The One With Power

Introduction

Good morning I want to invite to open in your Bibles to Luke 8:26-39 that is Luke 8:26-39. That is on page 813 if you are using a Bible that is scattered throughout the chairs. That is page 813 and we are looking at Luke 8:26-29.

Change is hard. It is difficult to change policy in a government, to change culture in a company, to change a habit. Sometimes change is thrust upon us through a move, a new job, a medical diagnoses, and unplanned pregnancy. Sometimes we see change coming as our little ones start the school year, go off to college, get married. And as Christians we are living in a constant state of change as we are being transformed into the image of Christ from on degree of glory to another until one day we shall see him face to face. This means you and I are always living in a state of transformation or change. And here is what I know about change, it require energy. It requires power.

In today’s text we will read about a man who was possessed by many demons. He will encounter Jesus, and by the power of Jesus’ word this man will change. He come sit at the feet of Jesus and be in his right mind. He will go and tell others about the great things that Jesus Christ has done for him. He will transform, he like you and I will be changed by the power of Jesus. As you encounter life’s various changes, I pray that you would know that in Christ you will have the power, the energy to faithfully walk through each of life’s changes. Let’s read Luke 8:26-39.

Power for the Powerless v. 26-30

After calming a storm on the sea of Galilee, which was last week’s text and the passage right before this, Jesus and his disciples head to the country of the Gerasenes, which is heavily gentile region. A gentile in the Bible is simply, anyone who is not Jewish. I would be a gentile, probably most of you would be gentiles. Jesus, a Jewish Rabbi, braves a storm in order to go a people are unlike him. They are a people who have in many ways be declared as unclean. They are not seen as God’s people. And when Jesus gets to this place he is met by perhaps the most unclean man in this region.

He comes to the shore a man from the city, who had a demon for a long time and wore no clothes meets him. This man barely lives like a man as he is treated more like an animal than a man. He is naked, he wears clothes. He is homeless. Instead of dwelling among other living people in the city he instead chooses to live among the dead, in a cemetery. What does that say, about how this man views himself or about how others view him. He is more comfortable in a cemetery than a house. He is considered dangerous and for good reason because often times the people chain him up and shackle him. Yet, he would break the bonds and the demon would drive him into the desert, or the wilderness. Again, this is were wild animals live. Civilized men do not live in the wilderness. When is asked his name, he instead gives the name of the demon or demons saying, “Legion” for many demons had entered him.

When satan has his way with you, we lose our humanity. We become powerless against our most base desires. This man is in desperate need of a power that supersedes his own power. He needs something or someone who is more powerful than the demons that dwell within him. And yet, ironically as this man encounters the one who has that power he cries out, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” This is ironic, because the very one who will set him free, is the one that he begs would not torment him.

This is interesting indeed because the man is credited with speaking with Jesus until verse 31. At verse 31 Luke states that the demons are speaking with Jesus. Yet, the man is saying things that only demons have said as he calls Jesus the Son of the Most High God. Throughout the book of Luke Jesus is casting out demons. And he has to silence them because they are declaring the secret of the kingdom of God. We discussed this last week, but the secret of the kingdom of God is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, come to save his people from this sin. All who believe in him, including gentiles like this man, can enter into the kingdom through faith in Jesus. Jesus is revealing this secret slowly, but the demons keep attempting to spoil it.

So, who is speaking the man or the demons? I want to suggest it is both. In the Bible, demon possession seems to intersect with the will or the desires of the possessed. Now, we don’t always have all of the information about this, and maybe it is as clear in every situation. But, I do want to say, no one should not fear demon possession as if you have no say in the matter. Satan and his hordes work with what they have. They are not all powerful like God is all powerful. Rather they tempt us with the things we already have a sinful affection for.

1 Peter 5:8–9 tells, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” Peter tells us to resist devil, because in Christ we can do just that. Satan prowls like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. He is a hunter, and like a good hunter he will use the bait that best fits the prey.

