The Gerasenes Mk 5

Battles embitter. Egos escalate. Reason, like an archer, releases arrows of contempt. Strident horses bring their champions. What king ever walks away? They either conquer or die conquered. What king...just….walks away?

And all the people in that region begged...go away.

Such is the siege of the Gospel. It does not force itself upon the Gerasenes. They live taken over by the spirits of the age. Yes, they could see perhaps his benefits if they were living as madmen upon the tombstones and cutting themselves and following each other with constant curses.

But who thinks upon the grave when there is so much sanity to occupy and tomorrows to face? The Gerasense feared losing themselves in the contest with Jesus. It may have fared well for the demoniac. Tell others they can have Jesus if only they are willing to give up this life. See how quickly the Gerasene emerges. “Go away. Leave us alone.”

The sane and logical have the most to lose as all Gerasenes know. It is their cunning grasp of the now. They live by the momentary lapse of reason. They are most impressed by the hour. The possession of the demoniac was more obvious. But the possession of the Gerasense was just as insidious.

But the siege of the Gospel is quite different from all others. But then it comes from the heart of no ordinary king. The King has been asked to leave and so He leaves. At least they thought He was going away, that was the impression He gave. But He leaves something of Himself behind.

The crazy man who was now in his right mind, came to the only logical conclusion in town. Get out! The people had driven his Savior away. They were rushing headlong over the cliffs of time. What an impetuous lot they were.

Time possession. The signs are most telling. Calendars. Appointments. Desk planners. Alarms. Wrinkles.

“No, go back to your family and tell them all the wonderful things God has done for you.” The Gerasenses thought that they had had enough of Jesus. So Jesus leaves the madman behind. The Gospel was laying siege one madman at a time. How grateful the Gerasenses should have been. This was no ordinary king. No homage was demanded. Not a reed will He break. He calms the angry sea. He casts demons by command. And when the Gerasenes ask leave, He turns and takes a boat.

The Gospel counters the vision of the world with one of its own. The world is swayed by the now, the moment, time possession, fixation on what is before the eye. Who has not noticed this at the cemetery? Someone hits “pause”. It is a frightening moment for the Gerasenses and one they never get used to. Appointments have to be rescheduled. Usual routines are set aside.

Discontinuity pushes forward like a fat woman in a buffet line and pies upon pies are baked in some unreflective motion. Days are spent sharing tales of the madman among the relatives. And then something interesting happens. Someone once again “unpauses” and life resumes once more.

The madman was not to return to his family to discover what he had missed out on. “The neighbors down the street had a fire a year ago and last May one of the girls was married off in a spectacular affair.” Momma had a lot of catching up to do and she was game. But the prodigal from the cemetery had come home instead to tell his family what they had been missing their whole lives by a constant over focus on the now and hogs and making it big. Time possession.