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.
Throughout the gospel narratives we find Jesus dealing with adversaries. Of course, there were the religious leaders of his day who opposed him. His own disciples
were struggling with their own fears and faith. Even in the passage right before this one when Jesus calms the storm, we conclude with the disciples wondering, “Who is this, that he commands even winds and water and they obey him?” (8:25) We also see
Jesus confront the spiritual powers of darkness as we have this morning. A few interesting aspects of this encounter to take note of.
First, the demons seem to be able to answer the disciples’ question of 8:25. They know perfectly well who He is and they even know what He is going to do with them!
The man, filled with demons, for their name was Legion, comes and bows to the feet of Jesus. The demons recognize Jesus’ authority and submit to Him. The demons called him by name, “Jesus, Son of the Most High God”. And they also knew that Jesus
has the power to torment them! (28) When they asked to be sent into the pigs, Jesus had to give them permission.
The bible doesn’t tell us much about demons and their realm. We have to admit that this is clouded with much mystery. But the Bible is clear that there is evil in
the world, much of it, comes from the hands of men, but some of it is even too vicious and too inhuman to be completely explained by the corruption of the human heart. There is a demonic world that serves the one mind of evil seeking to maximize pain and wound
to God. The book of the Revelation tells us that Satan was enraged at the resurrection of Jesus and turned his evil and hatred to those who are followers of Jesus. Satan has declared war on the church! (Rev.12:17)
While the demons recognize that Jesus has authority to destroy them, don’t make the mistake of thinking that they are therefore sorry for what they are and what they
do. People make the same mistake when imagining hell. For some reason they imagine that the folks there are sorry for what they have done. They wish they could repent, but they simply are afforded the opportunity. As one put it, “I’ll tell you what hell
is: it is this man and his life among the tombs before the Lord delivered him. No friends, no love, no purpose.”
People complain about the biblical teaching of hell because they can’t imagine themselves or their friends, nice enough folks as folks go, being punished there. In
fact, many commentaries of a more critical nature will make more of a stink over the pigs and their destruction than the fact that a man was enslaved to evil and set free from demons!
The demons aren’t sorry. They don’t repent and wish they could go back and live their lives again, this time giving glory to God. They have no such thoughts. They
are rebels against God and will remain so forever.
Second, did you notice at the end the man is told to go and tell all that God had done for him. And he did just that, he went and told everything that JESUS had done
for him. To say that God had been merciful to him, and to say that Jesus had been merciful to him is to say the same thing. Even the demons recognized that! This gives us some insight into why the Apostle James would later write: “You believe that God is
one; you do well. Even the demons believe, and shudder.”
Third, the response of the people to Jesus freeing this man is of note as well. Were they excited for him? No, they were afraid. Other gospel writers included that
they asked Jesus to leave. They were terrified of a power and authority they had never experienced…the evidence of the man sitting in his right mind, right before them!
As with demons, we get little teaching in the Bible about their ‘realm’ or hell itself. We are told of such a place; we are told that it is a place of eternal punishment.
Other than that we get descriptions that we can understand but only in part. For example, this man of the Gerasenes and how he lived when filled with demons, is descriptive but only to a point. He was utterly isolated and alone. Hell has often been described
as the absence of God, but it is also the absence of other people. That is the point CS Lewis was making when he said that he imagined that in hell the houses will grow further and further apart.
Listen to this commentator: This man’s life was pointless. The only thing that he could find to do was to make life miserable for others. No one could control him,
but he couldn’t control anyone else either. His life was utterly futile. He lived in the realm of the dead, found himself comfortable only among the tombs. When evil and when an anti-God state of mind takes possession of a human life that is what it becomes:
utterly lonely and isolated, miserable, pointless, and despairing. And that, the Bible says, is what everyone’s life will be who is not delivered by Jesus Christ from the influence and power of evil. Demons may be utterly powerless before Jesus Christ, but
human beings are utterly powerless before them.
It is not so hard to imagine, really. Think of all of your own sin…who you are at your worst. Think of all that rises up in you that you have to attack furiously:
the selfishness, cruelty, and all that is genuinely hateful. What if that is all you were, all the time? What if all of that, instead of being curbed by the Holy Spirit or even the disciplines that are common to man, was given full realm to grow and gain momentum?
People would lose sympathy for you quickly. They would not tolerate your company. They would want to be rid of you, for the grief, sorrow and pain you were constantly causing others. That would be but the beginnings of the bondage to evil that can be found
in every human being.
I have met only a couple of people in my life, both of whom were in jail, in whom I saw this bondage. They had caused untold pain and reveled in it. They truly had
no conscience or care. The other inmates stayed clear of them, and wanted nothing to do with them. Hatred had destroyed their ability to care, to feel or think there was anything beyond themselves. That is but the beginning of a description of what hell is
and more frightening, if left to ourselves, we could all become that as well.
The villagers are more akin to most folks, but beware! They would rather Jesus just leave them alone…go away. The frightening thing is…that He did. But if Jesus leaves
you alone, the day is coming when what you were at your worst, is all that you will ever be; Petty, jealous, cruel, thoughtless, vindictive, profane and utterly selfish.
Look at the man delivered. Look at what he was, but take a long look at what he became. Jesus delivered him from evil, took him from a life of isolation and darkness
and brought him to a happy, calm and peaceful life of sitting at the feet of Christ. Those are the two destinies of literally, everyone. Folks can send Jesus away and, in the end, He will send them away. Or they can beg to be delivered and find peace in the
presence of God, proclaiming what God has done for them…but only Jesus can do that.
Prayer: Father, I confess that I do not see evil as You do, nor think of my sin to be as wicked as You proclaim it to be. I too easily make peace with the sin of
my heart and seek to domesticate it. Give me eyes to see where every sin desires to take me, and in the power of the Spirit of God, may I mortify it and walk in the truth and blessedness of Jesus, my Redeemer, my Friend and my God! In His name I pray, Amen.
Hymn: A Mighty Fortress
