Luke 8:26-33

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-We’re going to be back in Luke 8 this morning.

As always, I encourage you to follow along...

…in your own copies of God’s Word.

-The last time we were here...

…I mentioned to you that there appeared to be a thematic shift happening...

…in this final half of Chapter 8...

The new theme being the identity of Jesus...

With a particular focus on his power and authority.

-The event that we looked at last time...

(calming of the winds and the sea)

…showed us that Jesus had authority...

…over the whole physical world.

Today’s text shows us that His authority...

…extends far beyond even that!

-Now, this is a long and rich narrative...

So, we’re going to break it up into two parts:

The assertion of Jesus’ Authority

The people’s response to Him.

-Let’s begin reading in Verse 26...

We’ll go through verse 33 this morning.

This is God’s inerrant Word.

Luke 8:26–33 (ESV)

26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.

27 When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs.

28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.”

29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.)

30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him.

31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss.

32 Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission.

33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.

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Pray

-Let’s read Verse 26 again.

And as we do, remember its connection to the previous section...

…where the disciples thought they were sure to perish in the storm!

Luke 8:26 (ESV)

26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.

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-While we’re looking at this...

…let me make you aware of something else.

Matthew records:

Matthew 8:28 (ESV)

28 And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes...

The difference comes from an uncertainty in the manuscript evidence.

In other words, of the copies that we have of the original autographs...

…there isn’t a clear winner between the renderings of (on Screen):

Gadara

Gerasa

Gergesa

(You can see how, even from the English...

…that a scribal error could easily happen)

The good news is, however, that (as is always the case with textual variants) NOTHING...

Doctrinal

Theological

…is affected by this uncertainty.

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In fact, if you look at the map, you’ll notice that they are all...

In the same region

Bring the same theological point to the table...

What’s that?

It’s that, as this commentator puts it, this is...

the other side of the lake—Gentile country . . . Significant geographical and spiritual boundaries have been crossed — John G. Mason

-Now, we have one more matter of apologetics to discuss...

…and that is found in Verse 27.

Luke 8:27 (ESV)

27 When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons...

Matthew tells us that:

Matthew 8:28 (ESV)

28 ...two demon-possessed men met him...

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Is this a problem for us?

Does this negate the inerrancy of Scripture?

Or course not!

And it’s only those who seek to escape the Scripture’s...

authority

judgments

…that will try to turn this into that.

-If Luke or Mark had specified that...

…there was ONLY one demoniac...

…then we would have an issue.

But the fact that they only mention the one...

…while Matthew specifies that there are two in total...

…does no violence to the inerrancy of Scripture at all.

We do the same thing all the time.

If I told you that I had an 8’ ladder that you could borrow...

And you came over to get it, you realized that I had two...

Would you call me a liar?

Of course not!

Why?

Because the number of ladders isn’t relative to the discussion.

The point is that I have what you need...

…and that you’re welcome to it.

-If I told you that I had seen someone with blue hair...

…right here in Robbinsville! . . .

…and someone else told you that...

…there were actually TWO people there with blue hair...

…Would my testimony be false or dishonest?

Of course not!

The number wasn’t germane to my point, was it?

-You see, such is the case here.

Sometimes, these issues just need to be thought through...

…with a little common sense...

…and the concerns disappear.

-Well alright, let’s move on from the apologetics...

…and get into the rich theology of this text.

-Notice how the various gospel writers...

…describe the condition of this man/these men...

…while under demonic possession.

(Perhaps, not since Job, had anyone been so afflicted)

Luke tells us (again in Verse 27):

Luke 8:27 (ESV)

27 ...For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs.

So, here are...

Gentile Men (Strike One):

Running around naked (Strike Two)

Living among the dead (Strike Three)

These are thrice UN-holy men!

They are profoundly unclean.

From a first-century Jewish perspective...

…these men would be as destitute as they could POSSIBLY be!

-Now, notice what the other two synoptic gospel writers add...

…to the description of these men.

Matthew says that they were...

Matthew 8:28 (ESV)

28 ...so fierce that no one could pass that way.

They weren’t just crazy...

They were aggressively crazy!

Mark adds:

Mark 5:3–5 (ESV)

3 ...And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain,

4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him.

He also adds that...

5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

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These men were wild and uncontrollable.

Howling

Naked

Bloody

Supernaturally Strong

Un-restrainable

And at the same time:

Reckless

Unpredictable

They were a terror to everyone around them...

...AND destructive even to themselves.

-But remember why:

They were under the influence and control...

…of fallen angels!

They were both, suppressed and strengthened...

…by the powers of darkness and Hell!

No mere man, nor society of men...

…could do anything with them!

-But... it wasn’t a mere man...

…whose boat had just INTENTIONALLY...

…landed on their shores...

And they knew it immediately!

-Notice how Luke records the response:

Luke 8:28 (ESV)

28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him...

Mark’s account is even more intense than that!

He says:

Mark 5:6–7 (ESV)

6 And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and fell down before him.

Then both evangelists tell us, that...

…bowing before him, he said:

...with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?...”

-Calvin makes this inspiring observation:

We ought to be aware that they did not come of their own accord into the presence of Christ, but were drawn by a secret exercise of his authority.

As they had formerly been accustomed to carry men off, in furious violence, to the tombs, so now a superior power compels them to appear reluctantly at the tribunal of their judge. — John Calvin

You see, they immediately recognized who Jesus was!

We saw this once before:

Luke 4:33–34 (ESV)

33 And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon, and he cried out with a loud voice,

34 “Ha! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? . . . I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”

They know!

