Leave-taking of the Feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God; the Holy Priest-Martyr Autonomus (284-305)
Read
Galatians 1:1-10; 1:20-2:5; Mark 5:1-20
Jesus comes into the world to transform it – he preaches repentance because he wants us to turn from a destructive lifestyle towards him. That’s clear in today’s gospel, where he heals and restores a man so ruined by the forces of sin and evil that he is completely isolated from society, caught in a cycle of isolation and self-harm. But the healing of this demoniac also means the destruction of a large herd of swine, something that the people of the region are not willing to tolerate. In effect, they are not willing to pay the cost of Jesus’ offer of transformation – they would rather live in a compromise with demonic powers than be free.
Perhaps they asked Jesus to leave because they knew how much his promised transformation would entail. It’s no coincidence that the demon in today’s gospel is named Legion, a division of the Roman army with 6000 men. There is a subtle but clear message here: Jesus wants to transform not only individual hearts but the systems that govern this world. By sending a ‘legion’ of demons into the unclean swine, and through them to a watery grave, he shows himself as a powerful alternative to the oppressive rule and idolatrous claims of the Roman Emperor. Just as we cannot compromise with demonic powers, we cannot compromise with evil political powers. Certainly, Jesus does not oppose the evil powers of this world with evil: but he certainly opposes them. Let us pray for the courage and grace to do the same.