Powerful Stories of Jesus

Preached  23 June 2019

1. Introduction

Our reading this morning is part of a series of stories that demonstrate the power of Jesus. Jesus has just dis-associated himself with his mother and brothers, back in verse 21. Then we have the calming of the storm on the lake, which shows Jesus’ amazing power over the elements. After our story today we are told of his power to raise the dead – with the story of Jairus’ daughter.

2. On the other side – Golan Heights

Now, though we are going to see His power over the spiritual world. There are several things to note that may not be immediately obvious as we look through this passage.

As He crosses the sea of Galilee, Jesus moves from Jewish territory to gentile territory. This shows us very early on that His ministry is not only to the Jews, but to everyone.

The region of the Gerasenes is situated (we assume) on the north east edge of the lake. In an area now known as the Golan Heights. I say we assume, because it is difficult to be certain, but that is the only area where the landscape matches the description in the book). The land rises steeply from the edge of the lake, and is not heavily populated.

There can have only been one reason for crossing the lake – to have an encounter with this man and to free him from his demons. Jesus was not in the habit of going places just to see what was there.

3. Guarded and shackled.

The man has been possessed for a long time. He has lived among the tombs and has not worn cloths. Whether out of concern for him, or from fear of him, it is impossible to say, the town’s people have him guarded and shackled, but the demons give him incredible strength and he breaks free and goes into the desert. He apparently doesn’t like to be around people at all.

4. What is a demon? / demon possession

We should take a look at exactly what a demon is, as there is no clear description in the Bible. There are some clues however, so as far as we can tell demons are fallen angels, that third of the angels that rebelled against God with Lucifer.

Isa 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!

Rev 12:4 & 9 The Dragon’s tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth.
The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

Possession, by demons, appears to use the same mechanism to take over a person, as the Holy Spirit uses, it the same language as in the old testament. The Holy Spirit, of course, will not make you do something you don’t want to do, and will certainly not make you commit an evil act.

There is though, no record of possession by angels, so presumably it is forbidden.

One thing we can say for certain is that the demons know who Jesus is.

MK 1:23-24 Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out, “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”

and they know why he is here too – to bring them to an end that they don’t want to face.

Here it is no different. The demons are expecting that Jesus is going to send them into the Abyss.

5. Abyss.

Abyss can mean abode of demons – which doesn’t tell us much, or the place of the dead, or bottomless pit, or simply deep place. It is rooted in the primaeval belief that the earth floated on a vast sea.

In biblical thought the Abyss is where Satan will be held for a thousand years:

Rev 20:1-4 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

In Matthew’s account of this incident, the demons are concerned that Jesus has come to consign them to the abyss before the appointed time.

6. Name

After the initial reaction of the demons, identifying Jesus and begging not to be tortured, Jesus asks the man his name. Actually, we don’t know whether Jesus was asking the demons, or the man, but the demons have such a hold over him, that only they can reply.

7. Legion

“Legion” they say, because there were many of them. A Roman Legion would have had 800 to 2000 men, which gives us some idea of how much trouble the man was in. Again they beg Jesus not to send them to their rightful place – the abyss, but to let them go into the herd of pigs.

8. Pigs

Quite why Jesus allowed this we do not know, perhaps it is because pigs are already considered to be unclean animals. Remember we are in gentile territory. Once in the pigs the demons cause the pigs to run down the hill into the lake and they are drowned.

9. What happened to the demons?

Does that mean that the demons ended up in the abyss anyway? We are not told, and commentators differ, so I am not prepared to speculate.

10. Pigs Owners

The people who are looking after the pigs rush off to tell the town’s people what has happened. They must be in some distress at that point because their livelihood has been taken away from them. The people of the town, who have lived with this man and tried to do something about him, but have been unable to, come out to see what has happened.

11. In his right mind

They find the man in his right mind and fully clothed. The story of what happened is told, probably over and over, because it would be quite remarkable to the people that the demon-possessed man had been cured.

