ACC ~ Luke 8 v28 - 31
THE DEMONSâ RESPONSE FEARFUL YET PRIDEFUL
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The Gerasene, or rather the herd of demons lying concealed within him, fell down before Christâs feet, saying, âWhat is there between me and you, Jesus, Son of God Most High? I beseech you, do not torment me.â I ask you to observe here the mixture of fear with great audacity and conceited pride. The words which he is forced to shout are coupled with inflated haughtiness! It is a proof of the pride of the enemy that he ventures to say, âWhat is there between me and you, Jesus, Son of God Most High?â You certainly know that he is the Son of God Most High. âŚ
I beseech you to again observe the incomparable majesty of Christ who transcends all. With irresistible might and unequalled authority he crushes Satan by simply willing that it should be. COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 44. [1]
[1] CGSL 191-92**.
DEMONS KNOW BETTER THAN HERETICS WHO JESUS IS
HILARY OF POITIERS: Did not the devils know the real nature of this name? It is fitting that the heretics should be found guilty, not by the teachings of the apostles but by the mouth of demons. The latter often exclaim, âWhat have I to do with you, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?â The truth drew out this reluctant confession, and being forced to obey, their grief testifies to the strength of this nature. This power overcomes them, since they abandon bodies that they have possessed for a long time. They pay their tribute of honor when they acknowledge the nature of Christ. In the meantime, Christ testifies that he is the Son by his miracles as well as by his name. O heretic, where do you find the name of a creature or the favor of an adoption among those words by which the demons admit who he is? ON THE TRINITY 6.49. [1]
[1] FC 25:218-19**.
JESUS ASKS THE DEMONâS NAME FOR THE SAKE OF THE PLAN OF SALVATION
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: Christ asked him and commanded him to tell what his name was. He said, âLegion,â because many devils had entered him. Did Christ ask this because he did not know it, and like one of us, wished to learn something that had escaped him? Is it not perfectly absurd for us to say or imagine any thing like this? Being God, he knows all things and searches the hearts and inner parts. [1] He asked for the plan of salvationâs sake, that we might learn that a great crowd of devils shared the one soul of the man, giving birth a wretched and impure madness in him. He was their work. They certainly are wise to do evil, as the Scripture says, but they have no knowledge to do good. [2] COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 44. [3]
[1] Ps 7:8 (7:9 LXX).
[2] Jer 4:22.
[3] CGSL 192**.
THE NAKED DEMONIAC REPRESENTS THE GENTILES
AMBROSE: We know that in the Gospel according to Matthew, two men attacked by demons met Christ in the country of the Gerasenes. [1] Here St. Luke introduces one such man as naked. Whoever has lost the covering of his nature and virtue is naked. I think that we should not idly disregard but seek the reason why the Evangelists seem to disagree about the number. Although the number disagrees, the mystery agrees. A man who has an evil spirit is a figure of the Gentile people, covered in vices, naked to error, vulnerable to sin. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 6.44. [2]
FREED FROM HIS SEPULCHRAL PRISON
PRUDENTIUS:
In his sepulchral prison the savage demon had broken
Fetters of iron that bound him; he darts forth and kneels before Jesus.
But the Lord sets the man free and orders the devil to madden
Herds of the swine and to plunge with them into the depths of the vast sea.
SCENES FROM SACRED HISTORY 36. [3]
[1] Mt 8:28.
[2] EHG 208**.
[3] FC 52:190.
Lk