Luke 8:26-39
Introduction:
This must have been an action packed couple of days for the disciples. The night before, they thought that they were going to die in a storm. Even more frightening to them was that they were delivered from death by Jesus commanding the wind and the waves. They were not quite sure what to make of Jesus after that.
They should have known Jesus was able to do that, though. Because of this, they were rebuked by Jesus because of their lack of faith.
We observed in our own lives how we too need to continue to grow in our faith. Like the disciples, when faced with trials and difficulties, we often succumb to our fears and anxieties, rather than rest in God’s sovereign power and love. But God’s word promises us that we can have peace when we trust in the Lord.
It’s not always easy to do, but learning more about and growing closer to Jesus helps us to grow in our faith and thus in our peace. Our sense of peace and rest will be proportional to the power of the one we are trusting in. Are you trusting in yourself? That peace and rest will be pretty limited. Are you trusting in God? It’s possible to have perfect peace.
Last week we saw that Jesus has power over the elements – we can trust him when we are faced with storms.
And that’s a good reminder considering the weather of the past week! God is good; you can trust Him, whatever happens you will ultimately be OK. We have a large hole in the middle of the road beside our church. And you know what? It’s going to be OK. If the hole expands and swallows the church – not that I anticipate that – but it’s still going to be OK. We have a heavenly inheritance in the Lord.
This week we will see that Jesus has the power to drive out and punish demonic forces. It’s yet another opportunity for us to grow in our faith and peace. Yet another opportunity to rest in God.
But we’ll also see two separate reactions to Jesus’ divine authority. One positive and the other negative.
Theme: One individual – the most unlikely of all, chooses to glorify Jesus. And others ask for Jesus to depart from them.
Our key thought from the sermon today is: How will you respond to Jesus’ divine power? Will you glorify Him? Or will you ask Him to depart from you? X2
Text: Luke 8:26-39
Verses 26-31
Here’s another good reason why Jesus was choosing to sleep through the storms of the night. Fresh off the boat he is met by an entire army of demons.
“Legion” you probably know, was a term for a Roman army. Each legion consisted of 6,000 highly trained soldiers. Now the Bible doesn’t call him this for no reason. Many demons are inside of this man. Perhaps even literally 6,000. His situation is extremely dire. He is in bondage to a host of demons, who drive him here and there to do terrible things. His body has become a vessel for a demonic army.
It’s evident that nobody could really do anything about the situation either. They had guards watching him, but the guards could not control him. They would bind him with chains and shackles and they would be broken. He’s like a real life Incredible Hulk – such extreme power has been given to his body that he is able to snap metal.
To top off what a mess he is – he lives naked in cemeteries. It doesn’t get any worse than this.
This whole situation, by the way, is just a nightmare for the ceremonial laws of cleanliness for the day. To be near Gentiles made a person unclean – this was Gentile territory. To be exposed to tombs made a person unclean. Public nudity has always been frowned upon for good reason. The man has not one, not two, but thousands of demons – called unclean spirits. And as we shall soon see – nearby them is a herd of pigs – unclean for Jewish people to eat by the Law of Moses.
I think the story is scary, but the original readers of it could probably hardly stand it.
Well, as soon as Jesus gets off the boat “Legion” forces the man to run up to Jesus and begin shouting at Him. For most of the account, the Bible uses the singular tense to refer to “Legion,” but in fact there are many.
“Loud” here = mega. He is shouting very loudly at Jesus.
While it is the man’s voice and vocal chords being used, Jesus recognizes that the demons are the ones speaking, not the man. So he addresses his words to the demons.
The demons know that they are in trouble. They recognize that Jesus is the Son of God and run to Him to bow down before Him and try to beg and barter with Jesus for their safety. If demons were really wise, they wouldn’t ever have found themselves outside of God’s favor to begin with. But they aren’t stupid either, and they know they’d better start sucking up fast. They ask Jesus “what have you to do with me?” They know it can’t be a good thing that the Son of God has suddenly come to bust in on their party.
They beg first that Jesus not torment them and then it says later they beg Jesus not to command them to depart into the abyss. Torment and the abyss are used synonymously here. By being banished to the abyss, they would be put in a place of torment. The Bible says that hell is a place prepared for the devil and his angels.
Verses 32-33
At first glance, these verses make it appear as if the demons have successfully bartered with Jesus – but they haven’t really. It’s one of those situations where they get exactly what they ask for, but it doesn’t work out how they were expecting it to. They wanted to be able to stay on earth and cause general mayhem. They didn’t want to go to hell. They thought that they’d be able to inhabit the pigs and stay. But, no sooner do they enter the pigs than the herd freaks out, rushes down into the lake, and they all drown. There go their hosts. Where do they go after this? I don’t know, the Bible doesn’t say.
