True Freedom
Read Luke 8.
Talk about being from the "other side of the tracks." Or, in this case, the "other side of the lake." The region of the Gerasenes is that place where no good Jew would go. This is Gentile territory, the place where demons live. And the main person Jesus meets here proves that to be true. He not only has a demon, he has a legion of demons. Whether that was metaphorical or literal, we don't know. A Roman Legion was made up of somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 (or a few more) men. Did this man really have that many demons inside of him? We don't know. All we know is there was a bunch. More than one. Demons (plural) tormenting him.
And they had tormented him for a long time. The people in the town didn't know what to do with him, so he had been banished (or banished himself?) to the tombs. He lived among the dead people, he and his demons.
While I do believe in literal demons, today I think of other, more terrestrial demons that people I know are tormented by. I know many who struggle with the demon of alcohol. The addiction haunts them and drags them away from those they love. They live among the "tombs" with their demons. Same with those I know who face the demon of drugs every day. Those demons are, in many ways, obvious. But then there are other, subtler demons. The demon of insecurity. The demon of trying to live up to everyone's expectations. The demon of loneliness. The demon of identity. Get the picture? These demons drive us away from those who could and would help us. These demons isolate us in the tombs. These demons tell us this is the way it will always be. These demons enslave us and give us no hope for freedom.
Then Jesus shows up. There seems to be no other reason Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee than to set this man free from the things that enslaved him. And that's what he does. He rids the man of the demons and sets him free to be who God intended him to be. What's fascinating is that he had been bound for so long that the people didn't really know him when he was back in his right mind. He made them afraid, which is not something that described them when he was possessed by demons. The man's slavery they knew and understood; his freedom they did not.
Jesus is clear on one other thing here: it is God who set the man free from his demons. It still is God who will set us free. On this day when we talk freedom so much and celebrate freedom so loudly, it's important to remember that true, lasting (everlasting!) freedom only comes from God and it only arrives through the word of Jesus.
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| Sea of Galilee, 2014 |
And they had tormented him for a long time. The people in the town didn't know what to do with him, so he had been banished (or banished himself?) to the tombs. He lived among the dead people, he and his demons.
While I do believe in literal demons, today I think of other, more terrestrial demons that people I know are tormented by. I know many who struggle with the demon of alcohol. The addiction haunts them and drags them away from those they love. They live among the "tombs" with their demons. Same with those I know who face the demon of drugs every day. Those demons are, in many ways, obvious. But then there are other, subtler demons. The demon of insecurity. The demon of trying to live up to everyone's expectations. The demon of loneliness. The demon of identity. Get the picture? These demons drive us away from those who could and would help us. These demons isolate us in the tombs. These demons tell us this is the way it will always be. These demons enslave us and give us no hope for freedom.
Then Jesus shows up. There seems to be no other reason Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee than to set this man free from the things that enslaved him. And that's what he does. He rids the man of the demons and sets him free to be who God intended him to be. What's fascinating is that he had been bound for so long that the people didn't really know him when he was back in his right mind. He made them afraid, which is not something that described them when he was possessed by demons. The man's slavery they knew and understood; his freedom they did not.
Jesus is clear on one other thing here: it is God who set the man free from his demons. It still is God who will set us free. On this day when we talk freedom so much and celebrate freedom so loudly, it's important to remember that true, lasting (everlasting!) freedom only comes from God and it only arrives through the word of Jesus.
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