Casting Out Demons

Luke 8:26–39

Then they arrived at the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. As he stepped out on shore, a man from the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had not worn any clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, shouting, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me,” for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss. Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding, and the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd stampeded down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they became frightened. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then the whole throng of people of the surrounding region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. The man from whom the demons had gone out begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

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There was a time as a young adult when I was really into the practice and ritual of exorcisms. I can't remember what movie or book inspired it, yet I remember getting into reading books about spiritual warfare and the practice of casting out demons. Funny then how I ended up then as a member of the clergy, and I find that the church's work today is to cast out demons still. Perhaps the demons aren't in the form of Hollywood antagonists, but they are still very real and very dangerous. And the power to cast out demons, even one as intimidating as Legion, can be cast out by the disciples of Jesus Christ, us! In an age where we accept evil acts, words, and deeds as inevitable, the casting out of Legion by Jesus reminds us that these evils are not inevitable and can indeed be cast out by the power given to us. 

A Legion of What? 

We find stories of demons or other entities throughout scripture. For example, in the Old Testament, we find Saul visiting a medium to summon the spirit of Samuel, and the prophet Ezekiel is taken to a valley where he is shown an army of dry bones. The spiritual forces were certainly understood as unexplainable occurrences in the ancient world. Yet the demon Legion certainly plays a dual role. A legion in the Roman army consisted of six thousand soldiers, which, you know, is quite an imposing force. So in many ways, our Bible is filled with stories of mysterious phenomena (demons, ghosts, dry bones) that represent not just the spiritual realm but the physical world as well. For the demon, Legion represents not just a supernatural being but a real threat as well, a threat of the Roman occupation, and is a literary allusion to the massacre of Jewish people in the region of Gerasenes by the Romans.

What's even more of a hazard are those demons to which we've grown accustomed. Our baseline has shifted, so we eventually assume that all the pain and suffering are "normal" and "it's always been that way." A combination of apathy and our inherent desire to avoid conflict has allowed these demons to take hold and slowly choke us like a vine sapping life from a tree. In many ways, the exorcism of Legion is another act of God tending to creation like a caring Father, Parent, or Caretaker who models the selfless work of attentive care for us. Whether it be a legion of Roman soldiers or philosophies that keep us off the lifeway of God, we are called to be attentive and work proactively in restoring ourselves, one another, our communities, and our earth.

The threat of Legion is real, both the demonic and actual. And this demon knows who Jesus is; this demon knows what Jesus is all about and pleads with Jesus not to cast them into the abyss. So in a little bit of dark humor, the gospel writer tells us that Jesus sent the demons into a herd of pigs who ended up falling off a cliff into a lake and drowning in a watery abyss. Casting out demons is spiritual work, healing work, just work, and liberating work. This leads to the good news that you and I are called to participate as disciples. Good news that draws our attention to the fact these forces at work in the world are not inevitable endings but starting points for change. 

Called to Cast Out Demons

I don't often talk about it this way, but casting out demons is our work as disciples. Casting out demons, even if there is a legion of them, is our work. Casting out demons is our prophetic work because it says we are unwilling to say, "It's only inevitable." When people say, "Oh, another school shooting, well, it was only inevitable," we cast out that demon because it's not inevitable. When people say, "Oh, that's just boys being boys," we say no, that behavior isn't inevitable because we can change our culture. When we hear stories about violent acts based on racism, bigotry, or classism and people say, "Oh, it's inevitable, there's always going to be a bad apple," we say, "NO!" NO! It isn't inevitable; we will cast out the demons within and without that tell us otherwise! We will cast out Legion, which isn't only a promise given to us by Jesus; it's a call to action.

As people who the resurrection power of Jesus has touched, Jesus speaks to us when he says, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." We are to go out and actively expel the demons that relentlessly cling to tools of iron that take life indiscriminately; we are called to cast out demons from all corners of our communities that harbor abhorrent beliefs about people based on gender, sex, nationality, ethnicity, religion, and class. We are called to expel Legion and tell others to return home and tell of the wonderful works of God. Let me say that this work of casting out demons will not make us many friends; in fact, we might be told to go away, to leave, but at least we did our work faithfully. Jesus brings life to the places that have only known death. And we, too, are agents who can cast out and make room for the life-giving love of God. So let us go and tell others of the wonderful things God has done for us. Let us go and cast out Legion, knowing that with God, nothing is impossible.