The Enemy

The mud welched beneath my shoes. I shook it off, frustrated, but not nearly as frustrated of not being able to find the person I came to see. This job is getting harder and harder these days. Ever since this Jesus fella came into the scene all of Galilee had become a hotspot of news. And I am only now catching up.

I surveyed the large stretch of land of pastures and rocky clefts. In the distance there was the small town of Gerdara sat nestled between the rocky ridge and the shore. The pastures were incredibly empty. So green. This was supposed to be a pig farm. Wonder where all the pigs went?

Really, a lot of strange things have happened here. I’ve been struggling to piece it together. I arrived yesterday only to find out that Jesus had already left. I can never catch up to this guy. But his handywork was everywhere alright.

A demon possessed man clothed and in his right mind! I never heard of anything quite like it. That was when I got a strange letter from one who might be able to shed some light. The letter told me to meet him here. I wonder where he could be.

A loud squeal shrieked behind me. I jumped, turning to only find a plumply pink pig. It stared at me with a dull gaze with fatty folds engulfing its squished face.

I breathed.

“Oh, you scared me there, little guy,” I said. “You’re definitely not who I’m looking for.”

“Actually.” Came a shockingly deep, gravelly voice. “I am.”

I froze, staring.

“Did…” I stuttered, pointing at the pig. “…did you just talk.”

The pig, yes, the pig, laughed.

“You mortals are fun to play with. So slow. So childish. And it’s your stupid, naïve race He wants to save? Pathetic.”

“Who…What are you?”

“You don’t recognize me?” The pig said with an oozing smile. “I’m the voice inside you that you can’t get rid of. I’m the one you give ear to everyday. I am you’re master.”

I look the pig up and down.

“You’re not my master,” I said, “you’re a demon.”

“Yes, I am a demon, but you are still wrong. I am you’re master. However, I’m getting ahead of myself. Thank you for accepting my invite. I would have included more information, but it was a little hard to write everything. Hooves aren’t the best for writing.”

The pig wiggled his feet. I just kept staring, not sure if any of this was real. I was tempted to run but my curiosity for a good story got the better of me. I couldn’t help but find out what happened. But something gnawed at me.

“So, uhh,” I said, hand instinctively taking out my paper and pencil. “what led you to this…state?”

The pig suddenly took on a dark look. It hissed terribly.

“He came.”

“Who? Jesus?”

The pig hissed again at the name.

“You seem awfully scared of a mere man?” I said.

Suddenly the pig chuckled, but there was a strange nervousness behind it.

“Oh, he is no man.” The pig said, eyes growing distant.

My eyes grew wide.

“So, it’s true then! He is the Messiah!”

The pig-demon turned to me with fury in his eyes.

“Yes.” He softly said. The pig shook his head.

“What the prophets have said are true then. He’s going to save us. You’ve lost.”

“How stupid do you think we are?” the pig snarled, “We’ve been around since the beginning of time, and you think we don’t know the ending? You think we don’t know what’s in store for us? You humans, so simple.”

I cocked my head.

“Then why do you torment us? Why possess that maniac? Why bring so much pain when you know you’re going to lose?”

The big chuckled to himself.

“Oh, you are the ones who bring the pain to yourselves. All you need is a little push. You see it’s for one simple reason really. It hurts Him. Your Maker hates to see His creation separated from him forever. We may not win in the end, but we can bring as many of your filth down to hell with us as we can. Every single soul we take pains God.”

“But Jesus is the Messiah,” I said, “he will deliver us.”

“Maybe,” the pig answered, “Ever since that colossal failure to tempt him in the wilderness he might actually succeed. But we have plans for him in Jerusalem. Just you wait and see. But our goal is not to stop him. Not anymore. Our goal is to make sure none of you believe it.”

I laughed myself.

“It’s a little hard not to believe when the Messiah himself is here.”

“Oh, it’s possible. In fact, it’s quite easy. You humans can be so gullible. There are many tactics that you all clamor to believe. The first tactic is to make you all forget about death. This is a rather simple, but effective strategy. If you forget about the all devouring fact of death, then there is no need for a Savior. You get to be wrapped up in your comforts while we get to play with your heart all your days. Though Jesus sadly exposed this tactic recently when he told everyone about that battle for Lazarus and that rich man. Jehovah snatched Lazarus right from our fingers, but we at least got to take the rich man.”

The pig shook its head. Its ears twitched as flies buzzed around. While I was trying to pay attention, the smell was rather distracting. The pig continued.

“Another tactic is religion. It’s actually the most profitable. The greatest lie we get to tell is making you humans think you are noble, and you are so quick to believe it. We devils have no limits to what we can do with religion, especially when it involves twisting your Maker’s precious Words. We even got the Jewish rabbis to turn on their own Messiah!”

“Your plans won’t work.” I fought, “You can’t hide this when people find out. Everyone’s going to know about it.”

“Yes. It is rather hard when those that God saves from us start broadcasting it to the whole world. We thought it would be a clever plan to kill all the pigs and get the farmers to drive Jesus away. But then of course, there was that insufferable restored maniac proclaiming what Jesus had done everywhere. It’s proven to be more damage to our influence here then what Jesus could have done. An oversight on our part that we don’t intend to make again, but you are right. We can’t keep it secret all the time, but if we ruin the testimony of those who do believe in your Messiah, not only would it hurt God, but it would also hurt the cause of getting others to also believe. We already have one of Jesus’s own disciples at our fingertips. Once we have him, then our plans can come into action at Jerusalem.”

The pig smiled with glee. It reveled in the idea of bringing pain to humanity. I couldn’t help but get furious, but I withheld myself for the interview.

The pig then turned its fat head over to me with a peering gaze.

“But now I have a question for you?” the demon-pig said.

I blinked.

“You have a question for me?”

“Yes. It’s really why I called for this interview in the first place,” The pig paused. “What makes you humans so special?”

“Excuse me?”

“What make you humans so special? Why would God send his own Son for you? Why does he raise you higher than us angles? We observed your kind for thousands of years and you were always the same. You are all wicked sinners in our clutches. Why would God sacrifice for that?”

I thought it about for a moment. We just stood there in a long a silence, save for the crashing waves of the shore.

“I guess I don’t know. But I would like to find out. I think that will be the first question I ask Jesus.

“Bah! I knew this would be a bad idea. I wish you hurt and suffering all your days. I better join my pals in the water before I’m spotted. But don’t you dare talk to Jesus, though I don’t think I am able to stop you. I will say this: if you do, we will do our best to make your life a living hell. Farewell, worm.”

The pig squealed and then went running off towards the shore leaving me with more questions than answers. All I knew was that I had to find Jesus.

The Enemy