The Instability of Jesus

Luke 8:26-39
After Jesus heals the demon-possessed man, an interesting episode takes place.  This man has been tormenting this village for some time now, without hindrance, and now, all of a sudden things are taken care of by Jesus.  This man will no longer be a bother to these people, which insights an unexpected reaction from the villagers.  Instead of being thrilled at the remedy, they are seized with fear and ask Jesus to leave at once (vs. 37).  He has disrupted the norms for them.  He is too unpredictable and powerful.  They are used to this demon-possessed man.  It has become the way things are, and they are powerless to do anything about it (vs. 29).  Now a person has come that can do something about it, and demonstrates his power and authority over this situation.  The people realize their loss of control in this moment, as Jesus has done what they could not.  This is too much for them.  If he exerts control over situations they cannot, what more "instability" could this mean for their lives?  What if he made them do things they did not want to do?  What if he disrupted and inconvenienced their lives and things became hard?  They have already experienced a great financial loss at his hands (vs. 32-34), and a disruption of the expected, i.e. a once predictable demon-possessed man has become unpredictably "normal" and different than they are used to.  Their routine and bubble has been disrupted.  It seems that this Jesus could do whatever he wants to and they are powerless to stop him.  This loss of the expected and normalcy leads them to the conclusion that they are better off without this authoritative and powerful Jesus, who exerts control over them and their situations.  They would prefer to control things themselves, in their own ways, even if that means cohabitating with evil (as they did with this demon-possessed man).  And Jesus represents a loss of this.  Is this not the same reason that the men end up abandoning Jesus in Luke 9:57-62?  He calls them to a life of unpredictability, of loss of personal authority, which they cannot handle.  Is this not, also, the reason the rich young man leaves Jesus standing there after asking him how to attain eternal life in Mark 10:17-22?  Jesus meant losing personal opinion and decision-making.  These men all realized that Jesus represented a loss of authority and control over their lives.  He meant going without their own personal wants and desires and they would be obliged to do so if they chose to follow him, and this they were not willing to do.  Paul warned us that Jesus would become a stumbling block (I Corinthians 1:23), and we see this exemplified here in this passage.  But look back one passage, at Luke 8:22-25.  We have a similar episode with a completely different reaction.  The disciples realize Jesus' power and authority in his control over the wind and sea and are struck with fear (vs. 24, 25).  Only their fear and loss of control lead to worship, not rejection (vs. 25).  For them, a recognition of Jesus' authority meant he deserved all power and control and authority in their own personal lives, and they were obliged and willing to give it to him, whereas the people here in this village were not willing to let it go.  They would prefer to run things themselves and do without Jesus, rather than trust their lives into the hands of one as unstable as this Jesus.  What has our position become?  Are we willing to follow this unstable Jesus into his instability?  Have we desired to have Jesus only as long as he does things our way, as we expect and dictate?  Because if we have, do not be deceived, we are no different than these villagers who asked him to depart.  To not give him full control and complete authority in our lives is to reject him, no matter what your church or pastor or "Christian" friends may say.  Either he is an all-powerful Jesus worthy of full control in our lives that drives us to holy fear and worship (Hebrews 12:28, 29) like the disciples, or he is an unstable Jesus who would do better to move on and let us do things the way we think they should be done, like these villagers.  Is he God to be followed totally or a stumbling block that we have sent away?  Either he is in total control of our lives and we have given up everything to him as commanded (Luke 14:33), or we have not given him everything meaning he is not in control.  Do not be fooled, there is no partial or combination giving up and giving control, it is one or the other: everything or nothing (Romans 6:16).  Jesus will not remain where he is not wanted, as evidenced by our refusing to give him control (vs. 37)  Which is he?