Luke 8:26-39 (NRSV)
Read Luke 8:26-39 on biblegateway.com
Verse 26Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. Verse 27As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. Verse 28When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me"- Verse 29for 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.) Verse 30Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" He said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him. Verse 31They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss. Verse 32Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding; and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Verse 33Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. Verse 34When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Verse 35Then 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 were afraid. Verse 36Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Verse 37Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. Verse 38The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, Verse 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.
Devotion
Joe Namath, longtime Hall of Famer, wrote about his alcoholism: "Every now and then Slick whispers, but having a name for him makes me listen to him differently. And, health-wise, I'd probably be dead by now if I hadn't stopped drinking."
Joe's name "Slick" for the devil's minion is apt. But in today's gospel story the demons are multiple, legion, all dwelling in one tortured individual. Jesus has a conversation with the man, but it is the words of the demons that Jesus hears. They beg him not to order them back into the abyss, so Jesus sends them instead into the swine who drown themselves. Then all the Gerasene people gather, hear about the marvel, and are seized by a great fear.
Did those demons in the swine now live to enter the people instead and thus prevent their praise of Jesus? Did any one of them ever know they could name their own "Slick" and be healed, if they only sought the healer?
Prayer
Dear Lord, sometimes you wait for us to seek you out, to calm our fears and cast out our demons. Help us recognize the evil besetting us, our own “Slick.” Then the healed, not the demons, will be legion, with all of us "[declaring] how much God has done for [us]." Amen.