June 23, 2013
The Preacher of Gergesa
At the edge of town a huge pecan tree had grown next to the cemetery fence. One day, two boys picked up a bucketful of nuts and sat by the tree, out of sight, and began dividing the haul.
“One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me,” said one boy.
Now, the bucket was so full, several rolled toward the fence.
A third boy was riding his bike by the cemetery. He thought he heard voices so he stopped to listen. Sure enough, it was voices from inside the cemetery. He heard, “One for you and one for me.” He knew what that was.
“Oh, my goodness!” he shuddered, “It’s Satan and St. Peter dividing the souls of people buried there. He peddled as fast as he could, down the road where he found an old man with a cane, hobbling along. “Come quick!” the boy said, “You won’t believe what I heard. St. Peter and Satan are in the cemetery dividing the souls.”
“You’re a crazy kid,” the old man said. “Can’t you see I care barely walk?”
The boy, now more anxious than before, begged for help. “You’ve got to come hear this!”
With great effort and help from the young man, the pair stood by the side of the fence, where they heard, “One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me…”
The old man whispered, “Boy, you’ve been tellin’ the truth! Let’s see if we can see the Devil himself.”
Now, shivering with fear, they peered through the fence, yet they were still unable to see anything but gravestones and tall grass.
The old man and the boy gripped the wrought-iron bars of the fence even tighter and tighter as they tried to get a glimpse of Satan. At last they heard, “One for you, one for me, and that’s the last one for you. That’s all. Now, let’s go get those nuts by the fence and we’ll be done.”
They said the old guy made it back to town five-minutes before the boy!
Today’s selected scripture, Luke 8: 26 through 39 is about a man who lived in a cemetery. The story relates how he went from a lunatic to becoming a preacher. There must be a joke somewhere in this story, since I’ve known some preachers who could easily fit the lunatic category, but for now, we will stick with the story as relayed in Luke.
The preferred transportation to this destination city was obviously boat, as they rowed toward Gadarene or Gergesa, a place on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. Some scholars believe Gergesa was the ancient site where Girgashites lived, yet it is more probable that Gergesenes’ was introduced by Origen Adamantius, an early church theologian, whose hometown was likely Alexandria, Egypt. Origen was a thinker and upset some church leaders. For this reason, he was never made a saint. He was not politically correct for the time. Some confusion in this part of the story can be cleared up by reading Syriac versions of Luke.
From Capernaum they would have traveled across the length of the lake. The town’s name means; “house of escape”, and comes from two words meaning house of application or purpose and place of escape for a refugee. In modern understanding, Gergesa was a summer home City designed as a delightful get-away near the water. This is “ocean-front property”. And, according to our Scripture reference, there was a cliff near this Community. Such a cliff has helped find the site, which has enabled a GPS location to be fixed.
You can see in your mind how this incident took shape. The boat slid up on the sand as a couple of disciples jumped out with ropes to secure the vessel. No welcoming party was expected, but there stood a man who lived outside Gergesa, waiting for Messiah. This man was not normal; in fact, the Scripture informs us that he had a demon in him for a long time. He was standing there without clothes, and his home was among the gravestones in the City’s cemetery.
Yeshua’s presence set off a demonstration of sorts; yelling and falling down. The man’s voice then said, “What have we in common, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you not to torment me.”
This was one person using the word “we”, indicating more than one influence in his life and body. He could have had multiple personalities, which would have confused the people of Gergesa, who likely banned him from the City limits.
This guy was physically very strong! Somebody bound him in chains and he was kept in fetters, but when he decided to break free, he just threw off these bonds and went screaming into the desert. Common signs of demon possession were found in this man, particularly the super-human strength. Other observations of demon possession included apparent access to hidden knowledge and utterances that are not languages, drastic changes in vocal intonation and facial structure. Sudden appearance of scratches and bite marks, plus lesions were seen. Today, the Catholic Church particularly, practices exorcisms with specific rituals to relieve people of these characteristics. However, Messiah didn’t do what an exorcism is normally thought of today.
This is another case of being presented with a need that Jesus was about to fill. This is how He performed an exorcism. “What’s your name?” Yeshua asked. We would likely do the same, given a comparable situation, or we might run or call emergency or a priest.
The man answered the question with, “Legion,” because many demons had entered into him. If this was a case of multiple personalities, the man was obviously aware of the possession and wanted relief.
A huge conflict is happening. The demons in him want to stay but the man desired to be free of them. Is this not the same as old ways we hold that tempt us to return? Those good times that really were destructive might have been fun for the moment, but the end result was or will be destruction, as we see when this story plays out. What was controlling him was not going to give up easily and did not want to be destroyed. Could these demons be comparable to illegal drugs today or alcoholism, desire for violence, abuse or another force or drive that plagues humanity in modern times?
So, Immanuel made the man whole, but only after what appears to be some negotiation with the demons. This dialog included the request that they not be destroyed but allowed to attack a heard of swine. This heard was huge. Several researchers estimate two-thousand animals. We know they were not used for food by Jews, yet other products did come from swine, including sandals, so contrary to wide-spread belief, swine did have commercial value in Israel.
When Yeshua gave the demons permission to enter the swine, every one of the animals ran to the cliff and drowned in the lake. There was no Holy Water, hand-held crosses or incantations, just the calm commands of Jesus. Verse 34 reads, “When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the cities and in the villages.” These guys paved the way for the formerly possessed man to witness to the power of God as a preacher!
