Salvation, Not Evil, Is The Pathway God Has Designed For Us
I want to touch upon a subject that can be an elephant in the room in modern spirituality. I will attempt to touch lightly upon it while simultaneously stressing the gravity and impact that it has had on humanity from the very early days of human existence. It is the topic of evil, to the point of occupation and even in some extreme circumstances, possession, of the person by evil.
It is worth stopping here for a moment to highlight a few intricacies. First of all, we must always remember that Jesus Christ has command over all spirits. And even though sin, or evil, is allowed to remain in this world because it is an ugly byproduct of our free will, God is ultimately in control of all things, for all things have been created through Him.
Secondly, there is a difference between the possession of a person, group or society by evil and the occupation of a person, group or society. Whereas a person, group or society may invite evil in, their system and actions may be more controlled or restricted than, say, one who has an inclination to sin or has certain parts of his or her life that are occupied by evil or sinful inclinations.
To make the issue a bit more complicated (why not?), persons can have physical or mental illnesses (just as groups and societies can have social ills) that mimic evil but may be rooted elsewhere. The distinction between the two must be discerned by those who are trained in varying backgrounds of education. However, for this reflection, we are going to focus on the impact evil has on us, and I will use Luke, chapter 8, as our reference.
We begin as Jesus came ashore in the “land of the Gerasenes.” He was almost immediately met by a man “possessed” by demons. The Collegeville Commentary suggests that the man “had demons” or was “demonized.”
Regardless of this man’s specific condition, we know there were multiple possessions inside of him, for the demon’s name was legion, a reference to a Roman unit of soldiers consisting of around 5,000 soldiers.
We can also gain some insight into this poor soul by tuning in to his behaviors. We know that he was unclothed, which could mean he was generally unkempt or it could be a reference of inordinate lust. We also know that he had been chained and shackled but had broken free from these bonds, which could mean he hit the gym frequently or that he was violent and had extraordinary strength due to his possession.
These signs, inordinate sexuality and violent strength, are red flags that evil may be afoot (some other signs of the diabolical include a willingness to falsehood or lies, curiosity of morbid or dark things, otherwise inexplicable anxiety/depression, obstinacy, indiscretion, pride, vanity, false humility, despair, uncontrolled passions, scrupulosity, the list goes on).
Of course, as I stated earlier, we do not turn a cold into cancer. All things must be discerned in moderation and in the presence of the Holy Spirit. Just because a child stomps his foot because he does not get his way (obstinate) does not mean he is possessed.
Jesus confronts the man, or the demons within, and begins a commanding rebuke of them. Once the demons are confronted and named by Jesus, they are called out. Even then, they attempt to bargain with Jesus because they do not want to descend into hell (that should be compelling evidence for all of us to do everything in our power to avoid that wretched place). Interestingly enough, Jesus agrees and forces them into a herd of swine (a fitting end, I am sure, according to Jewish standards).
Once the people of the town slowly return, they find the man sitting calm and clothed, listening to the Word of God. Notice here the lack of red flags mentioned earlier.
Finally, the man wishes to follow Jesus but is told to move on with his vocation, which is to spread his experience, or evangelize to others the very real indwelling of God he has experienced in his heart and soul. This man, now free of distractions of sin in his life, complies with Jesus’ wishes and begins his Christian journey.
The townspeople, on the other hand, having witnessed a miracle and the restoration, or resurrection of a life, do what any normal community would do…they ask Jesus to leave their midst out of fear (note my sarcasm here).
This story is very rich in so many aspects. First of all, we see God coming to our shores from an “other” place. Immediately upon his presence in our lives, evil is identified, named, conquered and banished. Life is restored. A man is resurrected from being spiritually dead. Jesus is asked to leave.
We see here that even though the man’s life was out of his control, Jesus intervened in a very concrete way to set him free. If Jesus can do this with a man possessed, we should not disbelieve God’s ability to free us of our occupations or tendencies toward sin.
Christ perfects our human nature and sets us on our natural course to praise and serve God. We are also reminded that society, the townspeople, will often react to God’s power out of fear and ignorance, and thus attempt to send him on his way.
It is our vocation in life to allow ourselves to be healed by Christ, no matter our flaws, sit at his feet in obedience and then, having been strengthened by him, push on to tell the whole world of the man who we encountered by the shore.
