Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me. For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time 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 desert.) Jesus then asked him, What is your name? And he said, Legion, for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone 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. And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. (Luke 8:26-39 ESV)
I read a commentary this week about the sad part of this story is the man’s answer to Jesus when He asks him what his name is.
The man does not respond Frank, James, Joeseph, Allan, Henry, or any other name, but he answered Legion, because he is defined by what has taken control of his life. He is no longer who he was but has become the very thing that controls him. And this is something we do to know in our age do we?
You see we have this today as well. People are stil defined by who they were. Alcoholics, drug addicts, sex offenders, and the like are defined by their life and the thing that controls them. We are all in that same boat. When we are alone we think about what we have done and how we are kept from God. We define ourselves by the very thing that are has freed us from. Jesus healed the demoniac and released him from Legion and He will also release you from the very thing that holds you captive.
Remember that we have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But we are also all set free by Jesus, released from our past failures, released to our future in Him.
Your name is Child of God, received at your baptism, so live out your baptismal promise. Love deeply as you were loved!
aSacredRebel 