Reclaim

“The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him [Jesus], but Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.’ And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him” (Luke 8:39).

John the Baptist proclaims, kēryssō (Luke 3:3).

Jesus proclaims, kēryssō (Luke 4:18, 19, 44; Luke 8:1).

Then who?

The delivered demoniac (Lk. 8:39). He kēryssō. Who?!

Perhaps we would have expected the disciples? But Jesus sends out the Twelve first in Luke 9:2. The first one commissioned, sent, to proclaim is the delivered.

Most likely a Gentile. A Gentile!?

Most likely to his Gentile friends in a Gentile territory. Where?!

Father, Son, and Spirit, “Who shall I send? Who will go?” “Father, who do I send first?” In the divine plan the first person Jesus sends is a man reclaimed. Unexpected. Excluded-now-included. A prisoner of shame and of Satan, now a free priest and prophet for God’s kingdom. His only qualification, the touch of Jesus, the Fire Brand himself who cleanses (like the coal on Isaiah’s lips, Isaiah 6).

This man himself, recorded in the pages of Holy Writ, still flames forth the signal, “Jesus is reclaiming!” What was Satan’s own man, a man so completely, completely possessed he had Legion in himself. A man so possessed that he was out of control. A man so under the power of Satan that the demons in him were powerful enough to send 2,000 pigs into the sea. But Jesus is reclaiming and the gates of hell cannot withstand Jesus’ powerful grace onslaught.

This man still blazons forth in himself the message, “Jesus is reclaiming!” Reclaiming the world, the Gentiles, the foreign nations given to worship other gods. Every end of the earth will one day echo this man’s words, “Jesus is Lord.”

This man still flares how Jesus is reclaiming—through the shamed now crowned, lost now found, bound now free, undeserving now worthy, the unlikely now destined, the empty recipients of grace.

Do you catch the import?

Reclaiming—the prince of this world, the evil one, no longer in control. Each knee that bows, each voice raised in praise, each shame healed, each sickness healed and the evil one’s kingdom shrinks. His power is waning. His control, his dominion, reign, is diminishing. It may look fierce, but our Jesus is reclaiming.

All

Of

Creation.

Every square inch will be his.

We, too, in our being, in our healing, shout out, “Jesus is King! And his kingdom is growing! Victory!” There is no person, no shame, no hurt that Jesus cannot reclaim. There is hope for the farthest prodigal, the most strayingest son and rebellious daughter, for the Hitlers and Husseins. There is hope for the greatest demon-possessed, the deepest hurt, the most Gentile, the most oppressed.

In our very unlikeliness, we too hold a message. Grace. Healing. This is the way the kingdom grows.