A sermon preached at Covenant Presbyterian Church of Fort Smith, Arkansas on March 23, 2025.
Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 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. 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.” 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.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 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. 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. When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 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. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. 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. The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “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 (Luke 8:26–39).[1]
The allure of sin is that it will fulfill the desire of our flesh. When it strikes and we submit, we do not think about its impact upon our hearts, habits, or hurt to our neighbor but the fulfillment of our desire. This is especially the case with habitual sin, sin which we commit so consistently that we give little regard to its offense and dismiss its insidious residence. But what if we could see what sin does to us, from the inside out. What would we look like? Would we recognize ourselves?
If I may call upon your imagination, I contend that it would look a lot like the demon-possessed man of the Gerasenes, if not worse. Before Jesus delivered him from the domain of darkness, he embodied seemingly what sin looks like, turned inside out: running naked among the dead, isolated from family or friends, violently dangerous to himself and others, out of his mind. More animal than a man, sin had rendered him seemingly unrecognizable. If you think about it, that’s what sin does. It robs us of the dignity of our humanity and divorces us from fellowship with our Creator and renders us incompatible with one another.
Writing to the church, the apostle Paul reminds us what we used to be: you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind (Eph. 2:1-3). In other words, we were that man, if not outside certainly in. But just as that man’s life changed when Jesus landed on the shore, Paul says, God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus (Eph. 2:4-7). That’s the gospel truth for all who believe, “his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus,” just like his kindness to the demon-possessed man of the Gerasenes.
The Power of the Devil
Traveling by boat through raging storm and serene sea, Jesus and his disciples arrived on the shore of the Gerasenes. Jesus and his followers were not in Jewish territory anymore, evidenced by the herd of pigs. He who was perfectly pure had come to minister among the unclean. But no sooner than Jesus stepped foot upon the shore he was met by a naked and tormented man.
Ascertaining the man’s state, Jesus gave the word for his cleansing, only to be addressed in response, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me” (8:28). It’s clearly a revelatory response. The man somehow knows Jesus’ true identity, speaks to him, and begs not to be tormented. This is not a man of sound mind but a slave to Satan, tormented not by Jesus’ presence but the prince of darkness.
What I find so fascinating about this conversation is that it happened at all. I would think the demons would have secured him safely away, to keep him from Jesus, but instead he was face to face with the Savior. Such is the irresistible grace of God. While the world makes much of the devil’s power, the gospel doesn’t. Ralph Davis says, “there is an invisible compulsion that propels these denizens of darkness to show submission to the Sovereign they so intensely despise and to confess the truth of His supremacy. This leaves us in no doubt about how the so-called cosmic conflict will play out. The terror of the demons is the hope of the church.”[2]
Hearing the man’s demonically-distorted request, Jesus asked, “What is your name?” He wasn’t expecting “Bob.” He wasn’t asking for a proper name but demanding acknowledgement of identity as the one in authority. What he got in response was “Legion,” not the name of the man or a demon, nor revelation for mathematical calculation, but a confession. Many were the demonic inhabitants in the house of the man’s heart.
The apostle Paul says that as Christians, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12). As we see in this man, as well as the world around us, when sin gets a foothold, the spiritual forces of evil move in. To be sure, Paul explains, “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ” (2 Cor. 4:4). The devil works to prevent faith in the gospel but beware of fearing his power. “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul,” Jesus said, “Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt. 10:28). In other words, do not fear evil; fear God alone. The devil is not powerless, but he is a pawn, limited and subject to the sovereign authority of the Lord God almighty.
The Authority of the Lord
James teaches us, “the demons believe—and shudder,” and so the demons began to beg the Lord Jesus to be cast not “into the abyss” but into a herd of pigs. What the demons called “the abyss” is the bottomless pit, according to the twentieth chapter of Revelation. It’s their destiny but they lobbied for a delay. Perhaps surprising to us, Jesus granted their request, not because they asked but because it was not yet his time to make all things new. The cross would come, but on this day his work was not yet done.
