The story of the man freed from many demons offers a great illustration. This same incident is described in both Matthew and Mark as well as Luke, with the same basic events. Jesus and the disciples land on the shore of an area called the Decapolis ("Ten Cities") and are immediately confronted by a man who shows all the signs of demonic possession. We the reader learn some back story about the man and his destructive and dangerous nature -- information Jesus probably had but which his disciples did not.
We should pause for a moment and note that a lot of what ancient writings describe as possession by evil spirits resembles observed symptoms of mental illness. Many people diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia report hearing voices and seeing delusions that their brains interpret as real input, which in turn spark behavior that they would never have considered had they not been ill. In this case the reported conversation between Jesus and the demonic spirits suggests something more like actual possession, but in the end Jesus is the victor over whatever has tormented this man and that is probably the best takeaway.
The possessed man falls at Jesus' feet and cries out for mercy. We learn that the man is driven by a multitude of evil spirits, who leave him no peace and make it impossible to live in society. When asked for a name they give the answer "Legion," indicating their number. They do not wish to be cast into "the abyss," which seems to be some kind of oblivion awaiting failed or defeated evil spirits and they ask Jesus if he would let them possess the nearby heard of pigs. He allows it -- no upright, Torah-abiding Jewish person cares about what happens to pigs, after all. And as readers familiar with the story know, the now demon-ridden pigs go berserk and rush into the sea, where they drown.
A herd of swine is watched by swineherds, and these hightail it back to the city to report. If they're hired hands, they want to make sure their version of events hits their employers' ears first, after all. The city folks head back out to the tombs, where they see the (formerly) possessed man sitting and talking with Jesus and clearly in his right mind. Luke tells us they're afraid.
Why? We can theorize, even if we don't know. Perhaps they feared someone with power over demons might just call a few up and turn them loose among the townsfolk for fun. If so, that's silly: The demons didn't sound like this guy was their friend and he didn't say anything that indicated he had and fondness for them, either. Maybe they were afraid that the (formerly) possessed man would return to his wacky ways once the new guy had left -- also pretty silly, since they'd demonstrated they could live with that problem although it was a great inconvenience.
My own guess is that, when confronted with the reality that the worst guy around town was no longer the worst guy around town, they also had to confront that they had some baggage of their own. Self-excusing whataboutism is one of humanity's most-practiced skills as each one of us becomes expert at trying to deflect attention from our flaws by pointing out equal or worse flaws in someone else. And as long as there was a naked possessed guy running around the tombs, everyone had someone else they could point to for comparison: "Yeah, I fibbed a little on our deal, but at least I'm wearing clothes and not howling at the moon!"
Sure, realizing that Jesus healing the (formerly) possessed man could mean he might heal them as well -- but it would mean admitting they might have some things to be healed and for many people that's a very big step to take.
In any event, the people responded to Jesus casting out the demons by casting out Jesus: They asked him to leave. He agreed. Although the (formerly) possessed man begged to come along, Jesus told him no, that he should stay here and tell everyone what had happened to him. And, Luke says, that's what he did. Jesus left, and he started talking.
To what impact, we may wonder. Well, Mark tells us. He adds the return visit that Jesus made to the area sometime later, in which we find that the (formerly) possessed man's testimony has had some impact. This time, some people are willing and eager to hear Jesus, instead of being afraid and asking him to leave. How many? How many people listened to the man say what Jesus had done for him? We don't know, exactly, although the name we give this story -- the feeding of the 4,000 -- might give a round number.
You know, the harder you throw the boomerang away...
No comments:
Post a Comment