From the Daily Lectionary for Wednesday in the Seventh Week of Easter
Matthew 8:28-34
When he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way. Suddenly they shouted, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them. The demons begged him, “If you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” And he said to them, “Go!” So they came out and entered the swine; and suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and perished in the water. The swineherds ran off, and on going into the town, they told the whole story about what had happened to the demoniacs. Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood.
The story of the Gadarene demoniac(s) is one of the more famous exorcisms performed by Jesus. The story appears originally, and in much greater detail, in Mark. In Mark there is only one demoniac possessed by “a legion” of demons. Here in Matthew there are two men possessed. The story has been cited often in art and literature over the centuries. On the surface this is a healing story. In the ancient near east diseases were believed to be caused by demon possession. Jesus is first and foremost a healer, so his followers would expect exorcism to be in his repertoire; but there are broader implications at work here.
There was, in Jewish culture, according to the Law, a prohibition upon raising and consuming swine. Jesus is in Gentile country, outside of his ken, among the “unclean.” Legend had it that the Syrian tyrant Antiochus Epiphanes in the second century B.C.E. sacrificed a pig on the altar of the Jerusalem Temple as a means to disgrace the Judean people. The historian Josephus writes that the occupied Judeans often referred to the occupying Romans as pigs. So clearly this passage has political implications. In Matthew, Jesus refers to the emperor as Satan (“I saw Satan fall like lightning”). Demons are Satan’s minions. To drive the demonic legion into a herd of swine which drown in the sea points to the triumph of God’s empire over that of the Romans. It is no wonder the townspeople of Gadara ask Jesus to leave. He has upset the status quo, put the town at risk of imperial retribution. Not only is God’s empire triumphant, but it is triumphant in dramatic fashion.
And then there is another important aspect to this story. This is testimony that the mission of the Jesus movement is to the marginalized. These demon possessed men are the untouchables of their society, the isolated, the outcast, the expendable. They lived among the tombs, we are told, which reminds me of T.S. Eliot’s observation that to live a “death in life” is far more onerous than death itself. This is a story about raising the ones who live a “death in life” to a life of well-being and dignity. Dignity perhaps being the more important of the two. It is a story of salvation, and it is on the margins where the saving Love of God hastens to appear first.
Shame infects and erodes our humanity, and God calls all people to share the gift of being fully human. Just beneath the surface the dynamic between honor and shame plays a vital role in Matthew’s Gospel. The feedings, healings, and exorcisms all seek to bring dignity where there is shame. That is why forgiveness is so important to this writer. We promise in our Baptismal Covenant “to respect the dignity of every human being.” And that also means to oppose that which shames… corrupt power, self-interest, the means of inhumanity. The practice of the faith may be just that simple, but it means we must go as allies and advocates where there are those who are hurt and shamed. So when you pray, good people, pray for the courage to Love. That alone, no legion of demons can stand against.
A Prayer for Persons in Trouble or Bereavement (BCP p. 831)
O merciful God, who has taught us in your holy Word that you do not willingly afflict or grieve the children of humankind: Look with compassion upon the sorrows of your servants. Remember them, O Lord, in mercy, nourish their souls with patience, comfort them with a sense of your goodness, lift up your countenance upon them, and give them peace; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
