The man.. The Gerasene Demoniac and I.. We have much in common...

There was this one man who lived during the times when Jesus walked upon the face of the earth. I wonder about that man almost daily. I think upon him and the stories that aren't told, the things we don't know, the whys, the how comes, the what ifs. We aren't told his real name. We aren't told much about him at all actually. But this one man holds my fascination and my heart.

I wonder about his story. I think upon his actions. I smile at his redemption.

The disciples had just encountered Jesus and the calming of the seas now they were about to witness Jesus and the calming of a man. I love the verse in Mark 4, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey Him?” Oh what they were about to see!

This man hadn't been born into the tombs what had driven him there? What drives us there? This man hadn't been born with an unclean spirit. What had happened within the days and times of his life that such a thing had gained entrance? What about our lives? What gives entrance to that which is unclean? As a baby, within his first breaths, he had cried out, but what now caused him such agony, such anguish that he screamed “constantly, night and day?” We might have enough capacity to keep those screams muted, maybe some of us don't, but what drives a human being towards such a tormented state?

I think upon the flesh of his body. I think of a mother lovingly washing his little childhood body from his playing in the dirt during the day. I cringe at the thoughts of his own hands tearing apart that same flesh. I think upon the flesh of others. I think upon the harm that befalls humanity. I think of those that cut themselves and those that are cut. I think upon the torment and the anguish. I think upon that man. I think upon you. I think upon me.

What drove this man to the tombs?

What drove this man away from the society?

What drove this man to the edge?

What mother's heart pained at the sight of such torment upon her son?

Who loved him? Who didn't?

How did he end up unclothed?

We see glimpses of the man. We see glimpses of the demons. We see glimpses of our Lord. The nature and character of each displayed in the actions and words spoken. The man, the demons and the Lord are the key players of the scene.

Isn't it interesting that those that would torment the man, beg, BEG, to not be tormented.

That is such an interesting key to me as this story unfolds upon my heart and my mind. The beings that empowered the man to break forth out of his bonds, out of his chains.. the beings that laid waste to this precious human being, causing him to shriek and howl day and night would themselves shriek and howl at the presence of the Lord.

You have a man, unclothed and screaming, breaking through that which would attempt to bind him, not knowing or being able to speak forth his own name. You have a man being overpowered by entities that are set upon destruction, death, manipulation. There is a man. There are entities, demons, there is “legion,”

The man is driven into the desert by such creatures. The man is that which is seen. The physical reality of the torment is laid bare for all to witness as will be his restoration. That which is not seen, whether it resides within the man or within the pigs, causes harm, destruction, pain, lack, and that list of descriptive words could go on and on.

The Lord has just calmed the wind and the seas. He is creator of all things. The demons clearly know who He is, they know His authority, they even know their future. Don't you find that interesting? They know their end. They understand what torment awaits them. They inflict that torment upon those that are loved by the Lord. They that will be tormented torment mercilessly. Is it that they know their own end and so for as much as they can steal, rob, destroy, devour, they do unrelentingly?

As I looked at this story through a proverbial emotional microscope, as I touched the words to the story, as I flipped back and forth from the gospel accounts, as I researched extra information online, as I paused and thought about the man, the demons, the Lord, the pigs, the herdsman, the towns folk, the disciples... so many thoughts filled my very being.

Within the story of Luke's 13 verses lays so very much to consider. I find it interesting that the demons that had kept the man naked, possessed, living in the tombs, tormented and in anguish, that they, themselves fall before Jesus. They cry out. The demons beg. The demons can feel torment and the demons have places that they themselves do not want to go.

The Lord had just shown the disciples that no force of nature can stand against his authority, He was about to show them that no force within the spirit realm can do so either. The Lord is identified by the demons as that which He truly is, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God,” they have known since before the fall... isn't that an interesting thought. They identify Him as He truly is... They KNOW! They know His name, they understand His authority, they know their future. THEY KNOW.

The Lord.. full of authority! The Lord.. full of compassion! The Lord.. doing great things.

We are introduced to the man within the tombs, naked, shrieking, cutting, tormented, living in anguish and we are left with a man in his right mind who is sent to proclaim “throughout the whole city what great things Jesus” had done for him.

The story of this man, this Gerasene Demoniac, fills my being. I paint the missing details upon the walls of my heart and mind.

While my friend encouraged me to turn my story into fiction and write it out as such, there were numerous attempts to begin to write out the days as they actually were lived. Within those moments the phrase that wouldn't leave me alone was, “Sanctuary: The Tale of a Modern Day Gerasene Demoniac.”

I see within the life of this man, so very much that he and I would have in common. While I don't attribute the reality of having been mentally ill to being possessed by demons. Please hear that and hear that clearly. Mental illness is not the same as demon possession. NOT AT ALL. While there can be some cross over and some demonic influence to varying degrees, they are not the same. So while my friend, who lived in the times of Jesus and heard his voice and felt the weight of His commands, and I have much in common... there are points that vary.

But he understood torment and anguish, captivity and pain.. in those similarities I find places of discovery. In looking at his actions and words, in looking at the actions and words of the legion, in looking at the actions and words of our Lord... I am compelled into understanding.

There were not literal tombs but I certainly lived bond and away from home. There weren't literal chains but it felt like nothing could contain the pain or fear or lack or horrors that filled out my soul. And yet upon meeting the Lord release was found. At times bit by bit and at other times quite miraculously.

I remember hearing about the call my dearest friend made to the counselors who had walked with us during the time when my mind was in pieces. My friend spoke of their reactions, of their incredulous comments... here was one now sitting in her right mind, and they were afraid. Not unlike the disciples who witnessed the calming of the wind and the seas, not unlike those who witnessed the demoniac in that same state of having been calmed.

So now what do I do? Well, I think there is a clear dictate for one such as myself... the words that were spoken to the man, oh so very many years ago, now play out upon my soul.... I am returning and returning and describing the best I know how “what great things God has done for” me!!!

Psalm 126

It seemed like a dream, too good to be true,
    when God returned Zion’s exiles.
We laughed, we sang,
    we couldn’t believe our good fortune.
We were the talk of the nations—
    “God was wonderful to them!”
God was wonderful to us;
    we are one happy people.

And now, God, do it again—
    bring rains to our drought-stricken lives
So those who planted their crops in despair
    will shout hurrahs at the harvest,
So those who went off with heavy hearts
    will come home laughing, with armloads of blessing.

The message

Isaiah 25:9

And it will be said in that day, "Behold, this is our God for whom we have waited that He might save us. This is the LORD for whom we have waited; Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation."

Joel 2:21

Do not fear, O land, rejoice and be glad, For the LORD has done great things.