An Instruction for the 23rd Sunday After Pentecost

«And when He» (Jesus Christ) «had stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house, but in the tombs» (Lk 8:27).

«And when Jesus stepped out onto the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had been possessed by demons for a long time, and wore no clothes, and lived not in a house but in the tombs». In today’s Gospel the holy Evangelist Luke has told us the account of the Savior’s casting out of many demons from a demon-possessed man. How pitiable this man was! He did not wear clothes, and lived not in a house, but in the tombs—that is, in the sepulchral caves; for a long time the demons tormented him, and so severely that he beat himself against the rocks, and his neighbors, trying to keep him safe, «bound him with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness». Jesus Christ asked the unfortunate man: «what is your name?» — not, of course, because He did not know; for what can be unknown to the All-knowing One? — but in order to make known to the people how many unclean tormentors were in the man. «He answered, saying: legion—because many demons had entered him. And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss» — that is, into hell. «Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the mountain. So the demons begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them», in order to show that a person is infinitely more precious than animals. «Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned. When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed. Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So He got into the boat and returned. Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying: return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you. And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him» (Lk 8:27-39). Are there demon-possessed people among us, in our own time? There are, and many: both real, evident demon-possessed people, and demon-possessed people who are not evident; of these latter, first, all those are demon-possessed who blaspheme the name of God and of God’s saints, holy Scripture, the Church of God, and who turn strongly away from it and from the word of God; who blaspheme the holy icons, the holy relics, the sacred rank, and the persons ordained to that rank; who consider the holy fasts and the rule of preparation for Communion, according to the ordinance of the Holy Church, unnecessary. Second, those may also, to some degree, be called demon-possessed who, contrary to the Gospel, to experience, and to common sense, assert that there are no evil spirits: this stubborn unbelief in evil spirits is itself a true form of raging, for it runs contrary to the truth and contrary to the revelation of God. The Lord came to earth precisely in order to destroy the works of the devil, to save man from his violence. If there is no devil, then there is no Christianity; then the coming of the Son of God into the world would have been unnecessary. But this is absurd; the experience of each one of us, common sense, the history of the lives of the saints, and the history of every nation assure us of the existence of evil spirits. Further, one can, with justice, call demon-possessed people who are evil, wrathful, unruly, drunken, foul-mouthed, abusive, envious, ill-wishing, harboring secret or open enmity and hatred toward their neighbors, those who gloat over others’ misfortunes; the stingy, the money-loving, those living in fornicating impurity; the cunning, the deceitful, offenders, the hardhearted and unmerciful, and, finally, people given over to a strong fleshly passion, and every unrepentant sinner. For tell me, from where can so much evil arise in a person, created in the image and likeness of God? Evidently, from the devil, who is the instigator, in a person, by that person’s own will, of every evil. «He who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning» (1Jn 3:8). Let us, then, root out from our own heart every passion, every sin, every evil, so that we may give no place at all, in ourselves, to the devil; «give no place to the devil» (Eph 4:27), says the Apostle; «resist him, and he will flee from you» (Jac 4:7), says the Apostle James too. «Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour; whom resist, steadfast in the faith» (1Pet 5:8-9). Amen.