe who did not behave as he ought to behave had been reported.

When they reached Y’shua, they found him sitting with the man that had been overwhelmed by so much confusion. The man was fully clothed, sitting quietly in his right mind and talking sensibly.

They that had known him as a madman were stunned; and they became fearful, that one man should exercise such power over another. And all those who witnessed the chain of events told them what their minds invented about what had happened to the man that was possessed, with excited speculation concerning the fate of the swine. As the townsfolk listened, people began to forget what had happened, worrying over loss of property; but even more troublesome was the possibility of losing control of their own, private thoughts. They therefore entreated Y’shua to depart from their coasts.