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Jesus Heals a Demon-Possessed Man
Luke 8:26-39
Key Verse: 8:30a
“Jesus asked him, “What is your name?””
I remember one beautiful, heart-moving performance done by Heesung, John, all JBF and UBF members at one Bible conference. Hee-sung, the main character was getting possessed by many demons one by one through many bad friends and at last held in the grip of Satan. Then she was lost in the world. But Jesus came and defended her. He broke down all the chains of the grip of demons. And she was found in Jesus Christ. How amazing Jesus’ love is. In today’s passage, we are going to learn about this great love of Jesus who looks for even seemingly a useless person. Even though his town people abandoned him, Jesus found him and sacrificed a great fortune to save him. Jesus showed his unlimited, unconditional love even toward the Gentile. I pray that we may accept Jesus’ love for us and have Jesus’ shepherd heart for lost souls through how Jesus healed the demon-possessed man in today’s passage.
I. Jesus commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man (26-29)
After Jesus displayed his supernatural power by calming down the storm, he and his disciples went to the region of the Garasenes, which is across the lake from
Look at verse 27. “When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.” When Jesus arrived there, a man came to him. But the man had a big problem. What was it? He was possessed by demon. We are not sure how he got demon-possessed. But he was not just out of mind or mad. There were other spiritual beings inside his body besides his soul. He was nothing but a host for evil spirits. Speaking of which, I remember a movie titled Alien where many people were captured and preserved as a host for baby aliens. When the baby aliens mature enough, they burst out of the human body. The demon-possessed man was also captured and became a host for demons, which are tools or agents of the devil, Satan, the evil spirit.
Look at verse 27b. “For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.” Luke explains the demon-possessed man’s situation in terms of his social and spiritual status. Usually clothes people wear tell what social level they are from. People from high position wear luxurious, fancy clothes like Prada. But people from low level position put on cheap, old-fashioned clothes that can be bought from Good-will, a second-hand market. I have never seen people wearing fancy clothes buy second-handed ones in the flee market or Good will. You can see them in luxurious department store and vice versa. The man we are talking about had not worn clothes for a long time. He was not from high or low position of the society, even the bottom. He had been out of society such a long time like an outcast. In other words, he had been isolated or abandoned by the society. Now, the place where he had lived was not a house but tombs. That indicates his life was in a dead end. Nobody likes to live in tombs because tombs for the dead people, not the living. There is no hope or vision or dream or new start in the tombs. There is only one left-death, final destination for the all human beings and the climax of despair and suffering in life. He is alive physically, but dead spiritually.
Look at verse 28. “When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torture me!”” All of a sudden, the demon-possessed man cried out and fell at Jesus’ feet, shouting with his all strength, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” In most cases when people met Jesus, they cried and fell at Jesus’ feet, shouting, “The son of David, have mercy on me!” in great desperation. But this man said, “Son of the Most High God, please don’t torture me!” It sounds like Jesus is a persecutor or torturer. Jesus did not come to torture people but to save them from their sins and the power of death. As matter of fact, all Jesus did in the previous verse 27 were to step ashore and to meet him. That’s it. Then, what’s going on? Inside him the demons the enemy of Jesus were tortured by being with Jesus, the Son of the Most High God. It is as if the power of darkness loses its power before the light of the world. Maybe the man was in great desperation to seek and get someone’s help like Jesus, but the demons would hinder him from doing so by letting him naked and live in tombs, in which there was nobody to give him helps. There are so many people who know who Jesus is and yet they keep saying, “I beg you not to bother me!” when they are introduced to the truth the word of God. Perhaps it is not their own voices, but the enemy of Jesus in order to keep them under their control and from coming back to Jesus. So, when we hear them say, “Do not bother me!” we should pray more and harder to help them, knowing they are in fact seeking for the help of Jesus.
