Luke 8:26-39

Have you ever wondered who the first person was that Jesus commissioned to tell others about him? I’ve never really thought about it but came across that question while preparing for tonight’s sermon. I would have supposed that it was the twelve apostles. In Matthew 4 we read about Jesus calling Peter and Andrew.

“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” (Matthew 4:19)

Jesus is going to make them evangelists, but he doesn’t give them the command yet. In Luke 9 Jesus will send out the twelve, but we are still in Luke 8. In our passage we’ll find Jesus casting evil spirits from a demon possessed man. This is who he’ll commission to tell others about him. Usually, Jesus told people not to tell others about him. For example, back in Luke 5, after healing the leper, we read:

Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” (Luke 5:14)

We find the first person Jesus commissioned to tell others about him in our text this evening.

Turn to Luke 8 if you haven’t already done so. In verse 22, Jesus instructed the disciples to set sail to other side of the lake. Presumably they were in Capernaum which is on the west coast. At Capernaum the Sea of Galilee is about four miles wide. At its widest it is only five miles wide. Jesus wants them to cross over to the other side. It is the other side not only because it’s the east coast as opposed to the west coast, but it is also the other side because the racial and religious differences between the two areas. They are headed to the Gerasenes, a more Gentile dominated region. Then, before they could reach shore, they encountered a storm so severe that even the experienced fishermen thought they were all going to die. But Jesus, who had been sleeping in the back of the boat, calmed the wind and waves.

The disciples thought they were having a rough time with the storm; things weren’t going to get any better when they reached land.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that the Gerasenes were located directly across the lake from Capernaum. The Israelites had conquered the people living there not long before they crossed in the Promised Land. Though it was not a part of the land God had promised the Abraham, the tribe Gad had asked if they could have it and God gave it to them. The area is also known as the Gadarenes which derives its name from the tribe of Gad. By the time of Jesus there were a few Jews living there but it was mostly Gentile.

Matthew and Mark, who also tell this story, give some details that Luke omits. First, Mark mentions that the area was also referred to as the Decapolis. The name Decapolis would be like referring to this area as the Tri-Cities. Decapolis is a Greek word that means ten cities. Evidentially, there were ten Roman cities in the area. Orthodox Jews had nothing to do with Gentiles. They stayed as far from them as possible and now Jesus was taking them to an area highly populated by Gentiles.

Second, Matthew and Mark say they landed near a cemetery. Orthodox Jews stayed away from them as well. Old Testament law stated that touching a dead body, whether it was a person or animal, made you unclean. Traditional application of the law said you shouldn’t even walk through a cemetery or you would become unclean.

Third, later in the story we’ll find there are a lot of pigs nearby. Jews stayed away from pigs as well. We know Peter had nothing to do with them because in Acts he said he’d never eaten anything unclean.

Additionally, while Luke is only going to talk about one person being demon possessed, Matthew tells us that there were two. That doesn’t mean that Luke were wrong, just that his only focus one of the two men, the one Jesus commissions at the end of the story. Both of these two men will run out to meet Jesus and the disciples. So imagine, you’ve just gone through this life threatening ordeal and when you finally reach shore this is what you encounter.

26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” 29 For Jesus had commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places. (Luke 8:26-29)

Can you imagine the kind of life this man must have had? Or should I say the lack of a life. Luke tells us that he had been in this situation for a long time. Though it’s not a very precise estimate, it’s enough to let us know he had been possessed by these demons for quite a while. Then, this man comes running out to meet them with no clothes on. This is what the demons had led him to. He doesn’t have a home, he’s away from his family, and they leave him with no clothes. I think the devil still does this. He introduces division that keeps us from others and persuades a culture that it doesn’t need modesty.

It’s interesting that the man immediately recognized Jesus and who he was but as we’ve already seen it was not uncommon. These evil spirits knew who Jesus was. They recognized him and freely declared his identity. And why would he run out to Jesus if he is afraid of what Jesus would do to him? He knows something is wrong but he doesn’t want the answer Jesus is going to provide. He thinks Jesus will only torment him. That’ after all, was how he’d been treated by others.

Luke tells us how men in the area had tried to subdue him by binding him with chains but it didn’t work. He broke through the chains like he was superman. Chained hand and foot and kept under guard but it didn’t work. He would break free and run off alone into the wilderness.

30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. (Luke 8:30-31)

When Jesus asked the demon to identify himself, it replied his name was legion. That wasn’t the man’s name but the name the demon gave to Jesus. Jesus asked the demon’s name – singular – but the demon answers in the plural. In the Roman army a legion could number from three thousand to six thousand soldiers. For the demon to give that name suggests there weren’t a few demons but thousands of demons tormenting the man day and night.

The demons then beg Jesus not to send them to the Abyss. They not only know who Jesus is but they are also aware of their eternal destination. John wrote in Revelation 20 concerning the Abyss:

1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. 3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. (Revelation 20:1-3)

The Abyss is the bottomless pit described as a prison for the disobedient spirits. They knew what is eventually coming and even though they aren’t looking forward to it continue in their rebellion against God. They only ask that they not be sent there now.

