Today we are presented with a wonderful passage about faith and what our Old Testament predecessors were prepared to undergo in order to preserve the integrity of their faith and trust in God (Hebrews 11:32-40). Many of the sufferings described are similar to those experienced by Christian martyrs in later centuries.
Paul begins by mentioning some well-known personalities but does not describe particular qualities in detail. Gideon, Barak, Samson and Jephthah all appear in the Book of Judges, as leaders of God’s people. David, who succeeded Saul, and is one of the most human and endearing characters in the Bible, as well as being an ancestor of Jesus. Samuel is the prophet who lived in the time of Saul and David. He anointed both Saul and David as kings, one succeeding the other (see 1 and 2 Samuel).
The writer then gives a brief list of exploits done for God but without attributing the actions to particular people. His readers would have known well the examples given. These include:
– People who have conquered kingdoms, administered justice, or obtained promises.
– Some have even shut the mouths of lions:
Samson “tore the lion apart barehanded as one might tear apart a kid” (Judges 14:6); David told Saul that, as a shepherd, he had killed a lion to protect his sheep (1 Samuel 17:34-35); Daniel remained unharmed though cast into a den of lions (Daniel 6:19-23).
– Others quenched raging fire:
Three young men, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, friends of Daniel, survived unharmed in the furnace into which Nebuchadnezzar had had them thrown (Daniel 3:12-97).
– Some escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, or put foreign armies to flight:
Gideon, who lamented his weakness, is given strength to overcome the Midians (Judges 6:15-16); Samson, made weak after his hair is cut, destroys the Philistines when it grows again (Judges 16:15-30); women like Esther overcame powerful enemies of God’s people (Esther 1:1—10:10).
– Some prophets assisted women to receive their dead sons by resurrection:
The prophet Elijah restores life to the son of the widow of Zarephath in whose house he was given hospitality (1 Kings 17:17-24); the prophet Elisha brought the young son of a Shunammite woman back to life (2 Kings 4:8-37).
– Some people were tortured, refusing to accept release in order to get a better resurrection:
Among those tortured were Eleazar (2 Maccabees 6:18-31), who chose death rather than eat pork and so deny his Jewish faith; or the seven brothers, who were martyred, killed in front of their mother, for the same reason (2 Maccabees 7:1-42).
– Some suffered mocking and flogging, even chains and imprisonment:
This may refer to Jeremiah.
– Others were stoned to death, sawn in two, or killed by the sword:
According to 2 Chronicles 24:21, Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest, was stoned, and legend has it that Jeremiah met the same fate; there was also a legend that Isaiah had been sawn in two by order of King Manasseh.
– Finally, there were those who went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted and tormented, as well as people who wandered in deserts and mountains, or in caves and holes in the ground.
And yet: “… all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised…”
Only when Jesus came and made his supreme sacrifice to reconcile all of us with God could they, also, together with us, be made perfect.
The heroes of the Old Testament obtained their full reward only after the saving work of Christ had been accomplished. This is the meaning of Jesus’ actions, after his death, descending to Sheol (the place of the dead) and bringing all of these people with him to glory. After the death of Jesus, Matthew tells us: “The tombs also were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised (Matthew 27:52). We also are told: “He was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison… (1 Peter 3:18-19)
Now, however, they already enjoy what we Christians, who are still struggling, do not yet possess in its fullness. Although we live in the age of Jesus, we still have to prove ourselves by our faith and the record of our lives lived in that faith. But we have many models in both the Old Testament and in Christian times to inspire us.
Today we see Mark at his best—a story full of drama and excitement (Mark 5:1-20). Compare this to a much more bland version of the story presented in Matthew where, for some reason, there are two men. It takes place in the “region of the Gerasenes”, which was gentile territory.
There was a man who was possessed by several “unclean spirits”, i.e. demons (“My name is Legion, for we are many.”). He was absolutely uncontrollable, could smash through chains and lived in isolated places, an outcast and a source of fear to people everywhere.
But when Jesus appears, it is the demons’ turn to fear. They begged not to be sent out of that district. As gentile territory, it was fertile ground for their activities, perhaps even a demon’s paradise. They offer a deal. They ask to be allowed to enter a herd of pigs. Clearly, the presence of pigs indicates this was gentile territory. Jesus grants their request, and they are at once possessed: “… the herd, numbering about two thousand, stampeded down the steep bank into the sea and were drowned …”.
To the thinking of many today, this seems like a terrible waste of good pigs! The scene makes me want to barbecue some pork ribs tonight for supper! How could Jesus do such a thing? But we need to remember that this was written in a Jewish context where pigs were regarded as unclean and to be avoided at all costs. We remember how the Prodigal Son was condemned in his hunger to get a job tending pigs and even eating their food. For a Jew, this was the very lowest any human could go in terms of humiliation and degradation. In a Jewish context, getting rid of these pigs was a case of good riddance. A better place to put evil spirits could not be imagined!
On the other hand, the swineherds were upset at losing their means of livelihood and went back to the towns to announce what had happened. Subsequently, the people from those towns came out to see this extraordinary happening. They found Jesus and the formerly possessed man, perfectly composed and fully dressed. And they were afraid. Naturally, they realized that, in Jesus, they were in the presence of someone very special who had such powers. They were also very upset that their herds of pigs had been destroyed and, not surprisingly, they begged Jesus to go elsewhere.
The man, however, asked to follow Jesus. Jesus’ response is interesting: Jesus refused and said to him, “Go home to your own people, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you and what mercy he has shown you.”
This was, in fact, another kind of following and is a message each of us can hear.
Some of us think that following Jesus means spending a lot of time ‘with Jesus’ in religious activities or joining the priesthood or religious life or as a missionary in a foreign land. For most of us, however, our calling and our following of Jesus takes place right where we are. It is there that we need to share with others our experience of knowing and being loved by Jesus.
Let us go home today and tell others what Jesus means in our lives. And, like the people in this Gospel, they may be amazed.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!