Trustworthy Witnesses

6.21.25 [Luke 8:26-39] River of Life (2nd Sunday after Pentecost)

I still remember getting my first Bible. I was probably seven or eight years old. It had a red cover and something inside that set it apart from any of the Bibles I had ever seen before. It had illustrations. 

There weren’t illustrations for every story, but there were a few and they were—as  far as I can remember—very vivid. It included the standards you’d expect. Adam and Eve. Noah’s ark. David and Goliath. Daniel and the lions’ den. But there was one that was permanently etched in my mind. 

There was this ferocious and shadowy figure filling up the foreground. You couldn’t see his face. I didn’t read comics as a kid, but what he really looked like was the Incredible Hulk—except he wasn’t green and he wasn’t wearing purple pants. The only thing he was wearing were shackles on his wrists and ankles, but they weren’t attached to anything. His hair was wild and unkempt and there were broken headstones at his feet. He was a bloody mess. It wasn’t a terrifying image. But it was unsettling. It was strange. Though this hulking figure dominated most of this scene’s real estate, he wasn’t the focal point. In the background, in the sun’s light, was a boat. And there was a man who looked like he was a tenth the size of this scary guy. He was wearing a white robe with a red sash. He had a short beard and he was walking towards this terrifying sight. And he didn’t seem scared. 

I don’t have that Bible anymore, but that image remains. It’s the same scene that we read from Luke 8 today. It is a strange scene, isn't it? The whole account is the story of strange power. 

Immediately after calming a storm on the Sea of Galilee, Jesus and his disciples sailed to the other side—to a region known as the Gerasenes, an area that was so Roman, so Gentile, that it wasn’t even considered part of Israel’s territory. Lk. 8:27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was immediately greeted by a strange individual: a man who had once lived in town, but had not been among civilized society for a long time. He was enslaved by an evil spirit. These dark powers seized him many times and unleashed their strange, destructive power. Shackles and chains and even guards could not restrain him. 

Lk. 8:27 For a long time, this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but lived in and among the tombs. The townsfolk were likely terrified of him. So when the demon Lk. 8:29 drove him to solitary places, they figured that was the best case scenario.  

You can imagine the kinds of terrifying stories the people told about him. Whatever the rumors were, the truth was worse. 

But when Jesus stepped ashore, the man who could not be restrained, the man who struck fear in the hearts of everyone in the region, the man who preferred desolate and deathly places, came to him. Lk. 8:28 He fell at Jesus’ feet. Lk. 8:28 He cried out at the top of his lungs. Lk. 8:28 What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!  

It’s unsettling, isn't it? The demonic realm is already frightening enough, but here the demon speaks and recognizes Jesus! In other situations, Jesus Mk. 1:34 does not let the demons speak or he sternly tells them to Mk. 1:25 Be quiet! But this time, the demons have as much dialogue as Jesus. They have a name. There are Lk. 8:30 many of them. But whatever strength they might have in numbers, they know they’re no match for the Son of the Most High God. In fact, Lk. 8:31 the demons begged Jesus repeatedly to not order them to go into the Abyss, the place where God confines Rev. 20:1ff all evil spirits. Three times, we’re told the demons beg Jesus. Lk. 8:28 Don’t torture us. Lk. 8:31 Don’t send us into the Abyss before the appointed time. Lk. 8:32 Please let us go into the pigs.

And for reasons that aren’t immediately apparent, Jesus agrees to the pleas of the demons. Lk. 8:32 He gives them permission. And as soon as they leave the man and Lk. 8:33 go into the pigs, the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. 

When word gets back into town about what had just happened, and the people see with their own eyes the man who had terrorized their tombs, they’re terrified of the guy who saved him. Lk. 8:37 All the people of the region asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear.

A strange story like this makes our minds race. You probably have a dozen questions about what and why and how. And some of them have answers. But not all. This account is a grisly scene of what evil is and isn’t capable of. What dark, demonic powers do. 

Look at this man. He’s out of his mind. He’s naked and alone. He’s living in the tombs and Mk. 5:5 night and day, he would cry out and cut himself with stones. He’s killing himself. Why does the Lord want us to see this unsettling sight? Because he wants us to know that this is where evil always and ultimately leads. 

Temptation seems harmless. Fun, even. It seems like the kind of thing that we can dabble with and enjoy in a restrained way. But the Bible warns us sternly. James 1:14-15 When a person is tempted, they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin and when it is full-grown, it gives birth to death. Temptation is like a lion cub. It can appear cute and cuddly. The thrill is part of the appeal. And you convince yourself that you’ll always be in control. It’s just a little sin. Just a cheap thrill that you can put back in its cage if it starts any trouble. But sin has a voracious appetite and eventually it will devour and destroy its host—you! 

