By Great Mercy

At one time, you could hear a strange voice from the tombs near the Gerasenes. For once a madman lived there. Anyone could find him if they wished. All they needed to do was follow the man’s howlings but none dared go near him.

Before his madness, he had been known as Reuben ben-David. Though he had been raised in a faithful Jewish home, Reuben had chosen to follow the ways of their Roman oppressors. For this, he was disowned by his family and thrown from the synagogue. Rueben didn’t care though. He continued his carousing and never looked back long enough to see the grief he’d left in his wake. It was then that his life started to change. Increasingly, he began to become more and more violent, even without the usual inducement of wine. Then he started saying things totally uncharacteristic of him and kept to himself more and more. Finally, something snapped and everyone knew it. People tried to bind him with sturdy ropes but Reuben would release himself from them as if they were twine. They tried chains multiple times, praying to any and all gods that these would hold him. But the chains were as the ropes for he tore the chains and broke the shackles around his wrists and ankles. At last, he was driven from town and took up living in the tombs, finding no other refuge.

But these were not truly the actions of Reuben ben-David. His mind was not his own. He had been usurped of authority over his own body by spirits he had encouraged to enter through his wild living. If anyone had been brave enough to look into his eyes, they would have not seen the regular clear eyes of any other human being but a legion of faces leering and taunting the looker. For a few brief moments, Reuben would be himself but always knowing what was inside him. He would grab stone, which laid in plenty on the floors of the caves he inhabited, cutting himself deeply. If only he cut deep enough then these spirits would be able to leave his body and he would be free once more. At least, this was his reasoning. But the voiced that controlled him laughed at his vain efforts to release himself from his imprisonment.

“Go on then. Release us. Let us run as you blood.” And they would force him to cut himself deeper and throw him on the ground scraping his skin against the rocks. “You will never be rid of us,” they taunted. “You are ours and we will never let go.” At these times, Reuben would weep bitter tears of remorse and sorrow. So he lived his days in a delicate state between sanity and insanity, constantly going between the two as his masters permitted.

But then the day arrived when all that changed. From the mouth of his cave, Reuben saw a small boat approach. He wondered who these new visitors could be for he had seen the violent storm upon the sea, having been forced to cry aloud and wail like the wind adding his voice to the noise of the tempest. He gnawed on a piece of stone as he watched the boat gently glide onto the sandy beach. Then one of the passengers stepped out of the boat. As soon as his foot touched the ground, an unexpected surge ran through Reuben’s entire being. An unearthly scream ripped from his throat. All that he could see or feel was darkness and despair. His body, under the control of those who possessed him, rushed forward toward the man from the boat, all the time shrieking from the depth of his being. Reaching the beach, the madman fell at the other man’s feet. For the briefest of moments, Reuben’s own mind took over and he looked up into the face of the visitor. Their eyes locked for that moment and the madman’s eyes pleaded what his mouth could not. The new man understood that look given by the man at his feet. In an authoritative voice, he commanded,

“Come out of this man, you evil spirit!” Immediately, the man was thrown violently against the ground. From within him rose a rasping malicious voice, crying out in the loudest possible volume Reuben could make.

“What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” The madman cowered from Jesus in absolute terror. Jesus in turn looked severely down upon the pitiful creature before him.

“What is your name?” Then, to the horror of the disciples, a chorus of voices joined the original voice, all equally and possibly more evil than the first. As the spectators looked at the madman’s eyes, they saw his eyes begin to swarm with grotesque faces.

“My name is Legion for we are many. I beg you, Son of God, not to send us away from here.” And so they continued to beg of Jesus. Reuben’s body glanced about itself furtively, like a hunted animal looking for shelter. His eyes locked on the local herd of pigs snuffling nearby.

“Send us among the pigs,” the voices pleaded. Their body groveled at Jesus’ feet. “Allow us to go into them.”

“Go,” he said simply. With a great cry, a vast host seemed to burst from the man. All these shapes of evil fled quickly to the herd. In a mad rush, the whole herd careened down the hillside with no regard for each other or where they were headed. The whole heard, two thousand in all, charged to their deaths in the sea.

Turning back to the man formerly possessed by Legion, he lay prone on the ground like a corpse. His eyes were closed. His hair lay matted and his beard, grown long from lack of attention, sat in knots and clumped with blood. His skin not only bore innumerable scars from his vain attempts at salvation but also was burned from head to toe because its former masters had not allowed him to bear clothing of any kind. His lips were dry and cracked and dirt clung to every part of him. Jesus kneeled down beside the man and gazed down kindly into the man’s face.

