Who is Family?

Halston, running the household with grandma's gavel. 

Scripture:

Luke 8:26   Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷ As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. ²⁸ When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me”— ²⁹ 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.) ³⁰ Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. ³¹ They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss.

Luke 8:32   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. ³³ Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.

Luke 8:34   When the swineherds saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. ³⁵ 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 were afraid. ³⁶ Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. ³⁷ Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. ³⁸ The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, ³⁹ “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.

Observation:

Just a few scenes previous Jesus’ family had dropped by to check on what he was doing. Jesus’ curious response about family may have been troubling to those who heard, and yet, he was foreshadowing a new family within the kingdom of God. As he arrives on the shores of the Gerasenes we find that his vision of family is expanding. 

No one would have imagined that Jesus’ ministry would include the gentiles, let alone a demon crazed one who had been torturing the whole community. It is the demons who recognize that Jesus really is “Son of the Most High God!” They are afraid of his power and we can only imagine the awe that filled the disciples at this moment. 

When Jesus allows the demons to enter the herd of swine we discover the depths of his compassion. To actually see the swine run off the bank and drown into the lake was for the demon-possessed man to witness the uttermost destruction of what had tormented him. There would be no doubt that he had been set free for the demons were not returning. 

When the people of the city come to see what has happened, they find the man “sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.” This is the same description that might be made of the disciples who had been following Jesus. Those who were taught by Jesus would sit at his feet and soak in all that he said. These were those who were now identified as Jesus’ family. 

The call to follow Jesus including the call to itinerancy. For some this included staying with Jesus, but evidently the call for this man was to return to his home and proclaim all that Christ had done. Jesus’ family includes those who “hear God’s word and put it into practice.” 

Application:

Sometimes the most unlikely of persons become family - at least, that’s what I think Jesus wants us to understand. I can only imagine how the disciples must have judged this man when they arrived on shore. He was a gentile — the wrong ethnic group! He was filthy and very frightening. In Mark’s account he tells us that he cut himself with stones and screamed, frightening all in the area. No chains could bind him. This man was as opposite of the other disciples as one could imagine — or was he? Mary who had been freed from seven demons was part of the group, as were others who had questionable backgrounds. However, because they heard the word and put it into practice, they were family. 

Over and over again the message of Jesus is to go into uncomfortable spaces and make disciples. We are to welcome the stranger into our “family” and help them to Jesus’ feet. 

Think of the most undesirable person in your world, and then consider whether Jesus would have you go to this person and share with them the good news. Sometimes we have to examine our own hearts and our motives so that we can be the disciples that Jesus would want us to be. We are to sit at Jesus’ feet, learn from him, just like the previously demon possessed man, and then follow him out into the world, just like family. 

Prayer:

Lord, give me eyes to see those whom I might feel uncomfortable welcoming into the family. Amen.