PART 4 – EXPLORE THE VISUAL IMAGERY
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Chapter 20 - CALL ME "LEGION"
We move on to look at a completely different story, but one which also relies a great deal for its impact on visual imagery.
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The following story occurs in all three Synoptic Gospels. But we will draw our paraphrase from the Gospel of Mark, which contains the most vivid and detailed description of the man healed from a “legion” of evil spirits.
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Call me “Legion” (from Mark 5:1-20)
After Jesus had finished teaching the crowds on the shore of Lake Galilee, close to the town of Capernaum, he said to his disciples, “Come on, lets cross over to the other side of the Lake”. After confronting a storm on the way across (which is another story!) they arrived at the other side, the Eastern side of the lake, in the region which was known as “the Ten Cities”. This region was mostly inhabited by Roman citizens, who did not follow the customs and religion of the Jewish people.
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As Jesus was climbing out of the boat, a man who was possessed by an evil spirit came to meet him, emerging from a nearby cemetery where he lived among the tombs and in the burial caves. The people had tried to chain him up, but he was so strong that he broke the chains they put on his wrists and smashed the shackles around his feet. It was impossible to keep him under control. All through the day, and the night, he would wander among the tombs and in the surrounding hills, crying out and cutting himself with sharp stones.
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The man recognized Jesus, even though he was still some distance away, so he ran to meet him, and fell at his feet. Jesus spoke to the spirit within him, and said, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit."
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A loud scream came from his mouth, then he replied, “Why should you have anything to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you in God’s name, don't torture me!"
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Jesus demanded to know the name of the evil spirit, and he replied, "My name is Legion, because there are very many of us." Then the evil spirits begged him over and over not to send them to some distant place, outside of their own territory.
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Now there happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby. So the spirits begged him, "Send us into those pigs. We can possess them instead." So Jesus gave them permission. The evil spirits came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd stampeded down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water. There were as many as two thousand of them!
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The men who were looking after the pigs fled to the nearby town, telling everyone they met. The news reached everyone in the town and the surrounding countryside, and they all came running to see what had happened. When they arrived at the scene, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of evil spirits, sitting with Jesus. He was fully clothed and in his right mind. And what they saw terrified them!
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Those who had seen the events with their own eyes told the others how the evil spirits had left the man and entered into the pigs, and what had become of them. When they heard this, the crowd begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone.
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Jesus made ready to get into the boat and return to the other side of the lake. The man who had been possessed by the evil spirits wanted to go with him, but Jesus wouldn’t let him, "No,” he said. “Go home to your family, to your own people. Tell them about the wonderful things that God has done for you and how you have come to know his mercy and compassion."
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So the man obeyed Jesus’ command, and straight away set off to visit each of the Ten Towns after which the region is named. He told everyone about the great things that Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed at his testimony.
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In the previous chapter, in which we studied Joseph’s amazing transformation from prisoner to Prime Minister, we followed through a process of exploration: from imagery to emotional response, to meaning, to practical application.
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We will follow the same process here, and examine again how the initial appreciation of powerful imagery in the story can open the way to further insights and practical applications that we may never have seen if we had not started with the visual aspects of the passage.
The opening scene
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At the beginning of the story, the description of the man possessed by evil spirits is very dramatic and powerful. Imagine the opening scene being played out in a modern film adaptation – it would make great cinematography.
In the first place you have the very dramatic scenery…
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The lakeside. Jesus and the disciples have just come through a ferocious storm (in which Jesus calmed the storm and stilled the waves). So you might imagine the sky still glowering with thunder-clouds, with sun-shine filtering through and perhaps a rainbow arcing across the sky.
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Green hills dropping steeply down to the lake shore. On one of these hills is a huge herd of pigs.
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Just nearby is the Roman cemetery, where the possessed man lives among (or in) the tombs and burial caves. It’s probably that some, if not all of these tombs would be dug into the hill-side, and provide a refuge where the man could sleep and shelter from the wind and rain. The fact that he lives in or among the tombs adds a macabre aspect to the opening scene. We could almost be at the start of an Edgar Alan Poe story.
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Against this dramatic background, a man appears, runs towards Jesus, and falls at his feet. Mark gives us a very full and memorable picture of the man. He must have had a very frightening appearance:
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Imagine the strength he must have had to break the chains on his ankles and wrists. What does that suggest to you about his physical size and build?
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Mark tells us that no-one was able to keep him chained up or under control, so his unfettered physical power and strength must have seemed very scary and threatening.
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Add to this the fact that the man is self-harming “cutting himself with sharp stones”. Quite apart from his psychological state (which we will turn to shortly), how would this affect his appearance? All this suggests he was not the kind of person you would like to meet on a dark night!
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And meeting him on a dark night, or at least hearing him, was a strong possibility, since he would wander among the tombs, and in the surrounding hills, by day and by night, crying out, probably both in emotional torment and in physical pain from his self-harming.
This physical description is of course very revealing with respect to his inward mental/psychological state. He is mentally unstable, out of control, self-harming, and his mental state has resulted in him being abandoned and ostracised by the community. He is entirely alone, with no-one to turn to for companionship, support, relief from his mental torment, which is why he is continually, 24/7, roaming from place to place and harming himself, symptomatic of an inner state of high emotion, distress and unbearable inner turmoil. Medically, psychologically, these symptoms all lead to the conclusion that this man is “on the edge”, almost beyond help and healing.
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And that’s the point! Like the previous scene with Jesus stilling the storm, it represents a situation which is demonstrably impossible for man to resolve. Only a miracle from God can reach into this man’s life.
