What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?

Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee.  And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time.  And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs.  When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!"  for He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.  For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.  Jesus asked him, saying, "What is your name?"  And he said, "Legion," because many demons had entered him.  And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.  Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain.  So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them.  And He permitted them.  Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.

When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.  Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.  And they were afraid. They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed.  Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear.  And He got into the boat and returned.  Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him.  But Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you."  And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

- Luke 8:26-39

On Saturday, we read first Jesus' preaching after teaching the parable of the Sower:  "No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light.  For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.  Therefore take heed how you hear.  For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him."  Then we read that He was told His mother and brothers were outside waiting to see Him.  Jesus said, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."  Then Jesus desired to go to the other side of the lake, the Sea of Galilee.  As they sailed, Jesus fell asleep, and a great storm began - so great the apostles felt they were perishing, as the boat was filling with water.  They woke Jesus.  He arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water.  And they ceased, and there was a calm.  But He said to them, "Where is your faith?"  And they were afraid, and marveled, saying to one another, "Who can this be?  For He commands even the winds and water, and they obey Him!" 

Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. Here, on the "other side of the lake (or Sea of Galilee)" they are in Gentile territory.  It is a kind of unknown, a setting out, a new way of going forth.  Here we will see swine being raised, animals considered unclean to the Jews.

And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time.  And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs.  Here is "outer" and "outside" territory indeed, strange and foreign -- a man living in the tombs, having had demons for a long time.  He's in the land of the dead; symbolically that which is completely "other" - a land of great evil symbolically, that which not only makes greatly ill, but kills.  He wears no clothes, he is naked to God and all, and in a forsaken place as if seemingly completely lost.

When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!"  for He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.  For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.   Here we get a glimpse of the further torture and illness of the man, how afflicted he is!  The demons know who Jesus is.  This poor man has been bound with chains and shackles, an image of the "fettered" - great unmovable burdens that keep one from living life.  He's an image of spiritual and psychic illness in so many ways.  This was the way in which the violence against him (done by the demons) was sought to be contained by human effort.  Breaking his bonds, he was simply driven by the demon further into the wilderness - by tradition, abode of the demons, a place of complete isolation and separation from God, abandonment.

Jesus asked him, saying, "What is your name?"  And he said, "Legion," because many demons had entered him.  And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.  Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain.  So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them.  And He permitted them.  Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.  For the abyss, we may possibly understand a place in image that of a bottomless chasm - a place of complete death, without remembrance.  Instead, Christ allows them to enter the swine (considered unclean in Jewish thought), and so they plunge down the steep place into the lake and drown, a death of great violence.  Rather than entering the abyss, the demons create something unforgettable in yet another display of their extremely destructive violence, something that will not be forgotten as it will be told as part of the story of this great act of Christ's power to heal and to reclaim.

When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.  Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.  And they were afraid. They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed.  Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear  Here are the miraculous results:  the man is clothed and "in his right mind."  But the people (who've lost a herd of swine) are simply terrified.  They can't accept Christ's power; they're used to life a certain way and they won't go outside of what they know -- even seeing the blessed results for the healed and healthy man who is no longer possessed.  Jesus has gone outside of Israel, outside of Jewish territory, to heal and reclaim a lost humanity.  But these people can't go outside of their way way of life to embrace Jesus and what He has done. They are simply seized with a great fear, which faith hasn't touched.  This distinguishes them from the disciples sailing in the storm in yesterday's reading.

And He got into the boat and returned.  Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him.  But Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you."  And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.  Here is a part of the story that adds even a deeper reclamation:  this healed man becomes an evangelist of the good news of Jesus, a witness who testifies.  This event has shaped and changed his life.  Although, perhaps at this point because he is a Gentile, he is not allowed to join the disciples, Christ gives him a great commission:  he will become a kind of apostle (one who is sent on a mission by Christ) among the Gentles.   My study bible says, "Jesus does not call all whom He saves to join His band of disciples.  This man, wonderfully healed, is sent back home to witness to the power of Christ there."

If we look very closely at this story, we will see that this "lost" and abandoned man, living in the tombs, has in fact become a part of a new family, that is Jesus' spiritual family (again, see yesterday's reading, in which Jesus' mother and brothers were calling for Him).  He's in a place that has rejected Christ out of sheer fear, and yet he has a mission now, a job as part of the family or Body of Christ -- he proclaims what great things the Lord has done for him.  He will start his own "family" of faithful, of believers, one presumes.  And so, being lost and found involves a great deal of transformation.  We're not simply "healed" by going back to our previous state, one in which it may be thought that one is "normal."  Here, "normal" among these people means to be so afraid of the powerful effects of Jesus' healing presence that they cannot accept Christ.  This man, far from being simply no longer lost, is recovered in a way that is claimed by God, by Christ, by the Lord -- not simply by his kinsmen and townspeople.  He's in a different relatedness now to all of them because of his love for God, and the great things the Lord has done for him.  And that's how healing and transformation really work.  They bring us back into true family; that is, with the love of God, a spiritual sense of union in our hearts, and we then are able to relate to others in a new way.  Tasting of that love and healing and power used on our behalf, we meet brothers and sisters, as it were, in ways that are tinged with the light of that good news.  As my study bible puts it, not everybody is called to join His band of disciples.  But each of us, in our own lives, can share in this experience of healing and the effects of God's love, and that will change us as it changes the ways in which we meet others.  Some of us, like this man, will not be able to return to any old way of believing and relating, even among our "group" -- be that friends, kinsmen, neighbors.  But it will give us a light to shine, and good news to share.  How does this reclamation work in you?  How does His life change your life?