Look at verse 29a. “For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man.” When Jesus heard the demon begging through the mouth of the man, he did not talk back. Instead, in no time he commended the evil spirit to come out of the man. “Evil spirit, come out of the man!” Jesus knew that the man was powerless and helpless that he could not even ask for Jesus’ help. So he did not waste any time to test his faith that he could be healed by the word of Jesus. Jesus helped the man one-sidedly because the man was the most urgent and serious case.
Nowadays, there are so many people who suffer mentally and doctors consider them as mental disorder and name each case such as schizophrenia, ADD (attention deficit disorder) and so on. In many areas, smart people develop some knowledge such as sociology and psychology to help those possessed by something that they do not understand academically fully and others invented some drugs to decrease the degree of mental illness. But they cannot heal completely. Even though technology and knowledge are developed more and more, it is only Jesus who can save by his power and authority. Let us have faith in the power of the word of Jesus so we may pray for those suffering in spirit and mind. When Jesus commands through our sincere prayers, “Evil spirit, come out!” we believe those suffering may be healed in the name and the power of Jesus.
II. Jesus asked the man, "What is your name?" (30-39)
Look at verse 30a. “Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”” After Jesus commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man, he asked his name, which seemed to have nothing to do with the current situation. “Evil spirit, come out!” and then “What is your name?” Why did Jesus ask his name all of a sudden, instead of keeping commanding the evil spirit to come out of the man? It is because Jesus wanted to restore the man’s true identity by reminding his name. As you know well, a person’s name represents his true identity. When parents name their children, they hope that their children would grow well and become like the meaning the name has. When missionaries come to their missionary field, they receive Bible names like Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Matthew and so on. With their name, they try to identify their lives in mission field according to the meaning of the name and the life of the person. For example, Joseph means that God will increase and Joseph’s life in the Bible was about absolute faith in God and God’s providence. Since my name is Joseph, I identify myself like Joseph and try to please God by believing that God will increase hope and vision in my life and in this generation and in this nation no matter what-even if I am in jail, or live as slave. Then, if something such as troubles, hardships, and Satan’s attack and temptation happens I would never be shaken as long as I remember and hold on to my true identity according to my name, Joseph. Likewise, it is very important for us to know our true identity, and therefore Jesus tried to help the man to recognize his current identity as the first step.
Look at verse 30b. “”Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him.” In response to Jesus’ question, the man answered, “Legion” because many demons had gone into him. First of all, what does legion mean? It means a Roman military unit of 5,000 to 6,000 soldiers. Figuratively speaking, there might be numerous demons inside the man’s body. That’s why although he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven into solitary places and tormented by himself without anybody to help him out. But now, by saying his name, the man’s spiritual eyes were opened to his true condition. He realized that he was full of demons. Admitting his true spiritual condition was the first step for him to be freed from the demons.
Nowadays, there are many young people who are driven by demons such as computer game demon, drug demon, lust demon, jealousy demon, theft demon, internet demon, selfishness demon and so forth. They are like a zombie. They are alive in body but dead in spirit. Even one demon can ruin a person’s life. You might have heard a phenomenon called Hikikomori. It means “pulling away, being confined”, i.e., “acute social withdrawal.” It is a Japanese term to refer to the phenomenon of reclusive individuals who have chosen to withdraw from social life, often seeking extreme degrees of isolation and confinement because of various personal and social factors in their lives. For instance, a multitude of expectations, high emphasis on competition, and the rote memorization of facts and figures for the purpose of passing entrance exams into the next tier of education-pre-school, kindergarten, elementary, middle and high school and college-induce a high level of stress. In this situation, especially students often face significant pressure from parents and the society in general. Then they feel depressed, isolated, and sorrowful. Some are so miserable that they commit suicide. Indeed, the demon-possessed man’s story still happens in the age of high technology. Biblically speaking, anyone who is not led by the Holy Spirit is under the influence of the evil spirit. Ephesians 2:1-2 say, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” 1 John 5:19b says, “...the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” Revelation 12:9 says that the devil, “...leads the whole world astray.”
