This morning, we focus on one of
Jesus’ greatest miracles, the healing of the demon-possessed man. This event
demonstrated that Jesus’ had power over both the natural world and the
spiritual world. This was comforting for Jesus’ followers, but was intimidating
for people who did not understand who Jesus was and who he came to earth to
save. Hear the story as it is recorded in Luke chapter 8, verses 26-39:
Scripture Reading Luke 8: 26-36
They sailed to
the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee.
When Jesus
stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long
time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the
tombs.
When he saw
Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice,
“What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg
you, don’t torture me!”
For Jesus had
commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized
him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had
broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.
Jesus asked
him, “What is your name?”
“Legion,” he
replied, because many demons had gone into him.
And they
begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.
A large herd
of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them
go into the pigs, and he gave them permission.
When the
demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down
the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
When those
tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the
town and countryside,
and the people
went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man
from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in
his right mind; and they were afraid.
Those who had
seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured.
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.
The man from
whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away,
saying,
“Return home
and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all
over town how much Jesus had done for him.
Here ends this reading of the word of God
for the People of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Prayer for Understanding
O Lord our God, your Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to
our path. Give us grace to receive your truth in faith and love, that we may be
obedient to your will and live always for your glory; through Jesus Christ our
Savior. Amen.
Message Fear of the Truth
The healing of
the Gerasene man is one of Jesus’ most dramatic healings. The man had been ill
for many years – he was out of control, wore no clothing, and lived out in the
cemetery among the tombs. He lived in a state between-life-and-death—filled
with demons or overcome with a mental illness his family and neighbors did not
understand. We would say he was “not right in the head,” but he was not also
not right in his body. He was tormented,
and he scared the people who lived in the community nearby. The man had been
cast out into the cemetery, to live away from the living people among the bones
of the dead.
He was in a sorry state.
Jesus and his friends arrived in the
region of the Gerasenes on a boat as this place was on the shore of the lake of
Gailee. Even though the Gerasenes lived near Jewish people, they were not
Jewish – they were Gentiles who did not practice Judaism and who apparently ate
pork. Proper Jewish people would have avoided these people and this place. And,
proper Jewish people completely avoided cemeteries….if they touched a grave,
they would have been considered ritually unclean and would have to undergo a
purification process. Yet, Jesus allowed the Demon possessed man to approach
him.
Jesus assessed the man and
recognized that he was plagued by what the 1st century people
perceived was an evil spirit. We may have recognized it as something else.
Doctors and psychologists may have diagnosed the man with a mental illness. We
may agree. Or perhaps the man was truly filled with an evil spirit. Either way,
the man was sick. Jesus told the spirits to leave the man, and they were afraid
that Jesus would cast them into “The abyss.” In the first century, Jewish
people believed that evil spirits were imprisoned in a place called “the
abyss.” And, apparently these evil spirits did not want to be imprisoned. So, Jesus
cast the spirits into the pigs. And,
when the spirits went into the pigs, the pigs were startled and panicked and
ran into the lake and were drowned.
The people who were tending the pigs
ran to the town to alert the people there about what had taken place.
The townspeople came to see the
result of the healing. When they arrived, they found the formerly-ill man
calmly sitting with Jesus. And the townspeople were overcome with fear. They
were afraid of Jesus because he was powerful, so powerful he could heal people
and order around demons. The fearful
people asked Jesus to depart from their town.
I find this so puzzling. If we
happened upon a man who was able to heal and cure people being tormented by mental
illnesses or demon possession, I don’t think we would have run away in fear. We
would go gather up our friends and relatives who are sick and bring them to the
man. Pilgrims travel to visit famous sites of miracles – people take their ill
loved ones to Lourdes in France and to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadeloupe in
Mexico City. We would be thrilled to
meet a healer; but, sometimes people are afraid of what they don’t understand.
The Gerasene people were afraid.
The man who Jesus’ healed wanted to
go with Jesus. He wanted to follow Jesus….he knew Jesus’ powers were for good.
But, Jesus told the healed man to go home and tell others about the good God
had done for him. This man became an evangelist on behalf of God and Jesus. He
is an example of a gentile who was ministered to by Jesus and who then became a
witness to the Good News of Jesus Christ.
The Gerasene people were afraid of
Jesus and his power. Jesus wasn’t able to open their hearts to accept his
message. Jesus didn’t stay in their community to teach them about God and his
love. So, Jesus told the healed man to work on his behalf. Jesus couldn’t
change their hearts in a few days or hours, but the healed man would live
alongside of them. They would see the result of Jesus’s work when they saw the
healed man. What Jesus couldn’t accomplish in a few days, the man would
accomplish – God’s love and power are wonderful. In the healed man, the
Gerasenes would learn about God’s love.
Sometimes, it is hard for us to
accept something new. Sometimes it is hard for us to try something new. The
Gerasenes knew what to do with a demon possessed man – they cast him out to
live in the cemetery. They had a known strategy to deal with brokenness. But,
they didn’t know what to do with a healed man. They didn’t know what to do with
a powerful man capable of healing.
This is a reminder for us that we
need to work to not cling on to the past, but to be willing to try new things.
We must work to accept new strategies. We must work to be open to the holy,
even when it scares us.
In our church, we must be open to
people who bring new ideas to us. We must listen to the guidance of the Holy
Spirit. We may be surprised at the direction God is calling us to go. We may be
surprised by the people who walk through our doors. We may be surprised by the
new things we are asked to try. But, we must not be stuck like the Geresenes,
who cast out people who were difficult and who ordered Jesus to leave their
community instead of welcoming him. WE must be willing to accept new ideas, new
people, new directions.
Let us be open to the Power of the
Holy Spirit.
May it be so. Amen.
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