Not His Fault

When suffering resists explanation and mercy persists.

The man has been utterly wrecked. Whatever else we make of the language of demons, the picture is clear enough: he is isolated, exposed, tormented, and no longer able to live in ordinary human community. And notably, Luke gives us no reason to assume this is his fault. Jesus does not stop to ask what he did wrong. He does not demand an explanation of prior sin. He does not lecture him on the moral causes of his condition. He sees a man who is suffering and acts to restore him. (It really is powerful to picture the moment as Luke describes it. As you read the story, let the setting sink in.)

This stands in sharp contrast to the logic still circling around Job. Elihu, like the others before him, cannot quite let go of the assumption that suffering must somehow be deserved, or that Job’s words must imply a pride and self-righteousness they do not actually contain. But Job never claims to be more just than God, despite Elihu’s charge against him. Job claims to be suffering without culpable cause. And that is a very different thing. The book of Job keeps pressing us to admit how hard it is for religious people to look at suffering without trying to explain it away.

That is where these passages continue to press us today. So many of those who suffer among us - the naked, the homeless, the mentally distraught, the addicted, the deeply lonely, the publicly unraveling - may not be where they are by any simple fault of their own. Of course human choices matter. Of course sin and harm can compound suffering. But not every shattered life is a self-made life. Jesus seems much less interested in tracing blame than in restoring people to dignity, community, and peace.

That may be one of the clearest calls of the gospel for us: not to become naïve about evil, but to resist the deep instinct to moralize every wound. Job warns us against that instinct. Jesus outright corrects it. And the suffering man, living among the dead, reminds us that before we ask what caused a person’s condition, we might first ask what mercy requires of us.

It’s what Job has been asking for from the beginning.

Luke 8:26-39

Jesus and his disciples sailed to the Gerasenes’ land, which is across the lake from Galilee. As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, a certain man met him. The man was from the city and was possessed by demons. For a long time, he had lived among the tombs, naked and homeless. When he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down before him. Then he shouted, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” He said this because Jesus had already commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had taken possession of him, so he would be bound with leg irons and chains and placed under guard. But he would break his restraints, and the demon would force him into the wilderness.

Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”

“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had entered him. They pleaded with him not to order them to go back into the abyss. A large herd of pigs was feeding on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs. Jesus gave them permission, and the demons left the man and entered the pigs. The herd rushed down the cliff into the lake and drowned.

When those who tended the pigs saw what happened, they ran away and told the story in the city and in the countryside. People came to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully dressed and completely sane. They were filled with awe. Those people who had actually seen what had happened told them how the demon-possessed man had been delivered. Then everyone gathered from the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave their area because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and returned across the lake. The man from whom the demons had gone begged to come along with Jesus as one of his disciples. Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return home and tell the story of what God has done for you.” So he went throughout the city proclaiming what Jesus had done for him.

Job 34-35

Elihu continued:

Hear my words, wise ones; knowledgeable ones, listen to me,
for the ear tests words like the palate tastes food.
Let’s choose for us what’s right;
let’s determine among ourselves what’s good;
for Job has said, “I’m innocent; God has denied my just cause;
because of my cause I’m thought a liar;
my wound from an arrow is incurable, even though I didn’t rebel.”
Who is a man like Job?
He drinks mockery like water and travels a path with wrongdoers,
walking with evil persons.
Indeed he said, “No one is rewarded for delighting in God.”
Therefore, intelligent ones, hear me;
far be it from God to do evil and the Almighty to sin,
for he repays people based on what they do,
paying back everyone according to their ways.
Surely God doesn’t act wickedly;
the Almighty doesn’t distort justice.
Who placed earth in his care,
and who gave him dominion over the entire world?
If he were to decide to do it—
to gather his spirit and breath back to himself—
all flesh would die together,
and humans would return to dust.

But if you have understanding, hear this;
pay attention to the sound of my words.
Will one who hates justice rule;
will you condemn the most righteous one?
Will you say to a king, “Worthless!”
to royalty, “Evil!”
Who shows no favor to princes
nor regards the rich over the poor,
for they are all the work of God’s hands?
In the middle of the night they suddenly die;
people are shaken and pass away.
The mighty are removed, not by a human hand.
God’s eyes are on human ways,
and he sees all their steps.
There’s no darkness, no deep darkness,
where evildoers can hide themselves;
surely no time is set for a person
to appear before God in judgment.
He shatters the mighty without examining them;
makes others take their place.
Thus he regards their deeds,
overturns them at night, and they are crushed.
He strikes them because of their wickedness
at a place where people can see it.
Because they turned from following him
and didn’t value all his ways,
causing the cry of the poor to reach him,
he hears the cry of the afflicted.
Still, if he remains quiet, who can condemn;
if he hides his face, who can see him?
He prevents a lawless person from ruling,
from capturing people.

Has Job said to God,
“I have borne punishment; I won’t sin again?
You teach me what I can’t see;
if I’ve sinned, I won’t do it again.”
Will he repay you because you reject sin,
for you must choose, not I; declare what you know.
Smart people say to me, the wise who hear me,
“Job speaks without knowledge; his words aren’t astute.”
I wish Job would be tested to the limit
because he responds like evil people.
He adds rebellion to his sin; mocks us openly
and adds to his words against God.

Elihu continued:

Do you think it right?
You say, “I’m more just than God.”
Yet you ask, “What does it benefit you?
What have I gained by avoiding sin?”
I’ll answer you, and your friends along with you.
Look at the heavens and see;
scan the clouds high over you.
If you’ve sinned, how have you affected God?
Your offenses have multiplied;
what have you done to him?
If you are righteous,
what do you give to him?
Or what does he receive from your hand?
Your evil affects others like you,
and your righteousness affects fellow human beings.
People cry out because of heavy oppression;
shout under the power of the mighty.
But no one says, “Where is God my maker;
who gives songs in the night;
who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth,
makes us wiser than the birds in the sky?”
Then they cry out; but he doesn’t answer,
because of the pride of the wicked.
God certainly doesn’t respond to a deceitful cry;
the Almighty doesn’t pay attention to it.
Although you say that you don’t see him,
the case is before him; so wait anxiously for him.
Even though his anger is now held back,
a person doesn’t know it’s only delayed.
So Job mouths emptiness; he piles up ignorant words.

Prayer

God,

These passages demonstrate that it’s hard enough to extend mercy in the face of suffering that cannot be exhaustively explained. Toward others. Although, I’m honestly feeling pretty good about it. But what if it’s my own need for mercy? Maybe some don’t struggle with this, but then again, others certainly do.

Man…we just all need the soft yet penetrating work of your grace.

So help me, God: work it in me and work it through me.

By your Spirit & in Christ,
Amen.