Talk about your welcome wagon – the first person to greet Jesus and his disciples as their boat docked in Gentile territory was someone considered the “local loco.”
As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “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.)
One reason we read and reread Scripture is that different words or phrases snag our attention each time, new echoes or resonances ring their chimes. What caught me this time was “he did not live in a house but in the tombs.” And the words it set off in my memory were those of the angel outside Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?”
This man, so beset by the demons in residence in him, had long ago ceased to live in any meaningful way. Naked, but for the times he was bound and chained by his neighbors; crazed; desperately alone; no doubt terrified and constantly barraged by the voices inside him, it is no wonder he sought the quiet and isolation of the burial ground. Perhaps he longed to join his silent companions in death.
Yet there was enough life in him to get him down to that shore that morning. There was enough life in his spirit for Jesus to strengthen with his Spirit. He did not belong among the dead, but among the living. Among the many gifts this story has for us is the reminder that Jesus is always in the business of life, and as his followers that is our calling as well.
I have known people so deep in depression they were nearly catatonic, hospitalized. And I have seen Jesus bring them back to life, through my prayers, visits, even my refusal to accept this end for them. I have been a conduit for Jesus’ Spirit to strengthen their spirits until they were whole enough to return to the living. I can think of two or three off the top of my head, and probably more. This power is real.
What “dead places” are you aware of in your surroundings, or among your relationships?
Who do you know who is surrounded by death – emotional or otherwise – or deep in death-dealing activities?
What might God be inviting you to do to bring life into those circumstances, to call these people back into life?
In the life of the Christ-follower, every day is Easter morning, Every day we seek the living among the living.
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