What Is Your Name?

Daily Reading: Luke 8

Scripture Focus: Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion." (Luke 8.30)

Devotional Thought: The people in ‘Legion’s’ town did not see the man as Jesus did. They saw a crazy man, who lived in the cemetery, howling like an animal. They saw a man who cut himself – perhaps to try to ‘bleed’ the fever of demons from his body. He refused to wear clothes, and when arrested he easily escaped, continuing to terrify them.

Jesus saw something different. He didn’t see a maniac. He saw a man. A man with a name, a name he wanted to know: “What is your name?” The question in Greek indicates that Jesus used the singular pronoun to address the man. He was talking to the man, not the demons. He was interested in him. The demons couldn’t tolerate being ignored, and they desired to assert their control over the man. So, they interrupted the conversation and told Jesus their name. Jesus dealt with them so that he could help the man he saw.

I wonder how many people had bothered to ask the man his name. I wonder how many people had shown any interest in the man himself. We tend to see people by the inconvenience that they cause us: “That’s the guy who cut me off in traffic.” Or, “She's the one who took the last eggroll." We write them off, and don’t even bother to ask their names, much less try to discover the pain that lies just beneath the surface - the demons that haunt their lives.

Jesus isn’t like that. He wants to know people, and in knowing them to help them reach their full potential. You may feel that everybody judges you, or thinks you an inconvenience, or simply wants to use you to their advantage. But, Jesus is asking your name. He sees you as a friend.

Prayer: Thank you, Jesus, for caring about us, for asking our names, for casting out our "demons" of fear, doubt, and self-loathing. What a Friend we have in you, Jesus! Amen.

Psalm of the Day: Psalm 136.10-16

10 to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

11 and brought Israel out from among them,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

12 with a strong hand and an outstretched arm,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

13 to him who divided the Red Sea in two,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

14 and made Israel pass through the midst of it,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

15 but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

16 to him who led his people through the wilderness,

for his steadfast love endures forever;