Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“When he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way. Suddenly they shouted, ‘What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?’”
NL Daily Devotion for Thursday, February 9, 2023
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
The demons’ phrase “before the time” intrigues me. In the similar story of the Gerasene demoniac in Mark 5 and Luke 8, there is only one possessed man, but he is possessed with an entire legion of demons. These other texts contain much more detail about this encounter (20 verses in Mark and 18 in Luke compared to 7 in Matthew) but do not include this phrase about the premature nature of Jesus’ encounter with the demons.
I’m sure there’s a textual explanation in terms of what particular meaning Matthew is trying to convey, and I’ll admit I do not know it. So I can read the text with an open mind and invite the Holy Spirit into my wondering about it.
What it says to me is that demons—whatever that term literally means—know their time is coming, that Jesus will, at the end, destroy them all. But in the mean time, said demons expect to be left to their own evil devices, free to wreak whatever havoc on humanity they please.
What it also says is that Jesus doesn’t care about your timeline, O demons (or ours either, if we’re honest.) Just as with the humans in Jesus’ context who thought they knew everything about who God was and how God worked, Jesus turns everything on its head. Again and again, he offers a new, grace-filled and miraculous take on God’s nature and action in the world. That’s what made him so threatening to the status quo—even the status quo of the demons.
Do I find myself stuck in specific interpretations of how God works? Or am I able to open my mind and wonder?