Luke 8:23-29 (NRSV)
Read Luke 8:23-29 on biblegateway.com
Verse 23and while they were sailing he fell asleep. A windstorm swept down on the lake, and the boat was filling with water, and they were in danger. Verse 24They went to him and woke him up, shouting, "Master, Master, we are perishing!" And he woke up and rebuked the wind and the raging waves; they ceased, and there was a calm. Verse 25He said to them, "Where is your faith?" They were afraid and amazed, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him?" Verse 26Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. Verse 27As he stepped out on land, a man of the city who had demons met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. Verse 28When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me"- Verse 29for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.)
Devotion
Yesterday, I wrote about Bagamoyo, Tanzania. There is only one building that still stands from the ugly time when humans were abducted and sold into slavery there. In that building hang chains attached to the wall that could not be broken by the captive. The man we know in Luke’s Gospel story as “Legion” could not break his bonds on his own. The “Son of the Most High God” was able to give him freedom. Jesus offers us release from anything that enslaves us, when we too recognize the power of God in Jesus. There is one stipulation, that we will, as Legion did, also share the good news of our unbinding with others.
Prayer
Releasing God, help us see those things that are holding us back and realize that we too can be free to tell the Good News. Amen.
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