This week’s reading from our companion book begins with Keely in a courtroom. Keely is alone. Her one phone call to her younger brother reminded her she was on her own. Keely had no close friends or family willing to help her. And she was facing a judge notorious for harsh sentencing.
Keely meets briefly with her public defender during an unusual court recess and learns the reason for her arrest. As a result, Keely no longer has a job. Keely’s future looks hopeless. She needs a miracle.
“Second chances exist,” Judge Gritney began. “That having been said, it is a common misconception that everybody deserves one. On the contrary, they do not. In fact, considering the human condition and our many sins, most of us do not deserve a second chance.”
Keely understood and didn’t expect one. And so she didn’t notice a miracle was unfolding. “A second chance is an expression of grace,” Judge Gritney explained. “It is unmerited favor. When bestowed from one person to another, a second chance involves the undeserved generosity of the giver.”
Judge Gritney offers Keely a conditional second chance. She is willing to give her probation only if someone offers her a job. Keely needs a redeemer, but who is willing to redeem her?
Luke tells a story about a man living with demons. The more direct translation describes the man’s condition as being possessed by demons. The idea of demons can mean a lot of things. Most often, I think of those persuasive negative voices that sound oddly familiar and get louder when things appear to be falling apart. Often with a chorus of “I told you so,”
Whatever voices the man was hearing inside his own head, the voices owned him. His daily life was dictated by internal voices that did not have his best interest in mind. No longer welcomed among others, the man spent time in shackles and alone in the caves outside of town.
In this story, Luke offers unusual details regarding the multiple spirits demonizing the man Jesus heals but very little about the man himself. Similar to other miracle stories, we’re left to speculate about the man’s life leading up to meeting Jesus.
The only hope for this man from Gerasa was a miracle. He needed a redeemer.
Luke tells us that when Jesus stepped off the boat in Gerasa, he was met by a man living outside of town. When he saw Jesus, the man gave a loud cry, threw himself down at his feet, and shouted, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God! What do you want with me? I beg you, don’t punish me!”
What an unusual greeting! How did the man recognize Jesus? Had they met before? And what past experience troubled this man enough that it caused him to presume punishment from God? Luke doesn’t share this detail, so I presume it wasn’t anything in particular. Rather, his self-condemnation came from the chorus of voices in his head singing about his unworthiness.
Luke tells us this was a sign that healing was already beginning. Like an orchestra director, Jesus ordered the voices to stop. It was time for the man to be free. His redeemer had arrived.
“What is your name?” Jesus asked him. “My name is Mob,’” he answered. Luke shares that the man answered Jesus this way because he had lived with so many voices for so long.
What follows is either a bizarre sacrifice of livestock or a carefully crafted story packed with opportunities for further insight. Jesus sends the voices into a herd of pigs, which run off a cliff and drown.
The end? Of course not! Witnesses ran to tell the townsfolk what they saw. When the spectators arrived, they found the ostracized man sitting with Jesus as though he were attending his first day of school.
So they celebrated his recovery and worshiped Jesus? While this would make for a great ending, their recovery waits for a later chapter. Instead of sharing the man’s joy, Luke tells us the townsfolk were afraid and asked Jesus to leave. And He did.
They found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.
Luke 8:35
The man wanted to go with Jesus. Perhaps he was worried that His cure only worked in Jesus’ presence. But Jesus gave the man a mission. “Go tell others what I’ve done for you,” Jesus told the man. And this is how the story ends, or at least this particular chapter in the man’s life.
Jones shows up in court as Keely’s redeemer. She needs a job, and Jones needs results that Keely can achieve. Keely is free to go. But her voices go with her, waiting for the next time Keely feels alone and unloved.
Most of us suffer from one or more voices that often contradict reality. These voices can be pervasive and persuasive, and sometimes, they lie in wait until we’re facing adversity. Sometimes, we just need a second chance.
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Pastor Tommy
Parts of our series are inspired by Andy Andrews. Just Jones: Sometimes a Thing Is Impossible . . . Until It Is Actually Done. Nashville: W Publishing Group, 2020.