No Small Parts - Gerasene Demoniac
September 27, 2020 Sunday Evening Study

I have, in my scant spare time, started reading a very unique novel. When it comes to fiction, I love to read thrillers - high suspense, good creepy factor. I used to really like true crime style novels, though it can be hard to find thrillers that do not glorify evil or occult. There are a few Christian authors that deal with this in a biblical way - most notably would be Frank Peretti and his Present Darkness series. One of my favorite authors is named Ted Dekker - and he has become famous for his faith-based thrillers even among secular readers.

You might ask why one would be attracted to what basically amounts to the horror genre. I read an interview with both Dekker and Peretti following a novel they co-wrote together when they were asked this very question. Peretti’s response was that horror is real - especially when dealing with the occult and the powers of those fallen from grace. We know that at any point in history there is spiritual warfare occurring behind the scenes - just beyond our view, and that often we are called to take a side in that battle. 

For my own part, being desensitized to things through movies and TV and other parts of pop culture has also desensitized me to the enemy we face. I don’t exactly have the Halloween bright red horned devil in my mind’s eye, but anything approaching the reality of the creatures of hell - even a realistic idea - is not usually what I think of. Yet, even as we pray, we thank God for His interest and intervention in our everyday lives, forgetting that there are others equally interested in our everyday lives.

The book I have begun reading is by another Christian author named Tosca Lee and is called Demon - A Memoir. And while the story and the premise are pure fiction, it is certainly thought provoking. It follows the story of a man who works for a low level publishing company - a man who is recently divorced, and is basically just doing life while dealing with the heartbreak of divorce and isolation.

The man meets someone in a cafe, who casually tells him that he’s a demon, and he has chosen our character to tell his story. What follows is a series of meetings, each time the demon Lucian appears as a different person, and begins to impart some of the reality of the existence of Demons. There is nothing glorious about it - it is not romanticised, and we get the story from the very beginning. 

Obviously, as I said, this is all fabrication. But drawing upon the point I made this morning about perception within a story, you begin to see the story of mankind told from a perspective that is entirely unique to us. We see the events leading to the fall of Lucifer and his followers, our Lucian being one of them. We see the pain of separation from God - not evil intent, but rather a fall not too unlike the fall of man.

After the fall and the separation, we see through the eyes of this fallen one as God creates an entirely new creature - a creature without the glory or the standing of the heavenly beings, and then see that they are favored above all. We experience a lack of understanding - this demon unable to reconcile what is happening. Then, when man falls into sin, God forgives him. Where was this grace for the angels who fell? Even though man was separated from God, God created a way for him to return. Why man? Why this creature formed from the very dust that beings like Lucian used to rule?

As we start to get into the gospel accounts of Jesus’ life, we begin to encounter these fallen beings - these demons who live in torment in their separation, feeling hatred for mankind out of the envy and jealousy that comes with dealing with those favored by God. One of the first encounters after the temptation of Jesus in the desert where He encounters Satan himself, is this story of the Gerasene Demoniac.

This story is told in 3 of the 4 gospels - the gospels labeled the ‘synoptic gospels’ which focus on the telling of the story as I outlined in this morning's sermon. This is in Matther, Mark, and Luke. Mark is accepted as the earliest account of this story. Open your Bibles to Mark 5:1-10.

As the story continues, we know Jesus casts the demons into a herd of nearby pigs who immediately kill themselves, causing the people of the area to be afraid - not of the demons, but of Jesus Himself and his power to command forces of evil.

We learn nothing else about the man after the fact. We do not know if he followed Jesus or if he took with the others to drive Jesus away. In the gospel of Matthew, it is mentioned as being two men, although there is another incident of exorcism mentioned that most scholars believe accounts for the second man mentioned in Matthew. So if we know so little about this possessed man, why would we focus on him for study.

To me, there is something inherently creepy about the statement “We are Legion, for we are many.” That raises the hairs on the back of my neck. Yet there is something very easy to miss in this story that is probably the single most important aspect - and it comes from the demon or demons possessing this man.

Consider the scene. Imagine the most heinous murderer criminal you can conjure in your mind, and imagine that person with no control over themselves. The people of the area feared this man so greatly that after learning they could not subdue him by any means, they simply avoided the area completely. So complete was the menace in this man that the people had abandoned the land he occupied. How many wars have been fought over small pieces of land? What kind of terror would cause people to leave and surrender willingly? This man had to be everyone’s walking nightmare - the real, true boogeyman, in the flesh.

Yet when Jesus arrives, what does the possessed man say? He shouts his defiance to Jesus, Son of the Most High God. He begs to not be tortured - in fact he does so in God’s name. He does not make this declaration out of faith - this is the terror of absolute certainty. There is no doubt - this demon knows the enemy when he sees it. Can any of us say the same?

Imagine you are someone who has only recently begun following Jesus. You have seen him do some amazing things, but as you approached this man, you probably would hang back a little, make sure Jesus has got it handled. Suddenly, this spirit of immense power and violence is the first to see Jesus for who he is - the Son of God. And in response, this nightmare which inspires fear in the hearts of all who encounter him - he trembles in fear at the reality of Jesus.

Just like the gospel of John - this is more than a story. This is the perfect picture of the dynamic we cannot see. We see the destruction possible with the fallen ones, and we see the fear, awe and power inspired by the glory of God, even in the face of such power. It is so easy for us to water down the truth of the threat in the same way we often water down the truth of salvation. We must remember that Satan is real - his servants are real - and they are active and involved in this world.

This story carries with it some undertones as well. According to Michael Willett Newheart, professor of New Testament Language and Literature at the Howard University School of Divinity (2004), the author of the Gospel of Mark could well have expected readers to associate the name "Legion" with the Roman military formation, active in the area at the time. The intention may be to show that Jesus is stronger than the occupying force of the Romans. Other scholars, however, also point out that the Latin legio was commonly used as a loan word in Hebrew and Aramaic to indicate a large quantity.

If the connection with the Roman military is to be followed, it stands to reason that we can expect the enemy to craft his approach around the culture of the place and time. In Roman occupied Israel, the name Legion carried its own connotations that sparked fear and hatred in the citizens. What form would that take today to spark fear and hatred? Socialist? Homosexual? Democrat or Republican?

I pray that as we face the adversity in our country that we realize that there is much more at stake than simply who wins the election and who has the House majority and who sits on the Supreme Court. There is a battle behind the scenes that yard signs and facebook rants are not going to affect - the only way to fight that battle is on our knees.

Let’s pray.