32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. 33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. (Luke 8:32-33)

This I have a hard time understanding. If the demons can’t be in the person they at least want to be in the pigs. The spirits do not want to be away from a body of some kind even if it is the body of an animal. Going into a pig would seem kind of limiting but I guess it’s better than nothing. The demons sure thought so. But we don’t understand much about the spirit world.

I think it’s interesting that some more contemporary commentaries try to explain away the man’s condition. They call it by some mental condition as if he’d only had a good psychiatrist and the right drugs that the man could have been helped. To say this only serves to downplay the reality and seriousness of demons at work in the world today.

J. Vernon McGee told the story about discussing this passage over breakfast with a preacher who had become increasingly liberal. He had gone so far that he no longer really believed the Bible. The preacher could not believe that Jesus, meek and mild, would allow those demons to destroy those pigs. The Jesus he had created in his mind would never allow that to happen to the pigs so he just couldn’t believe the story actually happened. McGee replied that the pigs shouldn’t have been there in the first place since pigs are forbidden by the law. And secondly, he said it was interesting the preacher would talk that way about being nice to pigs as he sat there eating bacon.

People don’t like the thoughts that there might actually be demons in the world, but remember what Paul wrote to the Ephesians about the activity of the devil.

11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. (Ephesians 6:11-12)

Paul is telling us to be aware of the spiritual activity going on around us. He wants us to know that there is a spiritual battle taking place. We can get mad at people but the real battle is not against each other but against the spiritual forces at work in the world. Getting mad at people is failing to realize what is really going on. Just as these demons had separated the man from his family, the devil would separate us from each other, causing divisions. But it is only a distraction from the true battle. The demons were real then and they are real now. The man didn’t need some psychiatric help, he needed release from these demons and that’s what Jesus gave him. Jesus sent the demons from him, allowing them to enter into the pigs. Though that is where they wanted to go, they weren’t any kinder to the pigs than they had been to the man. The pigs ended up running off a cliff into the water and drowning. It would seem the pigs committed suicide rather than be possessed by the demons. Whether the pigs instigated it or the demons did the possession of the pigs didn’t last very long.

Some have referred to this as the first instance of deviled ham. Others have called it the first cases of swine flu as the pigs flew off the side of the cliff.

34 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left. (Luke 8:34-37)

When the people saw this man whom had been so out of control that even chains could not control him, when they saw him now clothed and in his right mind, they became afraid. It seems they preferred his former condition to his latter one. They would rather have him controlled by demons than controlled by God. And isn’t that a sad commentary not only on them but on our culture today? You can talk about any religion but Christianity. You can make reference to any idol or false god but don’t mention Jesus. You’ll receive high praise if make fun of Jesus but you’ll get fired if you display an historic picture of Muhammad. People still prefer the lie over the truth. They prefer the devil over the living God. That’s because, like the man asking Jesus not to torment him, people erroneously believe that God is only out to cause them problems. They fail to understand God’s great love and they miss how he is slow to anger and abounding is grace. So, they people ask Jesus to leave. He returned or went back to the other side.

38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him. (Luke 8:38-39)

Notice the man’s reaction to finally being rid of these evil spirits. He wants to go with Jesus. He doesn’t know much about Jesus. He doesn’t know where Jesus lives or where he is going. All he knows is that Jesus set him free and the man wants to spend the rest of his life with him. “Please, allow me to go with you.”

Isn’t that what Jesus wants? He desires us to spend time with him. He wants us to order our lives around him. But that’s not what he told this man. The man begs to go with Jesus and Jesus said no.

There were three requests made in this story. The first request is made by the demons who ask not to be sent into the Abyss but into the herd of pigs. How does Jesus reply? He gives them what they want. He allows them to enter into and take possession of the pigs. The second request is made by the people who lived nearby who asked Jesus to leave them. They were afraid of Jesus. How did Jesus respond to them? He gave them what they wanted. He got into his boat and left. And then there is a third request made by the man who has now been restored to his right mind. The man wants to go with Jesus. And how does Jesus reply to him? Jesus tells the man no. Jesus says yes to the demons, he says yes to the people who want to get rid of him, but he says no to the man who desires to learn from him. Jesus had something else for him to do. Jesus wanted him to stay where he was and tell everyone he knew about what had been done for him. “Tell your family and your friends about what God has done for you.”

So, the first person Jesus commanded to tell others about him wasn’t one of his disciples he’d been training to be evangelists but was actually someone Jesus healed. This man didn’t have three years of instruction like the apostle would have. He didn’t have the knowledge about Jesus we would think an evangelist should have. He would not have been able to explain the trinity of the reason why we suffer. He could not have been able to prove the existence of God in a debate. But what he could do was tell people what Jesus had done for him. Jesus must have thought that was enough because he sent the man out to be a witness for him and instructed him to tell others.

What has God done for you? We can make excuses about not being able to talk to others about Jesus. I certainly can. But all we need to know is what Jesus has done for us. All we need to know is how Jesus has changed our lives. How has your life changed because of your faith in Jesus?