By Savannah Burch, Student Ministries-Middle School

Luke 8:22-33
22 One day Jesus and his disciples boarded a boat. He said to them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the lake.” So they set sail.

23 While they were sailing, he fell asleep. Gale-force winds swept down on the lake. The boat was filling up with water and they were in danger. 24 So they went and woke Jesus, shouting, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” But he got up and gave orders to the wind and the violent waves. The storm died down and it was calm.

25 He said to his disciples, “Where is your faith?”

Filled with awe and wonder, they said to each other, “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him!”

26 Jesus and his disciples sailed to the Gerasenes’ land, which is across the lake from Galilee. 27 As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, a certain man met him. The man was from the city and was possessed by demons. For a long time, he had lived among the tombs, naked and homeless. 28 When he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down before him. Then he shouted, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” 29 He said this because Jesus had already commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had taken possession of him, so he would be bound with leg irons and chains and placed under guard. But he would break his restraints, and the demon would force him into the wilderness.

30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had entered him. 31 They pleaded with him not to order them to go back into the abyss. 32 A large herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs. Jesus gave them permission, 33 and the demons left the man and entered the pigs. The herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned.

Reflection:

Although these stories are right next to each other, somehow I’ve never read them together until this summer. In the first, Jesus is abruptly woken from a nap by his terrified disciples who are quite certain they’re all about to die. Groggy-eyed (I imagine him with his beard and hair sticking up funny on one side), Jesus squints up into the chaos threatening to swamp the boat and tells the storm to hush. And it does. The wind falls out of the sails, the sea becomes glass, and in this stillness, the disciples have the dubious privilege of feeling every single hair on the backs of their necks stand on end. Grateful but thoroughly unnerved, they ask, “Who is this man?” A silly question (Jesus, duh), unless they’re really asking, “What is this man?”

When the boat docks, Jesus meets a man tormented by demons. In Mark’s telling of the story, the man’s inner anguish is so great that he resorts to self-harm, cutting himself with stones. This is a man banished from community, utterly alone, with corpses for roommates. Unclean and other. Jesus looks into the eyes of this poor man, and…something else…looks back out at him. Jesus asks, “What’s your name?” A voice that is NOT human responds, “Our name is Legion, because there’s a whole bunch of us in here!” Jesus stares down hell and commands it to get out. And it does.

Reading these stories together caused something in my brain to come unstuck, and I felt like I was reading about Jesus’ power for the first time. Jesus is such a boss, y’all! And yet… unsettling. Jesus exhibited complete authority over heaven and hell while still showing incredible care for those his Father had entrusted to him. He saved his disciples from imminent death by drowning and healed a lost soul so that he could be restored to his community, but commanding storms and banishing demons is kind of terrifying if you settle in and think about it.

In C.S. Lewis’ novel and almost-allegory, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, four children are transported from England to the land of Narnia, where they find themselves on the bad side of the White Witch. Their only hope of survival is to find the king of Narnia. In my favorite passage, the children are told by their guides (who happen to be beavers) that the king they’re running toward is not a man, like King George back in England, but a Lion. Susan, ever the practical one, asks, “Is he quite safe?” To which Mr. Beaver replies, “Safe?… Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe! But he’s good.”

Friends, I confess that I have made Jesus safe. In my head, he looks safe (i.e. like me), and the things he says to me are safe, following a script like a movie based on the book by God himself: Tithe something. Be nice (more or less). Pray when you feel like it (but don’t worry too much about listening).

But Jesus, the real Jesus, who commands heaven and hell with us in mind, is not safe. In fact, he’s quite dangerous. Holy things often are. Following him is not safe. If we follow Jesus, he will ask us to take risks. He will ask for more than ten percent and our Sunday mornings. He will expect to be a part of our marriages and will challenge the values we instill in our children. He will urge us to reconcile damaged relationships instead of forgiving (ugh, I guess) from a distance. Perhaps most dangerous of all, he will take up residence in our very souls, requiring us to deal with our own sin.

Today, I invite you to join me in considering the question the disciples asked. Who is this man? Do I shy away from the lion in favor of the lamb? Following Jesus, dangerous though it may be, leads to life and life abundant. Is it safe? No. But it’s good.

Closing Prayer:

Jesus, thank you for being bigger than storms, demons, and our own imaginations. We are thrilled and somewhat terrified of your power – forgive us when we try to tame you. We know that you are good and want good things for us, so give us the courage to follow you, even when it feels dangerous. Amen.