Luke 8:34-39 (3)

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-Let me invite you to turn back to Luke 8.

We’re going to attempt to finish the event...

…that we began looking at last week...

…in verses 26-33.

For the sake of time, we won’t read over them again...

…but we will take just a moment to review.

-Remember what we read before:

-Jesus, with his disciples, had arrived safely...

…on the “other side” of the lake (elaborate).

-When Jesus stepped out on the land, two demon-possessed men...

Luke only emphasized the one...

…who had been a terror to themselves and everyone around them...

…came running at Jesus...

…but when they reached him...

…they bowed themselves before him...

…in reluctant, begrudging, but dutiful submission...

…and immediately testified (with a loud voice)...

…that Jesus was the “Son of the Most High God!”

-We also saw that Jesus had commanded them to come out of the man/men...

…and demanded of them their name...

(which meant they had to yield in submission)

…to which they quickly comply and reply:

“Legion!” (elaborate)

-Then, in verse 31 they begged Jesus not to destroy them...

…and ask His permission to enter a herd of filthy swine.

-Jesus gives them permission to do so...

…but instead of that being a safe retreat for them...

…the pigs rush headlong down a steep ravine...

…and into the watery abyss below, and perish!

-As is always the case...

…the Sovereign Lord turns their evil desires...

…into the means of their own destruction.

-Well, verse 34 picks up where that leaves off.

Please follow along as I read:

Luke 8:34–39 (ESV)

34 When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.

35 Then people went out to see what had happened, and 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.

36 And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed.

37 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 he got into the boat and returned.

38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying,

39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

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Pray

-Last week, the central theme of the verses we covered...

…was the identity of Jesus...

…as proven through the display of his...

Divine Power

Messianic Authority!

The central theme of this morning’s text...

…is how people respond to...

The realization of who He is

The effects and implications that that has on their lives.

Needless to say, those responses are going to be...

Quite telling...

Quite sobering...

…even for us today!

...And even though there may be some room for nuance in categorizing them...

They’re pretty much binary!

There are two basic responses to the revelation of God...

And we really see them both wonderfully illustrated in our text.

The buildup to the first begins in verse 34:

Luke 8:34 (ESV)

34 When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country.

-So, the men whose livestock was taken...

…flee (escape) for their lives (their perspective)...

…and go about telling everyone they come across...

…everything that they had witnessed!

Now, we might surmise that...

Their fear of Jesus’ power...

The loss of their herd...

…would have been their central talking-point...

But, Matthew tells us this, that...

Matthew 8:33 (ESV)

33 ...they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men.

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You see, there was a particular emphasis placed upon, Jesus’ . . .

Conquest of the Demonic Legion

Deliverance of those infamously oppressed men!

Do you think this type of message would spread quickly?

The local lunatic finding religion!

Pigs committing mass suicide!

Yeah, that’s going to get around fast...

...Even before the digital age.

Verse 35 shows us just how quickly it did.

Before Jesus even left the area, Luke tells us:

Luke 8:35 (ESV)

35 Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus...

Matthew, again tells us:

Matthew 8:34 (ESV)

34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus...

Then Luke tells us what they found:

and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind...

-So, these people:

Hear these incredible stories...

Rush out en masse to verify them...

…and when they get there:

The 2,000 pigs are sure enough gone...

…and they find this man, who:

Luke 8:27 (ESV)

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

Who...

Mark 5:4 (ESV)

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

This man , who was...

Matthew 8:28 (ESV)

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

This man who was well-known for...

Mark 5:5 (ESV)

5 Night and day . . . always crying out and cutting himself with stones.

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They find him:

Sitting calmly and still at the feet of Jesus

Not running wildly, or

Trying to flee his presence

Clothed

Sane and rational

Engaged in civil discourse with other people.

Do you think this got their attention?

-But notice what affect it had on them...

…(at least initially):

Luke 8:35 (ESV)

35 ...and they were afraid.

It terrified them!

They were undone!

This is the trauma that holiness has...

…on the un-holy!

So, why is this man no longer trembling?

He’s been sanctified!

(Made Holy)...

By the Power of God the Eternal Son!

Why do I say that?

Well, think about what John wrote in:

1 John 3:8 (ESV)

8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.

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What has happened to this man?

Repentance!

Faith!

Because of what Jesus has done for him...

(Unilaterally… the man wasn’t asking for His help)

...The man is now:

Concerned with modesty

(put his clothes back on)

No longer accosting other people

No longer harming himself

No longer acting on every wild impulse and desire...

And, most importantly...

…He has now assumed the posture of a disciple...

Sitting at Jesus’ feet!

That means:

Jesus is now his Teacher

And he is now Jesus’ Student

More importantly, it means:

Jesus is now his Master

And he is now Jesus’ Servant!

This man, has been:

Colossians 1:13 (ESV)

13 ...delivered . . . from the domain of darkness and transferred … to the kingdom of his beloved Son,

This man, has been given:

2 Timothy 1:7 (ESV)

7 ...a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

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And his response is to worship at the feet of Jesus!

-Now, we’ll focus on his response more later.

But for now, let’s focus our attention on...

…the responses of the people from the city.

First, Luke tells us in Verse 36:

Luke 8:36 (ESV)

36 And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed.

“healed” = “saved”

So, understand what’s happening, here.

The people come and see the man now made whole.

Just the sight of that… terrifies them!

So they want to know how it happened...

And those who had witnessed it...

…recounted the whole spiritual battle to them.

And, upon hearing of Jesus’ great triumph over their tormentors, they...

fall at His feet...

try to take Him away to make Him King!

Is that what happened?

