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

 

 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 Jesus preached with many parables, 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 are you 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.   My study bible tells us, first of all, that we should understand that the country of the Gadarenes is still in Galilee (although Jeus and the disciples have crossed the Sea of Galilee to get here), which means this is an area with many Gentiles living among the Jewish population.  

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.  Let us take a good look at the state of this man, and his complete alienation from human society.  It's an important clue that he had his dwelling among the tombs, with the dead.  He's not capable of living an ordered life.  Although bound with shackles and chains, the chains had been pulled apart by him, and the shackles broken in pieces -- no one can tame him.  He is beyond human help to be able to live in community.  Night and day, he's crying out in the mountains and the tombs, and cutting himself with stones.  Does this give us a picture that we can relate to in modern society?  And let us note the human impulse that operates in the man, despite the presence of the legion of demons, as when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him.  Just as we have already read in Mark's Gospel, the demons speak through this man, as they recognize Jesus, calling Him Son of the Most High God.   My study bible suggests they are surprised that their power is being terminated before the time of the last judgment (see Matthew 8:29), hence they beg "do not torment me."  

 

 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.   As this is in a region mixed with Gentiles, these swineherd are likely apostate Jews, who raise swine (either having adopted Gentile practices or possibly in order to sell them to the Gentile community) -- something which is forbidden in Jewish Law (Deuteronomy 14:8).  My study bible comments that since our Lord forbade His disciples to go to the Gentiles (Matthew 10:5), and was Himself reluctant to seek out the Gentiles (Matthew 15:24), it's more likely than not these are Jews who plead with Him to depart from their region.  Their preference is for the money they have lost because of the death of the swine who've drowned in the sea, and not for the healing of the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, who is now sitting and clothed in his right mind.  This simply fills them with fear at the power of Christ.

 

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.  Let us observe Jesus' response to this man who knows he has been saved, and so begs Jesus that he might be with Him.  He is to go home to his friends, "and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you."   The healed man dutifully goes out to the Decapolis (a union of ten Greek-Roman cities in Galilee) and proclaims all that Jesus had done for him; and all marveled.  

This man healed from a legion of demons begins a new life, going out to the Decapolis, where he proclaims his salvation and the compassion of the Lord.  Let us look at the place from which he starts in our story, not only as the man completely lost to the merciless occupation of a legion of demons, but also living among the dead, and those who cared nothing for him, as they had also given up the laws of their own faith.  If we are going to look at this carefully, it is a full picture of abandonment, of a world gone over to rebellion against God.  This one human being struggles in a world dominated by violence and thievery, where human beings have given up on the Law given by the Lord, the God of Israel.  There is no guarding of community here, only the rule of exploitation and selfishness, one of hardened hearts which care nothing for the restoration of humanity, and thereby, for salvation.  It is a picture of a world where the struggle for faith is abandoned, and with it the God of mercy, healing, and compassion.  This demon-possessed man, "occupied" by a foreign legion of the army of the enemy, can only live among the dead in the tombs, crying out, unable to contain himself or be tamed.  He is, in a sense, tortured night and day by those who simply wish for him to suffer and surrounded by a heartless and uncaring world.  The swineherders clearly show themselves to be people given up to what is called hard-heartedness in the Gospels.  It is a picture of a world where God is given up and abandoned, and the thoroughly destructive results that are attained by so doing.  We could possibly see in it a picture of the results of war that is "all hell" in the words of a famous American Civil War general.  In 20th century history, we can look at the results created when a regime steeps itself in the throwing off of all religious restraint, and military pursuit of endless power and sheer might; we have examples of that on both the far right and far left.  But it's also a warning for our own future, because it gives us a picture of a life in which we have forgotten that the good teachings of God are given out of love, and that those laws are meant to save and to create community, taking in even the least among us, the strays, the strangers, the broken, even the despised, all who know they are in need of healing.  When we find ourselves in a world where ideology supplants the faith in something greater than a political party or social theory, then watch out, for from there insanity arises in double-speak and triple-speak, words and laws lose their meaning, and the result is in this picture of the abandoned uncontrollable and untamable man among the tombs, possibly a familiar sight to those who witness the problems of the homeless and modern "disordered" among us.  There are those who say that the sickest among us mirror to us the problems of the family and society, and they wouldn't be far wrong if we take a closer look at what we have so frequently left behind in the name of an ideological and even purportedly scientific progress.  "What is truth?" Pilate will ask, when it is standing in front of him.  For the root of truth is much deeper than our theories and even our proofs, based on so many assumptions.  We have only to look where hypocrisy covers a multitude of selfish sins.  But the One who is above it all remains Christ, the Truth, the One who comes to this seemingly God-forsaken place to save this remnant of humanity beset by a legion of demons.  My study bible notes that although the malice of the demons is great, they can do nothing against the will of God, and therefore can only enter the swine at Christ's command.  It adds that the immediate destruction of the herd shows humanity's protection by God's care, because even though so sorely afflicted, he nevertheless did not perish.  And so, we also persist even under affliction, beset by unnamed and irrational demons, and we look to the "stronger man" who can combat a legion of thousands and seeks only to protect us and heal us, and who comes as Liberator and Deliverer.  Let us look to Christ and all those saints and angels in the great cloud of witnesses who protect and defend, whom this healed man -- previously beset by a legion of demons -- now joins in testimony of the great things the compassionate Lord has done for him.  May we all be joined to this communion as was he.

