Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you

Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes.  And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains.  And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.  And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.  When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him.  And he cried out with a loud voice and said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus Son of the Most High God?  I implore You by God that You do not torment me."  For He said to him, "Come out of the man, unclean spirit!"  Then He asked him, "What is your name?"  And he answered, saying, "My name is Legion; for we are many."  Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country.  Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains.  So all the demons begged Him, saying, "Send us to the swine, that we may enter them."  And at once Jesus gave them permission.  Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.

So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country.  And they went out to see what it was that had happened.  Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind.  And they were afraid.  And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine.  Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.  And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him.  However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you."  And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.

- Mark 5:1-20

Yesterday we read that, on the same day that Jesus was teaching by the sea, when evening had come, He said to them, "Let us cross over to the other side."  Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was.  And other little boats were also with Him.  And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling.  But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow.  And they awoke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?"  Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!"  And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.  But He said to them, "Why is it that you are so fearful?  How is it that you have no faith?"  And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, "Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!"

Then they came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gadarenes.  And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains, because he had often been bound with shackles and chains.  And the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces; neither could anyone tame him.  And always, night and day, he was in the mountains and in the tombs, crying out and cutting himself with stones.  When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him.  And he cried out with a loud voice and said, "What have I to do with You, Jesus Son of the Most High God?  I implore You by God that You do not torment me."  For He said to him, "Come out of the man, unclean spirit!"  Then He asked him, "What is your name?"  And he answered, saying, "My name is Legion; for we are many."  Also he begged Him earnestly that He would not send them out of the country.  Now a large herd of swine was feeding there near the mountains.  So all the demons begged Him, saying, "Send us to the swine, that we may enter them."  And at once Jesus gave them permission.  Then the unclean spirits went out and entered the swine (there were about two thousand); and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and drowned in the sea.  The country of the Gadarenes was an area of Galilee in which there lived many Gentiles among the Jews; an area of mixed populations.  My study bible says that Gentile influence on the Jews caused many of them to take on Gentile practices, such as raising swine, which were forbidden by the Law (Deuteronomy 14:8).  So, while many might suggest that these men raising swine in this area are Gentiles, it is more likely that they are apostate Jews, whose focus is on raising swine to sell to Gentiles, and thus making profit from this practice which was unlawful for the Jews.   The entire setting of this miracle of exorcism is one of abandonment, a forlorn kind of place or environment, one literally that is the abode of the dead, into which enters the living -- even Incarnate -- God, Christ.  Here in this place is a man literally occupied with an army, a legion of demons.  We observe the destructive, chaos-rendering, "uncivilizing" force of this occupation:  he is wild, uncontrollable, untamable. Night and day, he cries out and cuts himself with stones, living among the tombs.  We note that the demons desire to stay in this same place, and so Jesus gives them permission to enter into the unclean animals, the swine, who at once are rendered violently suicidal.

So those who fed the swine fled, and they told it in the city and in the country.  And they went out to see what it was that had happened.  Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind.  And they were afraid.  And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine.  Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.  And when He got into the boat, he who had been demon-possessed begged Him that he might be with Him.  However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you."  And he departed and began to proclaim in Decapolis all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.  We note the townspeople witnessing this miracle of healing:  the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion is now sitting and clothed and in his right mind.  But they respond with fear, and when it is explained how he had been healed, and also about the swine, rather than welcoming such miraculous healing, they plead with Jesus to depart from their region.  This healed man quite understandably wishes to be with Jesus.  But instead, Christ has a mission for him:  "Go home to your friends, and tell them what what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you."  Back in the Decapolis, a Greek-speaking region of ten cities, all marveled.  In a particular perspective, it is a prefiguring of what will happen after the apostles are sent out into all the cities of the vast Roman Empire, and the Gospels written in Greek, the universal language of its time.

Today's reading consists of a story that contains a great drama.  First of all, in the night crossing of the Sea of Galilee (yesterday's reading, above), there is a tone set, such as one of a great adventure with a lot of daring movements, facing great dangers.  It reads like a story out of the Odyssey, a fitting adventure for Odysseus.  (Appropriately so, in some sense, as Jesus and the disciples travel to a region near the Decapolis, a Greek-speaking and Greek-influenced region of mixed Jewish and Gentile populations established during the Hellenistic period.)  Then, immediately upon arriving on this "foreign" shore, Christ and the disciples are met by a man who resembles a kind of monster, tormented and occupied by an entire legion of demons.  But this drama takes on a tone different from the stories of Homer, as the leader of this expedition is not just another king nor even a great man, but He is Christ.  He comes as Liberator and Deliverer, but again, not as a conventional king throwing off an oppressive yoke of harsh rulers, but as One whose liberation reaches right down into each and every area of life.  He alone could command this legion of demons to leave the man.  He alone can give permission to the demons to occupy the swine, as they do not wish to leave the area (not uncommon in terms of literature on the demonic).  He liberates and frees this occupied and oppressed man, giving him back his human dignity and moreover supplying him with a great mission in service to the Lord who has not only done great things for him, but also had compassion on him.  On the other side of this drama of liberation, re-establishment of human dignity and freedom, and its entirely "good" outcome, are the people of the area, the ones who raised and lost the swine.  These are apostate Jews who not only violated their own religious law for profit, but respond only with fear and not faith in Christ.  They care nothing for the healing of this tormented and oppressed man, merely that they lost their swine.  They are, in effect, purely materially-minded in their choices and preferences.  What matters most deeply to them is not human life and its condition, but the loss of their material wealth.  And there we get from the reading the true drama of Christ's mission.    In many places in the Gospels, Christ refers (as do Sts. Peter and Paul in various Epistles) to "the flesh" as antagonistic to the spirit.  But this is not a contrast of the material -- even our physical bodies -- as opposed to the spiritual mission of Christ into the world.  It is rather the contrast between material-mindedness, which discounts the importance of the "good" in a spiritual sense and cannot discern its beauty and truth, and a life lived with all parts of ourselves, including the spiritual, in harmony.  These men who raise the swine discount fully the good things of God, in favor of a perspective that values only the material wealth they can derive.  And this reflects current struggles in our own societies, cultures, and communities.  We can compare this demon-possessed man to someone fully in the grip of a drug addiction, a person whose life is becoming unraveled, perhaps after years of drug use.  Do the ones who sell him or her the drugs care at all about the good things of God?  Would they care about his or her physical, mental, or spiritual health?  Such a person might be surrounded by people who simply care what material benefits they can gain from the person -- and so have an interest that operates against true healing.  If their business is threatened in any way, the addict becomes useless to them, or worse, perhaps an enemy to be gotten rid of.  Moreover, in such a surrounding, the addict keeps company with those who don't really want his or her true good, much like the townspeople who are dismayed at the good actions of Christ and beg Him to leave them.  Jesus sends the healed man away from this environment, and to his home, to tell them the good news of Christ.  In the Greek, the phrase translated as your friends really means "your own."  All around us, the conflict between that which can only see from a material perspective and that which values the good things of God still rages.  Even within us, this conflict continues.  It's just that forms change; but we are still caught in the same temptations and struggles.  The question is really how we will be able to perceive this drama in our own lives, and discern the mission of Christ for us through it all.  We may struggle with serious affliction like addiction, or with those whom we love who need healing in a world that is nominally supportive, but which has many hidden pitfalls and temptations that stand in its way.  But we have an ally, Christ who is the Liberator and Deliverer, and we need to choose which way we will follow, whose mission we're willing to take on.