12. Clothes

It is worth asking where he got his clothes from. One preacher suggests that Jesus shared His clothes with the man. It’s a lovely idea, but as with so many of these sorts of sermon ideas, I find that it detracts from Jesus’ power and his humanity. As I said earlier, there can only be one reason for Jesus to cross the lake – to have an encounter with the possessed man. That implies that Jesus knew something about him. If you or I were going to do that, we would plan properly and take some clothes with us – wouldn’t we? So, why wouldn’t Jesus do the same?

13. Jesus’ priorities

We should note here, that although Jesus has undoubtedly caused problems for the pig owners, He has the right priorities. People are more important than pigs.

14. Who is Jesus?

But it raised the question for the people “Who is this man and what is he capable of?” Maybe they had lived in fear of this man for years, then someone more powerful comes along and he is cured in an instant. It is not surprising then that they are frightened of Jesus and that they ask him to leave.

15. Jesus leaves

So Jesus prepares to leave. The man wants to come with him, but Jesus will not allow it. He has chosen His disciples, He has gathered a group of followers around them, and He can see that this man has another job to do. “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” He says to the man. After all the story that the Man has is powerful.

16. Forging Men

In our Forging Men meetings we often have speakers with powerful stories, and they can be a great inspiration to people – that is why we invite them.

17. Tell about Jesus

This man is no different. He will be witnessing to the power of the Jewish God in a pagan world.

Luke tells us “So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.” Jesus talks about what God has done, but the man talks about what Jesus has done. Although He wanted to be with Jesus, he was told to stay where he was and to tell his story to as many as would listen.

18. Our stories

This is a rare example in the New Testament of someone being told to stay where they are. For us this is a much more common experience, most of us here haven’t been called to a new ministry in far flung places. Some, who used to be here have been called to other places. And they have gone – and they have gone with our prayers and our blessings.

1. Minister here

We, though, are called to minster where we are and that means knowing our story and being prepared to tell it.

1 Peter 3:15-16 Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

2. Our story is more relevant

Thankfully demon possession is rare, there are few reports of it outside the Gospels, so our story won’t be like that of the man we heard about today.

In many ways our story will be better. It is more relevant because it will be rooted in our time and our culture, so people can find common ground. All we have to tell is what has happened.

Where did we start from, and where has Jesus brought us? Something about the steps along the way. We shouldn’t stop our story after conversion, or licensing in my case, or any other significant event that you may have experienced, but should bring our stories as close to the current time as we can.

3. What I’ve said

I hope the things I have said this morning have made this story clearer, it seemed a very strange story when I first read it and I’m glad I had the chance to look at it in more detail. If you’ve got any questions about the passage I’d be happy to try to answer them.

4. Summary

The Healing of the Demon possessed man shows the power of Jesus over the spiritual realm. It show His power to transform Human lives.

Each one of us has seen some sort of transformation in our lives as our sins have been forgiven and the hope of eternal life offered. Our stories may not be as dramatic, but they nonetheless will speak to others.

5. Request

I’d like to ask you to do one thing this week. Perhaps in your prayer time, or perhaps in a few minutes at some other time. Revise your story, bring it up to date, and practice it. Practice it on one of the five people you have been praying for as part of ‘Thy Kingdom Come’, if you get the chance, but if not, just practice it for yourself. So that we can all be ready and have an idea what to say when we get the opportunity.

Pray?

References:

www.jesuswalk.com/lessons/8_26-39.htm

Demons:
https://www.biblesprout.com/articles/hell/demons/
https://www.gotquestions.org/one-third-angels.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_angel

Legions:
https://www.thoughtco.com/the-size-of-the-roman-legions-120873
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_legion

Abyss - abode of demons, bottomless pit, place of the dead, deep place. Primative idea - earth floated on a vast mass of water.
Demon - possession by Holy Spirit or evil spirit. No records of possession by angels (so presumably it is forbidden.

Gerasenes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gergesa