Link: This event triggers two different kinds of responses: one is a response of fear and rejection. The other is a response of gratitude and acceptance.
Verses 34-37
Like the disciples of last night, these people become afraid of Jesus. Thousands of pigs have just died and Legion has been banished. The man who once hosted a demon army in his body is now wearing cloths and is sane once again. Jesus is extremely powerful.
What do the people do? They ask Jesus to depart from them. They fail to recognize the beauty of what has just occurred. Instead of seeing that there is now one among them who is able to protect them from all evil spiritual forces, they see a dangerous person.
A lot of preachers have commented on the economic loss this town must have just faced and that is likely to be a source of their fear. I’m sure they were bothered by that. I’m sure the herdsmen weren’t happy that their livelihood just drowned in a lake. But the Bible doesn’t say much about that. It says “they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid.”
What the Bible says is the source of their fear is seeing that the army of demons has just been cast out of this man. The reason they are afraid is the same reason the disciples were afraid. It’s not primarily because of economic loss – it’s because of the extraordinary power of Jesus. They have someone in their town that has the power to cast out an army of demons and it is terrifying to them.
They could do nothing to hinder this demon possessed man. They guarded him, chained him, shackled him, but he snapped the chains and shackles. When Jesus comes, thousands of demons are abruptly cast out of the man, and pigs go squealing down into a lake and drown. Now the demon possessed man is hanging out with Jesus. I imagine they were asking themselves the same kind of question that the disciples were last night: “Who then is this, that he commands an army of demons to depart into pigs, and they obey him?”
Their conclusion is that they need to get rid of Jesus. They don’t want someone with that kind of power sticking around. Of course, they’re smart enough to not try to forcibly remove Him, all things considered. But they aren’t smart enough to beg Him to stay. They ask Him to go.
Application:
I can’t help but wonder how we would respond to something like this today. If Jesus were to come into town, and He was seen to cast an army of demons out of a person into a nearby herd, would we celebrate Him or would we drive Him out in fear? I honestly suspect we would be more likely to drive Him out in fear.
What will you do when confronted with the true power of Jesus? He is not just a gentle lamb. He was not, as some imagine, an inept victim of crucifixion who had good morals. Jesus is also called the lion of Judah, and for good reason. Jesus is immensely powerful. He is able to defeat demonic armies. Jesus is the Son of the Most High God.
Will you beg the Son of the Most High God to stay, or will you beg Him to depart?
Link: The real kicker to this story is the one person who wants to be with Jesus. Of all the country of the Gerasenes, it is the demonic possessed man who begs to go with Jesus. He has been able to see, in a very unique and personal way, the benevolent goodness of Jesus. The demon possessed man has discovered what the Gerasenes and disciples had yet to learn – Jesus is 100% powerful and 100% good. True peace and salvation is found in Jesus.
Verse 38-39
Ah! There’s so much in these two verses.
Notice how Jesus responds to this man who wants to be with Him. He sends Him on a mission and I bet it was an effective mission. The man who once terrified the town and hung out in graveyards is now to go into town and preach the good news to them.
Application:
This is a good lesson for all of us. If you have ever wondered what you could do for God, do as Jesus commands this man: go and tell those you know how much God has done for you. All of us are able to do that. Perhaps not with the kind of powerful testimony as this man! But we all have something to say.
Link: Another thing of note. There is a reference to Jesus’ divinity in verse 9. Do you see the parallel?
“How much God has done for you” and “How much Jesus had done for him.” Those phrases are only different by a couple of words. Jesus tells the man to go and declare how much God has done for him. The man goes and preaches how much Jesus has done for him. The man evidently understood Jesus and God to be one.
Link: And think about the implications of the salvation of this man. What does it mean that this man has been saved from an army of demons?
Application:
There is no one beyond the saving power of Jesus. If there was someone out there who it would be impossible to save, this person would have been it. He had an army of demons in him. If Jesus doesn’t look at such a person and say “sorry, I can’t help you, your problems are too serious for me” then he isn’t going to look at you and say that He can’t or won’t save you. I don’t know what problems you have, but they aren’t this serious! Cry out to Jesus and He will give grace and healing.
Closing Thoughts and Prayer:
How will you respond to Jesus’ divine power? Will you glorify Him? Or will you ask Him to depart from you? X2