23rd Sunday after Pentecost
Ephesians 2:4-10; Luke 8:26-39
Today's Gospel story does not recount any of Christ's sermons, nor does it recount a parable, but speaks about a real event that took place in the region of the Gadarenes, that is, east of the Sea of Galilee or Gennesaret. Most likely, Jews did not live there, as it appears from the evangelist's account that people there raised pigs.
But for us, the most important thing is that in the Gadarenes region, Christ performed a great miracle — with His word, He healed a man possessed by demons, who, like a madman, ran through the wilderness, did not live in a house, but in tombs, and did not even wear any clothing. He seemed like a madman, but let us pay attention to the fact that, upon seeing Jesus, he “fell down before Him, and cried out with a loud voice:
‘What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!’” (Luke 8:28).
From that it is entirely clear that the man was not simply insane, because he could even recognize the divinity of Jesus Christ, recognize that He is the Son of God, but on the other hand: that man screamed, rushed, and behaved as one out of his mind. What is the matter then?
That recognition of the divinity of Jesus did not come from the man himself, but from an evil spirit, from demons that were dwelling in him. It is written in the Gospel:
“for many demons had entered him”. (Lk. 8:30)
Yet the man himself had nothing to fear that Jesus would 'torment' him, for Christ tormented no one. It was the demons themselves, the evil spirits who possessed the man, who feared Jesus and prompted him to irrational, unreasonable actions. They were afraid because they knew that Jesus could cleanse the soul of their victim—the possessed man—and could drive them out.
And indeed, Jesus Christ cast out demons - evil spirits - from the soul of a man possessed by them, and allowed them to go into a herd of swine, and the swine “rushed down the steep place into the lake, and drowned.” (Lk. 8:33) In this way, Christ showed that life with evil spirits –demons-- leads to destruction.
The same “man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind...”. (Lk. 8:35) Thus the man became normal and became a believer, desiring to be with Jesus. However, the Lord sent him back to his own people and said to him:
“Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you”
And indeed
“he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.” (Lk. 8:39)
Therefore, by healing the demon-possessed man, Christ showed people that He truly is the Son of God - God in human flesh, possessing God's power and able to free them from the rule of the evil spirits - the devil.
However, the general public was first of all struck by material losses (the herd of swine perished) and therefore asked Jesus to leave.
But that example with the demon-possessed also shows us that a person can commit irrational actions, evil deeds, because their consciousness, their soul, is possessed by an evil spirit. A person becomes a spiritual slave, a servant of sin, and as in the past, so now only Christ can heal such a person. Therefore, the apostle Peter says:
“For there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
And the apostle James, the Lord's brother, says that if anyone is sick, they should call
“the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven.” (The General Epistle of James 5:14-15).
Thus, whether during the earthly life of Jesus Christ, or now, when He is present everywhere where He is called with faith, only He, the Lord, can heal people. His power, spiritual grace, heals our infirmities and frees us from sin, from the dominion of the forces of evil over us.
The tragedy of humanity is that many people are not aware that they are under the influence of an evil spirit, the devil, because such people can continue to speak about Jesus Christ, hiding behind Christ. Just in the late autumn, around the time of the 23rd Sunday, in 1978, tragic events occurred in the so-called Peoples Temple colony, organized by the Protestant pastor Rev. Jim Jones, when over 500 people were poisoned with cyanide diluted in “Kool-Aid.” These people were blind followers of a Protestant preacher who, evidently, was himself a spiritually blind man, or whose soul was entirely possessed by demons, evil spirits.
For how else can one explain it when that a spiritual false leader urged over 500 people to take poison, when in fact neither he nor any of those people were threatened by any danger. It all looks like nonsense and pure madness, but studying those tragic events convinces us that the people around were not insane.
There was even a doctor, Dr. Lawrence Schacht, 30 years old, along with two nurses, who administered the poison. First, they poured the poison, cyanide, into the mouths of infants and small children, and then gave it to drink from paper cups to their mothers and fathers. It's simply hard to believe that such things happened in our time – a time of general education.
So it is undeniable that neither Pastor Jim Jones, nor his assistants, nor the hundreds of people who trusted him, were simply insane, because people who knew them and spoke with them shortly before deny that.
However, at the same time, no normal person denies that the actions of that pastor and all those around him were irrational, senseless, and cruel to others as well as themselves -- this is akin to the behaviour of the possessed man from the Gadarenes region who for "many years" behaved like a madman until he was healed by Lord Jesus Christ when He cast out demons from him.
The Lord said:
“And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.” (Matthew 15:14)
Christ advises us to leave the blind guides. In the name of the Orthodox Church of Christ, I remind you of these words of our Saviour, so that none of our people may be tempted and perish.
Christ heals even now, and there is no need to seek intense experiences in sects organized in recent times by false teachers and false prophets, because inside they are “ravenous wolves” (Matt. 7:15). Through them, the eternal enemy of God -- the devil -- often acts, even though they still hide behind the Lord's name.
Let us remember Christ's instruction:
“Take heed that you not be deceived.” (Lk. 21:8)
Amen.
Very Rev. Fr. Taras Slavchenko
Taras Slavchenko was born on March 8, 1918 in Nikopol, Dnipropetrovsk region in Ukraine. After graduating from school and the Pedagogical College, he entered the language and literature faculty of the Scientific Pedagogical Institute. Having successfully completed it in 1938, he served as a teacher in a secondary school.
