Luke 8:26-39
"Law And Order: SVU (Swineherd Victims Unit)"
June 22, 2025 Trinity Presbyterian Church
Recently, a team of archeologists unearthed a series of letters near the ancient town of Gerasa.
These previously unknown letters shed new light on the Apostle Luke's story of Jesus and the Gerasene Demoniac.
It's an honor to share them for the first time at this public reading, here at Trinity Presbyterian Church.
Behold: History Revealed.
From: Porcus Maximus, Swineherd, Town of Gerasa,
Owner and Operator, "Porky's Pork Emporium"
To: Sanhedrin Council, City of Jerusalem
Regarding: Property Loss and Emotional Damages as result of actions by Jesus of Nazareth
Dear Honored Councilmen,
I write to inform you of a situation, an event which has not only caused grievous unrest across our entire community, but which has also resulted in a significant loss of income to myself and my family due to the willful destruction of personal property.
I regret to inform you of these problems, but I trust that because of your great authority you will be able and willing to help bring about a remedy.
On the morning of the third day of the second week of the previous month, one Jesus of Nazareth, a rabbi with whom I believe you are already well acquainted, entered our town of Gerasa for the purpose of staging a religious demonstration, the nature of which I do not know, nor do I wish to know.
(For your information, I am completely neutral on issues of religion, and, as is the Roman government, I am quite glad to afford freedom in such matters, so long as they do not interfere with the peaceful operation of public commerce and the prompt collection of taxes.
I therefore hope that you will not interpret any of these complaints as being, in any way, offensive.)
On the morning in question, having arrived in Gerasa, the aforementioned Jesus of Nazareth proceeded to seek out a time-honored fixture in our public life, our town's one and only demoniac.
Unlike metropolitan cities such as your Jerusalem, our town is very small and has only enough budget to support one demon-possessed public enemy, who, because of his violent nature, we have had to restrict to our town cemetery.
We of Gerasa take pride in knowing that even though we may be able to afford only one demoniac, ours is possessed by multiple demons, and is thus especially frightening.
We find him quite suited for receiving the focused hatred of all of Gerasa's adults and children, alike.
For years, his presence has served as a warning and as a source of civic unity.
As you well know, a common enemy makes everyone happier.
Everyone hates the demoniac.
At least, they did.
On the previously mentioned date, without any encouragement from our townsfolk, and despite repeated requests from the demoniac himself to cease and desist, this rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth, cast aside all regard for public authority and/or municipal responsibility and proceeded, in one fell swoop, to cast out all the demons which the good people of Gerasa have worked so long and hard to cultivate.
Adding insult to injury, this Jesus enticed the demons to state their name, a name which sounded very much like the word, "Legion."
My off-duty Roman soldier security guard took great offense at this slur, and may himself be contacting you in regard to this slanderous verbal abuse.
But placing all this aside for the moment, gentlemen, I am now compelled to share with you my own personal grievance in this matter.
For several generations, my family has produced what we believe to be the finest pork products in all the Roman Empire.
My father and grandfather before me were swineherds, and until the events of last month, I had fully intended to pass the family business on to my son, Porcus Minibus.
Because of these unfortunate and, I believe, illegal events, my and my children's future lies in serious jeopardy.
For you see, gentlemen, not only was this Jesus not satisfied with robbing our humble town of its one point of unified disgust
(which, I and many others believe, is essential to the well-being of every community)
he then compounded this outrageous act by commanding the demons to enter every single one of my herd of swine.
Naturally, the herd began to stampede.
Please bear in mind that a pig stampede is highly unusual, practically unheard of.
Driven mad by the demons, my precious herd ran straight off a nearby cliff and plunged to their death in the waters below.
As you can well imagine, the financial and emotional hardship brought upon my family has been devastating.
This, along with the general confusion and needless anxiety heaped upon our town, has created a climate which, I fear, will have dire consequences for the future of Gerasa as a whole.
I do not exaggerate when I say that this Jesus has left the entire Gerasene way of life in shambles.
Gentlemen, I know this Jesus is not officially one of your rabbis.
Certainly the Jerusalem Council would not allow a renegade such as this among your esteemed ranks.
However, since the Jesus in question is, by law, one of your own, I have no choice but to bring this complaint to you and to ask that you resolve this matter as soon as possible.
I do not wish to involve the Roman authorities, but unless I hear from you within a week, I will be forced to obtain legal counsel.
I have enclosed an estimate of damages and income lost, as well as a medical statement documenting my family's emotional distress.
I feel compelled to inform you that the town of Gerasa is considering bringing charges.
I share your outrage at this Jesus of Nazareth and I trust that we will soon be able to come to a mutually satisfying arrangement.
