Dear Luke,
I wish I could relate how many
times I have pictured in my mind’s eye the scene you have described in your
last letter. I have imagined the clouds,
menacing and ominous, surrounding the boat and looming over the disciples’
souls, like a predator intimidates his prey before turning in for the
kill. Then I have imagined the force
with which Jesus’ words rebuked them, and seen them run for the horizon as
obedient children do when they hear the words of their master. Each time has been more marvelous than the
time before it, and I share the fascination of the disciples as I picture Jesus
commanding the wind and the waves to flee from that place. Like a master chef, you have served me a rich
meal of images and wonder upon which I have dined these many days. Thank you, Luke, for increasing my wonder at
the man.
When I received your letter with
such vivid details, I sent forth a man to discover what happened when they
reached their destination. I deeply
desired to know what would follow such a miraculous event. I can picture the disciples, muttering to
themselves and staring at Jesus for the remainder of the trip, wondering
exactly what kind of man this was with whom they got into this boat. Did they picture such a journey? And was all of this a metaphor for the larger
trip of their discipleship? Would such
storms continue to tear at them, too, or would he rebuke them in the same way
he did the storm?
Well, it is with good news that I
report credible evidence of what occurred when they reached Gerasene country,
on the other side of the lake from Galilee.
They did not have much time to relax or to relay their adventures, for
as soon as they stepped out of the boat a man possessed by demons met them. This man, I have learned, was something of a
peculiar figure. The demon that
possessed him had seized him so many times that he had been tied down by
chains, although the man would often break the chains and throw off the guard
in the throes of his torture and flee into the wild. He lived out among the tombs, unclean ground
to many of that time, and he wore no clothes!
Imagine the disciples of Jesus, getting out of a boat, and having a
naked, possessed man run up to them, falling down before Jesus and crying out,
“What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of God? Don’t torment me!”
I think you or I would do a
double-take at this scene, and perhaps we might fear for Jesus’ safety. Jesus, however, couldn’t be surprised by such
a scene, and commanded the demon to leave this man. He must have felt such love for a man who had
been tortured like this—I imagine that he knew that he had to be tied down, and
surely Jesus saw the weight those chains had left on the man’s body, on his
soul, and Jesus came to free him from this past of tortured possession by a
demon. Strangely, this demon identifies
Jesus as the Son of God, and I wonder what the disciples said to one another
when they heard this and put it together with the events of their trip across
the lake.
Jesus then asks for the demon’s
name, and the demon calls itself Legion, for there were many demons in this
man. Knowing Jesus’ power over them,
they begged him not to send them into the chasm.
Obviously, such an event did not go
unobserved. Someone would have spotted
the boat drawing near, and they probably would have heard this demon-possessed
man, a man for whom parents would have kept an eye out for in case children
were nearby. There were herds of swine
on a nearby hill, and the demons saw these as prime occupants for them. Jesus gave them permission to occupy the
swine, and they took the swine, although in their fright these swine then
rushed down a hill into the lake, where they all drowned. It must have been quite a sight for all to
see! I wouldn’t have known what to make
of it, and I doubt that he herdsmen in charge of the swine knew exactly what
they had just witnessed, either. In any
case, they ran off to tell everyone, as you or I would do, and in response
people rushed out to see Jesus, to see if these fantastic reports could truly
be believed.
People teemed out to see Jesus, and
when they did they found a most remarkable sight. This man from whom they had shielded their
children, this man who had been bound in chains, this man who had rushed around
the town naked, was clothed, sitting at the feet of Jesus as any sane might man
might do. The people were afraid,
probably uncertain as to the origin of Jesus’ power over this man. They were so afraid they asked Jesus to leave
them at once, a notion that is shocking to me, since I know so much more about
Jesus, but great power can intimidate many people, and if all they saw was a
man who had power over a demon-possessed man, I can understand how they could
be filled with fear at such a sight. The
healed man begged to follow Jesus, but instead Jesus gave him a mission—he told
the man to go home and tell everyone what God has done for him.
So Jesus went one way and this man
went the other, and both went about their lives proclaiming what God does in
the lives of those who love him. I will
always wonder what happened in the lives of those who sent Jesus away—did they
regret not asking more questions, not pursuing the truth behind the scene they
witnessed, or were they so certain of their initial conclusions that they never
gave it a second thought, but shushed children whenever the subject came up.
It’s not as if they are the only
people to ever retract from Jesus when confronted with his power. Many people today do the same thing—they draw
back in fear when they realize all that Jesus can do. It’s not an easy thing to follow Jesus, and
you have to be willing to hand over all your preconceived ideas and all of your
preformed habits. You have to love the
unlovable and serve your enemies. Some
people are afraid of that, and rather than rub shoulders with those they have
judged or those they dislike, they recoil in fear. It saddens me, but not everyone will accept
Jesus. He’s very different than other
leaders. I love him and long to serve
him, but I will not pretend that it’s easy for anyone to do the same. It’s often not even easy for me. I just hope that people wrestle with the
whole story, rather than take one image or story and decide the entire truth about
Jesus based on that singular incident.
Sincerely,
Theophilus
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