What is Your Name?
Luke 8:30 – And Jesus asked him saying, What is your name?
In this account we have the story of the man we refer to as ‘The Madman of Gadara’. Most of the teaching that we have heard highlights that Jesus addressed the devil by asking, ‘What is your name?’ However, G. Campbell Morgan, in his commentary on the Gospels, pointed out that perhaps Jesus was actually asking the man his name. I find this thought to be inspirational and very instructive.
Think of the condition of this poor, tormented man; demon-possessed, self-destructive, running naked in the cemetery, no life to speak of, anguished, no rest, no peace, no friendships. I am sure that whatever family he once had would have been driven away long ago. He is frantic and distressed, but Jesus attempts to rescue him by getting him to remember his name. ‘Don’t you remember who you are? You were born into a family and your parents lovingly named you. You had purpose, dreams, aspirations and friends. Don’t you remember? You laughed and played together with the friends of your youth, you fell in love with a beautiful girl. You learned a trade and worked hard providing for your new family. What is your name? That’s who you are. You are not this raving and tormented lunatic. You are not this violent madman. No! You are a person. You are a man, created in the image of God, created to walk with dignity and purpose. You were destined to engage in society and contribute to others' success.
What is your name? It is still your name, it still exists, it may have slipped out of your memory but your name has survived. It’s your name, not someone else’s. It is yours, it belongs to you. You matter. You are missed. You are important. You have a place in this life. You are a person with a name, and you are connected relationally to significant people’.
What about us? Have we forgotten who we are? Have we forgotten our name? Have our choices now determined a new name? Are we living with the stigma associated with our condition in life? Has life’s challenges blurred the memory of our identity and our value? We are living in the days of identity theft and it is time to take back our true name. Powerful and life-giving freedom comes into our life when we remember who we were created to be and who named us. The world has tried to define us and re-name us but our Heavenly Father has permanently named us. We are named by God as his children and we must never forget who we are. What is your name?
