This Sunday’s Gospel brings us face to face with the most famous exorcism in the Bible. We encounter an individual known to history as the Gerasene demoniac, a man so overtaken by forces beyond his control that he no longer knows his own name. When Jesus asks him what he’s called, he replies, “Legion” the name for a Roman military unit, 6,000 soldiers strong. In other words, this man’s inner torment reflects the outer reality of his world. His body and soul are possessed and occupied by both Roman troops and the foot soldiers of Satan.
And Jesus steps into that territory. He’s just crossed the Sea of Galilee into a non-Jewish or Gentile community, a place his disciples might have preferred to avoid. But Jesus doesn’t steer away from places of suffering. He goes straight toward them. He meets the man in the tombs. He hears him. And he speaks directly to the chaos that has overtaken him.
After speaking with these destructive forces, Jesus gives them permission to leave, and they rush headlong into a herd of pigs, which then run into the sea. Now, this seems like a pretty weird detail, and it is. But it’s also a sign of what those forces are really like: self-destructive, wild, and hollow. Once revealed for what they are, they consume themselves.
And the man, this unnamed, formerly possessed and occupied man, is suddenly calm, clothed, and sitting at Jesus’ feet. But the people from the town see this transformation, and instead of celebrating, they are afraid. Sometimes, healing is more disruptive than brokenness. When someone we’ve learned to treat as a lost cause suddenly finds wholeness, it forces us to reimagine how we see the world and that can be difficult.
The man wants to follow Jesus, but Jesus sends him back home to be a witness. “Tell how much God has done for you,” Jesus says. And St. Luke’s Gospel tells us he did by proclaiming how much Jesus had done for him. This repeats the central message that Luke wants us to hear – that in Jesus, God’s liberating power meets us exactly where we are and calls us to new life.
This story isn’t just about the past, it’s not just the biblical version of Amityville Horror or the Exorcist. It’s about the powers that still occupy lives and communities today. Addiction, war, racism, violence, these are forces that possess and occupy. But Jesus still crosses the stormy sea. He still walks into hard places. He still restores what others say is too far gone. And he still sends us, clothed, named, and healed, to tell the story of how we were made whole so others might know his love too.
Reflection Sunday
Link to the readings (track 2) for June 22, 2025
Sermon by The Rev. Taylor Vines
This Sunday’s Gospel brings us face to face with the most famous exorcism in the Bible. We encounter an individual known to history as the Gerasene demoniac, a man so overtaken by forces beyond his control that he no longer knows his own name. When Jesus asks him what he’s called, he replies, “Legion” the name for a Roman military unit, 6,000 soldiers strong. In other words, this man’s inner torment reflects the outer reality of his world. His body and soul are possessed and occupied by both Roman troops and the foot soldiers of Satan.
And Jesus steps into that territory. He’s just crossed the Sea of Galilee into a non-Jewish or Gentile community, a place his disciples might have preferred to avoid. But Jesus doesn’t steer away from places of suffering. He goes straight toward them. He meets the man in the tombs. He hears him. And he speaks directly to the chaos that has overtaken him.
After speaking with these destructive forces, Jesus gives them permission to leave, and they rush headlong into a herd of pigs, which then run into the sea. Now, this seems like a pretty weird detail, and it is. But it’s also a sign of what those forces are really like: self-destructive, wild, and hollow. Once revealed for what they are, they consume themselves.
And the man, this unnamed, formerly possessed and occupied man, is suddenly calm, clothed, and sitting at Jesus’ feet. But the people from the town see this transformation, and instead of celebrating, they are afraid. Sometimes, healing is more disruptive than brokenness. When someone we’ve learned to treat as a lost cause suddenly finds wholeness, it forces us to reimagine how we see the world and that can be difficult.
The man wants to follow Jesus, but Jesus sends him back home to be a witness. “Tell how much God has done for you,” Jesus says. And St. Luke’s Gospel tells us he did by proclaiming how much Jesus had done for him. This repeats the central message that Luke wants us to hear – that in Jesus, God’s liberating power meets us exactly where we are and calls us to new life.
This story isn’t just about the past, it’s not just the biblical version of Amityville Horror or the Exorcist. It’s about the powers that still occupy lives and communities today. Addiction, war, racism, violence, these are forces that possess and occupy. But Jesus still crosses the stormy sea. He still walks into hard places. He still restores what others say is too far gone. And he still sends us, clothed, named, and healed, to tell the story of how we were made whole so others might know his love too.