Again, I regret having to notify you in this way, and I look forward to your response.
Yours sincerely,
Porcus the Swineherd, Owner and Operator, Porky's Pork Emporium
enclosure: Hand-drawn pictures of pigs falling over a cliff.
copies to: Caiaphas, High Priest of Judea; Pontius Pilate, governor of occupied state.
P.S., Following his exorcism, our demoniac was commanded by his (quote) "savior" to remain in the city in order that he might share the story of his (quote) "salvation."
We citizens of Gerasa fear his influence on our previously contented young people and ask that you send a proper rabbi to set him straight and/or bring a substitute demon to repossess him.
MEMORANDUM
To: Porcus Maximus, Swineherd
From: Henlai of Jerusalem
Chief Legal Counsel to the Sanhedrin Council
Regarding: Complaints and alleged damages
as result of actions by Jesus of Nazareth
Dear Mr. Maximus,
In response to your letter concerning the actions of Jesus of Nazareth and the alleged damages and hardships thus inflicted upon both yourself and the town of Gerasa,
please be advised that this so-called Jesus is not ordained by our council, nor has he ever been authorized to preach, teach, or cast out any kind of demon.
Therefore, it is our opinion that there was no exorcism.
Perhaps your demoniac has an illness.
We encourage you to find a less-unclean, swine-free form of employment, away from lakes and steep hillsides.
Because this Jesus acts without our licensure, and because Gerasa is beyond our jurisdiction, we believe your grievances would be better addressed by the Roman government at large.
Please know that we share your frustration and will certainly keep you and the souls of your deceased pigs in our thoughts and prayers.
Yours sincerely,
Henlai of Jerusalem, Esquire, Council Counsel.
To: Jesus, John, Simon-Peter, Andrew, and all the disciples of our Lord and master,
From: "The Disciple Formerly Known as The Geresene Demoniac"
Dear Friends,
I send you my true greetings, my humble obedience, and my grateful love.
I hope that this letter finds you in good health, wherever you may be in your service to the God and creator of us all.
I pray that your ministry continues to bring to others the blessings which you brought to me.
I wanted to share with you my own progress, as well as bring you up to date on the happenings in our town.
In the months since you came to Gerasa, my days have been filled with almost equal amounts of joy and hardship.
On one hand I have become alive, and I rise early each morning to greet the new sunrise… and to live.
Each night I fall soundly and peacefully asleep, and for the first time I dream — no nightmares, no voices — I sleep well.
And I'm no longer afraid of waking up.
You gave me life.
And I can honestly now say, I'm glad to be alive.
I spend much of my time walking along the shore of the lake, watching, listening, and breathing in all the richness of the day.
Sometimes I'll go up to the hill overlooking town and spend hours just listening to everything that's going on.
The voices and the sounds — I've really never heard them before.
It's amazing.
It's life.
On the other hand, not much has changed around here.
The people of Gerasa still won't be seen with me.
Before you came, I knew they were afraid of me, but I didn't know why.
Now, they're even more afraid of me, and I do know why.
There was comfort in having a shared enemy.
There was comfort for the people in knowing that no matter how bad they had it, they were never as bad-off as I was.
There was comfort in being able to blame all their sins on me.
Until you came, Gerasa's evil was contained.
The people put chains on it and locked it in a cemetery.
No one else was anywhere near as bad as I was.
Now all that has changed.
Now, people have to be responsible for their own wrongs.
Lord, I wish I could say that your coming made everyone happy, but instead, the people are quiet and scared.
I believe they have discovered that mine weren't the only demons in town, after all.
My demons may have been the ones they saw and talked about, but now, they're finding out that there are many more demons in Gerasa which until now lived unspoken and unseen.
I think Gerasa is discovering that behind their closed doors and locked away in their family secrets are many, many more legions of demons, just as bad as mine.
And Lord Jesus, I think it scares them to death.
I know because, every now and then, one of the people will come talk to me about it.
They come at night, when no one will see us together, and they tell me things.
They tell me about the damage their demons have done.
They tell me about the damage they're still doing.
And so now, Lord, I know why you wanted me to stay here in Gerasa.
I only wish I knew more about what to say to these people.
I wish you could come back and do for them what you did for me.
But until then, I will continue to listen to their stories.
And to the ones who will hear me, I will continue to tell about your power, your goodness, and your love.
Perhaps there is enough of your power leftover in me to heal a few of their demons.
Lord, I hope this letter reaches you.
And I hope that someday you will return to the town of Gerasa.
I hope that by the time you come back there will be fewer demons in this place.
I know that there are already fewer in me.
For that I will be eternally grateful.
Until I see you again,
Signed, yours faithfully, your disciple and friend:
A believer
