Jesus’ encounter with the man possessed by evil spirits (called a “demoniac” here) is a picture of His encounter with humanity, and even with each one of us individually. We hear that Jesus had crossed the Sea of Galilee and arrived at the eastern shore, in “the country of the Gadarenes.” This was a region controlled by the town of Gadara, one of the ten cities of the Decapolis (present-day southern Golan Heights). That area was inhabited by Gentiles, that is, people who were not Jewish and, therefore, did not fol low the Mosaic Law. This becomes evident by the presence of pigs being raised nearby, which the Jewish law prohibited. It was not uncommon for evil spirits to oppress people in those regions, since the Gentiles who lived there did not know the God of Israel. They practiced paganism, worshiping the deities of the local area and practicing magical rites. This invites such spirits to influence their worshippers. As Jesus enters a cemetery area, he encounters a man afflicted by evil spirits. Ev erything about the man pointed to the reality of pain and suffering. He was homeless and lived among the tombs. In a real sense, his life was a living death. He was also naked, as his dignity as a human being had been stripped of him. He was chained, and so he was in bondage. He had to be kept from hurting himself and others. When Jesus comes to him, a miracle takes place: the Light dispels the darkness; not only of a place but also a life is illumined and restored. When the man sees Jesus, immediately the evil spirits who lived in him cry out, in terror, begging Him not to torment them. The spirits immediately recognize God incar nate standing in front of them, and they desperately fear Him. Addressing the man, Jesus asks for the spirits’ name. This is not because Jesus did not know, but so that we can learn that evil spirits oppress and even possess those who open themselves to them. The spirits answer that their name is “Legion.” This was a term used by the Roman military of the time, denoting a group of about 6,000 men. The spiritual state of that man was dire, as thousands of evil spirits were ravaging his mind, body, and soul. Jesus comes to that man because He loves him. Evil spirits are spiritual creatures who oppose God and those made in the image and likeness of God. They fear Jesus, Who is the Son of God, and as He commands them to leave the man, so he can be re stored to life, the evil spirits beg Him not to send them to the dark spiritual regions, the “abyss,” but rather that they may go into animals, in this case, the pigs being farmed in the region Pigs were considered unclean by Jewish law, and so they were symbolically fit for a temporary dwelling for the unclean spirits. Jesus permits them to go, showing His power over the demons, and that they cannot do anything without His permission. The pigs rush off the cliff and drown in the water below. They were not permitted to take the life of the man but were permitted to show their destructive power only with the animals, because the Lord loved and delivered the man, as He loves and delivers us when we are bound by sin. Saint Cyril of Alexandria says, “the God of all purposely permits some to fall into [the power of evil spirits] . . . yet, it will never happen that those who love Christ will be come subject to them. It will never happen to us as long as we walk in his footsteps, avoid negligence in the performance of what is right, desire those things which are honorable, and belong to that virtuous and praiseworthy lifestyle that Christ has marked out for us by the precepts of the gospel.” After all, demonic possession is a matter of free will. Like any guest, evil spirits need to be invited in to take control. For example, although seemingly harmless, reading tarot cards and going to fortune tellers open one’s soul to demonic forces. When the pig farmers saw what happened, they spread the word in their city and region. Instead of rejoicing that Jesus had sent away the evil spirits who had reduced a man’s life to a state lower than animals, they feared and asked Him to leave. They did so because they cared more about their pig farming business than the deliverance of a tor mented man. God cares about each one of us more than we ourselves do, because His love has no bounds. The man who was living among the tombs now sits at the feet of Jesus, which is the place of abundant life. He who lived in the shame of nakedness is now fully clothed. This points to us being clothed with our baptismal robe. The man’s dignity is restored, and he is covered by the love and mercy of God. He who was in chains and bondage is now free. He, who did not have control over his thoughts and actions, is now in his right mind. The Lord restored him, body and soul. Instead of the tombs, the place of death, he is now at the Lord’s feet — the place of life. Instead of being naked, he is now clothed with the wedding garment of the Kingdom of God. Instead of demonic influence, he is now of sound mind, a temple of the Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus tells us that He has come so that we may have life, even abundant life. He seeks every possible means to fill us with new life. The man who had begged the Lord to depart from him now begs the Lord to be with Him. However, as God’s grace in our lives results in praise, thanksgiving, and testimony to others of the love of God, now this very man becomes an apostle to the region of Gadara. Jesus commissions him to return to his home and declare how much God has done for him. The man went, proclaiming through out the whole area how much Jesus had done for him. The whole story is one of reversal from darkness to light, oppression to freedom, and death to life. The encounter with Jesus brought that man back to life with dignity and freedom. Jesus went to him because He loved him. Jesus always comes to us in His love. In this world, we find ourselves in dark places, and we feel trapped by our own circumstances, by those who might mistreat us, and by our own sins and mistakes. We might feel as though our dignity is stripped from us by an unjust society, broken relationships, and shameful deeds. We become fragmented, our minds and hearts scattered in many directions. Sometimes, we feel as though we might be internally divided, as our minds and our will can be at odds with each other and with our hearts. Yet, Christ loves us and comes to us to deliver us from the bondage of death and sin by destroying death by His own death and Resurrection. Death has no more power over us because He gives us eternal life. He heals our hearts and minds, what the Church Fathers call the “nous” (in Greek, ὁ νοῦς), and heals our fragmentation to make us whole and peaceful, clothed and in our right minds. Jesus defeated the demons on the Cross, and they flee from Him. He dispels our darkness with His presence because He is the Light of the world. He restores us to our sound minds through His Word, and by the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Let us sit at His feet in prayer, seeking His presence above all things, and leaving behind everything in this world that seeks to enslave us and take us away from God. He loves us, restores us, and gives us life in abundance.

We welcome you to worship with us on Sunday and whenever the Divine Liturgy is celebrated. Matins begins at 9:00 am and the Divine Liturgy at 10:00 am.

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DIRECTIONS TO THE DORMITION CHURCH FROM THE NORTH:

1. Proceed south on Interstate 81 South heading toward Winchester
2. Take exit 317 for VA-37/ US-11 toward US-522 N/ US-50 W/ Winchester/ Stephenson (0.3 mi)
3. Turn right at US-11 S/ VA-37 S/ Martinsburg Pike, Continue to follow VA-37 S (3.8 mi)
4. Take the ramp to US-50 E/ Northwestern Pike (0.2 mi)
5. Turn left at US-50 E/ Northwestern Pike, Continue to follow US-50 E (0.6 mi )
6. Turn left at Omps Dr, Continue to entrance of the Church`s parking lot (100 ft)
7. Turn left into the Church`s parking lot.

DIRECTIONS TO THE DORMITION CHURCH FROM THE SOUTH:

1. Proceed north on Interstate 81North heading toward Winchester
2. Take exit 310 for VA-37 toward US-11/VA-642/ Winchester/ Kernstown/ US-50/ US-522/ Berkely Spgs/ Romney (0.2 mi)
3. Turn left at VA-37 N (5.2 mi)
4. Take the US-50 ramp to Winchester/ Romney (0.3 mi)
5. Turn right at US-50 E/ Amherst St (0.5 mi)
6. Turn left at Omps Dr, Continue to entrance of the Church`s parking lot (100 ft)
7. Turn left into the Church`s parking lot.