Asking Jesus to Leave

Jesus healed a demon-possessed man who was possessed by a collection of demons named Legion. Jesus drove them out and when he gave them permission to go into a herd of pigs, the pigs rushed down a steep bank and drown in a lake. When the townspeople learned what had happened and saw that the demon-possessed man had been cured they were afraid. I can understand their fear, but I don’t understand their actions, “Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left” (Luke 8:38 NIV). It gives me pause to know that when we call, Jesus is there; but if we ask him to leave, he leaves.