In this text we see that the man and the demons, in a sense, have become one. We don’t what his vice was, we don’t exactly how this came to be, but we know that it is possible to resist the devil. We know that the devil must use the sin that already dwells within us. And the sin dwells in each of us is powerful. It can feel as if you and are powerless against our temptations. We can feel like the devil’s hold over us is too much. That obedience is just not possible. However, Paul tells in 1 Corinthians 10:13 “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”

Jesus does not come to torment us, rather he comes to set us free. He is faithful. There is always a way of escape, and Jesus is set on helping this man escape these demons as a means to display his power over all.

Power Over All v. 30-33

Jesus continues to speak to this man and he asks the man his name. He replies and tells Jesus his name is Legion, because the demons were many. A Legion is a Roman military term which referred to a unit of 5 to 6 thousand soldiers. In Mark’s account of this same story we are told that the pigs numbered over 2,000. Now, I have no idea how many demons can git in a pig or if there were 5,000 demons in this man. What we know, is that there were many demons in him. This is not a fair fight. It is not one on one Jesus against a demon. Rather, it is Jesus against many demons, and the demons know that this is not a fair fight for them. They immediately start to beg with Jesus. They beg him not to throw them into the abyss. I believe they are referring to their future and final destination which we read about in Revelation 20:10 “and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

Jesus will one day cast all evil and evildoers into hell. A place of eternal punishment. You will not be sent to hell to be tortured by Satan. People who do not follow Jesus will be sent to hell and be tormented forever with Satan. Jesus will defeat all evil, including the devil. His power extends beyond all that we can imagine. This army of demons immediately starts to negotiate terms of surrender when they meet Jesus on the shore. They know they have no chance, and they fear hell. They fear hell so much that they beg to sent into a herd of pigs, which they immediately drive to their deaths as they run over a steep band into the lake to be drowned. Hell is to be feared. It is better to drown to death in the body of pig, than be sent to the torment of hell.

I don’t know what happens to the demons after this, the text does not tell us. But it does tell us that they fear Jesus and they fear his judgement. Friend, if you are here to apart from Christ then you must know that hell is real. Perhaps you don’t like the I’m talking about it, you feel like it is a cheap shot, but it is real. It will last forever, and not even Satan and his demons want will want to be there.

You must be like the demons and recognize that Jesus is the Son of the Most High God. He will judge the living and the dead, and he is telling you to run for your life. But he has something for you, that is so much better than pigs and death. That’s for the demons. For you and for me and for this man, Jesus did something that is incredible. He died in our place. Instead of sentencing you to death, he endured death for you. In Him, you have a way not to just avoid hell, but to enjoy heaven. This is what God has done for you in Jesus: John 3:16–18 ““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

Escape hell today! Put your faith in Jesus, know the love of God who gave his only Son so that you may not perish, but have eternal life.

T/S- You see, you and I will have to decide who we will be like from the passage. We will be like the man healed by Jesus or like the crowds who fear Jesus.

Power to be Feared v. 34-37

Luke 8:34–37 “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.”

Jesus’ display of power scares the people of the surrounding area. Now, this is a common theme in the book of Luke. When people encounter the power of God, they are afraid. In Luke 1 Zechariah, a priest, sees an angel and he is gripped with fear. Mary, the mother of Jesus, sees an angel and she is greatly troubled, and the angel tells her not be afraid. In Luke 7 we read of Jesus raising the widows son from the dead. In verse 16 we read, Luke 7:16 “Fear seized them all… and in the passage right before this the disciples are afraid of a storm, Jesus calms the storm with his words and then they marvel at Jesus are afraid. And in this text the people at first fear the demon possessed man. They chain him up. Yet, not that they see that Jesus has healed him the fear Jesus.

In Luke, we see there are two types of fear. A fear that leads to awe and marveling at Jesus like the disciples. A fear that leads you to sit at his feet and desire to follow him like this man. And a fear that makes you want to get far away from Jesus. A fear that is just outright fear. They are not in awe of Jesus, they are afraid of Jesus. So, they ask him to leave. And these are your choices today. Either you will read these text and see that Jesus is Lord and you will respond in awe of him. You will want to follow him, or you will read these text and fear Jesus. You will reject him and run away from him.