There is so much more of this account that we are neither told nor understand. Why did the demons request to go into the herd of pigs? One commentator asks, “How can animals be possessed? Why would Jesus allow such a use of animals? What happened to the demons? Why did the spirits feel compelled to dwell somewhere rather than roaming the earth?” Answer: We don’t know. And that’s OK, because we aren’t called to be students of demonology but disciples of Christ.
The deliverance of this man from demonic is the point, foreshadowing what Jesus upon through the cross. John says that through his death and resurrection, Jesus overthrew “the ruler of this world” (John 12:31-33). Peter explains that through his resurrection Christ proclaimed judgment on the fallen angels (1 Pet. 3:19), and the writer of Hebrews says that we who are in Christ have been released from bondage to the devil (Heb. 2:14). Paul likewise affirms that Christ “disarmed” the demonic rulers and authorities. Like casting demons into a herd of pigs, his resurrection “put them to open shame, by triumphing over them” (Col. 2:14-15). And by God’s grace through faith, “He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son” (Col. 1:13).
We then, by God’s grace, like the man, are freed from the domain of darkness, clothed in righteousness, and given the mind of Christ. The dignity of our humanity is restored because our identity is not in the trespasses and sins in which we once walked, nor in the passions of our flesh, but in Christ.[3] The man sitting at the feet of Jesus that day could easily have said what Paul would later say, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). And through faith in Jesus Christ, you can too. No matter your past, no matter your struggles, through faith the Lord reigns supreme in your life: you are a “new creation” in Christ. Let that be your morning mantra. Live each day in the reality of this truth: You are neither an animal nor a monster; you are neither a slave to the devil nor a servant of your flesh; in Christ alone, you are a new creation: “behold, the new has come.”
The Salvation of the Lost
How would you expect the population to respond after witnessing such a miracle? After seeing a man who was a menace to himself and society miraculously returned to his right mind, we might expect them to bring more like him to Jesus.Instead, Luke tells us, “all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them” (8:37a).The consensus was clear: They wanted him gone. Why? Maybe it was because he conversed with demons.Maybe it was because he agreed to their request.Maybe it was because he cast them into the herd of pigs.Maybe it was the loss of the pigs (the ham sandwiches, the bacon, the smoked tender loin, all gone).Luke doesn’t tell us specifically, but he tells us enough: “they were seized with great fear.”
The expression “seized with great fear” does not connote the worshipful reverence and transcendent awe of God leading to obedience. Their fear was quite different. In the same way they had likely feared the demonic, they now feared the One who had authority over it. While the man had been under demonic possession, Jesus was dangerous. We fear what we do not know. But he who sat at Jesus’ feet knew everything he needed to know: He had been delivered from the domain of darkness by Jesus and so desired to be his disciple.
Ironically, the people asked Jesus to leave, and he granted their request; the man asked to go with Jesus, and his request was denied. It doesn’t sound right, does it? Why would Jesus save this man from the devil and then leave him there? What about discipleship? What about fellowship? Jesus said to him, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you” (8:39a). And so, he did, “proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him” (8:39b).
Ralph Davis says, “Jesus can go, but Jesus will stay, because there is loose in the territory of the Gerasenes a demon-deprived evangelist who can’t stop talking about what Jesus had done for him.”[4] Jesus would later commission his disciples likewise, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” (Matt. 28:19a). The Greek word translated “nations” (ethnos), from which we get our word “ethnic,” is the same word translated “people” or “Gentiles.” The gospel is good news for all kinds of people, Jew and Gentile alike. Good news for the nations but also for our neighbors back home, who need to hear how much Jesus has done for you, too.
[1] Unless referenced otherwise, all Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (Wheaton: Crossway Bibles, 2001).
[2] Dale Ralph Davis, Luke: The Year of the Lord’s Favor (Fearn: Christian Focus Publications, 2021), 144.
[3] Eph. 2:1-3.
[4] Dale Ralph Davis, Luke: The Year of the Lord’s Favor (Fearn: Christian Focus Publications, 2021), 146.
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