Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. -Luke 8:35-37

This is quite a disturbing story.

The people were upset that Jesus healed a tormented young man. Obviously they considered him a menace to their society. They attempted to subdue him with chains but he was too strong for them. He was a problem that they could not solve. Nevertheless, they were upset when Jesus resolved the issue completely. Apparently, they did not care about this man. Compassion and love had no role in their attempt to solve this problem. This man was a mere “it”. They did not see humanity in him. It appears as if the whole village was demonized.

The gospels never say anything about this young man except the fact that he was shunned by his village. There is not any mention of parents or relatives. It is as if he was an orphan. He is a lot like our children and teens in the streets. The narrative tells us that he was naked, sick and tormented and homeless. The only place reserved for him was the tombs. In a way, he was imprisoned in this place. It was the only venue where he was not subjected to the brutal treatment of his peers. This young man was all the people Jesus said who represented Him in the parable of the final judgment.

Jesus made an unusual stop at Gerasenes. There was no reason for him to come here. In reality, it would be a place expressively forbidden for any Jewish person, let alone a renowned Jewish rabbi like Jesus. It was a place where they raised pigs, an unclean animal according to the Law. Jesus came to this place for one specific purpose. He came to heal this young man.

I always wondered why the people were upset when they should have been happy. Jesus saved their village from a losing a member of their society. Unfortunately, they had different priorities which blinded them from seeing the good that occurred in their midst. They were concerned that they lost valuable income when the pigs perished in the sea. However, this was not the main reason for their annoyance. If it was, they would have asked Jesus to compensate their loss. They were infuriated that Jesus disrupted their perfect organized society where everyone had their place including the demons. The fact that the demons wanted to remain in this village is an important element in this story. The demons felt extremely comfortable in this society and they did not want to leave this place.

A tourist sat next to me as his family visited the Cathedral. He made quite a random comment, “This place has so much potential but I don’t understand why it is abandoned and ugly.” He is right. The Roman Catholic Cathedral is in the heart of this center square. There are still many active businesses around. All the same, it is abandoned. The steps where we wait for the children lead up to the Cathedral. They look as if they have never been cleaned. There are countless homeless adults scattered around the steps in different stages of intoxication. Those who are not in a drunken stupor are mentally ill and having a conversation with themselves. These emit a stench that is sometimes quite unbearable. Our children and teens are on the side sniffing paint thinner. Besides them, there are aging prostitutes and homeless families and some people who are sitting there and waiting for something. No one really knows for whom or what. This is truly the living cemetery of this city. This is the place allocated for those who do not have a place in society. The place has lots of potential to be something else. Nevertheless, the city needs a place to send the people that it wants to hide from the rest of the world.

Someone might wonder what is the government doing? Well, they have different priorities from Jesus. The city and its authorities are interested in organizing their city according to their priority. They want the city to look prosperous. The broken and tormented people taint this picture and they want them out of sight. Their priority is not compatible with that of Jesus.

Jesus is not interested in creating a well-organized society. He valued those whom society rejected and despised. They were given the priority in His Kingdom. Whereas the local government tries to paint an image without these people, Jesus beautifies His concept of the Kingdom with people that need His healing and compassion. Most organized societies find this disconcerting. It challenges the way they order their society. Then again, Jesus is not interested in these things. He was only interested in healing those who are sick. In this case, it was this young tormented man. For him, Jesus deviated from his regular route. He risked His personal reputation and went to a place that a devout Jewish person would consider unclean and confronted a group of people who were hostile to Him. This young man was worth all this trouble for Jesus.

“Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. “ -Luke 8: 30

Jesus chose to have a conversation with him. He treated the young man as a human being. Others just treated him as if he was wild beast. Some might argue that Jesus was speaking with the demons. I am not going to dispute this here. For all practical purposes, it was the man who informed Jesus of his demons. No one ever bothered to find out what was causing his severe problems. Perhaps, they did not have the time and energy to do this because he was not their priority.

They finally released Danyel from the juvenile detention center. He has been there for almost four months. He looked healthy. He has put on a few kilos. He saw us while he was in the middle of a conversation with another person. He gave us a weak smile and tried to finish what he was saying. We decided to wait for him and then he looked up to ensure that we were not leaving. He wanted to walk with us. He reminded us that his birthday was next week. We always did something together on his special day.

Before he was incarcerated, he was reading regularly with us. He wanted to finish a book we bought together with him. We were half way through it. Mary asked him if he went to school while he was detained. He nodded his head and then added that he hardly learned anything there. When they released him, he was sent to a shelter. However, within two days he was back in the streets. I asked him if he wanted to continue with his reading. At first, he looked unsure and admitted that he had forgotten everything that we read. I assured him that I don’t mind reading from the beginning again. He smiled and said that we could start the next day. He gave us a hug before we said goodbye.

We have known this young man for more than five years. He will turn 16 next week. Even though we have had strong ties with him for a long time, he hasn’t revealed all the names of the demons that torment him. He needs help to discover their names one by one so that they could be driven out of his life. For the moment, we discover the names of few of his demons; abandonment, neglect, insecurity, and rejection. I am not sure the months he spent being locked up in a tiny cell of fifteen other young men with the same or even worse demons brought any healing to his soul. Maybe, a few more demons made their abode in him. Unfortunately, this is the solution that society proposes for these young people. It has nothing to do with healing. Our vocation as Christians is to proclaim God’s healing to these broken and abandoned people.

This is what Jesus is doing in our streets. He is here in São Paulo for Danyel. He is here for Wanderson. He is here for Maycon. He is here for Felipe. He is here for all the children and teens that He brings to us while we wait for them at the steps. Our role is to ask them, “who they are?” They will, in time, name one by one all the things that hinder them from being the person God has made to be. They need someone to help them to cast out all these dehumanizing demons. Thankfully, Jesus is ready to do this here and now. He is inviting us to be His instruments of healing.