ACC ~ Luke 8 v38 - 39

THE DEMONIAC GOES FROM SYNAGOGUE TO CHURCH

AMBROSE: It says, “The herdsmen saw this and fled.” [1] Neither professors of philosophy nor leaders of the synagogue can offer any cure when people perish. Christ alone takes away the sins of the people, provided they do not refuse to submit to healing. He does not want to cure the unwilling and soon abandon the weak for whom it seems that his presence is a burden, like the peoples of the Gerasenes. They went out from that country, which appears to be an image of the synagogue, and begged him to depart from them, because they were very afraid. … Why does Christ not accept the healed man but advise him to return home? Perhaps this occurs to avoid a cause of boasting and give an example to unbelievers, although that home may be an inn by nature. Since he received the healing of his mind, Christ commanded him to depart from the tombs and the graves [2] and to return to that spiritual home. He who had in him the grave of the mind became a temple of God. EXPOSITION OF THE GOSPEL OF LUKE 6.50, 53. [3]

[1] Mt 8:33.

[2] Mt 8:28.

[3] EHG 210-11**.