He has a legion in him- Lk 8:26-39
Many of us who have been brought up in the modern west have a hard time believing in the idea of demons and spirits. … We tend to boil all evil down to psychological or sociological factors. … When there is a mass school shooting, we tend to say that the shooter has a mental illness. Or we might say that this is an expression of a toxic gun culture, or an expression of toxic masculinity. The shooter is a puppet, and the strings are pulled by psychological factors shaped by their past experiences and neuro-chemical makeup, or the strings are pulled by societal forces. … We won’t always hear a lot of talk about “evil”. … I’m not denying the power of psychological factors and sociological factors, but maybe that doesn’t give us the complete picture.
When we read the Bible, what we will sometimes do when we read about a person with a bad spirit is say that the ancient world didn’t have a good grasp of mental illness or neurological disorders, so they would attribute to spirits the symptoms of some mental illnesses like schizophrenia or neurological disorders like epilepsy. And Jesus functioned within that worldview and healed people from that perspective.
Outside the modern West, though, belief in spirits is not unusual. The idea that there are spirits that can affect human beings, for good or bad is a very common belief among much of humanity, and for most of human history. … Given the complexity and multidimensional nature of reality, perhaps we should entertain the thought that it might be a bit arrogant to completely dismiss this idea.
In Baptism, we turn away from three sources of evil- the world, the flesh, and the devil. “The world” means human beings organizing themselves while ignoring God. It is social evil- Naziism and Stalinism and the institution of slavery would be examples of social evil. “The flesh” means evil that arises from us as individuals- When we act on our selfishness, or lust, or greed, or wrath, then we are expressing the evil of the flesh. “The devil” means supernatural evil. It is un-bodily personal power[1] that is turned against God and God’s creation. … The traditional Christian belief is that if we added up all the social and personal evil in the world, there would still be some evil that is unaccounted for.
Within Christianity, the origin of evil has to do with the free will. Angels chose to turn away from God and became demons. Tempted by one of these fallen angels, humans chose to turn away from God and evil came to infect their hearts.
As we grow in our knowledge of psychological factors and sociological factors, we would imagine that we would get better at fixing the problem. But we seem to reach a point where our solutions don’t work. … Perhaps the modern view is too reductionistic. Maybe it’s too culturally narrow-minded. Maybe it’s too simple. Maybe the universe is a bit more complex. Maybe consciousness is more than what is happening between our ears. Maybe there is consciousness in other realities that overlap with our own. … If we believe in God, don’t we already believe that consciousnesses different from our own are possible? Isn’t it inconsistent to shut the door on that possibility, but still believe in God?...
CS Lewis has said,
“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight.”[2]It is interesting to see the popularity of paranormal investigation TV shows. That might tell us that we aren’t as secular as we might think. There are innumerable shows like this where people are hunting for evidence of ghosts and spirits.
I suspect there are people in this room who have had experiences with what they believe to be ghosts or spirits, but they won’t share them with very many people. People will sometimes tell me their stories, but they usually start by saying “You’re probably going to think that I’m crazy, but…”. They often keep these stories to themselves. It is not something “sophisticated and educated” people are supposed to believe in, or experience.
In our Gospel reading Jesus crosses the sea of Galilee and goes into an area that is more populated by Gentiles. We read, “As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him” (8:27). Then we read about how awful things have been for this man. He went around naked, and he lived in a graveyard. His community had tried to deal with him by keeping a guard with him and chaining him up, but he would break the bonds and run into the wilderness. This man has been taken away from his community. He has been forced to live a barely human existence.
The voice that comes from this man recognizes Jesus- “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me”. They beg him not to send them back into the abyss. When Jesus asks for a name, the voice responds “Legion”, which is a word that refers to a group of Roman soldiers. So the name means that this man was infested with many demons. Jesus lets them go into a herd of pigs that are on a nearby hillside, which shows how many demons had been in the man. Then the herd runs off the steep bank and into the water.
Before this event, Jesus calms the storm that threatened to overturn their boat while he was sleeping. After this event, Jesus heals the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years. And then he brings Jairus’ daughter back from death. … In this series of events we see Jesus’ authority over nature, over hostile spiritual forces, over sickness, and over death. Jesus’ power is on display.
We also see that when Jesus acts, it creates a moment where people have to make a decision. The pig keepers who witnessed the event and lost their herd told people about what had happened. The community came to Jesus, and they saw the formerly possessed man now healed. They were understandably afraid, and they had a choice to make. Jesus disturbed their status quo. Getting involved with Jesus will cost them the status quo. Things will have to change. … The saddest moment of this story, I think, is when the community asks Jesus to leave them. They are so afraid of losing their status quo, so afraid of change, that they ask Jesus to leave.
It is sometimes true that we prefer the hell we know over the heaven we don’t know. It is predictable and comfortable. We know the rules. We can remain in a terrible job because it is known. Trying to find a new job is to step into the unknown. … Sometimes people can remain in abusive relationships because they know the rules. It is a hell they know. … We can all do this. We can prefer the hell we know. We fear the unknown. … Breaking into a new life, a new pattern can be very intimidating. There is a cost involved.
Compare this with the story about the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter 4. After her conversation with Jesus, where he knew things about her that he shouldn’t have been able to know, she ran to the village suggesting that he might be the Messiah. Those who heard her left the city to come to him. We read,
“Many Samaritans from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony… . So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them; and he stayed there for two days. And many more believed because of his word” (Jn 4:39-41).
These are two very different responses to Jesus. In both cases the status quo is disturbed. For them to accept Jesus as the messiah they had to be willing to challenge their antagonistic attitudes towards Jewish people. … For the people in the country of the Gerasenes, their economy had been disrupted by the loss of the pigs, there was a powerful person standing before them who had the potential to change their lives in unknown ways. The Gospel brings upheaval. And it doesn’t seem like good news to everyone. … They asked Jesus to leave. And Jesus left.
The man who had been healed begged to go with Jesus, but Jesus sent him back, saying, “‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” (Lk 8:39). Jesus left him as an evangelist. He was sent back to his community as a witness, and as a constant reminder of what happened. Every time they saw him, they would be reminded of the power and compassion of Jesus. He would be a living symbol to them that no one is beyond the healing love of Jesus. He would prepare them for the time that other disciples arrive and they have an opportunity to accept Jesus and the changes that come with that acceptance of him as their Lord.
Jesus has all authority and power. He is compassionate and loving and wants to help us. But he also respects our choices. He will not force himself on us. We will be confronted with a choice between the status quo and Jesus, and we will have to decide which one we will ask to leave. May God grant us the courage to accept the heaven we don’t know. AMEN
The man who had been healed begged to go with Jesus, but Jesus sent him back, saying, “‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” (Lk 8:39). Jesus left him as an evangelist. He was sent back to his community as a witness, and as a constant reminder of what happened. Every time they saw him, they would be reminded of the power and compassion of Jesus. He would be a living symbol to them that no one is beyond the healing love of Jesus. He would prepare them for the time that other disciples arrive and they have an opportunity to accept Jesus and the changes that come with that acceptance of him as their Lord.
Jesus has all authority and power. He is compassionate and loving and wants to help us. But he also respects our choices. He will not force himself on us. We will be confronted with a choice between the status quo and Jesus, and we will have to decide which one we will ask to leave. May God grant us the courage to accept the heaven we don’t know. AMEN
[2] CS Lewis. Intro to the Screwtape letters.
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