St. Luke 8:26-39 Dearly beloved,
The dimensions to the spiritual realm go deeper than the eye can see, and the account that Luke gives us of Jesus’ encounter with a demon-possessed man is striking. The gospel bears out for us many truths to bear in mind regarding either the life lived apart from Christ or the life lived in Christ. Jesus steps on land from a boat and immediately encounters the demoniac. This man had many demons inside of him. For a long time he wore no clothes, and he had lived not in a house but in the tombs of the dead. This man was dead while he was still breathing. When the demoniac sees Jesus, he falls down on his knees and cries out “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the most high God? I beg you not to torment me.” The Greek text gives us some clarity. What the man is really saying according to the Greek text is “What do you and I have to do with one another?” In other words, the connection is made that this man and Jesus are as far apart from one another as day and night. This man does not belong to Jesus and the demons will ensure that this so. But the dynamic of the spiritual life lived is revealed by what the demoniac says....”I beg you, do not torment [torture] me.” Why would this man or the demons inside of him ever think that Jesus was the sort to torture? Is this not the same Jesus that says in St. John 3:17, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”? And as far as the demons go, they and Satan caused their own fall. What end they have coming to themselves is their own doing. But Satan is the father of lies. Satan will do whatever he can do to paint a picture of Jesus that is simply not true. The trouble with the demon-possessed man was that he was the very picture of unbelief. The philosophies of the world are empty, and we must remember that in the spiritual realm, biblically speaking, their is no such thing as being spiritually neutral. Either the person drinks from the wells of the world’s teachings or the person drinks from the springs of God’s word. What you spend your time doing will lead you either towards your life in Christ or you will be driven from the church and into the spiritual desert. This is what happened to the demoniac. Look at the man’s situation: He was in the desert, alone. He had no name, except Legion, the name of the demons. This namelessness is to suggest that this man was forgotten. Being alone and without a name is the very characteristics of damnation. Just the opposite is true of the baptized in Christ. Those who believe in Jesus Christ and are baptized are named, and they are yoked together with Jesus and all the saints in the body of Christ. Christianity is the gathering of the saints. Christianity is being in oneness with Jesus. Luke’s account of the demoniac highlights for the church a very important part of Christ’s earthly sojourn. This account highlights for us the encounter between Jesus and the lost. This man was lost....lost to the world and lost to God. He had obviously drank from the wrong water source and poisoned himself. Jesus comes down to earth, steps on the earth and encounters the demon-possessed. Suddenly the lost is found. Jesus is this man’s only hope. Men could not get near the demoniac, even while in chains. The man lived among the dead, but Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith enters this man’s world and stops the demons in their tracks. As the account unfolds, we hear that Jesus cast the demons into a herd of pigs who rushed in the abyss, which symbolized hell. The man was then found by the people in the region. The man was sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in a sound mind. This is what happens to those who reside in Christ and become a part of Him. The man was put in order, so to speak. The man in sitting at the feet of Jesus is signifying that he has become a disciple of Jesus. He now drinks from the springs of life--the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a tragedy to this whole account, though. This tragedy is what you must take heed to. Jesus came to these people. He showed a miracle in healing the demoniac. Jesus has power over the demons. So what is the tragedy? Luke records, “Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So Jesus got into the boat and returned”(vs. 37). The Lord’s hand in the life of one so forsaken showed the power of Jesus Christ. Jesus is God incarnate. But it was too much for people who liked the world. They didn’t know what to make of the demoniac, but they didn’t want to deal with the spiritual realm on either side. The tragedy.....is that they saw a miracle....they saw the hand of God in their midst and they wanted it gone. Jesus--God comes down to them in order to bring the light of life to them, and they ask Jesus to leave and He does. How horrible it is to ask Jesus to leave one’s midst. We must be careful.....this is a warning to us all. For most people are like the people of that region. They like church to be a social club. They like the activities, they like the social aspect, but to delve into the depths of truth becomes uncomfortable for many. Good and evil, God and Satan....most people don’t want these issues. But everything has results. The Gerasenes people, in turning Jesus away, invited more demons and Satan himself. How do you look at the church? Is it the well-spring of life that conveys holy words and holy truth? Is the gospel Jesus’ way of encountering us and changing our lives forever? Is the Lord’s Supper Christ’s very interaction in our lives, which imparts to us the forgiveness of our sins and strengthens us as we journey with Christ? It is true that the preaching of the gospel and the eating and drinking of Christ’s body and blood do for us what Jesus’ command did for the demoniac? Your sins are forgiven, Satan is cast away as you are brought closer to Jesus. You find yourself sitting at the feet of Jesus, as the gospel is proclaimed. You are put in order, gathered with God’s people, and made holy. It is true that we all have consumed from the world’s philosophies. In many cases we still fight this battle and temptation. But Jesus has placed on you a name. He knows you. You are clothed with not just any clothing, but you have put on the white robe of righteousness that is Christ and you have done it in baptism. Jesus protects you, clings to you, and leads you as you go forth in the goodness of His love. Thanks be to God for the Lord’s undying love for the demoniac, for you and me, and for all the world. His love comes to us and sets us free from the bondage of eternal death and gives us the gift of eternal salvation. We, like the demoniac, find ourselves seated at the feet of Jesus drinking from the spring of life. Amen. -- Rev. Chad Kendall Trinity Lutheran Church Lowell, Indiana www.trinitylowell.org
