Please read the Scripture passage before the homily.
There is some humor in this passage. Perhaps it would fall under what we could call politically incorrect speech. The devil called Jesus Son of the Most High God. That name was at one time a Canaanite name for their god. It was also used by Greeks to describe their god Zeus. Was the devil playing games with Jesus?
The demon’s name was Legion. Legion was also the name of the largest unit of a Roman army. Was the devil saying that he was as strong as the powerful Roman army that held Israel under its mightiest power?
Jesus sent the herd of swine into the sea and drowned them. Jewish people did not eat pork. Was Jesus sending the Roman legions to drown as once Moses led the Israelites through the Red Sea and drowned the legions of the Egyptians?
Was it Jesus who was the mightiest warrior and who bested the Roman Emperor Vespasian? Was it Jesus who freed the demoniac, but also destroyed the livelihood of the people. Did Jesus symbolically defeat the Roman Emperor?
Jesus did not win over the townspeople. They were seized with fear. The Romans had taken their money by taxation; Jesus had destroyed their economy by killing all their pigs. They could not get rid of the Romans, but they could ask Jesus to leave,
The man who was cured went home and proclaimed to all what Jesus had done for him.
What has Jesus done for you?