“Wake-up. They’re gone,” he said gently, as one would speak to a frightened child. Slowly the former madman’s eyes opened, first one and then the other. And his eyes reflected only the image of his saviour. Taking Jesus’ proffered hand, he wobbled up to a standing position. Finally, upright, he kept a tight hold on his saviour’s hand.

“Thank you,” the man uttered at last. Jesus smiled and asked one of the disciples to get something for the released man from the boat.

“What is your name?”

“My name,” the man paused for he had been under Legion’s possession for so long and so heavily that he could not for a time remember his own name. But then it began to return like a light at the end of a tunnel growing bigger and bigger. “My name . . . my name is . . . my name . . . is . . .” A smile spread across his haggard face as he fairly shouted, “Reuben! My name is Reuben son of David and Tirzah of the tribe of Gad.” Jesus smiled with him and helped him put on the clothes his disciple had brought. And Reuben began to gush forth about his family and tragic story leading up to his salvation.

As the delivered man was relating his history, a crowd began to gather having heard of the possessed man and the drowning of the herd. In turn, everyone gasped to see the former madman not only wearing clothing but also having a regular conversation.

“There he is!’ those who had been tending the pigs shouted, pointing at Jesus. “We saw him. He commanded a host of spirits to kill our pigs. And he,” they motioned to Reuben, “he released the spirits.” After this explanation of what happened, all the people begged Jesus and his followers to leave. Reuben looked at them all in dismay. Many of those in the crowd he knew, had even been friends with them. He tried to call out to them, show them the dramatic change that had been wrought in him but no one listened to him. He glanced to see what Jesus would do in response and saw him head towards the boat. Seeing that he wasn’t getting anywhere with the crowd, Reuben began to follow the disciples to the boat. As he saw Jesus getting into the boat and the other disciples starting to shove off, he realized that they were not intending to take him with them.

“Wait!” he cried. “Wait for me. Please don’t leave me behind!” They seemed to pay him no heed. How could they leave him here? “Jesus!” he shouted desperately as he neared the boat. Jesus bowed his head and looked back at the man he had saved. “Please,” asked Reuben simply. “Don’t leave me behind.”

“You can’t come with me this time,” Jesus answered gently.

“But why?” the freed man begged to know. Tears brimmed in Reuben’s clear eyes.

“I need you here,” Jesus continued. “Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” Then he whispered so no one but Reuben could hear. “We will meet again.” This still did not prevent the man’s brimming tears from running down his cheeks.

Reuben watched mournfully as the boat carrying his saviour sailed away. Accepting that he was gone, the crowd dispersed and returned home. Reuben remained at the shore for several minutes, thinking over everything that had happened. What kept returning to him swat the reaction the spirits to the presence of Jesus and what they called him, Son of the Most High God. Could it be? Could this man really be the son of God? In his early days, he would have denied it vehemently or protested that anyone could be the son of a god. But now, after all he’d experienced, Reuben was sure that the man who had just sailed away was truly the Son of the Most High God.

“Well then,” he thought to himself, “I had better obey his commands.” So he got up and started to ascend the hill. Glimpsing up at the top of the hill, he spotted two people who had not left with the rest of the crowd. He began to move more quickly, excited that someone at least had stayed long enough to hear what he had to say. As he got closer, he realized he knew these people very well.

“Abba! Ima!” It had been so long since he had seen them last but they were still the same. A few feet from his parents, he stopped. He looked from first his father and then to his mother. They looked at him and could barely recognize the young man who had left their home. For several moments the family stared at one another. Then Reuben ran forward and embraced his father, tears fallin in rivers down his face.

“Oh, Abba, I am so sorry. “ His father answered with a tightened grip on his son and stains where his tears fell. And so they stood arm-in-arm, father and son. Finally, Reuben turned to where his mother stood patiently, weeping at the scene she had just witnessed. The son took her in his arms and held her close as if he would never let her go again.

“Tirzah,” David said hoarsely, “our son is back from the grave.”

“It is a miracle,” she answered. Tirzah stepped back and held her son’s face with both hands. “Oh my boy, my darling son. How did this happen?”

“By the great mercy of Yahweh,” Reuben replied. “Abba, Ima, I think I’ve found the Messiah.” David and Tirzah stared in astonishment at their son’s incredible claim. Easily, their son understood their thoughts. “I know that it is difficult to explain but the man who saved me is truly the Son of God.”

“You can tell us more when we get home,” David suggested. So the threesome went back to their home and Reuben shared all of his experiences and his encounter with Jesus. Now, a voice is speaking throughout the whole area of the Gerasenes and the Decapolis of the wonders of Jesus. And that voice is the same that once howled in the tombs.