What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?

 When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.  And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?  Have You come here to torment us before the time?"  Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding.  So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine."  And He said to them, "Go."  So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine.  And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.  Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.  And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus.  And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region. 

- Matthew 8:28-34

On Saturday we read that when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."  Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

 When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.  And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?  Have You come here to torment us before the time?"  Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding.  So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine."  And He said to them, "Go."  So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine.  And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.  Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.  And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus.  And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.   My study bible says that the demons, recognizing Jesus as the Son of God, are surprised that their power is being terminated before the time of the last judgment.  Although the malice of the demons is great, they can do nothing against the will of God, and thus can only enter the swine at Christ's command.   The immediate destruction of the herd shows the men were protected by God's care -- otherwise they would have been destroyed by the demonic influence.   This story reinforces that swineherding wasn't lawful for the Jews, and shows the incomparable value of human beings, whose salvation, my study bible tells us, is worth every sacrifice.  This story appears also in Luke and in Mark, but in Matthew's version there are two possessed men.

One way we could read the stories of these demon-possessed men is to say that they are among Gentiles raising swine, but indications are (as in this story in other Gospels) that the swineherders are apostate Jews -- those raising swine are influenced by Gentiles and doing so for profit, and against Jewish law.  We can see the preferences of the people in their fear of Jesus.  Regardless of the miraculous healing of these men and the exorcism of the demons, they care more about the lost swine and beg Jesus to leave their region.  Jesus has told His disciples to set sail from the "home country" they've so far been in through Jesus' ministry, to this faraway place on the other side of the Sea of Galilee.  They pass through a storm that frightens even the seasoned fishermen aboard, and land in this strange place where the demon-possessed men live in the tombs and among the swine.  Why has Jesus come here, away from the multitudes who seek Him in Capernaum?  One might say that He has deliberately sought out these afflicted men.  It gives us a sense of His parable of the shepherd, who would leave 99 sheep in order to seek out the one who is lost (Matthew 18:12-14).  While this isn't necessarily what a real shepherd of Palestine would do (leaving the flock alone), it's repeatedly shone in Christ's behavior.  He will go the ends of the world for His sheep; in the other versions of this story, the healed man becomes a kind of early witness for Christ in the Decapolis (this region of mixed Gentiles and Jews).  The story is also a portrayal of Christ as fulfillment of the Law, as the healing He does creates a separation among these people:  they must choose between the righteousness of Christ (and the healing of human beings) and the money they lose when the swine are killed.  As the people from the city choose the latter and beg Christ to leave, it tells us even about the place of believers in isolation:  Christ is still there for them, regardless of the surroundings or afflictions that plague them.  This is His level of compassion, His love, His reaching for those who need and want Him, who recognize that love and deeply desire it.   One facet of meaning from today's passage is the character of Christ who has condescended to become one of us in order to heal us, and out of love for us.  Like the shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep, He comes to us no matter what the obstacles, no matter how obscure, unimportant, or "out of the way" we might be.  How do we reconcile that love with our standards of what love is and can do?  He teaches His followers to go and do likewise, as all the disciples have been brought with Him to this strange and far-away place.  Seemingly "God-forsaken," Jesus proves that no place and no one in the world is truly so.  He creates "life in the tombs" in another parallel to what we know of His life and resurrecting power.  Let us note the personal nature of the stories of the Gospels; somehow Christ has come to this place and particularly to these men.   His is not an impersonal faceless charity.  Our own lives may provide us with opportunities to practice love as we encounter others in the most personal sense.    But we need to cultivate the heart and discernment of Christ, perhaps, to truly see them and practice what His life teaches.

Suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?"

 When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.  And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?  Have You come here to torment us before the time?"  Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding.  So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine."  And He said to them, "Go."  So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine.  And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.  Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.  And behold, the whole city cam out to meet Jesus.  And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.

- Matthew 8:28-34

Yesterday, we read that when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.  Then a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go."  And Jesus said to him, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."  Then another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."  But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead."  Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.  And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves.  But He was asleep.  Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, "Lord, save us!  We are perishing!"  But He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?"  Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.  So the men marveled, saying, "Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?"

  When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way.  And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God?  Have You come here to torment us before the time?"  Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding.  So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine."  And He said to them, "Go."  So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine.  And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.  Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.  And behold, the whole city cam out to meet Jesus.  And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.  My study bible says, "The demons, recognizing Jesus as the Son of God, are surprised that their power is being terminated before the time of the last judgment.  Though the malice of the demons is great, they can do nothing against the will of God, and thus can only enter the swine at Christ's command.  The immediate destruction of the herd shows that the men had been protected by God's care; otherwise, they would have perished under the demonic influence.  Further, it reinforces that swineherding was not lawful for the Jews, and shows the incomparable value of human beings, whose salvation is worth every sacrifice."

Today's reading has so many elements to it, and also this story appears in slightly different form in other gospels.  One thing we take note of here in Matthew's reporting of the story is this seemingly God-forsaken place that Jesus has come to, on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, away from home territory.  Jesus has led His disciples through a frightening storm to this place, among the tombs, so symbolic of death and the underworld, the place of the dead.  Two demoniacs who live among the tombs, away from the city, because they are so fierce and wild, are the ones who meet Jesus and the disciples in this place so far away, so wild, so far apart from what is considered civilized by God's word in the sight of the Jews.  But Jesus has come here to save them.  And another element is introduced here.  Almost shockingly, the demons recognize Jesus, they know who He is.  There is something quite familiar about this place, after all.  They know Jesus, they know His spiritual Kingdom, they know about the Judgment to come.  Here in a place so far away from anything familiar to the disciples, so seemingly God-forsaken, there is a mysterious presence that speaks of understanding, even if it is from the demons, those who expect to be cast out at the time of the Judgment.  There is no place that Jesus can go where there isn't an element familiar with Him, with who He is, with His work -- even if it is that place of abandonment, where these demons occupy the poor men who must live among the tombs.  So Matthew's Gospel introduces us to this spiritual reality, in this place, where we are to understand Jesus has come to establish His order, to save human beings no matter where they are or who they are among or what their lives are like.  There is no place He doesn't go.  In today's Epistle reading, St. Paul writes:  "To each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.  Therefore He says:  'When He ascended on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.'  (Now this, 'He ascended'—what does it mean but that He also first descended into the lower parts of the earth?  He who descended is also the One who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.)" -- Ephesians 4:7-10 NKJV.  (St. Paul quotes from Psalm 68:18.)  This image of Jesus coming among the tombs, to these demon-possessed men, in a place so foreign to the Jews, so seemingly "without God," is a picture of what St. Paul writes about here:  that He has both ascended and descended, He has gone everywhere to everyone, even the seemingly God-forsaken, to "lead captivity captive" in St. Paul's words.  This is the element we take away for today, that Christ will go anywhere and everywhere, even to this place among the tombs, among a people who keep swine (to the Jews, unclean animals) and who wish only for Jesus to leave after this miraculous healing, this example of what He does in "leading captivity captive."   Let us remember this always.  Not only is He with us, but when we face a seeming adversity that we can't name nor understand, He is there to help us to be set free, wherever we may find ourselves -- even among people who care more for swine than human beings.  Let us remember that He is the one who gives commands, even to that which may torment us.