He breaks every shackle and chain meant to bind him. When anyone approaches, even when they are at a great distance, he screams at them. He’s not even good for himself. He wanders naked among the tombs, hitting himself with stones so that his entire body is bruised. People have given up on him. He’s left alone in the graveyard.
That’s where Jesus finds him, in a Gentile graveyard, like one half dead. Jesus steps out of his boat and from a distance, as usual, the man begins screaming.
Jesus responds in a very strange way. “What’s your name?” he asks.
“Legion.”
Legion. Not the name of an unclean spirit, or a demon.
Legion. The official name of the entire Roman army. A unit of 1,500 men. Or 2,000. Or 5,000. Legionaries worshipped the goddess Disciplina, whose virtues were severity, frugality, and loyalty. Legionaries beat one another, sometimes to death for breaks in loyalty or desertion.
What is one man against a force so mighty?
“What is your name?” That’s all Jesus says. Then the Legion begins begging. They beg to be released into a herd of swine. Jesus grants their request and they go tumbling into the sea. And the man? He gets dressed. People are freaked out and plead with Jesus to leave them.
Jesus doesn’t stay long in that Gentile territory. The man begs to follow him, but Jesus turns him loose to proclaim the good news amongst those outside Jewish life, and he gets back in his boat to go home. If Jesus were to ask the question now, he’d get a different answer.
“What’s your name?”
“Witness.”
Text
for the day:
Things to think about:
Jesus
heals people by learning their names. He restores them to their true selves.
Things to do:
Take
some time today to listen to someone.
Jesus Christ, call me by name.