Look at verse 37:

Luke 8:37 (ESV)

37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them...

This was a collective effort!

How strange that the One who brought them deliverance from their tormentors...

…would be asked (not commanded) to leave!!!

Why would they do that?

Well, many surmise that it was an economic decision for them.

For example, one commentary said:

They thought more of their swine than of the Savior; more of their sows than of their souls — Believer’s Bible Commentary

And another:

Apparently money was more important to them than mercy — Bible Exposition Commentary

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-Now, I definitely think that, this...

Is plausible

Was a pertinent factor.

But Luke seems to allude to a...

Deeper

More formidable motivation...

… at the end of that first sentence in verse 37.

He says:

Luke 8:37 (ESV)

37 ...all the people . . . asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear...

I think Philip Ryken makes a phenomenal assessment, here:

They could see what Jesus had done, and yet they still rejected him.

They were full of fear—not fear in the sense of reverence and awe, but trembling and terror.

They were afraid of Jesus.

They were afraid of his power and authority.

They were afraid of his ability to change someone’s life in ways they could not begin to understand.

Perhaps most of all, they were afraid of what Jesus would change in their own lives if they let him stay around any longer. — Ryken

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This is a much more common cause of rejection...

…than you might think!

And, while we might sympathize…

...or even empathize...

…with such feelings...

They are eternally dangerous!

Look at Jesus’ response:

Luke 8:37 (ESV)

37 ...So he got into the boat and returned.

And the Prince of Glory...

…sailed away from their shores.

And where did that leave them?

Ichabod!

-But... Jesus left behind:

A remnant

A witness

Luke tells us that before Jesus sailed away:

(In fact, Mark says that it was:)

Mark 5:18 (ESV)

18 As he was getting into the boat...

That...

Luke 8:38 (ESV)

38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him...

That’s the heart of a disciple!

To be with Christ above all else!

It has always been the desire of His saints:

Psalm 27:4 (ESV)

4 One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple.

Behold Him

Learn from Him

Psalm 84:10 (ESV)

10 For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere....

Paul wrote:

Philippians 1:21–23 (ESV)

21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.

22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.

23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

This is the supernatural love of the Christian...

…for Christ!

And, the JFB Commentary says this about the man in our text:

The grateful heart, fresh from the hand of demons, clinging to its wondrous Benefactor. How exquisitely natural! — JFB Commentary

However, Luke tells us this:

Luke 8:38 (ESV)

38 The man . . . begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, ...

Why would He do that?

Why would he not permit him to sail away with him?

Because, He had work for him to do in His service:

And, here too, we see another picture of regular discipleship!

He told him:

Luke 8:39 (ESV)

39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.”

-Now, notice, that on “this side” of the Lake...

…Jesus is doing things a little differently.

On the “other side” (Jewish side)...

…he would usually FORBID people to make His identity known!

For example, after cleansing a leper, He said:

Mark 1:44 (ESV)

44 . . . “See that you say nothing to anyone...

But, of course:

Mark 1:45 (ESV)

45 ...he went out and began to talk freely about it, and to spread the news, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter a town, but was out in desolate places, and people were coming to him from every quarter.

When He healed the two Blind men:

Matthew 9:30–31 (ESV)

30 And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about it.”

31 But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.

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And on and on we go.

But, this man...

…over on this side of the lake...

…away from the:

Jewish religious leaders

Zealots

Political Revolutionaries

Those under the judgment of “seeing, but not seeing...”

…Jesus Commissions this man to spread the word!

JFB again, say:

To be a missionary for Christ, in the region where he was so well known and so long dreaded, was a far nobler calling than to follow Him where nobody had ever heard of him, and where other trophies not less illustrious could be raised by the same power and grace. — JFB

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This man is much akin to the Apostle Paul.

As Paul would come to be among the Jews...

So this man became among the Gentiles of the Decapolis.

Paul was known far and wide...

…as breathing threats against the Church.

But, then he encountered Jesus...

…lost the battle...

…Submitted to his Lordship...

…and began proclaiming His name far and wide...

…to the great amazement of all who knew him before!

It appears that a similar scene is being painted here.

And Luke tells us, that:

...he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

Before it was “how much “God” has done for you”

Mark records it like this:

Mark 5:19–20 (ESV)

19 . . . “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”

20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.

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And, that’s how it works.

It’s inevitable.

-Now, I’m going to finish by reading two more commentaries...

…both of which, make the same application for us.

One, in inspiring Old-English...

The other in deeply convicting cornbread!

The first is from Calvin:

We must now add the symbolical meaning.

In the person of one man, Christ has exhibited to us a proof of his grace, which is extended to all mankind.

Though we are not tortured by the devil, yet he holds us as his slaves, till the Son of God delivers us from his tyranny.

Naked, torn, and disfigured, we wander about, till he restores us to soundness of mind.

It remains that, in magnifying his grace, we testify our gratitude. — Calvin

Philip Ryken puts that in cornbread for us:

God has forgiven all our sins—even the dark and secret misdeeds that no one else knows about, and that we are almost afraid to admit to ourselves.

He has done this through the cross, where Jesus died for our sins, and in the empty tomb, where Jesus was raised to give us eternal life.

God has covered us with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, so that we are no longer naked in our guilt.

He has put us into our right mind, so that we know who we really are, and who God really is.

He has settled us down to listen to his word.

He has given us a saving relationship with his Son.

This is how much Jesus has done for us, even if we sometimes forget. If this is what Jesus has done for us, then we need to tell people about it, so that he can do the same thing for them. — Philip Ryken

And, to that, I’ll only add an “AMEN”

Let’s Pray