A Cure and a Call – Luke 8:26-39

A text – Luke 8:26-39

²⁶ Then they arrived at the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷ As he stepped out on shore, a man from the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had not worn any clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, shouting, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me,” ²⁹ for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) ³⁰ Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. ³¹ They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

³² Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding, and the demonsbegged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. ³³ Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd stampeded down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

³⁴ When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. ³⁵ Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they became frightened. ³⁶ Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. ³⁷ Then the whole throng of people of the surrounding region of the Gerasenesasked Jesus to leave them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. ³⁸ The man from whom the demons had gone out begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

A reflection:

It sounds a little as though Jesus was alone in this experience with the Gerasene demoniac, but his disciples were with him. They witnessed Jesus doing a series of miracles, described in Luke’s gospel, right before Jesus sends the twelve of them out, two by two, to cure the sick and proclaim that the Kingdom of God is near. The twelve will be doing just what Jesus is doing – healing the sick and telling about God.

In this story the demons are speaking to Jesus directly. In fact we don‘t hear the voice of the possessed man at all. I have been wondering why not. Perhaps, by the time Luke got this story no one remembered the man’s own words. Or perhaps it was just so completely dramatic to hear Jesus speaking, even bargaining, with the legion of demons that anything else was forgettable. Or, even more probably, this man, under the rule of these demons, had been rendered powerless and voiceless to help himself, even in the slightest. But Jesus does it all – banishes the demons, lets the healed man sit at his feet while he teaches his disciples, and gives him a mission: go back home and tell them what God has done for you.

That could not have been an easy mission. It might be easier to preach or witness to strangers than to folks who knew you at your worst and took you out of the village so that you couldn’t hurt anyone and chained you up in the tomb caves. Yet, Jesus knows this healed man can be an evangelist to help him in his own mission of showing the love and compassion of God the Father.

Jesus has a mission for each of us. It may be a challenging one, but it is something each of us is uniquely gifted by God to do. How might we make it a priority to listen for the call of God to learn what we are tasked with doing in God’s kingdom?

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for caring for the most desolate human beings and having a mission for them. Help us to listen for your call to us and do the work you have for us to do. Amen.