That's a relief. It's even the prophet that is so profound and hard to understand--the prophet that all the other prophets quote, telling me that my thoughts aren't like God's. Which is good, because they aren't.
I read in Mark about the man possessed with a legion of evil spirits today--the spirits that recognized the Savior and spoke to him and asked to be cast into the pigs. What a great visual this story is. I can just imagine the pigs running off the cliff.
I've never understood what happens next. This man, when the spirits are cast out, wants to go with Jesus and follow him--probably be a loyal companion forever, but is told to go home and be with his friends and tell them how great things were done for him by the Lord. Okay, so isn't that the opposite of what Jesus tells all the other people that he heals and helps and does miracles for. It's the opposite of what he told the man who said he'd been following all the commandments his whole life. Jesus told him to sell everything he had and follow him.
So why did the Savior want this particular man not to follow? Why did he want this man to "publish" what had happened to him? It would be nice to have the account of what this man did with the rest of his life. Maybe he was the one who was at the right place at the right time to give the apostles the donkey, or prepare the upper room, (obviously, I don't know the geography) or maybe he later became the leader of the believers in the area where he was. Maybe his story converted hundreds in his village. We don't know and even if nothing spectacular came from him staying there, all we have is that his circumstances and counsel were different from all the other peoples' recorded in the New Testament.
It reminds of sister missionaries--'cause that's my reference point. Some sister missionaries (a lot) never have any intention or desire to go on missions and are compelled by the Spirit to go, while others want to go, waiting throughtout their teen years, only to end up married before they turn 21. That's just one example. There are countless other examples of mortals thinking and planning, only to find out that what they might feel is the right thing for them isn't the appointed thing.
I guess the lesson is acceptance. As long as I accept that my thoughts are limited in scope and that they probably won't ever match God's, I'll be okay.
1 comment:
I was reading this the other day and thought the same exact thing. I went back up a couple of verses, and think I found the answer: When Christ first came to that city, He wasn't accepted. After performing this miracle, and telling the man to tell everyone he knew what had happened, the next time the Savior came, they were waiting for Him. That must have been that man's mission in life. His obedience proved his loyalty, n'est-pas?
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