Untitled Sermon

In order to be a servant, we must evangelize

The context surrounding the passage we are studying today is Jesus calming the storm.The disciples and Jesus are on a boat in the middle of the sea of Galilee. Jesus falls asleep, and a windstorm came upon the sea. The boat began being filled with water and they thought they were going to die. The disciples woke Jesus up and told him that they were basically going to die. Jesus woke up and rebuked the winds and waves, and they ceased. Jesus asks them where their faith is, and the disciples marveled at the power Jesus has over even the wind and waves.

Jesus and the 12 are now in Gentile territory.

Servants have experienced the powerful saving Jesus.

vs 27 and 35: The Demoniac man: B4

For a long time had not worn clothes.

Lived among tombs and not a house

The Demoniac Man: After

Clothed and in his right mind

Now is at the feet of Jesus

The man is now sitting at the feet of Jesus, instead of roaming around aimlessly among the tombs. He was “clothed” instead of naked. He was in his right mind. He was alert, laughing, and even devout. What a testimony to the power of Jesus Christ! His contest with the demons, was almost farcical! With a word, the illegitimate swine plunged to their death, and the demons were howling their misery in an incorporeal existence in an Abyss.

So whats the point:

I think many of us today are following a watered down Jesus. Take this soda for example. I can drink this and it tastes good, but the second i start adding water too it, it becomes weaker and loses its flavor. I think we are following a Jesus that has lost his flavor. What I mean by this is that we go to church, and we go to a christian school, and our parents are saved, and we have forgotten that we are actually in need of a savior. We think we are good enough without the Almighty Jesus Christ changing our life.

So my question is this: What is it going to take for you to get over yourself so that you can experience the Jesus, who wants to have a relationship with you, that can calm the wind and waves, and cast out demons in a blink of an eye? Jesus is not just your friend, he is seated on the throne and reigning. Listen, conviction is a good thing, and we run away from conviction. Conviction reveals to us areas of our life where we need to grow so that we can become more like Christ. If you are sinning, and you are not feeling convicted, man I beg you to check your heart. If you are feeling convicted, do what the 180 week design implies…Repent of your sins, and refuse to keep going back to them. We have to get to the place where we hate our sin, where we hate complacency, and we are willing to go to work and be uncomfortable for Jesus. Are you, like the demon possessed man, going to receive the saving power of Jesus in your life? The man was alone, naked, and lived among tombs, and now he is clothed, saved, not abandoned, and at the feet of Jesus. The ball is in your court. It is your decision whether or not you are going to follow.

Servants do not turn their backs on Jesus and ask him to go away (34-37)

English Standard Version Chapter 8

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.

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.

Discuss the people of the city asking Jesus to leave because they were mad that he destroyed a large chunk of their economy, and completely missed that Jesus just saved the man who was demon possessed. They asked the Savior of the World to leave them because they 1. Just took an economic hit, and 2. one commentator suggests that what if they realized that having this Jesus guy who can heal the man possessed by Legion might require life change of them as well, so instead of receiving the Savior they asked him to leave.

Servants go and Tell people about what Jesus has done in their life.

vs 38-39

The man who has been healed comes up to Jesus and begs Jesus to let him stay with him. This word “begged” in Greek means to plead. The man begged and pleaded to stay with him, but Jesus denied this request. Instead Jesus told him to Return to the people who just rejected Him, and he tells him to Declare how much God has done for him. This word declare in the Greek means “To tell fully.” Jesus tells this man to go and tell everyone of the full effect of His saving work in his life. This is also a command. If we continue reading, we see that this guy went away Proclaiming throughout the whole city what Jesus had done for him.

So what?

Listen, when Jesus shows up and changes your life, you gotta tell people. You can tell people by the way you act, the way you love one another, the way you show kindness to EVERYONE, but you are also commanded to tell. The thing about going and declaring the name of Jesus, is that you have to 1) be in love with him and 2) you have to have a view of Jesus that he is so much greater than you, and without him you can do nothing. With that perspective, you will rely fully on Him and not yourself. He is a loving savior, but he is the same guy who defeated death. We serve a mighty God who chooses to love us. This us why we are commanded to declare what Jesus has done.

I want to point out one more thing: Throughout this whole story, we never figure out the guys name who was healed. We see Jesus’ name, we see his power over the demon “Legion,” and that is it. I think the reason why is that this story is not about the guy…it is about the glory of Jesus Christ. “He must increase; I must decrease” is what John the Baptist said.

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“declare” means to tell fully. This is also a command Jesus is giving.

“Proclaiming” means to tell or announce publicly.

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