Legion

I had a horrid dream last night and woke up gasping for the safety of Jesus. I rolled over and grabbed my Amplified Bible, which is usually no more than three feet away from the middle of my bed, and flipped open to the place I left off yesterday.
Typical Jesus, it was one of my top five favorite stories.
More typical, He showed me all kinds of stuff I'd never seen before.
^"1They came to the other side of the sea to the region of the Gerasenes. ²And as soon as He got out of the boat, there met Him out of the tombs a man [under the power] of an unclean spirit. ³This man continually lived among the tombs, and no one could subdue him any more, even with a chain; ⁴for he had been bound often with shackles for the feet and handcuffs, but the handcuffs of [light] chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he rubbed and ground together and broke in pieces; and no one had strength enough to restrain or tame him. ⁵Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always shrieking and screaming and beating and bruising and cutting himself with stones. ⁶And when from a distance he saw Jesus, he ran and fell on his knees before Him in homage, ⁷and crying out with a loud voice, he said, What have You to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? [What is there in common between us?] I solemnly implore you by God, do not begin to torment me! ⁸For Jesus was commanding, Come out of the man, you unclean spirit! ⁹And He asked him, What is your name? He replied, My name is Legion, for we are many."
(Thank you Bible Gateway.)
I learn so much more when I imagine things out. So there's Legion, naked and filthy, nails, long and cracked and black, blood, fresh and dried all over his body, sores from his chains, gashes from stones, hair, long and greasy, eyes like empty windows for an evil world to peer through. I imagined the twelve, justifiably nervous (after all they believed in that stuff, even if we more enlightened folks are a little skeptical). But then Jesus got out of the boat. I'm thinking impetuous Peter, and John, the teen-aged young buck, probably bailed out with Him. I was imagining the others hanging back till I realize, "Hey, these are guys. They're not going to get shown up by the kid and the fool." So they probably got out too. Thirteen men on a rocky beach facing the screaming, slobbering stuff of nightmares. (Strangly applicable to me at that moment.)

*Interjection*
Yesterday was my mother's birthday (I love you, Mom), and we celebrated by spending the day at the lake with good friends and boats. Eight kids, two dogs, lots of water and pebbly beaches produced the natural result: rock tossing. Of course a couple of them wound up in my pockets, where they remained till I got them home and into my collection. Which I showed off with delight and reminiscences-- and theological ponderings. I've been contemplating lately the sheer magnitude of God's extravagance in that He makes and knows the location, history, and potential of every single piece of boulder/stone/gravel/sand on the planet. We pass them by because there are so many and they all look pretty much the same. But what is inside? What happens if they get polished? Or cut? Wonders. That's what.
My ponderings asked, "So why should it be any different with people?"

*Back to Legion*
Apparently the first thing Jesus did was start ordering out the demons. This is evident because the demons tell Him to knock it off. I find it instructive and encouraging that Jesus did not wait for anyone to ask Him for deliverance for this poor guy. He just goes for it. Bulldozer style. I bet John was pleased. That was the first thing that got me: it didn't take someone else's compassion to incite Jesus to compassion. Just like with the widow from Nain and her dead son. When Jesus landed on the beach, He didn't see a nightmare. He looked beneath the dirt and the hair and the blood, looked inside the rock, and saw a man He'd made-- on purpose-- being totally tormented and abused and ground to dust among the tombs. That was enough for Him to act. Legion didn't even have to want deliverance. He didn't have to be on His side. Part of the Bride was in the grip of the enemy and that was so not okay.
Second thing: Jesus knew who this man was (part of the Bride), as evidenced by His desire to free him. But when He asked Legion who he was, Legion gave Him the name of his demons. How often do we do this?!
"What's your name," He'll ask.
"I'm depressed," we'll answer, "I'm afraid," "I'm a terrible sinner," "I'm worthless."
"I am Legion, for we are many." For all the world like some misbegotten Borg drone. Agh!
But Jesus doesn't buy it.
I can tell because of the dialogue, which I never understood before this morning at 4:23, and what happend after it.
"What have You to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? [What is there in common between us?]"
Can you hear us? "Do we have anything in common with Jesus?! Look at us! We want to believe that we are cut from the same cloth, but the demons assure us we aren't! Are we really Your siblings, Lord?" It's like running away to see if that special someone will come after you. (Notice that Legion uses the singular "me" at that point, though he identifies himself with the plural "we.") Jesus went after him.
It always bothered me that Jesus wouldn't let Legion join Him, though, even when Legion is the only one ever recorded asking-- begging-- to go with Him, willing to leave all and follow.
^"19But Jesus refused to permit him, but said to him, Go home to your own [family and relatives and friends] and bring back word to them of how much the Lord has done for you, and [how He has] had sympathy for you and mercy on you. ²⁰And he departed and began to publicly proclaim in Decapolis [the region of the ten cities] how much Jesus had done for him, and all the people were astonished and marveled."
It's as if Jesus is saying, "Yes, we do have something in common. See, I have made you like me. Our humanity and place in the Father's heart makes us kin. Go tell everyone that." And Legion did, with joy! Don't miss that. Suddenly Legion became a one-man army in the battle to convince the bride that she does in fact have something in common with Jesus, the son of the most high God. She is not who the enemy tells her she is.
This is long; thanks for reading it. I just want you to know that a.) His compassion is big enough that He'll come after you, b.) He knows who you really are, and c.) yes, you do have something in common with the God of the universe. For reals.