What Do You Want With Me
June 22, 2019 Psalm 98:1-6 Mark 5:1-20 Text Luke 8:26--39
If someone were to ask you, what are demons and do you believe they exist today, how would you respond? Would you be bold in your answer? Would you be embarrassed? Would you not know what to say. Jesus had no problem with the answering the question. We are going to look at the story we read from Mark’s Gospel, but we will deal with Luke’s version of the story.
The context of the story is this. The disciples and Jesus were in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had told them, to get the boat ready to go to the side of the lake. They got in the boat, Jesus quickly fell asleep. Just as quickly a storm arose with some strong winds and waves splashing into the boat. Even though they were experienced sailors, they were sure the boat would overturn and they would all drown. They woke Jesus up, before the boat tipped over taking him with them to their death. Jesus wakes up, rebukes the wind and the waves and everything is peaceful. Their response was, “Who is this that even the winds and the water obey him.” They had no idea who Jesus might be.
Let’s get into our text: Luke 8:26 (NIV) 26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. Gerasenes was taking Jesus into Gentile territory in the area of the Decapolis which were 10 Greek cities under their own rule. Jesus is going into unclean Gentile territory. The Jews divided the world into Jews and Gentiles. If you weren’t a Jew, then you were a Gentile. Many would be surprised that Jesus was going to deal with Gentiles, when there were so many Jews in need of healings and preaching. But Jesus is on a mission and you can never put him in a box. He’s going into a place where there are unclean pigs and unclean tombs and cemetaries.
Luke 8:27-28 (NIV)
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.
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!"
Jesus stepped ashore, a demon possessed man met him. Demons are fallen angels who rebelled against God with Satan in heaven. They are under Satan’s authority and they have power to possess people and to cause great destruction in people’s lives. Many of the terrible crimes against people and humanity have roots in demons operating in their lives or groups.
If you had been one Jesus’ disciples and you saw a naked man, with chains broken, running toward Jesus, what would you have done. Would you have warned Jesus, “Look out Jesus! Quick, get back in the boat”.
What if the person was running toward you? What would you have done?
God often sends some very unlikely, unloveable, and undesirable people into our lives. What is to be our response when God does it? Do you ever take a moment to see who you are prejudiced against? We all are, in one way or another. What group of people that God loves, do you strongly dislike or even hate. What would happen if God sent that person running to you. Would they find the love of Christ, or coldness and suspicion?
This man was isolated from others. He was alone. He was homeless. He lived in the world of the unclean. He didn’t know what it was to have a friend. Nobody would give him the time of day. Yet he rushed to see Jesus.
Jesus put himself in a place for this man to come to him. Jesus didn’t have to go over to the Gadarenes. He could have landed further away but he didn’t. He wanted to meet this man.
This naked, bruised, and uncomfortable looking man, asked the question, that everyone of us needs to as, not just once, but again and again, and again, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High.”
What a contrast between the disciples response to the presence of Jesus, and this man’s response. They had witnessed Jesus calm a sea storm in which they thought they were going to drown. Jesus says something to the sea and raging winds like, “Be still” and all at once everything stops. The wind stops blowing, the rain drips no more, the boat is no longer being jostled back and forth. Yet there response is, “who is this?”
Yet this man who has seen no miracles, declares Jesus to be the Son of the Most High God. He asks the question, “What do you want with me, Son of the Most High God”
His next statement shows a recognition of the power of Jesus, that we often miss. We think that we can ask the question, and if the answer does not come back that we like, we can simply ignore God’s response to us and go about our business. Yet this man recognizes, that whatever response comes from Jesus, he has no other option except to obey it.
So he continues with a prayer, because he thinks he knows what Jesus is about to do. He begs Jesus, “I beg you, don’t torture me.” This man recognizes that Jesus has an authority over him, that is far greater than he has over himself. He also recognizes that he has done something that is deserving of being tortured or put into a place of pain and suffering.
Luke 8:29-31 (NIV)
29 For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.
30 Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.
