More cool from Jesus today. Having survived the fury of the elements, he is assailed by the fury of demons.
Nick Payne made an insightful point on my last post on Friday. You might want to read that before you go any further.
Jesus and the disciples have crossed out of Jewish territory into Gentile territory - landing on the far shore of the lake, in the region of the Gerasenes has taken them out of their own country.
And border control, in the shape of a raving lunatic, is on hand to greet them as they beach the boat.
Everything is bad about this man. He's homeless and naked (a shameful thing for Jews, and not pretty to anyone's eyes), he lives in a graveyard, attempts to shackle him have always failed - he is someone to be avoided.
He's on his knees before Jesus, shrieking out imprecations and begging for mercy, because apparently before anyone else can blink Jesus has begun an attempt to exorcise him.Instead of jumping back into the boat and heading back to sea, Jesus meets the tortured soul head on.
What follows is extraordinary. The man is infested with a whole legion of demons, who start begging for mercy when they realise who they are up against. Jesus, it seems, has the power to destroy them utterly, but listens to their cry and allows them to enter a herd of pigs instead. The pigs (unclean animals to Jews) promptly commit suicide, by stampeding into the water.
The whole drama seems to be over in a matter of minutes, leaving the herdsmen without any pigs, and a "Come and see what's happened here!" message for their town, which they rush off to deliver. A curious crowd gather, and they see the madman, now fully dressed, sitting calmly with Jesus and his disciples.
What would expect them to say? Thank you?
Not a bit of it. What about "Would you mind going away, sir? Please? Now?"
They are far too scared to cope with this power in their midst. The nameless man wants to start a new life with Jesus, but he is refused. Jesus, who has come all this way to extend his care to a deranged foreigner, reminds him that he's got a family and an identity back home, and what he really needs is to go and rediscover it. Oh, and tell the wonderful things God has done for you, while you're at it.
Back home in Galilee, Jesus tried to stop people talking about him. Here, he encourages it. The Gerasenes have had a remarkable visitation from God. But they don't have the background to understand it. Jesus needs to stick to Jewish people who have the heritage to put his mission into context.
We Gentiles need to wait a but longer.
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