In our ministry, we confess our spiritual condition on a regular basis. It is like answering our name to Jesus’ question, “What is your name?” We should admit our spiritual condition. This is the best way to be saved and healed by the power of Jesus. When I attended the first UBF Summer, Jesus asked me through my shepherd, “What is your name?” At that time I was reluctant to answer because it was very shameful to reveal my reality and I felt dying. But by God’s grace, I could confess my name and cried out. “Lord, my name is a stammer.” From then on my spiritual eyes were opened and I was freed from fear demon because Jesus proclaims freedom for the prisoners and releases the oppressed.”(Luke 4:19)
Most of all, with my spiritual eyes opened God helped me understand why I went through fear problem. Based upon the book of Institutes of the Christian Religion written by John Calvin, fear is for me to be humble and displeased with myself to aspire to God because human beings are naturally inclined to total depravity and never seek God unless they are humble in spirit. Through fear I received irresistible grace from God, not only freedom but also eternal salvation. Today, Jesus also asks all of us here, “What is your name?” to free us from all kinds of demons we have. I pray that all our JBF members may answer Jesus’ question honestly by faith and enjoy freedom in the power of the word of Jesus.
Look at verse 31-32. “And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss. A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission.” As the man was differentiated from the demons, they begged Jesus not to order them to go into the Abyss. Literally speaking, “Abyss” means a bottomless pit. Demons who go there must submit to the cruel power of the king of the demons (Rev 9:1-2,11). To avoid this, the demons begged Jesus to send them into a herd of pigs feeding on the nearby hillside. Jesus gave them permission. Why? It was not because Jesus is merciful to demons. It was not because Jesus needed to negotiate a compromise. It was to teach a lesson to the man, the town, and all mankind.
Look at verse 33. “When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.” According to Mark
In verses 34-37, we see the clear evidence of Jesus’ power to drive out all the demons out of the man. The man sat at Jesus’ feet and put on some clothes and was in his right mind. He was no longer a demon-possessed man, but a holy man of God. Jesus purchased and possessed him now, in exchange of a great sacrifice. Now he was ready to go back to normal life among his friends and family members. He was totally lost before but now found in Jesus Christ. Through Jesus’ blood we were also found and saved from many demons and our sins. By his death on the cross, we were purchase and redeemed from the slavery to sin. Jesus loves us so much that he even sacrificed his life on the cross still we were sinners. Let us praise Jesus and love him all the more remembering his love and grace toward us. Just like we are happy with our salvation through Jesus, Jesus and his disciples must be happy with the man’s healing. However, there were people who were afraid of Jesus and showed a different response instead of praising God. They did not understand what had happened even though they was told and saw in person. They simply knew that Jesus had overpowered a man who had tormented them for a long time. And they became afraid of Jesus. Maybe they were simply afraid of losing another livestock to save many other demon-possessed men in the town. Anyway, they did not accept Jesus as their Savior and foolishly lost their salvation grace. Then, Jesus got into the boat and left because they asked him to do so. Even though Jesus is eager to find one lost soul with his life if the one does not accept Jesus, he cannot be saved, but just become afraid of.
Look at verses 38-39 “The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.”
After the man was saved by Jesus, he wanted to be with Jesus wherever he went. So, he begged Jesus to go with him. But Jesus did not let him. Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” It seems like Jesus commissioned him as director full-time staff shepherd at Gerasenes UBF center. He became a shepherd for his town people. In obedience to Jesus’ direction, he told all over town about what Jesus has done for him. Mark 7 tells us that when Jesus went into this region again, many people came to him for healing. It was the fruit of the changed life of the former demon-possessed man. Jesus' light began to shine among Gentiles.
Through today’s passage, we learn that Jesus found one lost isolated soul tormented by many demons and saved him with a great sacrifice. Especially Jesus helped him to acknowledge and restore his true identity by asking, “What is your name?” Let us give thanks and praises to Jesus who loves us so much that he found us first and gave us new life in him by his grace and mercy. Let us pray that we can remember our true identity-a kingdom of priest and a holy nation and tell people around us about how much Jesus has done for us.
