Last week we started looking at how different people initially reacted when Jesus came to them as the Messiah. We saw two positive reactions in the people in Capernaum and Samaria. 

This week we are going to look at two other places. How did they react to Jesus the Messiah?

Decapolis

Sadly, not everyone was so welcoming to Jesus when he first came to their town. One such town is the country of the Gerasenes. This place is in the Decapolis. This is a region outside of the country of Israel during the time of Jesus. These were people who likely didn’t follow Yahweh, but instead followed the many gods of the pagans. 

When Jesus first arrives in the country of the Gerasenes, he meets a man who was demon possessed. He was so controlled by demons that he had super-human strength and would break the chains placed on him to protect him and others. He lived among the tombs, and would cut himself as he cried out. 

It strikes me as interesting that this man could break the physical chains placed on him, and yet he was continually chained to the demons who controlled him. 

This man needed a touch from Jesus to actually free him from the chains that bound him. Thankfully, he received the freedom that only the power of God’s kingdom, the kingdom that is at hand, can give. Jesus tells the demons to leave the man and an interesting thing happens. 

“And he [the legion of demons] begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, “Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.” So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the pigs; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the sea.” Mark‬ ‭5‬:‭10‬-‭13‬ ‭(ESV) (words in bracket mine)‬‬

For whatever reason, Jesus allows this group of demons to remain in the country and sends them into the pigs. While the Jews would be totally fine with the unclean animals taking the demons from the man, these men from the Decapolis were not happy at all. They likely saw money being flushed down the toilet, as we would say in our modern times. Furthermore, the townspeople seemed to be terrified by the sight of the crazy man sitting in his right mind. What the Jews saw as a blessing, the pagans saw as something to be feared and avoided. 

“The herdsmen fled and told it in the city and in the country. And people came to see what it was that had happened. And they came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man, the one who had had the legion, sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it described to them what had happened to the demon-possessed man and to the pigs. And they began to beg Jesus to depart from their region.” Mark‬ ‭5‬:‭14‬-‭17‬ ‭(ESV)‬‬

The people here were unsure about this new power. While they were religious people, they were also very fearful of their many gods. They didn’t want any god to come in and disrupt their way of living. 

Hometown

Next, we are going to look at another group of people who weren’t so keen on Jesus when they first met him. These people happen to be his family and the people he grew up with. While these people knew of Jesus the man, they didn’t know Jesus the savior. How did they respond to Jesus as God in the flesh? 

‘“And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?” And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭53‬-‭58‬ ‭(ESV)‬‬

I really like how verse 57 is worded in the New Living Translation:

“And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.”” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭13‬:‭57‬ (‭NLT)‬‬

 These are the people who grew up with Jesus. They were the people who watched as Jesus grew from a little boy to a young man to an adult. They were there in the good times and celebrated with the family when new marriages occurred or the birth of new babies happened. This group of people were there to help hold up the family after tragedy. They brought meals to the family and comfort when Joseph died. These are people who are supposed to know Jesus. They should know the character of Jesus. 

Sadly, it is often those who are supposed to be closest to us who reject us when we begin to live the life God calls us to live. When we start to live as the person God created us to be, those closest to us will often reject that. 

The same thing happened to Jesus. Those that should have been the first to line up and proclaim him as Savior, are the ones who were offended at the “audacity” of Jesus to teach and do miracles. 

You see this group of people knew Jesus the man, but they didn’t know Jesus the Messiah. They were missing the biggest, most important person ever to walk on the earth. 

So we see two groups reacted in a positive way when they first met Jesus, and two groups rejected him. What can we learn from all this?

Isn’t it crazy how different people react to Jesus the Messiah? Sometimes it’s hard for people to accept Jesus as God, not just a man. 

Next week we are going to look at modern times, and how people today react to Jesus the Messiah.

Part 1