Insights
Rev Gav
Did the miracles of Jesus really happen and what do they mean?
Luke 8.26–39
Then they arrived at the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on shore, a man from the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had not worn any clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, shouting, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me,” for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.
Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding, and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd stampeded down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they became frightened. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then the whole throng of people of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.
Reflect
Christians are divided about the miracle stories. There are some who claim they are literal examples of what happens when heaven and earth collide; when God enters into creation. As Jesus was God, like a spotlight from heaven in a dark world, how could healings and miracles not take place wherever he went? Other Christians claim that the miracles are purely symbolic stories, that they contain signs that point to a larger story being told, and that they are metaphors for a deeper message of liberation and freedom. Me? Well, I guess I sit somewhere in the middle. Do I think the miracles really happened? Yes! Do I think the miracles were also deeply symbolic? Absolutely!
Jesus’ journey to the region of the Gerasenes was his first journey into Gentile country, but it was also occupied Gentile country. Like the Jewish people, the people there were living under the brutal Roman occupation. The local fishing and farming communities were being exploited through taxation and control and there was nothing anyone could do to stop them.
The Gerasene demoniac — this poor man — represented the people who were metaphorically ‘chained and bound’ by the Romans. He had no home to call his own, and he was enslaved, naked, and living in poverty. When Jesus addressed these ‘demon’s what did they call themselves? Legion — and there is only one meaning for the word, and that is for a Roman military unit of between four and six thousand soldiers. In real terms, one might be able to stand up against a centurion or even a smaller unit, but not a legion — the ultimate expression of power. Could it be any more clear who was chaining and binding the people?
If you are in any doubt as to whether Jesus came to confront the authority of human imperialism, the Roman emperors considered themselves divine. Caesar declared himself as ‘son of the most high’ and the bringer of ‘good news’ and peace between nations (called Pax Romana). Jesus came to inaugurate his kingdom and he was the king of all creation. He was the true ‘Son of the most high’, the real gospel, and the bringer of everlasting peace, therefore confrontation was inevitable!
The demons begged to be spared and Jesus gave them permission to enter a herd of pigs. It’s important to note that Jesus gave them permission. There was no doubt who had authority in this situation and the demons entered the pigs which then drowned. Pigs were considered, by the Jewish people, to be unclean. Think of the Prodigal Son who bore the shame of finding himself feeding pigs before returning home to his father. The symbolism of the Legion being permitted to enter into pigs is no coincidence!
After all this, the Gerasene man was left in his right mind, liberated and set free from the oppressing forces. He had been set free by the One who had true authority, and now, this is where the story gets even more interesting.
The people were afraid. They were not afraid of the pigs drowning but were afraid when they encountered the man in his right mind! Surely that makes no sense? You think they would be thrilled? But no, they were filled with fear, and this makes sense if you understand that Jesus was in fact making a stand against and confronting the Roman occupation. The people begged Jesus to leave the area. Why? Because the Gerasene people wanted an easy life, not trouble, and certainly not to bring down the force of the Roman empire on their heads. Yes, they lived under Pax Romana or ‘Roman peace’ but it was a peace at the expense of their own lives and livelihoods, and here was someone standing against ‘legion’. In their eyes Jesus was being an insurrectionist, sparking a revolution, and he was going to get them all killed.
Jesus confronted the Romans and at the end of his mission and ministry on earth he was convicted and sentenced by Pontious Pilate, the Roman governor of Judea. Many of his disciples hoped that Jesus was going to establish God’s kingdom by force and overthrow the Romans. Some scholars even think that Judas Iscariot was trying to force the issue by putting Jesus in direct conflict with the Roman overlords. Yes, Jesus came to establish God’s kingdom but it was and is a kingdom of peace and love — something more powerful and enduring than human pride and violence. He came to set the captives free, and to assert his authority that true freedom comes through trusting in himself and through his life, death, and resurrection. In the same way that the Gerasene man returned home, Jesus wanted the people to find their freedom and return to their true home in God.
As I reflect on this story, I think of the things that chain and bind us today. From what ‘demons’ do we need liberating? What has control over our lives? The story of Jesus is the story of a God who came in person to confront and subvert all that would oppress us and seek to control us and we need not be afraid. We may find ourselves colluding with a broken and dysfunctional world, living with the way things are, however God will never give up on us, for we are God’s beloved children, and God has set us free.
Amen.
and then