When he got out of the boat,
at once a man from the tombs who had an unclean spirit met him.
The demon felt so threatened by the presence of Jesus in what he perceived to be his territory that he ran out to him at once. He knew who Jesus was and that, as a consequence, Jesus would not leave in place the status quo which permitted the ongoing oppression of people by the powers of darkness.
Catching sight of Jesus from a distance,
he ran up and prostrated himself before him,
crying out in a loud voice,
“What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?
I adjure you by God, do not torment me!”
In our world too Jesus is a provocative figure for this same reason, that he refuses to leave intact the status quo that allows for the oppression of the hearts of men and women by the powers of sin and darkness. This means that he often meets challengers who are deeply invested in the darkness, territorial to continue their reign of terror amongst the caves and tombs.
He asked him, “What is your name?”
He replied, “Legion is my name. There are many of us.”
Jesus took power over the demon by demanding to know his name. In a similar way Jesus is able to take power over the strongholds of darkness in our world, and even, indeed, in our hearts, by naming them as they truly are. The demon saw himself as strong and fearsome. Jesus drew out the truth that he was not the unified front he appeared to be, but was rather deeply divided within. He lacked the unifying principle of the good to give him integrity as a being. This truth was given physical manifestation when the demon was sent into, not one pig, but an entire herd.
Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside.
And they pleaded with him,
“Send us into the swine. Let us enter them.”
Sin that we refuse to name retains its power over our hearts. But once we allow ourselves to hear Jesus name it he can cast it out. This is difficult for us because we like to call things harmless that are actually fracturing our identities, driving us to seek after a thousand temporary things that can never give us happiness, and to flee from another thousand that seem to threaten to steal from us what little peace we have. Once Jesus identifies the Legion in us, with which we are complicit, he can drive it from us, though this won't necessarily be without cost.
Then they began to beg him to leave their district.
The result of being set free by Jesus is worth any worldly cost, whether the loss of friends, or livelihood. Until it happens we will continue to cry out and bruise ourselves in a struggle against circumstances we can't control. Once Jesus reintegrates our inner core, directing us toward the one goal of God himself, we finally experience the peace of lives lived to the purpose for which they were created.
As they approached Jesus,
they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion,
sitting there clothed and in his right mind.
We too ought to become living testimony to Jesus. We need not have lengthy and elegant theological exegesis or argument. Instead, the very sight of us no longer living lives of thrashing and self-destruction, no longer "passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another" (see Titus 3:3), but instead living in our right minds, sitting peacefully, clothed and dignified by the action of God himself, can be a louder testimony than any of our words.
Then they began to beg him to leave their district.
Now that his relationship to the circumstances had been so entirely upended by Jesus himself the man desired to leave them. But he was not permitted to go, for to go would have been merely an escape from what was now to be his real task: mission.
“Go home to your family and announce to them
all that the Lord in his pity has done for you.”
Finally Jesus instructed someone, perhaps the least likely of candidates, to begin the proclamation of "all that the Lord in his pity" had done for him. Scripture indicates that the revelation at which Jesus himself hinted by this phrasing was not lost on the man, for he went us and began to proclaim "what Jesus had done for him".
But the king replied: “What business is it of mine or of yours,
sons of Zeruiah, that he curses?
David did not thrash out against the difficult circumstances that he faced. He remained, as it were, seated and in his right mind while those around him became angry and suggested violence. Shimei himself had become like a demon in his opposition to David and his loyalty to Saul. He very much resembled Legion from today's Gospel in his cursing and throwing of stones. But although David did not know how to solve the problem, he refused to allow it to make him act like a demon. Instead, he humbled himself under the mighty hand of God (see First Peter 5:6) until God himself would choose to deliver him.
But you, O LORD, are my shield;
my glory, you lift up my head!
When I call out to the LORD,
he answers me from his holy mountain.
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