Demons & Pigs Series

“Demons & Pigs”

Luke 8:26-39

A sermon for 8/29/21

Pastor John Bright

A phobia is an irrational fear of an object, situation or living thing. There are traditional phobias that we all know about – arachnophobia is the fear of spiders. There are new ones that are becoming more common – nomophobia is the fear of being without your mobile phone. There are very uncommon phobias like Arachibutyrophobia which is a fear of having peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth. Did you know that there is a name given to the irrational fear of demons? It’s called daemonophobia.

We all have fears and we often deal with them by developing defense mechanisms. One of these is say – “If I don’t talk about it, then it does not exist.” If you are somebody who likes to get all the cards on the table and rip off the bandage, this defense mechanism will test your patience.

So, what is a demon? Demons are fallen angels. The story of that fall is told symbolically in Revelation 12 – “7 And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer. 9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

Believers have no need to fear these fallen angels because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. This wild man we will hear about in Luke 8 today has no Holy Spirit so he has no defense. What about Unbelievers today? They have God’s grace but they can open the door and let the demons in.

Today we come to the second of four miracles in Chapter 8 of Luke. Last time it was Jesus’ power over nature in the storm. Today, we deal, again, with demons. Jesus is among the Gentiles on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. We know this because they are keeping pigs, which are unclean animals for the Jews but widely consumed in other areas back then and today. As in so many stories in the Gospels, the focus is on the response to Christ. Here, we see three responses: demons, local folks and the wild guy.

The Demons v. 26-33

“26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gadarenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 And when He stepped out on the land, there met Him a certain man from the city who had demons for a long time. And he wore no clothes, nor did he live in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and with a loud voice said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!” 29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had often seized him, and he was kept under guard, bound with chains and shackles; and he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the wilderness.

30 Jesus asked him, saying, “What is your name?”

And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged Him that He would not command them to go out into the abyss.

32 Now a herd of many swine was feeding there on the mountain. So they begged Him that He would permit them to enter them. And He permitted them. 33 Then the demons went out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd ran violently down the steep place into the lake and drowned.”

Here is the description of a tormented man – wearing no clothes – living in a graveyard. This man was demon possessed. Later, in Luke 9, we will meet a child who is controlled by a demon. There are also accounts of demon possession in the Book of Acts. There are others in the Bible who have demons but are not controlled by them. We call this “demonization.” This can be found in Believers, for example, who are addicted to destructive habits. We would say they are demonized by a spirit/demon of addiction. They chose to open the door and participate with the work of the demonic. Doesn’t sound good, huh?

The man in this story has many, many demons that have taken up residence in him. (btw – what does a demon want? A house & a job) These demons have given him a supernatural ability to break chains. This is different than Peter in Acts 12:27 – here the angel causes the chains to fall off. The demons also know exactly with whom they are dealing. They operate within the spirit realm so they can see with spiritual eyes. Again, as I have told you before, it is vitally important for Believers to hold a Biblical worldview in which we accept there is both a physical and a spiritual realm.