This is the third of a series of three posts considering the story of the Gerasene demoniac in Mark 5:1-20. The first two were:
Mark's account is “the good news of Jesus Christ” (Mark 1:1). Is Mark 5:1-20 part of the presentation of this gospel, or could we take it out without loss? The Common Worship lectionary for Year B considers Mark 4:35-41 on the second Sunday after Trinity, as part of a run through the parables of Mark 4. The week after, the third Sunday after Trinity, we get Mark 5:21-43. What happened to Mark 5:1-20?
If you take this account out of Mark, the gospel message suffers for it.
First, to recap the previous two posts: In the calming of the storm, we see that Jesus' word can subdue the turbulent Gentile world, just as Jesus' word then goes on to subdue this Gentile man who is ruled by chaos. In Mark 5:21ff, we see that Jesus can deal with the twin problems of death and defilement, two problems which find their unity in the demoniac of the first half of Mark 5.
If we removed Mark 5:1-20 from Mark's gospel, we would still see that Jesus can subdue the nations of the world, and we would still see Jesus' power to deal with defilement and death. What we would miss would be the link between these two. Mark 5:1-20 supplies this link.
First, let's work forwards from Mark 4. Why is it that the Gentile nations of the world are chaotic and in need of subduing by the word of Jesus bringing in the kingdom of God? Mark 5:1-20 supplies the answer. The chaos of the nations comes because death reigns, and we are defiled by our contact with death.
Then, let's work backwards from Mark 5:21-43. Why is it that death and defilement are such a serious problem? Mark 5:1-20 supplies the answer. The problems of death and the defilement of sin are serious because they are universal. We don't all build our houses in graveyards (although some of us get to live closer to a graveyard than others!), but we are all impacted by death; death comes from sin; and so we are all unclean before God. Death and ritual defilement are not just Jewish problems; they are global.
What Mark 5:1-20 tells us, then, is that Jesus has the power to deal with the problem that faces every nation under the sun: We live among the tombs, and we are in the grip of sin and evil. Precisely because he is able to do this, he is able to take nations that are godless, wrapped up in their own self-importance (cf. Genesis 11), and bring them with a word to make their nests in the shade cast by his kingdom.
There is a warning in the calming of the storm and the expulsion of Legion: The sight of the nations of our world in their right mind, living in the mustard tree, still as a millpond, is more terrifying than the chaos that fills our news screens and terrifies us at present. Jesus did not come to turn the world upside down, but the right way up. However, if you live in a world that is upside-down, a right-way-up world is scary.
But we also know, reading the account of the storm, the account of Legion, the account of the bleeding woman, and the account of Jairus' daughter, that this scary is good. This is the world restored to order, and it may be a daunting prospect, but we would rather have the world turned up the right way again.
Which leaves us with the non-choice that the story of Mark 5:1-20 raises. What do we want expelled? The demons begged Jesus not to send them out of the region; the crowds begged Jesus to depart from their region. By the end of the story there has been a reversal; the man who had had the legion is now sane, but the crowd is insane.
As we look at our nation, do we want the demons to go, or do we want Jesus to go? If we allow the slightly fearful prospect of a world restored to order, we might follow our emotions and ask Jesus to go. But if we look at the chaos, and compare it to the calm sea, the man in his right mind, and the resurrected year-8 girl, we will want the demons to go. In short, let's pray that Jesus drives the chaos out of our minds and hearts, so that we see the prospect of his kingdom as something we want, rather than as something we wish would depart.
Is the story of the Gerasene demoniac part of the telling of the “gospel about Jesus Christ, the Son of God”? You bet it is! Should we ask the story to leave Mark's gospel? That would be an insane thing to do!
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