Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost; Octoechos Tone 6; đź•‚ The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Matthew.
Polyeleos Feast. Nativity Fast. Resurrection Gospel 1.
Ephesians 2:4-10; 1 Corinthians 4:9-16; Luke 8:26-39; Matthew 9:9-13.
Read Luke 8:26-39
Connection – we all need it to live, love, and grow, but we cannot give it to ourselves. We can hope for it, even ask for it, but we cannot obtain it by demanding it. Unless it is given by others and received by us, we cannot have what we most deeply need.
The Gerasene demoniac was disconnected in the extreme. Even when he was with people, he was distanced from them. He was isolated even from himself, speaking as one with the demons when Jesus addressed them.
When Jesus disconnected the man from the demons, he gave the man back to himself. The man connected with Jesus. He begged to remain in Jesus’s physical presence. Jesus instead directed him toward reconnection with those at his home as a mission of healing.
Because those from whom the man had been disconnected had been so traumatized by him that they were still reacting out of that. They were blind to what was right in front of their eyes. When they came to Jesus, the nature of his lordship was on full display – “the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.” Rather than seeing this for what it was, all they saw was their fear – a power greater than what had traumatized them must be even more to be feared, but not in a good way. The man, though, was undeterred, “proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.”
As we are healed by the work of Jesus in us, we are given the opportunity for reconnection with ourselves and with others. But God’s healing work in others with whom we want connection also takes time, and we may have to wait patiently for that.