They’ve known since the day Jesus created them!

-Now, Sproul makes this important observation as well:

It is fascinating to note that the demons had no difficulty whatsoever in recognizing the identity of Jesus.

His Messianic nature was veiled to many, and even for some of his intimate disciples there was a growing awareness, at best, of the full measure of who Jesus was.

But the demonic world recognized immediately the presence of the Son of God, and were terrified.

Not only do they recognize his identity, they also recognize his authority over them, and they are terrified that Jesus might exercise his power to subject them to fitting punishment. — R.C. Sproul

Do you remember what James said?

James 2:19 (ESV)

19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

-Now, we haven’t read it yet...

…but this is exactly what we see at the end of the verse:

Luke records:

Luke 8:28 (ESV)

28 ...I beg you, do not torment me.”

Mark’s account shows even greater desperation:

Mark 5:7 (ESV)

7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said . . . I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”

Why would he say that?

Well, Matthew gives us a little more insight into that.

He tells us that they also pleaded...

Matthew 8:29 (ESV)

29 ...Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

That’s not the typical word for linear time...

That’s the word for an appointed time.

Sproul again explains:

When the demons say, ‘Don’t torment us before the time!’, the word used in Matthew’s gospel, is the word, kairos, which points us to the fact that the demonic world itself is aware that at some future point their destiny is sealed.

They know that at the time of judgment, God is going to subject them to relentless torment for their unmitigated evil.

When Jesus appears in this incident, the demons are terrified that they are going to have to submit themselves to that kind of torment before the time. — Sproul

The Scripture elsewhere affirms such a notion:

Jude 6 (ESV)

6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day—

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-Now, in Verse 29, Luke clues us in...

…as to what (specifically) prompted them to panic:

Luke 8:29 (ESV)

29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.)

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You see, Jesus, as God the Eternal Son...

…already possessed all authority in heaven and on earth.

But, as a man, he would wait upon the “Kairos” of the Father.

But, after the triumph of the Cross, Paul said this:

Philippians 2:9–11 (ESV)

9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,

10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

What’s happening in our text...

…is a magnificently small (in comparison)...

…foretaste of what was to come!

We can see that in the verses that follow.

First of all, Look at verse 30:

Luke 8:30 (ESV)

30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him.

Several important things here:

One Roman “Legion” consisted of 5,000 - 6,000 soldiers

This was meant to convey unparalleled powers of darkness!

To reveal your name to your opponent...

…was to acknowledge your submission to him!

(Remember Jacob “wrestling” with God?)

This was the pin!

So when Jesus demands their name...

They immediately comply!

-And not only that… they beg his mercy!

Look at:

Luke 8:31 (ESV)

31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss.

The CSB helps us to understand the sense:

Luke 8:31 (HCSB)

31 And they begged Him not to banish them to the abyss.

Philip Ryken tells us this about it:

“The abyss,” as the demons called it, is the place of the dead (see Rom. 10:7)—what Revelation describes as “the bottomless pit” . . .

The demons know that this is their final doom. They know that Jesus will defeat them. They know that they will be cast into a terrible place of everlasting torment (see Rev. 21:8), and so they tremble with fear. — Ryken

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And they plead with Him on their knees...

…to stay His hand just a little longer!

But notice, that they don’t presume to argue...

…with His command to depart from these men.

That’s a given!

But, what they wanted was to at least have some host to torment!

-Notice this desire in our text:

Luke 8:32 (ESV)

32 Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these...

That tells us something about the area, doesn’t it?

Mark tells us that there were 2,000 of them!

But, notice, how ALREADY, they can’t act without Jesus’ approval!

And Luke tells us, simply:

Luke 8:32 (ESV)

32 ...So he gave them permission.

Matthew tells us that he simply:

Matthew 8:32 (ESV)

32 ...said to them, “Go.” . . .

And immediately, they went!

But, it wasn’t the salvation that they had hoped for!

Even now, before the Day of Judgment...

…their confrontation with the Son of Man...

…brings them to a cataclysmic end!

Luke 8:33 (ESV)

33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.

What about that?

Destroyed by their own evil desires!

The Background Bible Commentary observes:

What overtook the legion of demons is what they feared; destruction in the abyss (as symbolized by the lake)

The demons are destroyed in a manner that may very well be intended as a foreshadowing of the final day of judgment when demons will be cast into the abyss. — BKBC

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-Now, some unscrupulously object here that...

...Jesus did something wrong by...

Permitting these “innocent” swine to die...

By depriving these pagans of the income from these swine.

To these, we respond in two ways:

1.) Ps50.10-11

Psalm 50:10–11 (ESV)

10 For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills.

11 I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine.

2.) Mt12.12

Matthew 12:12 (ESV)

12 Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! . . .

The death of these pigs:

Delivered the two image bearers of God

Delivered the whole region!

Ryken says:

The pigs lived and died for the glory of God. These fine swine are the most famous pigs in history — Ryken

However, Mike McKinley has (perhaps) the best response:

If a man conquers with a mere word a posse of demons that couldn’t be restrained by chains, he doesn’t need to defend his actions. — McKinley

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Amen?

-Here’s the takeaway for us:

-Jesus is the Son of God!

-He has conquered our every foe!

Our sin

Death

Satan

He is our deliverer!

He is mighty to save!

And He commands us, not “Go,” . . .

But, “COME!”

And in our coming to Him...

…In our surrendering to Him...

…we find rest for our souls!

Let’s pray.