Luke 8:26-39 - Who Am I? Tell Everyone
Doug Partin – The Christian Church – Sept 4, 2016
In Bible College I was asked to watch a film called, “The Gospel Blimp.” It was about a small church that wanted to impact their community for Christ. Some of the leading members of this church were at a backyard barbeque and they started brainstorming how this might best be done.
While talking, they noticed their next door neighbors sitting on their back porch, no fence, houses close together, so they could easily see each other, and probably hear each other. Those at the party, mentioned among themselves that the neighbors showed up at church at Christmas and Easter, but they didn’t think they were real Christians. After all, they spent their summers going to the beach instead of to church; but they represented well the sort of people that they wanted to reach with the gospel.
As they talked a blimp passed by overhead advertising some event, and they all wondered what the impact would be if it carried a Bible verse instead of alocal advertisement.The wheels started turning, and by the end of the evening, they had come up with a plan to rent a blimp and use it to spread the good news.
It was sure to draw attention to the message of Christ. And they could drop leaflets out of it with a simple message of salvation. It wasn’t a perfect plan, but it was sure to reach a lot of people. When they shared their idea with the other membersof the church, enthusiasm for the project grew. Money was raised, leaflets were produced, the blimp secured, pilots trained, and lots of meetings were held at this same house to keep this very important project moving forward.
During one of those meetings, the neighbor rang the door-bell. They were headed to the beach again and wanted to know if the man and his wife wanted to join them. The offer was turned down. They were just too busy getting the gospel blimp project off the ground to take time off to go to the beach. So the neighbors, a bit puzzled, went back home.
You can well imagine impact of the gospel blimp project. When it took flight, some noticed, but most just went about their business as usual without giving the blimp a second glance; and the target, people like thenext door neighbors, were in that group. They didn’t notice it at all. And when the leaflets were dropped on unsuspecting folks, the uproar about who was going to clean up all that “litter” was well warranted.
It was only a 37-minute film, but the lessons were clear. These well-meaning believers had plenty of opportunities to share with their neighbors the good things that God had done. They could have invited them over to the barbeque in the first place, or could have taken up the offer to spend the weekend at the beach. It is a sad tale, but the truth is that many Christians pass up on the natural opportunities to share the gospel because they are caught up in preparing a special program to “share the gospel,”which probably won’t be as effective.
We are beginning a new study series called “Who Am I?” And as we study this portion of the gospel of Luke together, I hope we’ll come to a better understanding of Jesus’ identity, that we might better serve Him by sharing what we know of Him to those around us.And I hope that we don’t make that kind of mistake in our efforts to share the gospel as those who sent up the gospel blimp.
The text we read earlier in our service came just after a boat ride across the sea of Galilee to the shores of the Gerasene. A trip that had left the disciples wondering about Jesus’ true identity. The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed, if not for the fear of this faithless crew, they might all have been lost; but because they were afraid, they woke up Jesus who was sleeping through the whole thing. They shrieked at him in desperation, “We are perishing.” It was their way of telling Jesus that He needed to do something; and He did.
With a command, Jesus calmed the storm, and the disciplesrealized anew that Jesus was no ordinary man, Men can’t order the wind and waves around, that’s a God thing.But Jesus, evidently knowing their thoughts, implied that they could have taken care of the storm themselves when He asked them, “Where is your faith?” The same sort of faith that can move mountains can calm storms. But it was not the sort of question the disciples wanted to hear, and they certainly didn’t try to answer it. Jesus’ question only frightened them more, though they remained completely amazed at what He had done.
Had anyone been around, the disciples would surely have started proclaiming what Jesus had done. They would have said something like, “You’re not going to believe this, but we were in this terrible storm, the waves were pouring into our boat, and Jesus saved us. With a single word, He calmed the storm!Now I ask you, what sort of a man can do that?” But no one was around, so the disciples didn’t tell this story of what Jesus had done until later on. And, they did not delete the part about Jesus reprimanding them for their lack of faith.
When they finally arrived at the shore, they were not greeted by crowds of people like the ones they had left behind in Galilee, but by a single naked, deranged man. It was quite the welcome wagon. As Luke’s account unfolds we learn that this man was from the city, but no longer lived there. He had taken up residence in the local graveyard, and his behavior was such that the people who lived in the city felt the need to capture him and restrain him, which they did on several occasions.
