TMNT Life in the Sewer - Pt 2

Donatello is our turtle of the week. He is a bit of an extremist. By that I mean that he is the least violent of the turtles and yet he can be the most devastating. He is a scientist, a brainiac and is a weapons specialist. With his intelligence he has the capacity to create mass destruction if necessary. This is the framework for the rest of our lesson.

Now looking at our Renaissance man number two, Donatello. Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi, was nicknamed Donatello at an early age by his friends and family, probably because they could not nor had time to pronounce his name. He quickly became a master sculptor creating things that surpassed his instructors and mentors. He sculpted with stone and metal, in 3D and on flat surfaces. He was brilliant.

His early career saw him sculpting things with a Gothic feel, emotionless faces yet still high in detail or the rest of the body. He became famous for his "larger than life" sculptures. Then at some point he made a change. He began to incorporate high emotion into his works. This brought controversy when he depicted a Mary Magdalene with such distress she was a horror to look at. He too made a drastic shift from one extreme to the next.

These two characters set the stage for our scripture. Matt 8, Mark 5, and Luke 8 hold the story of the demon possessed man whom Jesus healed.

The man was so dangerous he had to be excommunicated from society. No one could pass by because he was such a threat. But not only did he harm others he was in absolute devastation internally as well. He would weep and yell every night and cut himself. Although the demons oppressed him and would take control this man still had feelings and understood his despair or at least felt it to the core of his being.

Have you ever felt this way? Have you felt fine one minute and full of anger, bitterness, hate, greed, lust, fear, insecurity, inferiority, loneliness, depression, pride, self-fullness, anxiety the next? I believe this is the demon within us. What is yours?

Jesus and the disciples got off the boat to be greeted by this man (and his demons). The scene played out in that Jesus engaged the demons and, at their request, sent them into a heard of pigs for their fulfillment of destruction and death wish, delivering this man from his prison. The man was restored, not only in himself but with his community as well.

What have you been separated from because of your demon? What damage to you, to others, or to your relationships has it done? Will you let God break the chains and deliver you TODAY? Stop right now and bring it to Jesus, fall at his feet. He is the one who can handle it. Then what you do after that is up to you. The man in the story was to become a missionary amongst the people who he had hurt, who had seen him decline. Will you obey what God asks of you?

As life takes you in the sewer...ask God to deliver you from the demons within!