Introduction
Jesus was taking his disciples to
“the other side” of the lake into Gentile territory. After Jesus had stilled
the winds and calmed the waves, they all arrived safely at their destination.
This “storm” incident had allowed Jesus to challenge his disciples concerning
their level of faith, and whether they would let fear get in the way. And when
we read into chapter five we see why Jesus needed to prepare his disciples –
they were certainly going to be taken out of their comfort zones with what they
were about to be confronted with.
Jesus “stepped out of the boat”,
and his followers, if they were to be truly his followers, would have to ‘step
out of the boat’ as well. We are being led to appreciate, I think, that these
disciples were in fact courageous enough to follow Jesus into this ‘foreign’
territory, for they had not ‘abandoned ship’ when the waters had become
calm. No doubt the disciples were now going to watch every move Jesus made and
listen to every word Jesus spoke; for they were very early in their learning
journey, and thus they needed much guidance.
A Desperate Need
At the same time there is another
picture being painted in this narrative as well: that of desperation and
hopelessness. There are places where people of good faith will just have to go.
No wonder Jesus wanted to go here to lead the way! Without a minute to catch
their breath, out came one of the most desperate and scary individuals you
could possibly imagine. This was a strong violent character who also was
self-harming. Those living around him had sought to restrain him, such was the
threat they felt.
The message of the text seems to
be that this man was completely consumed by evil, and he was living amongst the
dead as if awaiting his inevitable fate. His was a living death – all appeared
lost – his very humanity destroyed! Imagine being under the weight of enough
pressure to drown 2000 pigs! This would be enough to break most people. We don’t
know his circumstances and what had led up to this state of affairs – Jesus
just sought to deal with the reality before him.
And right here the Jewish-born
disciples that were present faced a collection of their worst nightmares
(culturally speaking): the ritual uncleanness of a man living among the tombs,
together with the presence of thousands of pigs, and then there was the very
mention of the “unclean spirits” collective name of “Legion” with its
connection to Roman oppression (“legion” being a military term designating a
brigade of some 6000 Roman soldiers). Talk about facing all your fears at once
(spiritual, cultural and political)!!
A Prevailing Problem
What would Jesus do (“WWJD”)? What
did Jesus do? Jesus confronted, face on, the evil that was causing the
oppression of this poor man! Jesus called the “unclean spirit” out of the man,
which turned out to be a “legion” of “unclean spirits”, and ultimately dealt
with them with finality. This is a picture of what Jesus ultimately achieved in
his life, death and resurrection – the potential of a complete victory over
evil and darkness.
This also seems to fulfil the
vision of Psalm 147:6 ...
The Lord lifts up the downtrodden;
he casts the wicked to the ground.
Jesus didn’t attack or criticise
the poor man himself, rather Jesus looked behind the particular behaviours to
see where the problem actually lay. Jesus, being Jesus, realised straight away
that there was a terrible evil lying behind this man’s situation that needed to
be dealt with – and Jesus said, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit”
(v.8)!
The “unclean spirits” or prevalent
evil was badly affecting this man and his behaviour, yet was separate
to him and could be despatched. We see the dramatic difference when this evil
was lifted – first he found his “right mind” and got into some clothes (v.15),
then quickly became a living, active and effective witness to Jesus (v.20).
Jesus came to offer people freedom from such oppression, and indeed this man
was now free to be his own person again (and in this case, God’s person), and
also now free to live in harmonious human community.
What sort of “unclean spirits” or
evil might we have to confront on behalf of other people? What oppresses our
neighbours today???
·
institutional evil where economic (and other) resources are unequally and unfairly distributed leading to poverty and homelessness
·
external evil through the activities of others in abuse, violence and relational betrayal
·
internal evil through adopting self-destructive behaviours
and forming addictions relating to drugs, alcohol, gambling; or even material
acquisition and workaholism
·
supernatural
demonic evil entering either through
deliberate repeated sinfulness or through human vulnerabilities caused by unresolved
negative past experiences.
Of course evil makes itself
comfortable in society and sometimes in people too! Note how the “unclean
spirits” did not want to be cast out of this man (v.7b,10). Therefore the task
at hand will often be difficult. Yet such ‘darkness’ still recognised the light
of Jesus (v.6-7), correctly interpreted the presence of God, and rightly
understood that it was at a disadvantage. So, ‘evil’ looked for survival and
thought it would find a good home in the “swine”. Yet, again, the “unclean
spirits” had no chance with the full application of Jesus presence set against
them!
The Ongoing Mission
Now, why wouldn’t Jesus have
allowed this man to go with him (refer verses 18-19)??? The answer actually
goes back a few verses. Change, even good change, can be scary, and hard to
accept. For instance, sometimes we don’t actually like a friend or a member of
our family to grow closer to Jesus (thus change), because it tends to alter the
balance of our relationship with them. Strange that!!
Despite this miraculous and
magnificent outcome, people were “afraid” (v.15), and then asked (actually
‘begged’) Jesus to “leave their neighbourhood” (v.17). This incident didn’t
make Jesus ‘flavour of the month’ as we might have expected, nor even popular
in this new region. But the work would have to go on! Who else was going to
share the good news of hope around these ten cities of the “Decapolis” region
(especially with the cold reception Jesus himself was getting) other than the
healed man himself!
And how did this go (refer verse
20)??? With Jesus they were afraid (v.15,17) – with this man they were amazed!
Jesus chooses to leave a local behind to do the work in his own personal
neighbourhood. Rather than being part of a larger band of roving disciples,
this man has his own particular mission field. This home-town boy was
well-placed to tell the story of his own dramatic liberation.
Yet as Jesus promised when he
commissioned his disciples following his resurrection – “I will be with you
always”, and subsequently this was realised in the coming of the divine Holy
Spirit upon them. The followers of Jesus will act in Jesus’ name, empowered by
Jesus’ very presence, to do the works of God. This will mean bringing a measure
of hope to the hurting. Sometimes this will be in the face of difficulty and
opposition, but we see in this passage how such realities can be overcome!
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