“And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshipped him; and crying out with a loud voice, he said, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.’ For he had said to him, ‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!’ And Jesus asked him ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘My name is Legion; for we are many.’ And he begged him earnestly to send them out of the country. Now a great herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him, saying, ’Send us to the pigs; let us enter them.’” (Mark 5: 6-12, ESV)
The four gospels testify that wherever and whenever Jesus entered, his presence always confronted and collided with evil and its many faces. As someone in whom the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, Jesus enfleshed the nature of God’s love. It is the antithesis of evil. It is love that seeks to repair harm, that comforts the grief-stricken. It is love that rises in indignation at injustice. It is love that mourns with the broken-hearted, a love that welcomes the stranger, and the lost. It is love that a corrupt heart cannot inhabit.
The story of Jesus’ encounter with the demon-possessed Gerasene is illustrative. The demons(s) immediately recognized Jesus even from afar, and Jesus recognized them as well. His very presence breached the space of dominion of the demonic, it unsettled and dislocated them. They sought to resist, but they encountered a power from a kingdom stronger than theirs. With his mere presence, Jesus exposed the venality of evil, because evil cannot exist in the presence of compassion and love. Not only did his presence expose the nakedness of evil, it also unconcealed their self-destructive nature. There is a salient theme in this story that is not commonly emphasized in the countless homilies and sermons that I have heard on it, and that is, that the demons were not forcibly driven away by Jesus. The narrative does not say that he used force or violence. He only spoke to them to come out of the Gerasene. They fled from the presence of Jesus on their own, and begged him to let them inhabit another creature, which in the process led to their destruction. In fleeing from the presence of love, they destroyed themselves.
When followers of Jesus peacefully confront evil, they bring his presence through their acts of love, mercy, and justice. They unsettle the dominion of evil. Evil seeks to repress the presence of love, because like what the demons that possessed the man from Gerasene knew, love makes evil self-aware. When love becomes present, evil confronts its antithesis. Love humiliates and upends the foothold of the demonic, because embedded in the character of love is its selflessness, the willingness to suffer for others. That love lives fiercely. It is the love that has given the faithful across the ages hope in darkness, resilience in tragedy, even courage unto death.
In these days when the evils of hate, injustice, corruption, and the rapacity for worldly power, seem to rear their heads on our streets, in our neighborhoods, and, yes, even in some of our churches, in our civic life, and public discourse – and they are legion – let us not lose sight of the presence of Jesus walking alongside us, the way the disciples on the road to Emmaus did. Jesus lives. He is risen, and his love reigns. Where there is evil, the followers of Jesus are called to bring his presence. And when they do, evil recognizes them even from afar. They hear his voice always: “Whatever you have seen me do, go and do likewise.”
That is our task.
Elmo Familiaran 