Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the sea,
to the territory of the Gerasenes.
Jesus entered Gentile territory for the first time in his mission. There he encountered a place where death and impurity had an even greater foothold than in Jewish territories, represented by tombs and herds of swine. But Jesus entered into regions of darkness of death in order to bring light, life, and salvation.
at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him.
The man had been dwelling among the tombs,
Do we not recognize that many in our own day are still dwelling among the tombs? It is considered normal to indulge in death directed desires, spending our spiritual inheritance on things which cannot last, motivated ultimately by a desperate fear of death. In our society anything is permitted, more or less, as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. Similarly, the only goal of the people in the territory of the Gerasenes was to restrain the possessed man. After all, there was nothing they could do to address the deeper underlying issue of his soul.
In fact, he had frequently been bound with shackles and chains,
but the chains had been pulled apart by him and the shackles smashed,
and no one was strong enough to subdue him.
They would have preferred to silence him since his condition was frightening. But failing that they resorted to avoiding him, leaving him to his tendency toward self-harm, rather than put themselves at risk. They weren't strong enough to bind the strong man, the devil, who was, in truth, the one holding this possessed man in his power.
In our own society we are surrounded by people pursuing paths that harm themselves, but are often told to mind our own business. Perhaps this strategy of nonintervention stems from a learned helpless resulting from our lack of strength our ability to do much to help. But Jesus refused to ignore the condition of this man among the tombs. He desired to bring him back from the bleak half-light of a life dominated by death and to restore him to his right mind. And he was strong enough to bind the forces of the devil and accomplish that goal.
"Send us into the swine. Let us enter them."
And he let them, and the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine.
The herd of about two thousand rushed down a steep bank into the sea,
where they were drowned.
By the word of Jesus the man was set free. But the restoration of light and holiness was not without economic cost to the surrounding area. No doubt this bothered the people who came to see what had happened. But it seemed that what caused them even greater fear was seeing the formerly possessed man in his right mind. They were unsettled by the disruption of the status quo, afraid of what else Jesus might upset if he remained among them.
As they approached Jesus,
they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion,
sitting there clothed and in his right mind.
And they were seized with fear.
Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened
to the possessed man and to the swine.
Then they began to beg him to leave their district.
The formerly possessed man thought he had the vocation to be a disciple who followed Jesus directly. But instead Jesus told him that he was meant to return to the his family and his home and to proclaim all that the Lord had done for him. By remaining with them he was to help the people in that region to understand the true value in what Jesus had done, so that their initial repulsion and request for him to leave might be replaced by a longing that he would return and manifest more of his healing power.
But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead,
"Go home to your family and announce to them
all that the Lord in his pity has done for you."
Then the man went off and began to proclaim in the Decapolis
what Jesus had done for him; and all were amazed.
Our lives too can be evidence of the goodness of Jesus, proof of his love, demonstrated by what he has done for us. We live in what often seems to be the modern equivalent of Gentile territory marked by life among the tombs. Many around us are afraid of what might happen if Jesus gets too close. But simply by living lives as Christians among them we can give witness to what happens when Jesus draws near, which is always more than we can ask or imagine.
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