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life

 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."   From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

- John 6:60-71

Yesterday we read that the leaders in the synagogue in Capernaum quarreled among themselves about Jesus and His teachings in our recent readings, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.  This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.  He who eats this bread will live forever."  These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."   From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.    My study bible notes here that even His disciples took Jesus' teaching on His Body and Blood as a hard saying -- and that many walked with Him no more.   Of course, within all the denominations and movements of Christianity there are still those who find this a hard saying and reject the sacramental eating of Christ's Body and Blood, thereby not "walking" with this teaching.    The nature of this Mystery is extremely difficult; therefore some have sought to define it rationally or to explain Christ's teaching away, making it purely metaphorical.  My study bible says, "Either extreme is dubious; to reject this sacramental teaching is to reject the witness of the Scriptures and the unanimous teaching of the Church throughout history.  (See also yesterday's commentary.)

Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.  Jesus Himself notes that many of His followers have deserted Him, and He turns to the twelve to ask if they also want to go away.  But there is power in Peter's answer; Peter, speaking for the Twelve, turns to the truth He knows.  Jesus has the words of eternal life.  Moreover, He is the Christ, the Son of the living God.  This is a unique place, not simply another philosophical way of life or path to spirituality.  Nevertheless, Jesus knows He will be betrayed by one of these twelve.

We come to a point in Jesus' ministry where His teachings are so controversial, they stir up so much antipathy and consternation, that His followers begin to desert Him.  To eat Christ's flesh and to drink His blood remains a "hard saying," unless we can grasp a notion of Mystery, something beyond our capability to understand precisely how it works.  This is the realm of faith, where we accept that Christ is mystically present in the Eucharist, and so this has been the teaching from the earliest apostles.  Even though others fall away, there is something more here to be found:  as many no longer choose to follow Him, so the disciples' faith grows stronger, with the exception of the one who will betray Him.  Peter tells the truth:  ""Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life."  This is the kind of reckoning we have that comes at rare and memorable moments in life, when we're faced with a depth of struggle and suddenly have a glimmer of truth -- how we really feel about something or someone, what the truth is for us.  Who else has these words?  Where would they ever find them?  We can all ask ourselves the same questions.  Is Jesus crazy, or does He say things that have no sense to them?  No, His words are beauty and truth, and they are the words of eternal life, and all that He teaches must be taken in context with the rest.  Furthermore, there is more to the experience of the Twelve with Christ.  Again, Peter uses language that makes it clear He is speaking for all of them:  "Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  This is the product of their experience, and experience is all-important to our understanding of our faith.  Where else do we find what we find with Christ?   Do His very life, and very words, not sustain and and come to us in ways that we come to believe and know that He is Christ, the Son of the living God?  Experience is important, and ours is an experiential faith.  It is one of communion, and not merely abstract philosophy.  What do we find in our worship?  In our prayers?  Do we not, with experience, come to understand these words are true, and that His very life works in our life to bring salvation, help, change, transcendence, hope?  This is the reality the disciples have come to know and to share.  It is the sign of growth in their faith, and so we should come to understand that our own lives of faith are a process, a journey, a path -- a way, in the true sense of the original Greek word (ὁδὸς/odos) which also literally means "road" (See John 14:6).   If we look at Christ's word and teachings, at the experience of the Twelve, even at those who no longer walk with Christ, we see that we are indeed on a road, and so much depends on which direction we're taking on that road.  We're either on that road with Him, or we're not.  All of our bumps and turns and detours or pauses along the way may be distractions and difficulties, but so often it is a question of reconciling our own experience within the heart so they become learning curves.  Sometimes a stumbling block is just that -- something to catch our attention and come back to this road a better way, with a better grasp of just what is asked of us and what our lives with Him are all about.  Peter will go through several of these "stumbling blocks" in the Gospels (for instance, here).  Which way are you walking?  Jesus teaches, "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect" (Matthew 5:48).   But we need to understand that our goal isn't perfection in the usual sense in which we think of its meaning.  Rather, the word Jesus uses in the original Greek of the Gospels has the root of the word for "end" (τέλειος/telios) -- meaning complete, full, mature, and has come in context to be understood as indicating the fullness of the Christian character.  What we want is the long journey of faith, experience, the fullness of going toward the end of that road, Christ Himself.  He points us to the Father, whom we should be like -- as we are on that road on the way there, in the process of always becoming, in His words and truth, and in the fullness of the Eucharist, in Him, in the eternal and abundant fullness of life itself.

Whomever I kiss, He is the One

 And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.  Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely."  As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to Him, "Rabbi, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him.  And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me.  But the Scriptures must be fulfilled."  Then they all forsook Him and fled.

Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body.  And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.

- Mark 14:43-52

In yesterday's reading, Jesus said to His disciples, "All of you will be made to stumble because of Me this night, for it is written:  'I will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.'  But after I have been raised, I will go before you to Galilee."  Peter said to Him, "Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be."  Jesus said to him, "Assuredly, I say to you that today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times."  But he spoke more vehemently, "If I have to die with You, I will not deny You!"  And they all said likewise.  Then they came to a place which was named Gethsemane, and He said to His disciples, "Sit here while I pray."  And He took Peter, James, and John with Him, and He began to be troubled and deeply distressed.  Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death.  Stay here and watch."  He went a little farther, and fell on the ground, and prayed that if it were possible, the hour might pass from Him.  And He said, "Abba, Father, all things are possible for You.  Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will."  Then He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "Simon, are you sleeping?  Could you not watch one hour?  Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation.  The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  Again He went away and prayed, and spoke the same words.  And when He returned, He found them asleep again, for their eyes were heavy; and they did not know what to answer Him.  Then He came the third time and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting?  It is enough!  The hour has come; behold, the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.  Rise, let us be going.  See, My betrayer is at hand."

  And immediately, while He was still speaking, Judas, one of the twelve, with a great multitude with swords and clubs, came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders.  Now His betrayer had given them a signal, saying, "Whomever I kiss, He is the One; seize Him and lead Him away safely."  As soon as he had come, immediately he went up to Him and said to Him, "Rabbi, Rabbi!" and kissed Him.  Then they laid their hands on Him and took Him.  And one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear.  Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Have you come out, as against a robber, with swords and clubs to take Me?  I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and you did not seize Me.  But the Scriptures must be fulfilled."  Then they all forsook Him and fled.  My study bible says, "The fact that a signal, the kiss is needed here is a commentary on the kind of people who make up the mob that has come to take Jesus.  Had the chief priests, the scribes and the elders come, they would have recognized Him. Even most of the common people would recognize Him.  But these are armed Jewish servants, usually confined in the temple area to maintain order under the authority of the chief priests.  According to John 18:3, a band of Roman soldiers collaborated with them."

 Now a certain young man followed Him, having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body.  And the young men laid hold of him, and he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked.  My study bible tells us that "there is some conjecture that this young man who fled naked is the Apostle John.  Another tradition holds the young man is Mark himself.  The latter view would explain why the incident is mentioned by him, but with no name given -- a traditional way of talking about oneself."

Why this betrayal?  Why the kiss?  I think it's important that we understand, once again, our very human Savior's experience of His life in this world.  He's known all the things that we know, all the disappointments that life can hold.  Surely there can be no more bitter experience than this one, in which one of His own chosen apostles betrays Him with a kiss.  We've perhaps all known moments of abandonment and betrayal by the ones we've trusted and treated well, by the ones whom we consider a part of "our own."  Our Savior is no stranger to the troubles that we go through, to the very most hurtful things in life.  We know of His physical suffering, but psychology would ask us to envision, also, His emotional suffering and pain that He went through, and to understand that whatever we go through in life, He's no stranger to that as well.  In fact, He's been there before us.  Abandonment issues, psychology would tell us, are among the most difficult of psychological hurdles to face and to cope with, and yet we see Jesus' demeanor.  While He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, in yesterday's reading, we saw how He faced what He was about to go through:  by putting it all in the Father's hands.  And the way in which He spoke to the Father wasn't to a distant, formal, forbidding God of awesome and fearsome power, but before "Abba" -- Daddy, Papa.  Ultimately, Jesus' trust is in the Father.  And there is a great lesson for us.  When we go through abandonments and betrayals, there is One in whom we may continue to put our trust through all things.  In fact, Jesus' abandonment and betrayal assures us that God knows what we suffer and how we suffer.  God knows what we go through in life that breaks our hearts, that lets us down, that teaches us -- if we would let it -- not to believe that love or trust in anything is really possible.  But there really is always one place we can go, and one place in which we can trust, and that is in prayer, in talking with God, with Christ.  The fact that Jesus has been through it all before we do means that we are never alone; we are always with One who understands and has voluntarily come there with us already.  Mark's Gospel paints us a picture of Jesus as Savior, the One who comes to rescue us from the bonds of the prince of this world who afflicts and causes suffering and pain.  His presence with us is His message of salvation; He is with us in our affliction.  I can't tell you the countless stories of those who are alone and seemingly abandoned, for whom all hope is gone, who have found their way forward through prayer, and who've known they were not alone because of prayer.  It may take awhile, one may not know until one can look back in hindsight about this help, but it is there.  Let us remember where we put our trust.  Let us be grateful for His presence with us, for His companionship in the Comforter.  Closer than our hearts, He is there when life disappoints, in the places where our abandonment and betrayal leave us.  He has gone there before we have.  Let us remember that He was betrayed with a kiss, by one of His own, when someone we love and trust may unjustly do the same.