The readings for the second Sunday after Pentecost are taken from Isaiah 65:1-9, Galatians 3:23—4:7, and Luke 8:26-39.
The lesson from Isaiah carries forward what Pentecost confirmed: God loves and has redeemed all people of every time and place. The prophet contrasts “foreigners” who sought and found God with the people who claimed to be God’s people because they were descendants of Abraham according to the flesh. Each of us has the same corrupt human nature as the rebellious Israelites. Each of us has a soul regenerated by God and joined to Him by His Word and Spirit.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul also reveals the contrast between our human nature (which the law keeps under guard) and the true descendants of Abraham (all of us who have been regenerated by God’s promises). The most important child of Abraham was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the virgin Mary. This Son of God and Son of man was perfect in body, soul, and Spirit and substituted His life for ours and so He saved us from the condemnation of the law.
Luke records Jesus doing what the Old Testament foretold and what the New Testament reflects on. The country of the Gadarenes was to the north and east of the Sea of Galilee—a land of “foreigners” and remote, far from Jerusalem and the temple. The Gospels consistently confirm God’s love for all and how His grace alone saves by emphasizing how Jesus traveled to remote places and healed the people who were assumed to be far from God. Eastertide continues to rise and the Holy Spirit continues to carry the redemptive work of Jesus to everyone in every place.