Word to the Wise
Monday, January 30, 2023 - Monday in the 4th Week in Ordinary Time
[Heb 11:32-40 and Mark 5:1-20]The swineherds ran away and reported the incident in the town and throughout the countryside. And people came out to see what had happened. As they approached Jesus, they caught sight of the man who had been possessed by Legion, sitting there clothed and in his right mind. And they were seized with fear. Those who witnessed the incident explained to them what had happened to the possessed man and to the swine. Then they began to beg him to leave their district. As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed pleaded to remain with him. But Jesus would not permit him but told him instead,"Go home to your family and announce to them all that the Lord in his pity has done for you." [Mark]
The story of the exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac is fascinating in its details, especially the dialogue between Jesus and the demon(s?) and their being driven into a huge herd of pigs. (Scripture scholars believe the evangelist combined two different traditions of the same event.) But the fascinating details can cloak the meaning and purpose that the evangelist had in telling this story.
The first important point is that Jesus was more powerful than the demons. Second, true knowledge of and faith in Jesus would only come with his death and resurrection. The demons would not be permitted to proclaim him. Third, the miraculous exorcism did not awaken faith in Jesus among the people there. They begged him to leave!! Miracles did not always awaken faith!! Only the death and resurrection of Jesus would do that. And last, but not least, Jesus told the man who had been cured to go home and proclaim what God had done for him instead of leaving everything to follow Jesus. Discipleship can be manifested in more than one way.
Do we need miracles in order to believe? Can we simply proclaim what God in his mercy has done for us? AMEN