You can imagine the commotion! And just like today, people who heard about it went rubber-neckin’ out to the site, where they saw the crazy man, now dressed, sitting at the feet of Jesus. The man who was now free of the demons became a preacher, spreading the news throughout the region. Messiah told him to do this after he wanted to stay with Jesus, the one who gave him freedom from those internal control agents.
There are several important points in this story worth holding in our hearts. One is that no matter what has a grip on your soul or body, there is One who can break the control and set you free if you ask. Another is that you may not reach everyone in your circle of influence, but when you reach the right one, even a person who appears to be a hopeless case, that person can be a monumental force for God. The third point is the same as we learned last week; that when you are forgiven much, you love much more. Having two-thousand demons, if that is the number, is about as evil possessed as you can be. Can you think of another in the Bible under such control and anguish? And, as last week, Yeshua saw a need and filled it. This one changed life was worth the rowing and sailing across the Sea.
This man who was freed from incredible bondage, and who wanted to remain at Jesus feet, was told by the Master, “return to your own house, and declare what God has done for you.” The man wasn’t told to go sit within his own four walls because he didn’t have any walls. Remember that he lived in the cemetery? What Yeshua meant was for him to declare God’s power to his family and extended family. He was so effective that he “preached throughout the city what Jesus had done for him.” Imagine the joy his family knew, now that this man of such horrible reputation was now clean, sane and spreading the good news of Christ.
Oh, if we would only do what this lunatic turned preacher did! In view of the Cause of Christ, he was as effective as Messiah would have been if He had gone on into Gergesa and preached Himself! The town already knew about this guy and had seen such an amazing change. Now, he made sense. Now, he had something sensible to say. Now, his control came from a Code of Conduct, not possessing demons or some idealistic philosophy.
The story about this incident is told in two other places in the New Testament, Matthew 8 and Mark 5, and yes, there are minor variations, something normal from different points of view.
Do you see now what or who God can use to change the world? We have the idea that a “man of God” must have a degree from a seminary, or be certified by some process to be an effective witness, but none of those things fit the demon-possessed man. This preacher was just set free. How different is one like this from the Pharisees with their law, political influence and status in the Temple! Education is good and not bad, yet when you have made the effort to wait for the Master and welcome His saving grace into your life, those flaws are forgiven and like the demons, drowned in the sea of forgetfulness.
How is this Gergesa man remembered? The majority of the story is about the demons in him. Add the images of his ravings, screaming, breaking chains and living in a cemetery, and he becomes the historical “demon-possessed man”. We should remember him as the preacher who was instantly equipped by God to be an effective and powerful witness.
There is another Biblical character who was pretty bad, and who was without the temperament and will to preach Christ. That person became the one who set the structure for modern Christianity—Paul.
How do we want to be remembered? Should our past or faults be an epitaph carved in stone because of a perceived critical and negative reputation, or what we have become through the grace of God? Should Christians focus on past evil and forever brand a person, or forgive as we are forgiven? Many times we continue to wear the cloak of habits or addictions, mistakes or shortcomings as a badge of how “bad” we were. Like the man in our story, the community already knew what he had been, but accepted his word about what happened because the change was clearly evident!
If change is what coming to Christ is about, then we must accept those changes in another who has met the Master.
Where does this example of a radically-changed life leave right fighters? How do we now treat people differently who have information on a background check that we don’t like? Do we tell converts that their testimony is not valid until they have a seminary education? Is it possible that man’s rules about witnessing suppress the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives?
Had the Brotherhood in Paul’s time found a way to shut him up after the conversion described in Acts 26, Christianity would be much different today. After Paul met the Christ on the road to Damascus, he went right on into town and began preaching. Sounds like the man delivered of demons in Gergesa! However, Paul’s sin was killing Christians, as evidenced by his apparent participation in the stoning of Stephen.
In both situations, these changed persons knew there was something wrong in their souls before they met Yeshua, and desired transformation. The man outside Gergesa was waiting for Messiah, and it certainly appears that Paul walked away from Steven’s body with some question about his actions and reasons for even being there. Yet, today we don’t seem to believe quite as strongly that an encounter with Messiah can create that much change. Often excuses are made or we think God don’t really care or grieve when we individually fail. However, both Paul and the man from Gergesa are never known to let their faith diminish or fall back into killing or demon possession. These changes were very dramatic and real, coupled with lasting effect.
Messiah removed the source of the Gergesa man’s problem, but Paul was told to get an education. …different missions, different preparation, but equal reasons, all orchestrated at the will and hand of God. Are you willing to be subjected to His will, and are you willing to submit to the direction of the Holy Spirit?
If you were the one to write the epitaph for your neighbor, would you start chiseling words in stone based on what that person did before they met the Master, or would you cut words of truth of their life after? Would the words you create for that person be different than those describing yourself? Perhaps judging is not right, just as we are instructed in Matthew 7:1.
It would be wonderful to have the detailed history of the preacher of Gergesa, but we don’t. We do have Paul’s account as described in Galatians 1:13 through 24, which ends with the sentence, “And they praised God because of me.” No doubt the other preacher would have written the same thing.
The lesson here also includes that we are brothers in the cause of Christ, and regardless of background, education, race, theological differences, hometown or denomination, we have the same message; Christ’s ability to change lives for the better, and lead us into successful living. This message is truth that leads to love, love among us and love for humanity.
Are we nuts standing by the fence of the cemetery, or spreading the word that death has been conquered?
In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, amen.
©2013, J. tilton