You know that sin does to you exactly what these demons did to this man. Sin seizes you. You may think you have sin under control, but it breaks whatever chains or guards or lines you’ve made. Sin makes you think and say and do crazy things. Sin twists the way you look at life around you. It makes you distrust everyone else, even when they love you. Sin drags you away from where God wants you to be. It leaves you broken and ashamed and feeling like you’re all alone—like no one else would ever understand or love you again. And sin wants to alter your identity so that you see yourself as the wickedness you do. And when you try to get rid of your sin, it begs for another way to act out. It has a scary, strange power. 

But this scary, strange power cowers in the sight of our Savior God. Though it wants nothing to do with Jesus, Jesus wants everything to do with it. So he confronts it head-on, just as he did these demons. 

The very same reason he went to the region of the Gerasenes was the same reason Jesus took on flesh and blood and stepped upon the soil of this earth. He saw the devastation of wickedness upon this world and specifically upon the souls of mankind. 

So Jesus, the Son of the Most High God, came to earth to defeat all of evil. He came to put sin in its place—in the heart of the sea. He came to destroy sin’s retirement plan: death. He came to crush sin’s CEO—the Devil. He came to set people who had been enslaved by sin for a long time free from sin’s dominion. 

And that is what Jesus accomplished through his righteous life, his innocent death, and his powerful resurrection. Sin no longer has mastery over us. Death no longer has any power over us and the Devil no longer has a case against us. Jesus illustrated his power over sin, death, and the devil in a strange way in this account. Why did he give the demons permission to go into the pigs?

For one, it is a picture of how God deals with sin and wickedness. Here’s what the prophet Micah says: Micah 7:18 Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. 19 You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. 20 You will be faithful to Jacob, and show love to Abraham, as you pledged on oath to our ancestors in days long ago. Jesus hurled our iniquities into the depths of the seas because he has compassion on us. He gave these demons permission to go into the pigs because he loved this terrifying lost man. His life was worth more than two thousand pigs. Yours is too. 

But there’s a second reason. It wasn’t just an illustration. It was a conversation starter. It got all the people in town talking. Their conclusion was that Jesus was too expensive to have in town. So they begged Jesus to leave. And he agreed. 

And as he was leaving, the man he saved wanted to go with him. But, curiously, this is the one request in this text Jesus refused. Lk. 8:39 Return home, and tell how much God has done for you. The pigs rushing to their death served as a great warning to all sinners. And it made the good news of deliverance all the more impressive. Jesus had power over that kind of evil. When he spoke, evil ran away in fear. 

So that man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him. And it had a tremendous impact on his town. Thirty years later, when Jerusalem is burning to the ground and the Temple is being ransacked by the Romans, the apostles and other believers fled to this region for safety. For the next five hundred years, this heavily Gentile area, became a hotbed for Christianity. In fact, archaeologists are still unearthing neighborhood churches that popped up in the region of the Decapolis. How did this happen? 

Because one man, who had been enslaved by evil beyond his own might, was redeemed and told his story. He was pursued and reclaimed by his Savior. His shame was taken away. His sins were atoned for. His mind had been renewed. His heart and spirit were restored. And he told everyone how much Jesus had done for him. 

You are called to do the same. Not to give a systematic presentation of all the doctrines of Scripture to everyone you meet. It is good to be clear about what the Bible teaches. But do not let your insecurities about getting every little detail right prompt you to remain silent about all that Jesus has done for you. If Jesus had wanted to, he could have stayed and taught there for some time. He could have left a disciple or two to tutor the man. But he didn’t. What he had done was enough to point the people all over town in the right direction. And so it is with you and me. 

We are on the precipice of moving to a new town. You may wish that you could instead go with Jesus. But he bids you to go and tell how much God has done for you. So Go. Tell the town how Jesus had compassion on you. Tell the town how God loved you even when you were unlovable. Tell the town how your Savior stood by your side even when you were two-faced and faithless. Tell the town how Jesus hurled your sins into the depths of the seas and clothed you with the robes of his righteousness. Tell the town how God’s Holy Spirit renewed your mind and restored his Spirit within you. Tell the town how much you long to be with Jesus—and what he can do for them. Tell the town what the Son of the Most High God did for you. 

Now that sounds intimidating. Being so vulnerable with strangers is not the kind of thrill we seek. But remember who is with you. The same God who speaks and banishes a legion of demons. The God who saved you will strengthen you for this task. 

And practice. Join us this fall for Bible Breakfast club. On Saturday mornings, we practice telling single details from someone else’s story to people we already know from church. It’s not some silly exercise. It’s equipping you to speak about what God has done for others and then for you so that many more enslaved souls might be set free. That’s what God has called us to do. May he bless and keep us as we keep on telling others how much Jesus has done. Amen.