Luke 8:26-39
The exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac
1 “Away from us!” the demon cried
When Christ, the Lord, drew near.
“Our dark, disordered world is lost
When You, the Light, appear!”
2 But Jesus spoke with God’s
own pow’r;
“Come forth!” was His command;
For evil cannot bear the Light
Nor sin the Truth withstand.
3 O risen Christ, God’s living
Word,
To us, we pray, draw near.
Come, speak the truth that cleanses sin
With love that conquers fear.
4 Drive out the doubt that
cripples faith;
Expel our pride and greed
That we, from pow’rs that threaten us,
May, by Your grace, be freed.
5 Then help us, Lord, to greet
each day
With hearts and wills made new
And, when You call us forth to serve,
To rise and follow You.[2]
A sick and suffering slave. Next,
a dead man. Followed by a prostitute. Now, today, a lunatic controlled by demon
possession. Luke piles one story on top
of another showing how Jesus is willing to inclu9de those who are seen as
contaminated and corrupted. They are the unclean.
“Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes which is opposite
Galilee.” This is the only account
in Luke where Jesus travels to Gentile territory. “When Jesus had stepped out on land, there me 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.”
This nameless man had been exiled
to the margins of human existence. He’s filthy. Naked in public. He can’t
control his speech. He’s so violent that people can’t come near him. All
attempts to restrain him have failed. He exhibits the most common form of self-
harm even today; self-mutilation. He suffers from demon possession.
The maniac is untouchable. The
people of the town had decoded that he was good for nothing. His uncontrollable
rages brought them00 to drastic measures. They put him in chains and chained
him among the dead; in the town cemetery. Where his roaring would bother the
living less. And so, his community did what we still do today. They vanished
the man to the safe and solitary margins of society.
The townspeople considered this
man to be completely defiled and irredeemable. This possessed man had been
expelled from the human race; no better off than an animal without clothing.
Yet after his exorcism, his humanity is fully restored. He rejoins the human
race “clothed and in his right mind.
“
The demons who are invisible and
limited in power; whose activities range from annoyance to harassment to
destruction recognize Jesus. “When he say Jesu, he cried out and fell down
before him and said with a loud voice, “What has you to do with me, Jesus, Son
of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.’”
“You believe that god is One, you do well, even the demons believe and
shutter.” – James 2:19
The demons are powerful,
dangerously powerful. But they plea to Jesus showing how they know that He is
even more powerful. All the demons Jeus9s confronts have three things in
common.
1.
They cause self-destructive behavior in the victim.
2.
The victim always feels trapped in that condition.
3.
They separate the victim from the normal live in the family
circle.
Their goal is to destroy the most
fundamental human institution; what the LORD first made in the Garden when He
said, “It is not good for the man to be
alone. I will make him a helper suitable form him.” Satan’s aim is to
dismantle and demolish the family. His
desire is the disassemble what God has joined together.
Satan robs us of joy and destroys
peace. The effects of Satan’s grip is all about. We must admit that we are
powerless against our addictions and vices. That our lives are unmanageable.
Thus, someone more powerful; greater than ourselves must heal and restore us to
sanity. Thus by the power of the Holy Spirit we turn to Christ who as promised
to care for us.
When praying the Lord’s Prayer, we
simply request “Thy Will Be Done.”
What is meant by the words “Thy Will Be
Done?”
What does this mean? The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.
How
is God’s will done? God’s will is done when He breaks and hinders every evil plan
and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want
us to hallow God’s name or let His kingdom come; and when He strengthens and
keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die.
This is His good and gracious
will.[3]
“My name is Legion!” this homeless man screamed. “For we are many!” Yes, Jesus arrives on
the scene to prove once again that He has the power and authority stronger than
Legion. The swine, in horror at their own corruption by unclean spirits, run to
the edge of the cliff. And when the herdsmen saw what had happened they fled
and told those in the city and the country what had happened.
Notice it is not the victim or a
small number of victims who go over the cliff. Rather it is the whole crowd of
demons, two thousand swine possessed by demons. Normal relations are revered.
The crowd should have remained on top of the cliff and the victim fall over.
Instead, in this case, the crowd plunges while the victim is saved. The man has
literally been healed. (Sozo) translated “Saved”, delivered, made whole. He is
not only delivered and cured by his terrible burden but he is altogether healed
and saved.
At first he wore no clothes but
then was clothed and in his own mind. He went from an animal life state to
restoration as a rescued human being.
The Lord has taught us to pray, “And deliver us from evil.” We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would deliver us from every evil of body and soul, property and honor; and that in the end, when our last hour comes,
He would grant us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this vale of tears to Himself into heaven.
We cannot generalize about what
Jesus has his followers. Vocation is unique to the one called. Often it seems
that we are called to do that which we don’t care to do. How unbelievable
difficult it must have been for this demoniac to return to his hometown where
he was so well known.
People would have watched him
carefully for a long time. He probably would not have married. Think about it.
Not only had he been mad, but also his cure had caused the townspeople their
living. How desperate must you be to be committed to someone of his reputation
and past? When this healed, saved, delivered demoniac returned home he must
have been extremely courageous indeed.
Notice that Jesus commands the man
to go home and declare how much God had done for him. The man testifies however
only to what he knew – “how much Jesus
had done for him.” The man told the
truth as he had come to know it. There is great freedom and strength in
speaking to what we know instead of pressing ourselves to say more than what we
truly can. We are only given to speak concerning what we have seen and heard; a
crucified and resurrected man who has changed the lives of those with which he
encounters.
Jesus’ encounters with persons
don’t always end cordial. In this instance, the town asks Jesu to leave. And
who could blame them. If this is how the Savior confronts one, possessed and
persecuted what might He do with you? But that the beautiful thing about the
Savior. All of your burdens and demons he endured for you.
The request of this lone man and
yours is one in the same; “now go and
tell what the LORD has done.” That’s what it means to “gossip the gospel”
simply tell your friends, family, neighbors, and collogues what Christ has done
for you. You know the words so well.
What
does this mean?
IN WHOM Do You Believe? I
believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and
also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord,
What has He done? Who
has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all
sins, from death, and from the power of the devil;
How did He do this? Not with gold or silver, but with His holy,
precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death,
And why did He do this? that
I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting
righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead,
lives and reigns to all eternity. This
is most certainly true. Therefore, it is in Jesus’ Name
Words-1,530
Passive
Sentences -10%
Readability-78.4%
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Reading Level -5.1
[1] The exorcism of the Gerasene demoniac, New Testament, by Julius
Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1860 woodcut © WELS permission granted for personal and
congregational use
[2] Away
from Us!" the Demon Cried, Lutheran Service Book © 2006 Concordia
Publishing House, St. Louis © 2000 GIA
Publications, Inc. Used by permission: LSB Hymn License .NET, no. 100013721.
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