Good news for all

SCRIPTURE

‘The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood.’ (Mk 5:14-17)

DAILY BYTE

The healing of the Gerasene demoniac was not a private affair. While this healing centred on an individual, the implications of his deliverance reverberated outwards in shockwaves that impacted the wider community of which he was a part. Yesterday the point was made that the large herd of pigs that rushed down the hill and were drowned in the sea was a graphic expression that the evil spirits really were gone. But what is more, a herd of about 2000 pigs literally dropping off the landscape was also concrete proof to the community at large that something dramatic had happened.

We read that the news of what had taken place was told “in the city and in the country”, and that people started coming to see for themselves what had happened. Those who came saw with their own eyes the evidence of humanity and dignity restored in the person of the demoniac who was now clothed and in his right mind. They also heard eyewitness accounts from those who had actually witnessed the exorcism. But then we read a curious thing. We read that the people were afraid, and so they begged Jesus to leave.

Elsewhere in the gospel we read of the scores of people who flocked to Jesus because of all that he was doing. In Mk 3:7ff we read, ‘…a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon… for he had cured many.’ This is the sort of response you’d expect to someone with the power to heal and cast out demons.

But not the people of Gerasa. They were afraid and begged Jesus to leave. You’d think that there would have been rejoicing that this member of their community, who must have been someone’s son or brother or cousin, had been restored to his humanity. Maybe there was, but what the story reports is a resistance to Jesus’ presence in their midst.

Which makes me wonder: In what ways are people and communities today resistant to the presence of Christ, and the kind of deliverance that he brings?

When Jesus comes to untie the cords of economic injustice, there are threatening implications for those have too much …

When Jesus comes to restore the humanity of those who have been marginalized and cast aside, there are threatening implications for those who would rather exclude those who are ‘different’ to themselves…

When Jesus comes to cast out the demons of racism, sexism and militarism, there are threatening implications for those who have vested interests in maintaining these dehumanizing attitudes and practices…

When Jesus comes to empower the lowly and raise up the meek, there are threatening implications for those intoxicated with dominating power…

The healing work of Jesus is never just a private affair. There are always wider social, economic and political implications to Jesus’ work, which can be very threatening for those who prefer for things to stay just the same. What the people of Gerasa failed to appreciate, though, was that the liberation that Jesus brought to the demoniac in their midst, was ultimately a liberation in which they all could share. For the good news of Jesus is ultimately good news for all.

PRAY AS YOU GO

Thank you, Lord Jesus, that the healing and liberation that you bring changes not just individual lives, but the entire world. You came to bring about a new world order. Forgive me the ways in which I resist the full implications of the gospel, and remind me that no matter how threatening the change that you bring may appear, ultimately it really is good news. Amen.