Demons in the family

As Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a man from the town who had demons in him. For a long time this man had gone without clothes and would not stay at home, but spent his time in the burial caves. When he saw Jesus, he gave a loud cry, threw himself down at his feet, and shouted, ‘Jesus, Son of the Most High God! What do you want with me? I beg you, don’t punish me!’ He said this because Jesus had ordered the evil spirit to go out of him. (verses 27-29a)

Read Luke 8: 26-39

People were scared of him, so they chained him up. How else could they deal with someone so driven, so violent? But he broke the chains and ran away to live with the dead, those beyond hope. Some probably thought , ‘A good place for someone as hopeless as that! Good riddance. Keep him away from us!’

But wouldn’t your heart break if you were his mother? Wouldn’t you have cried again and again to God, ‘Lord, heal my tormented, troubled son, and bring him home!’ And you know how the story ends. Jesus says to him, ‘Go back home’, and the man comes back, telling about God.

What wonderful hope is in this story for families with a violent, frightening family member! Jesus is stronger than all violence, stronger even than the demons of those who crucified him. He does not turn his back on this world’s troubled people.

Neither should we, if we belong to Jesus. We may yet be his instruments to bring tormented people home, thanking and praising God.

Lord, show me what I can do to help those whom society shuns. When I am afraid of ‘strange’ people, come with me, and help me to bring some lost person home, first of all to you. Amen.

by Aub Podlich, in ‘God’s Peace for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 2005)

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