Sermon for January 26

The reading

Mark 5:1-20

1 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. 3 He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; 4 for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; 7 and he shouted at the top of his voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me." 8 For he had said to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!" 9 Then Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Legion; for we are many." 10 He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; 12 and the unclean spirits begged him, "Send us into the swine; let us enter them." 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea.

14 The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. 17 Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 But Jesus refused, and said to him, "Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you." 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

The message


We continue our journey to Easter through the Gospel of Mark. We are now in the center of Jesus public ministry. Word about what Jesus was teaching and doing, the authority, the faith, the healings, power, casting out demons and miracles was spreading quickly.  People all over the place where buzzing, talking and thinking about the kingdom of God, the healed were telling the others, the cleansed leper was telling the others, the paralyzed man who could now walk was telling the others, the one who received forgiveness was telling the others, the welcomed tax collector were telling the others, the successful fishermen were telling the others.  Right before today’s story, Jesus had calmed a massive, powerful storm at sea, an event showing Jesus’ power, not only over the religious authorities, evil and the possessed and sickness and health but over creation itself.    


Today’s story is probably the most powerful exorcism in the new testament. Everything in this encounter with evil is extreme.  There are the most demons in a person, the evil spirts identify themselves as legion, a roman military term for a unit of 6000 soldiers, a group that often inspired fear in conquered territories. There is the most damage, the most disruption of the community, the most helplessness of a community to do something about it, their inability to restrain, quiet or comfort this person, the most unclean, insane actions by the possessed (living amongst the dead, next to the pigs, self-mutilation).   


I have struggled with this text, for reasons you might too. In particular, I ask why do the pigs, just minding their own business and eating lunch, get destroyed. What about the people / communities that depended on this herd for their work, food and living.  Wasn’t there a different, kinder way Jesus could cast out this legion. I don’t have a great answer to that question but I wanted to share some reflections.  I trust that there is something I do not know in the story, in the world, that makes the loss of the herd necessary. 


People have suggested that since pigs were a banned food under the Jewish law and covenant, they didn’t really matter This casting out of the legion happens in a non-jewish, gentile area. Since the pigs are not food for Jews, the fate of the pigs is barely an afterthought. Later on, we see Jesus care enough about the people here to leave the healed man as a witness and missionary, to tell them the kingdom of God is here. If Jesus wants them to hear the good news, im sure he wants them to eat too. Two of the greatest Christian theological minds, Augustine, the early church bishop in Africa and the medieval scholar Thomas Aquanis have looked at this passage and determined it means animals do not really matter to God, well at least not nearly as much as people do. This story means one person’s life is worth much more than 2000 pigs.  I think there has to be more to it than that, this is a one time event, there is no other example of Jesus sending a cast out demons into an animal, if it was that easy and animals didn’t matter, why not do this all the time. It could be but isn’t a routine event.  It is never part of Jesus instructions to his followers, not even an option, This is a one time thing.  A little later on in the story, there will be another one time thing, a hard to understand death, an unfair, unnecessary death that takes evil out of the world, this time it will be Jesus on the cross, who takes out the power of sin and death itself.  


Now we go back to people. I look at this as a story of yes and no, paying attention to who says yes and no and the consequences of each decision.  The first big yes is when the unclean spirits begged Jesus, "Send us into the swine; let us enter them." And Jesus gave them permission.   I do not think the legion planned to commit suicide by pig, perhaps they were imagining the rampage of damage they could do, of how many people and animals they could hurt, how far their damage can go. The end of this is instant, legion goes from person to pig to death.  What is left is some really pissed off swine herders and a town anxious about their food supply.  There are a few lessons here.  First, this is what happens when you make a deal with evil, when it seems tame and innocuous, when you wonder what harm can come, when you assume it will be under control and better than before.   The death of the pigs with legion is also an exposure of evil, a display of what evil can do if left unconfronted, unchecked and unchallenged, to reveal the ultimate goal of these demons and evil forces.  We also see when evil leaves, it does not go gently.  

The big no in the story is when the man who is healed, inspired by the desire to share what happened, asks Jesus to follow him, to go on with the disciples and others, so he can be a witness to God’s power and help them in their work, Jesus says no, he refuses.  Instead Jesus tells the man, "Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you." Although not what he wanted to do, he says yes, he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

The Decapolis was a group of 10 (or maybe more) Greek then Roman cities. Today, the remains of these cities sit mostly in what is now Jordan, They were a center of Roman culture and religion.  I have been to one of them, Jeresh, even today, the massive stone and ruins of temples can inspire awe.  This area was not Jewish, they faithfully practiced the Greek and Roman religions. This means that the Gerssense deomoniac, the man disrupting an entire city from a cemetery on the outskirts of town,  a man struggling under the most extreme possession described in scripture, a person now healed and restored is the first disciple sent to the gentiles, to the non-jewish world.  This is a title usually given to Paul but as this man starts his ministry, by Jesus direct call and commission, Paul was known as Saul and might have still been in Pharisee school.  It is this man, whose name we do not even know, that goes to share the good news.  He goes to a familiar place, a culture and people he knows.  He has some story to tell, an event so powerful, that scares people so much, the first witnesses do not ask Jesus to heal, cure or teach, they ask Jesus to leave,  This is the first Christian example of a story of drastic change, still familiar and powerful today,  I used to be a drug dealer, criminal, sinner, atheist, hate church, exploiter now I am a pastor, believer, child of God, teacher, sharer of the gospel   


I hate to say no, sometimes you have to, for your own sake or for the sake of the kingdom of God.  I often say yes to too many things, which is not always the best thing to do.   This reading reminds us to think about our decisions, our work and ask “does this show the kingdom of God is here”