{"id":3455,"date":"2024-03-06T09:52:34","date_gmt":"2024-03-06T14:52:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=3455"},"modified":"2024-03-06T09:53:16","modified_gmt":"2024-03-06T14:53:16","slug":"one-little-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/03\/06\/one-little-word\/","title":{"rendered":"One Little Word"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, <\/em>click here<\/a>
 
Every day during this season of Lent we\u2019re looking at the miracles of Jesus \u2013 his spectacular displays of supernatural power that are reported in the Gospels.    <\/em>

Is there anything worse than a violent, demon-possessed lunatic?
 
There sure is, according to Bible scholar Mark Strauss \u2013 \u201ca naked<\/em>, violent, demon-possessed lunatic.\u201d
 
That\u2019s exactly what confronts Jesus and his band of apprentices as they arrive on the southeast shore of the Sea of Galilee \u2013 that thoroughly pagan region that faithful Jews derisively labeled \u201cthe other side.\u201d  As we noted earlier, no self-respecting Jewish young man would ever drop in on such a place.  So the disciples are probably not surprised that Jesus immediately comes face to face with a deranged soul.
 
Here\u2019s how Luke describes this well-known encounter:
 
They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee.  When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town.  For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. <\/em>
 
When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, \u201cWhat do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?  I beg you, don\u2019t torture me!\u201d  For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man.  Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.<\/em>
 
Jesus asked him, \u201cWhat is your name?\u201d  \u201cLegion,\u201d he replied, because many demons had gone into him.  And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.  A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside.  The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission.  When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. <\/em> (Luke 8:26-33)
 
Traditionally, this unfortunate man is known as the Gerasene or Gadarene demoniac. 
 
How did he get into this condition?  We aren\u2019t told.  What does it mean that his name is Legion?  A Roman legion was a unit of heavy infantry that numbered somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 soldiers.  Luke tells us he is \u201clegion\u2026because many demons had gone into him.\u201d  His inner world is overwhelmed with spiritual intruders. 
 
Tombs are his preferred hideouts.  These would have been shallow caves dug out of limestone outcrops, probably not unlike the tomb where Jesus would soon be buried on Good Friday.
 
As if his nakedness and violent behavior are not sufficient grounds for social rejection, his proximity to places of burial, in Jewish eyes, render him utterly unclean. 
 
The demons\u2019 motivation is to destroy this man \u2013 to keep him as far away as possible from the love and grace of God.  But the Bible unflinchingly asserts that Jesus is master of the seen and unseen worlds.  The demons are powerless in his presence.
 
For that reason, there\u2019s no cataclysmic struggle between Jesus and Legion.  The showdown is already over.  The afflicted man \u2013 and here we presumably mean the human being still living inside this tormented shell \u2013 falls at Jesus\u2019 feet and begs for mercy.

For five centuries, churchgoers have been singing A Mighty Fortress is Our God<\/em>, Martin Luther\u2019s most famous hymn.  It\u2019s easy to overlook the fact that the lyrics are basically a primer on Satan.  Check out verse three: 
 
And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us,<\/em>
We will not fear for God hath willed his truth to triumph through us<\/em>
The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him<\/em>
His rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure<\/em>
One little word shall fell him. <\/em>
 
When Luther felt assaulted by spiritual evil, he wrote these words on his desk: \u201cI have been baptized.\u201d  His security, in other words, was grounded in his identity as God\u2019s child. 
  
It seems clear that the demonic entities in this story at the very least want to disrupt Jesus\u2019 ministry.  They ask permission to be sent into a large herd of pigs feeding on a nearby hillside.  The gospel of Mark tells us there are 2,000 of them.  Jesus consents.  In Matthew\u2019s version of the story, he speaks only one word: \u201cGo!\u201d  One little word shall fell him<\/em>, as Luther says. 
 
The demonized pigs promptly rush down the hillside and into the lake.  The surprising thing is that they all drown.  Pigs are excellent swimmers.  They are the Michael Phelps of barnyard animals. 
 
But the demons want to create havoc.  By drowning the pigs, they cause an economic disaster for the people in this region. 
 
These pigs almost certainly represent a generous portion of the 401(k)s of multiple herders.  If the Financial Times<\/em> had covered this story, it might have been titled \u201cPork Bellies Experience Sudden Liquidation.\u201d  The upshot is that these people now associate Jesus not with good news, but with a major fiscal setback.
 
What happens next is painful. 
 
When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened.  When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus\u2019 feet, dressed and in his right mind.  And they were afraid.  <\/em>(Luke 8:34-35)
 
There is no collective joy that the \u201cwild and crazy guy\u201d has been restored to sanity.  There is only fear.  The local people cannot seem to grasp the good news.  They see only the great loss.

The newly liberated man, for his part, begs to become part of Jesus\u2019 entourage.  It occurs to him that he can now live a whole new life.  \u201cThat\u2019s right,\u201d Jesus seems to say in response, \u201cbut I want you to stay right here and live that life among those who know you best.  Return home and tell how much God has done for you\u201d (Luke 8:39).
 
And the local townspeople?  It\u2019s just possible that the saddest verse in all of Scripture is Luke 8:37:
 
\u201cThen all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear.  So he got into the boat and left.\u201d  This is the only time in the Bible that anyone asks Jesus to leave. 
 
Do you realize how much power you have?  You have the power to make the Son of God go away. 
 
All you have to do is ask. 
 
Or you can do just the opposite.  Like the demon-haunted man in this story, you can respond to Jesus\u2019 transforming touch by choosing to embrace a whole new way of life. 
 
Choose wisely.<\/em>

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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here Every day during this season of Lent we\u2019re looking at the miracles of Jesus \u2013 his spectacular displays of supernatural power that are reported in the Gospels.     Is there anything worse than a violent, demon-possessed lunatic? There sure is, according to Bible scholar Mark Strauss \u2013 \u201ca naked, violent, demon-possessed lunatic.\u201d That\u2019s exactly… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3456,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[696,11],"class_list":["post-3455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-exorcism","tag-miracles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3455"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3455\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3458,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3455\/revisions\/3458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}