I beg you, run toward Jesus. Don’t run away from him. You see I think we fear Jesus and want to run away from him because we know that change is hard. These people look at the man who is clothed in his right mind, and they know that if you follow Jesus he will change them too. And change is hard. Change is scary. We are tormented by our sin. And yet, we still like it. Change is painful, but it is worth it.

In C.S. Lewis book “The Great Divorce” he tells of a man who has a lizard on his shoulder. The lizard represents the lust of his flesh. The man is standing before an angel of God and the angel tells him. “I can kill it. But you have to let me.” The angel tells him, “I will kill the lizard but I won’t kill you.” As the angel moves closer to the lizard the lizard begins to whisper in the man’s ear. He starts to tempt him. The angel stops, “I can kill it, but you have to let me do it.” The man says, “Oh, take it away!” As the angel moves closer the man begins to scream in pain. He yells, “You said no harm would come to me!” It hurts!” The angel replies, “I never said it would not hurt. I said that it would not kill you.” “I can kill it, but you have to let me.” The man cries out in pain, “Kill it! Kill it!” The angel grabs the lizard in his hands and wrings its neck and kills it. The lizard then resurrects. He raises from the dead and transforms into a great and beautiful stallion. The man then rides the stallion into the mountains.

Lewis explains that when we allow our sin to be killed it is only then they can be resurrected and used for God’s purposes. In this case the man had a great passion for sensuality. But when they passion was killed and raised again it became a greater passion for the Lord. It was painful, but worth it. Why do fear Jesus touch in your life? What passions, fears, worries, envies, need to be killed and resurrected. Are you willing to let him do the work?

Will see the power of Jesus and allow him to work his power in you? Even if it is scary. Or will you ask him to leave you alone. I hope you choose to let him change you. Because when you change for Christ something amazing will happen as he takes a sinner like you and sends him into the world to declare his good works.

Power to Send v. 38-39

Luke 8:38–39 “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.”

The man who was healed by Jesus begs to be with Jesus. I hope you are starting to see what kind of person that Jesus is. He takes the sinful woman from the Pharisee’s party and raises her up as an example of worship. And now he takes a demon-possessed man. He was homeless, naked, chain up, preferred the desert and the tombs and now he is clothed, in his right mind, and instead of being driven to the wilderness he is driven into the city. He use to run away from people. And now he is running toward them.

What changed? He was no longer living for himself being controlled by demons. Now he is living for Jesus and he is controlled by the word of Jesus. He wants to be with Jesus. But Jesus sends him away to declare how much God has done for you. Now watch closely what Luke does. He is revealing the secret, “And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.” Luke is signalling to us, that Jesus is God. He is the God who has done great things for this demon possessed man. He is the God who did great things for the sinful woman who loved him much because she was forgiven much. He has done great things for the disciples as Peter is amazed at the great catch of fish they had in Luke 5. He has done great things for the women who accompany him and provide for his ministry out of their means. Has he done great things for you? Were you once far from God, a sinner who now been forgiven of much. Will you go and proclaim throughout the whole city how much Jesus has done for you?

Jesus takes sinners like us, and sends them out into the world so that many might come to know Him.

Conclusion

Telling others about Jesus and changing have this in common. They are both scary. It is hard and scary to change and it is hard and scary to tell others about that change. However, this is what we are called to do as Christians. God has called us to change. He has determined that we are to be more and more like him over time. We are called to resist the devil and follow Jesus. And we are called to tell others about all that the Lord has done for us. These things are scary, but can do these things because God lives in us. Romans 8:11 “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

Wherever you need life, God will provide it. The same spirit that raised Christ from the dead is the same spirit that dwells in us. You are able to change and you are able to tell others about God because Jesus is powerful. And his spirit of power lives in you. Let’s pray.