They would shackle him best they could; they would assign guards to watch over him (It kind of reminds me of how the disciples would be treated by the Sanhedrin after they started preaching about Jesus’ resurrection – they were captured, shackled and guarded); and like the disciples, this man would break his bonds and escape his guards, but he would flee into the desert, where the disciples went back to preaching.
Another difference is that this man was possessed by demons, so it wasn’t God’s power at work. The people who knew this mansimply didn’t know what to do with him. They were rightfully afraid of what he might do to himself and what he might do to others. Their best plan was to restrain him.
We are not told what led this man to the exact spot where Jesus’ boat landed. But I like to think that he was looking for help, something more than what men could offer.When this man saw Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him. Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of him, but it did not immediately comply. Instead it asked, “What have you to do with me; Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” Jesus’ reply isn’t recorded, but He must have said something because the demon immediately begins begging Jesus not to torment it. Jesus asked the sprit’s name, and was told, “Legion, for we are many.” The disciples might not have been fully aware of Jesus’ true identity, but these demons knew Him well.
A Roman legion was 400-600 strong. We aren’t told how many demons possessed this man, but however many there were, they were no match for Jesus and they knew it, which is evidenced by their pleading not to be cast into the Abyss, but into a herd of pigs.
According to the Scriptures, the abyss is where demons will reside until the last days. A place where they can do no harm until after the 1000 year reign of Christ spoken of in Revelations. They will then be unleashed for a little while, but in the end they will be cast into the lake of fire. These demons didn’t want to be sent to the abyss before their time, and they knew that Jesus had the power to do it; but Jesus, in His wisdom, granted their request, and set them to the pigs.
The spirits jumped at the opportunity. The now possessed pigs stampeded into the lake where they drowned. What happened to the demons at that point, we are not told; but the shepherds, who knew nothing about the demons’presence in the first place, quickly spread the word that their pigs had gone berserk, and the city folk came to see the disaster for themselves. They found that the shepherds were right about the pigs, but what captured their attention was the man. He was now in his right mind, clothed, and sitting at Jesus’ feet. They were probably glad to see all of these things, especially the clothes part, but what were they to make of it all, especially the loss of a whole herd of pigs?
In the way Luke relates what took place, it seems that these folks knew nothing about Jesus, but this experience filled them with fear. Their fear united them in their desire that Jesus leave, immediately. Whatever He was, they didn’t want Him around. There are a lot of people who don’t want Jesus around because they are afraid of the changes that He brings. It’s not that they were okay with the demon possessed man’s previous behavior, it’s just that they were afraid of what it would cost them to have Jesus around. And they were right, there is a cost to following Jesus.
The only one not afraid was the man whom Jesus restored to his right mind. When he heard that Jesus would do as asked, he begged to go with him, but Jesus did not allow him in the boat. Can you imagine wanting to be with Jesus, wanting to get to know Him more, and being told no?
Solomon wisely proclaimed, “Fear is the beginning of wisdom.” Jesus told this man to describe to those who were afraid of Him what great things God had done for him. And Luke reports that this man obeyed. He went about proclaiming to the whole city what a great thing Jesus had done in casting out the demons.
This man hadn’t spent a lot of time with Jesus, probably didn’t know a lot about Him even after sitting at Jesus’ feet for a while, but he knew enough to share his experience. He knew that Jesus was God, You may have noticed that Jesus told him to tell everyone what God had done, and He told everyone what Jesus had done.He had no problem equating the two.
He also knew that Jesus had authority over the evil spirits that had possessed him, and that Jesus had used that authority to set Him free. How good it must have been for him to no longer cause fear in everyone he met. How good it must have been to have his right mind back, and no longer be a threat to himself or anyone else. He knew that Jesus was not only powerful, but compassionate.
And I believe, although it is not mentioned in the text, that this man knew that Jesus would keep on doing good things that no man could possibly do.He would be able to point out that there had been no one in their city who could help him. And none of the gods they may have worshiped was able to help either. But Jesus was able to do so.
He may not have known much about Jesus, but he had experienced His life changing power. I’ll be honest. I think that a lot of people who know about Jesus don’t speak of the good things that He has done because they don’t feel like they experienced anything worth talking about.
You may not have had a legion of demons cast out of your life, but if you’ve put your faith in Jesus’ saving grace, you have had your sins forgiven. Your life has been changed. And that is worth sharing with those who are still struggling along without Jesus.
You don’t need a blimp, or a special program, you just need to share your own story of the good things that God has done for you. And like this man, instead of heading out to far off places, you’d do well to share your story with those who know you best; who’ve seen the changes that Jesus has made in your life.