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Before we move on to look at the contrasting scene after Jesus had healed the man and cast out the “legion” of evil spirits, let’s just try to imagine how the disciples would have reacted – to see the story from their point of view. Bear in mind:
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They have just come through a traumatic experience in the storm on the lake
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They are landing in unfamiliar territory, one which they would normally avoid because it was inhabited by “heathens” whose customs and religion were very different from their own (they even herded pigs!)
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They are probably a bit apprehensive and unsure of what they might come across
And suddenly they see this big, powerful, crazy individual, naked, probably with remains of the chains dangling from his wrists and ankles, cut and bleeding from open wounds on his arms and chest, running towards them from the direction of the cemetery. Imagine how you would feel in their shoes! This whole experience must have been as traumatic for them as being caught up in the storm – not facing being drowned in the raging sea, but attacked by a ferocious madman!
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But he has not come to do harm, but to throw himself at the feet of Jesus and find his salvation at the hands of this “Son of the Most High God”. We are not interested here in exploring the nature of Jesus’ miracle of healing and the exorcism of the “legion” of evil spirits – you are welcome to follow that up in your own time. But we turn now to the contrasting scene and the visual image of the man after the miracle had taken place.
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Clothed and in his right mind
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This very simple and understated phrase is, you might think, all we have to say about the visual image of the man after Jesus’ miraculous healing and transformation. But it’s an image that puts fear and awe into the hearts of those who witness it:
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When they arrived at the scene, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of evil spirits, sitting with Jesus. He was fully clothed and in his right mind. And what they saw terrified them!
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Why does this simple picture have such a powerful and terrifying impact?
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The description actually covers both practical and emotional aspects of the man’s transformation, but to fully understand the impact of the description, we have to consider the tremendous contrast between this image, and the image which we explored in the opening scene:
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BEFORE AFTER
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Naked, perhaps remnants of chains hanging from wrists and ankles CLOTHED
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Cut and bleeding from self-harming
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Scary and threatening in appearance
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Mentally unstable, out of control IN HIS RIGHT MIND
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Self-harming
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In a state of high emotion, distress and inner turmoil
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The term “clothed” implies that his outward physical appearance is now perfectly normal, natural, unremarkable – a vast contrast with his previous physical appearance which was anything but normal. His clothing would not only have covered his nakedness, but also the cuts and scars resulting from his self-harming. His appearance would no longer be scary and threatening, but would identify him as a respectable and unremarkable member of the human race, no longer any reason to reject and ostracize him from social interaction with the local community.
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The term translated here “in his right mind” mean literally “sound-minded”, i.e. his mental state was perfectly restored, made whole. It also carries the meaning of “self-controlled”, now completely in charge of his own emotions and behaviour. The inward distress and emotional turmoil has gone for good.
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We have to assume as well, especially in the context of the man’s behaviour after Jesus has moved on, that his healing involves a spiritual element as well as mental/psychological. “Sound-minded” implies spiritually whole, delivered from the power of evil and free to serve and worship Jesus as Lord and Saviour.
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But we also have to consider the context in which this amazing vision is situated.
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Before... the man is pictured wandering among the tombs, isolated, alone, with no-one to turn to, to share his mental distress.
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Now... he is pictured sitting at the feet of Jesus. There is no question for those who witness the scene that Jesus is the author of the transformation, that Jesus is the one through whom salvation has come. And now it is Jesus who is seen as awesome, uncontrollable, scary. It is Jesus whom they wish to banish, realizing there is no way they can chain him down, prevent him from threatening and overturning their world.
The Meaning behind the Miracle
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We already hinted at the underlying meaning of the story, by exploring how the visual imagery of the opening scene describes a man who is “on the edge” and beyond healing and restoration in human terms.
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There is a further clue to the meaning of the story in the incredible, overwhelming extent of spirit possession that is involved. The evil spirits call themselves “Legion”, because they say, “We are many”. Just how many is hinted at by the number of pigs – some two thousand of them – who stampede down the hill and into the lake. We might well conclude that the number of evil spirits Jesus cast out of the man was at least as many as the number of pigs! Wow! Jesus taught his disciples to cast out evil spirits, but two thousand at once?! Again, this is clearly intended to convey the message that this task is far beyond what man is capable of doing. Only God can achieve such a thing.
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The Bigger Picture
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We must also follow the principle of putting this specific story into the larger context.
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In both Mark and Luke it comes between the calming of the storm, and the raising of Jairus’s daughter (coupled with the healing of the woman with the issue of blood). At this stage of Jesus’ ministry he is demonstrating, especially for the benefit of the twelve disciples, that he is truly the chosen Messiah, the Christ of God. And to that end he shows categorically that he has the power to do things that only someone working with the power of God himself has the ability to perform – to calm the wind and the waves, cast out evil spirits, even raise the dead. Jesus’ demonstrations of divine power concludes with Peter’s confession, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.”
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Questions for consideration or discussion --- Practical application of the story
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Although the story itself, and the visual imagery involved, made a tremendous impact on everyone involved – the man himself, and those who witnessed the events – the outworking was significantly different for different players in the story. It would be very instructive to look at the response and the outworking of the story for three different sets of individuals:
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The man who was possessed by the evil spirits
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Members of the local community who witnessed the events
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The twelve disciples
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So for further study I would encourage you to explore, for each of these characters:
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What was their emotional response to the events witnessed, and to the transformation which Jesus brought about?
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What practical steps did they take to follow up their experience? What long-term affect did this experience have on their lives? In the case of the disciples you might need to take a longer-term perspective – this event constitutes one step in a longer process of learning/growing in their understanding and journey of faith.
Now ask yourself, which response most closely corresponds to your own experience of and relationship with Jesus? What lessons can you apply to your own walk with the Lord?
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Evaluate how this particular methodology for studying the story has helped you (or otherwise) to understand the implications of the story itself, and to apply the lessons learned to your own personal life.
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