Bacon in the Water

Luke 8:26–39 ESV

Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 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. 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.” 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.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 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. 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. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 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. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. 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. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “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.

Introduction:

What if you lived with a computer glitch that made your computer or phone screen turn upside down? Eventually you would just have to use it that way. I know it sounds absurd but go with me on this. When it first happened, you would crave having a reset. You’re world would be lived upside down. In today’s passage Jesus comes to a place where some people are living upside down and He resets it upright. Sometimes your life may feel like a wild mess, but Jesus comes in, as the one with authority over the spiritual realm and restores order. Even in our confusion, Jesus can provide clarity, peace, and a reset that truly sets things right.

When all you know is a world upside down and it gets set right, it feels scary and different.

We’re going to look at what the effects are of Jesus wielding this power and what it means for our lives.

I. A possessed man falls down before Jesus.

They arrive on shore and when Jesus hits the land this wild man comes and meets them. This guy is described as “having demons”.

What do we know about this guy?

He was naked.

He didn’t live in a house but lived among the tombs which were out away from the town. (Explain)

He was isolated.

The unclean spirits living inside the man would speak through him.

He’d been bound by the people with chains and shackles to hold him but he would break out of them and the spirits would drive them out into the desert.

He was in a terrible state. This is what our sin does to us. It exposes us and leaves us naked in guilt. It keeps us apart from each other and we become lonely. It gives us violent attitudes and sometimes that leads to actions. In a spiritual way, it can be said that we walk among the dead. This man’s state shows us how wretched our condition is without Jesus Christ.

II. Believe that Jesus has power over the spiritual realm.

Anytime we come to a passage that contains demonic activity, it’s good to think a bit about the two errors that people make about demons.

1. Minimizing them or denying their existence.

2. Exaggerating their importance as if every sin or hardship is the outcome of direct demonic activity. People stop taking responsibility for their own actions and they get an excuse for the depravity of their own heart.

So let’s be balanced in how we view demonic activity. The Bible is balanced on this. Let’s be biblical people.

Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Now right away we have Jesus asserting the authority He has to cast these demons out.

They are terrified of Jesus.

In fact, the response of the demons in the man is to actually say something that answers the question that the disciples had posed at the end of the last passage.

Remember in verse 25 after Jesus calmed the storm?

Here the demons tormenting this man answer that question by declaring Jesus as Son of the Most High God.

Jesus asks their name.

Legion - (this is thousands)

o This displays the amazing power of God in Jesus that He casts out that many spirits in one fell swoop.

The Abyss - the place of the dead, the bottomless pit where Satan will be condemened.

Revelation 20:1–3 ESV

Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while.

They had to be given permission to go into the pigs.

Bertrand Russell - When people don’t understand what is going on here and when the world would make the lives of pigs more important than the saving of the tormented human.

III. Don’t let your fear keep you from Jesus. (V. 34-37).

Gentiles

Herdsmen lost income

Maybe fear of losing more

Reasons why people may want Jesus to leave them alone

Fear of loss, etc.

The previously mad and possessed man was sitting there in his right mind and clothed.

They recognize that Jesus has an unusual power that they have not seen before. He’s different than anything they have encountered.

IV. Declare how much God has done for you.

The man is so thankful for Jesus setting him free from these thousands of demons that he wants to go along with Jesus but Jesus sends him away.

Jesus gives the man a command and mission. He went from no real purpose to having a goal - telling others beginning with his family, about Jesus. Jesus sends us to others with the message about the freedom that He offers.

Allows the gospel to be preached to the gentiles

Luke’s interest in this

Conclusion and Application

- The man had been:

Mad

Roaming

Destructive

Naked

Now he was set free:

In his right mind

Clothed

Setting at the feet of Jesus

From begging not to be sent to the abyss to sitting and learning at the feet of Jesus.

Look at the demons. They mean only harm to the man. They want him naked, alienated, isolated, homeless, and scorned. Jesus frees him and makes it possible for him to go back to his family with the message about Jesus.

You and I can not defeat the powers of hell in our strength. Only by trusting in this Jesus who according to I Corinthians 15:25,

1 Corinthians 15:25 ESV

For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet.

This is the Jesus who showed His ultimate victory by willingly giving His life on the cross for our sin as a substitute for us. He died as a sacrifice for our sin and victoriously rose from the grave three days later to prove that what He said was true and that the payment for sin was complete. He defeated death and hell for all time and now we wait for the glorious culmination to come when all will be set right. This is the Jesus we remember as we turn to the Lord’s table.

Transition to Lord’s Supper Time

Fencing

This sacred time at the Lord’s Table is for believers who have rested all their hope on the death and resurrection of Christ. If you are not yet a believer, you should refrain from partaking until you come to faith in Christ—and then joyfully partake along with the body of Christ. We encourage those of you who are believers to examine your hearts, so that you can partake in a worthy manner. If your heart is harboring unrepentant sin, refrain until you can come freely to partake. As the bread and the cup are served, we ask that you hold them, so that we all partake together.

1 Corinthians 11:27–33 ESV

Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned along with the world. So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for one another—

DISTRIBUTE THE ELEMENTS

The Bread

I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (1 Cor. 11:23–24)

Prayer for the Bread

Christ Jesus, when you came into the world, you said to the Father: “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.” Then you said, “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book” (Heb. 10:5–7). You came in the incarnation, and by a single offering of your body on the cross you achieved what all the offerings on Jewish altars could never accomplish—the complete forgiveness of our sins. Bread of Heaven, as we now partake of the symbol, ravish our hearts and refresh our souls. Amen.

Partaking of the Bread

Jesus said: “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me” (1 Cor. 11:24b).

Silence

The Cup

In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (1 Cor. 11:25)

Prayer for the Cup

Our gracious God, we thank you this day for the new covenant, the covenant sealed through the blood of Jesus Christ, your Son. And we drink this cup in remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice for our sins, asking him even now, through the Spirit, to commune with us as we commune with each other. With grateful hearts, O Christ, we drink of you and to you. Amen.

Partaking of the Cup

Jesus said, “Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me” (1 Cor. 11:25b).

Silence