The Gergesene Demoniacs

I wrote this a few weeks back, reflecting on the Gospel reading that morning in church.  Comments and feedback appreciated.

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It seems almost human nature that when we first meet someone, we make a judgment about their entire personality based on our first impression of them.  The way they are dressed, the way they walk, the way they greet us...we use, or misuse, our first impression of someone and quickly decide who they are.  And more often than not, what we see first in the person is what is wrong with them.  We very quickly place people into negative categories based on our first impressions, and it's not until we get to know the person that we start seeing them in a more positive light and placing them into the "positive" categories.

In the eighth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, we read the story of the Gergesene demoniacs.  These two were living in the tombs, away from the rest of the people of the town. The townspeople had as little to do with these men as possible, having negatively categorized them and placed them safely away.  The only dealings the townspeople had had with the demoniacs was  to try to place them in chains...chains which the demoniacs had broken.  Far too often, this is our response to those whom we place in the "negative" categories: rather than trying to get to know them, we attempt to place them in "chains", and when that fails we place them a safe distance away from us.

Getting back to the story, Jesus goes to the demoniacs, or rather, they come running to Him.  Jesus sees through the demons and finds the pepole underneath.  The demoniacs cannot expel the demons themselves, nor can the demons leave on their own.  In fact, the demons have to ask permission to leave the men and go into the herd of swine that are being tended close by.  So, Jesus tries to talk with the men, and initially can only speak with the demons.  Jesus, of course, is undeterred, sees through the demons, expels them, and uncovers the men underneath.

Now let's look at the swineherders.  They are uncomfortable with the now ex-demoniacs.  They had placed them into a category, a category in which they no longer fit...and the swine herders don't know how to deal with that.  How true this is of us.  When someone we have safely categorized has a true change of heart, makes a real change in their life, our immediate reaction is often to be suspicious of the change.  So often we are unwilling to accept that the person no longer fits in the category into which we have placed them, and the more drastic the change, the more unwilling we are to believe the change is real.

The swineherders also don't know how to deal with Jesus.  Try as they might to find a fault with Him and to place Him into a "negative category", the worst they can come up with probably involves the herd of swine that just ran off the cliff.  And not finding a category into which they can place Jesus, they do the only thing they can think of: they ask Him to leave.  Again, how like us this is.  When we meet someone whom we cannot negatively categorize, in whom we do not immediately find fault, we don't know how to react, and the only option we can come up with is to keep the person away from us.  If we are honest about it, we fear being with  someone who is truly a good person, because we know we're not, and the inferiority we feel makes us uncomfortable.  This is all the more true when we encounter Christ, the One Who is truly good.  Our reaction is to make Him something less than He is, or to lie to ourselves and say that we aren't as bad as we really know we are, or we ask Him to leave...which, since He never actually leaves us, means we turn away from Him. 

To finish the story, we must go to the other accounts we have from Sts. Mark and Luke, each of which mention only one demoniac.  The ex-demoniac asks Jesus if he can leave with Him.  The man knows that living among people who will not acknowledge the change that has taken place will be difficult, and he wants to run from it.  Christ has other plans for him.  He tells the man to stay and to be a daily reminder of what is possible.

So what can we take from this story?  From the demoniac, we can learn the power of letting Christ into our life.  We can also learn that letting Christ into our life means following His lead, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.  From the swineherders, we can see our failings in the way we deal with others.  And from Christ, well, what can't we learn from Him.  But in this story, we can learn to see past the demons that trap others and actually get to know the person.  Christ already knows us in this way, much as we may try to hide our "demons" from Him or lie to Him about them or rationalize them away...and He is as willing to help us be rid of our demons as he was with the demoniacs.  May we strive to truly know one another, no matter how uncomfortable it may be.  And more importantly, may we, like Christ and with His assistance, help one another be rid of our demons, no matter how uncomfortable it may be...for them, or for us.