From the Lectionary Saturday January 24, 2021
Mark 5:1-20
5 They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Gerasenes. 2 And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. 3 He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him any more, even with a chain; 4 for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. 6 When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; 7 and he shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.” 8 For he had said to him, “Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!” 9 Then Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” He replied, “My name is Legion; for we are many.” [Note: The Message translation by Eugene Peterson reads: “My name is Mob. I’m a rioting mob.”] 10 He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; 12 and the unclean spirits begged him, “Send us into the swine; let us enter them.” 13 So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the sea, and were drowned in the sea. 14 The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. 16 Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. 17 Then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood. 18 As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 But Jesus refused, and said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
“A Dangerous Church”
Jesus’ ministry prior to chapter 5 of Mark had taken place in Galilee. He has now entered the next phase of his ministry, that being to the Gentiles of Gerasa, across the Sea of Galilee, east of the Jordan River. The sea is symbolic of the barrier between the Jews and the Gentiles, a barrier Jesus had to cross to take his message to them. The powerful raging storm which he subdues in the chapter prior to this reading (Mark 4:35-41, the daily office reading for Friday) is a harbinger and symbolic of the forces of chaos and upheaval he will encounter there. In keeping with this season of Epiphany, with his calming of that storm Jesus has revealed who he is, the Son of God, who “even the wind and the sea obey,” to the amazement and confusion of the fearful disciples with him in the boat.
As soon as Jesus steps out of the boat he encounters a demoniac, a man so stripped of his humanity that he lives among the tombs of a cemetery, tears off the chains with which the people of the community have tried to shackle him, and runs around night and day howling and injuring himself with stones. In his use of the name “Legion” the author of Mark is making the case that the demoniac is in this inhumane condition because of the occupying imperial power of the Romans which with their legions of troops have kept the people under their thumb. While the Romans may see themselves as the source of a “civilized” society and peace, the people whom they oppress do not. Certainly Jesus does not. Nonetheless, many of these same people have accepted the forces that have dominated them. For, after they become aware of this cleansing power of Jesus when he removes the demons from the man, “they were afraid,” and “then they began to beg Jesus to leave their neighborhood” (vv. 15-17). They were fearful of this power of Jesus, perhaps afraid of its implications for how the Romans might react, perhaps that they might be oppressed even more. Even the demoniac, although he immediately recognized Jesus as “Son of the most high God,” wanted nothing to do with Jesus, asking him not to torment him, and invoking God’s name to drive him away. In the end, however, he believes and becomes a missionary, an evangelist who spreads the good news about Jesus throughout the Decapolis, the district of ten cities in the area.
In this story about the Gerasene demoniac it becomes apparent that Jesus has power not only over nature but also over demons, but even more meaningful to our contemporary world also over oppressive societal forces that marginalize and exclude so many people from basic human rights, or as our Constitution puts it “liberty and justice for all.” Jesus intervened into the world of the demoniac to disrupt the violence, and to “cleanse” that culture of its inhumane ways. His healing involves breaking down the traditional boundaries so that people formerly excluded from the community are included. In so doing Jesus becomes dangerous, a threat to the existing power structure of the culture, including the church. This is at least partly so because in the Gospel of Mark religion is inseparable from the social, political, economic, and even physiological aspects of life. Jesus’ gospel message is one of justice for everyone, but especially for those pushed to the periphery of society and its benefits by the powerful forces of the culture. How did those in power respond? He was too dangerous, so they crucified him by hanging him on a cross.
We at All Saints’ have embraced this gospel message of justice, and have become in the community a symbol of solidarity with those who are oppressed. Perhaps the best example of this is our “Black Lives Matter” banner across the front door of the church. It has made the local news and has been seen by many thousands of people via social media. We believe that this banner is a reflection of our call to live out the gospel, and an action that Jesus would have us take. Yet, just as in first century Palestine including in the story of the Gerasene demoniac, there has been and is resistance to our banner and the position it reflects. Jim has received many offensive calls. The first banner was stolen. Much of the community, including some in the church, has reacted negatively. A comment made at the vestry meeting this week was that All Saints’ has been referred to as “a dangerous church.” While at first this was disturbing, the more I thought about it the more I realized it is actually a compliment and an affirmation of our ministry. It is a label we should embrace. If Jesus was dangerous to the powers that ruled society in his time, then we can take comfort in being “dangerous” in our community today, as long as that perceived danger is a response to our calling to make our world a more just place, closer to what Jesus calls “The Kingdom of God.”
The Rev. Bob Donnell
Prayer For the Human Family (BCP p. 815)
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
