Why God would never give up on you
Lectionary Reflection
John 8:26-39
Casting out of Legion from
the Gerasene demoniac
The gospel reading for this Sunday comes from John 8:26-39.
Then they arrived at the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 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. 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,” 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.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
Now 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. 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.
When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. 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. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then the whole throng of people of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “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.!
This week’s gospel is a very uncomfortable passage for some individuals. A man has a demon. Jesus talks to demons. Jesus cast demons into a herd of swine and they jump off a cliff. To modern ears, this story is very “out there” and yet, this was a very popular story among early Christians.
Jesus loves the man society had given up on
We are introduced to a man who has lost his humanity: he lives in a graveyard and walks around naked. To further drive this point home, he doesn’t even have a name. He is a nameless, clothesless, and homeless man pushed away from society for being seen as broken and crazy. Jesus seeks this man out to restore him to his humanity.
So often in our own culture, we do every we can to avoid those who are cast out by society. Whether that be the homeless population in our cities that we aim to never think about or a coworker who has difficulties engaging in typical conversation. We, like all other cultures, are really good at pushing people away. Jesus does the opposite. Jesus pursues the outcast, the poor and the broken. I am reminded of the King James language when Jesus discussed why he must go through Samaria in John 4 when he meets the woman at the well. It says “he must needs go through Samaria.” How often do we “must needs go through” a place to find those who need God’s love?
Jesus doesn’t give up on the man
From the gospel text, we get the idea that it took Jesus a few tries to talk to the man. Jesus didn’t show up for five minutes, give up and leave. At first, the man is still oppressed. And yet, Jesus persists. Jesus continues his conversation and adapts his tactic because he truly wanted to see the man healed.
My church partnered with a local group called “Circle of Friends” and the idea was to help the former homeless by surrounding them in community and support. One individual, who I will call E, is now a part of my friend’s group. E had been homeless since he was 16 years old and had debilitating schizophrenia. He was homeless until he was almost 50 years old. Part of the Circle of Friends was showing E how to use a fridge or a microwave and not leave raw meat on the counter. The Circle of Friends was all about partnering with someone no matter what, even if they missed their scheduled meetings or didn’t return your call for a few weeks. People need patience and persistence. And that is exactly what we see in Jesus.
Jesus shows that the man is valued and loved
One of the stranger parts of this story is when Jesus cast the demons into the swine. Some will use it to say a few different things. Some believe the mention of the pigs was so that people could “fact check” this story. Since pigs never run off a cliff, it must have meant Jesus really cast out demons. Others will use this to say that pigs are worthless anyway and Jesus was somehow “punishing” Gentiles for farming something unclean. I think both of these miss the point.
Jesus cast the demons into the pigs because the man was worth more than a whole herd of swine. The Jesus that we see in the Scripture loves everything, including animals. Jesus also knew a herd of swine was expensive. Jesus elevated the humanity of the man by saying he was worth more than a whole herd of swine. This is a man most of society had given up on, and we see a Christ who prizes the man above all else.
Jesus comforts us with his love and calls us to love others as he did
The comfort I find in this passage is we are presented with a Jesus who pursues everyone, including the broken. We are shown a Jesus who persists, even when we are resistant. We get a glimpse of a God who prizes people above all else.
I think this also calls into question the way we treat others in our society. We are quick to cast out others and forget about those who are in need. Jesus “wastes” a reckless amount of money for one man in this story. Would you?
An illustration from the 1400’s of this story in the Ottheinrichn Bible. Find out more about this image here.
This is a weekly submission in a series of Lectionary Reflections, subscribe to read next week’s submission. All Lectionary Readings come from the Revised Common Lectionary and uses the NRSVUE text.