Mark 5:1-20
At this point in
Mark’s Gospel, Jesus makes a special trip across the sea. He does so to get to
the country of the Gerasenes, after this encounter with the demoniac he immediately
goes back the way he came. This lets us know that this was the only reason Jesus
made this trip was to heal and restore this man. As if Jesus already knew full
well what he would find on this journey. It reminds me of the many ways that
Jesus comes to us, trying to get us to follow him in his ministry to restore
lives and save souls. Calling us to both proclaim and live the Good News, that
Jesus’ mercy and love are at work in our lives. Even flowing through us to all
those that we meet. Jesus went to this far off country in order to change it,
as he sends each of us off to change the world we live in.
Jesus steps out of
the boat and sees this wild man living among the tombs, meaning he was living among
the dead. Like so many today, alive but they have no life, they only pass time and
offer nothing back to God or their fellow man. Jesus knows what state this man
is in. He can plainly see through his crazy actions that he is tormented by
many demons. And also, the demons know full well who Jesus is. They know he is
the “Son of the most high God” and that he has power over the living and the
dead. The demons are afraid because they know Jesus is about to act and restore
the man that they have been tormenting. The tormentors are about to be
tormented. We find here also a representation of a man who is bound by sin. Someone
who is unable to function and contribute to society. Someone who is far away
from God and his divine purposes for him. That is what sin does, it puts a
void, a gulf, between ourselves and God, between us and others. God made us to
be his image in the world, revealing his own love and mercy through our actions
and when we fall short of that mark or goal, then the opposite actions leads us
to sin.
Our Lord then asks
this demoniac his name and he answers, “My name is Legion, for we are many”.
Like the marching Roman Legion, he is full of an army of troops, all doing evil
within, that is shown by his outward actions. Again, we see the underlying
effect of sins here. The more we sin, the more that sin is attracted to us. Sin
uses our bodies for its base of operations; meaning when we give sin the opportunity
it will control us and grow its power within us. Jesus then heals the man and
he sends the demons into a heard of swine at the request of the demons. The
swine also reveals to us just how far this land and its people are away from
God. As we all know, the keeping of swine was forbidden by the Law, because
they are an unclean animal, but in this land profit and greed were king over
the wishes and desires of the Covenant God. Sounds familiar? Yes, very much
like many we meet today, profit at any cost. I am my own master and lord, what
I do is my business alone.
The next scene is
the heart of this Gospel passage. Here we find the healed man, clothed and in
his right mind, sitting at the feet of our Lord. This looks very much like he
has been baptized. He is now clothed in his new garment of salvation and his
mind had been illumined and opened by his encounter with the Living God. He is
at last learning from the Master himself. Indeed, this is what happens at every
baptism. Jesus then sends the man out to tell the Good News of what God has
done for him. Let everyone know about the mercy that Jesus had upon you and
that this mercy knows no bounds. He would rather stay with Jesus, but he did
not permit it. So, the healed man listens to Jesus, and he went forth and told
all the people he would meet about this Jesus and how he has transformed his
life. That is how the Gospel, powered by the Spirit, works in action, as St.
Paul says in Romans, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel: it
is the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith.” (Rom 1:16) But
some do not see it this way, they are ashamed of Jesus and drive him out of
their lives, out of their lands. Like we see in this passage, the people tell
Jesus, they beg him to depart from them, and that is just what he does. God
does not zap people to do his will, everyone has been called to serve the Lord,
but only the “many” answer the call and act upon it.
We always must keep in mind and heart the two-fold nature of
the story of the Healed Demoniac is a illustration of the Christian life. It is
the Church’s Liturgy in action within our world and daily life. We are sought
out by Jesus to come to him for healing and restoration, then he sends us forth
as his disciple. We come to the Lord’s feet at every Liturgy to hear the powerful
word of God ever anew. We encounter him in sacrament and sacrifice, he then
sends us out to spread the Good News. That is why both the Divine Liturgy and
the Mass end with similar words, “go forth”. Liturgy is not for ourselves alone,
but for the whole creation. Let us never forget that God always gives us the
grace and power to be his people for his world, we just have to realize where
we are not fulfilling our purpose in God’s plan and do something about.
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