Jesus had already diagnosed this man’s problem. He was homeless, he was naked, he was bruised and he was isolated. Mark’s gospel tells us he was a self mutilator in that he would cut himself with stones. The man had been in this condition a long time. If Jesus had given this man a brand new home in Jerusalem it would have been nice, but it would not have saved him. If he had taken him to K & G’s and brought him new clothes, he still would have had a problem. If he sent him to the nearest hospital and saw to it that he got free insurance card, there still would have been a problem. If he could have gotten him to be a part of a local fraternity group for his isolation, the man still would not have lasted very long.
There was something going on in this man’s life that we don’t want to admit is real today and that is a personal evil spirit or spirits are at work in the world today. Our society wants us to believe that everything can be solved by psychology, psychiatry, medicine and politics. If we just let everybody do what they want to do, be who they want to be, and love and accept one another with no judgment of any kind, then all will be okay.
But what if, what we want is not what we really want, or who we think we are, is not really who we are, or if there are some things that are right and wrong and will be judged by God.
Jesus realized that this man, was not who the man had been created in the image of God . He was not the man that other people saw. There was actually a man behind the man. We all recognize that we are a person, behind the person that others actually see. We sometimes recognize and differentiate between that other person and ourselves. Have you ever said to yourself, now why on earth did you do that. That was so stupid of me.
Jesus recognized there are spiritual beings that are in our midst, but we don’t identify them as such. The moment Jesus landed on that shore and saw the man, a battle started in which Jesus saw the demonic being inside of the man, and had started demanding that it come out of the man. Jesus’ love for the man, caused the man behind the man to come to him.
This demonic being had been so powerful, that it gave this man the strength to break chains from his hands and feet. He had guards afraid to watch over him. People scared to go in his direction. The demons had driven the man to live in solitary places. So that he could be all alone with no possibility of getting any kind of help. Yet no matter how much this demon wanted to isolate this man, it was not strong enough to keep the man away from the love of Jesus Christ.
The goal of every demonic force is to put us in bondage to something, that keeps us from God’s love. It tries to keep us from asking, “What do you want with me.” Some of us already know what God wants from us, but we don’t want to give it up. The tighter we hold on to it, the more of a foothold we give for the forces of darkness to get a foothold in our lives.
Almost all bondage we face, begins with something small. I’m only going to do it this one time. The next time I will stop. Surely, I’m entitiled to this one vice. God made me this way so it must be alright. If God didn’t want me to have it, why did he just put it here in front of me. And so the bondage begins. Pick up and newspaper and you will see how a person’s life was destroyed by believing a small lie from the enemy.
Jesus does not have a debate with the man about how he got into the situation. He attacks the problem that’s holding the man back. Jesus speaks to the demons, who are in front of the man. He asks the question “What Is Your Name.” If Jesus was to ask that of something in our lives, that’s keeping us away from truly walking with God, could we name it. Would we be willing to repent of it?
The Spirit responds to Jesus, “Legion”. There were many demons inside of this man and they recognized the power that Jesus had to pronounce a judgment over their lives. A legion was the largest unit in the Roman Army with somewhere between 3000 and 6000 soldiers. They started begging Jesus to please not order them to go into the Abyss or place of judgment. Notice the possible odds against Jesus, 6000 demons to one Son of God, yet there is no question who has the greater power.
These are the enemies of Jesus Christ, and they knew that whatever Jesus commanded they would have to do. Wouldn’t it be great if we had a balance of how much God loves us with a healthy realization, that if we reject God, there is a going to be a consequence for our action.
Jesus does all things in his time. He knows its not yet time for the final judgment for Satan and his demons to be judged. He has not yet gone to the cross to die for the sins of the world. The demons beg Jesus to let them go into a large herd of pigs there on the hillside. Mark’s gospel lets us know there were about 2,000 pigs. Jesus gives them permission to go into the herd, and the pigs would rather die than be possessed so they rush down the hill into the water and drown.
The people who had been taking care of the pigs, ran and told the people in town what had happened. They were not going to get the blame for the loss of the pigs. The towns people came to see Jesus and this former crazy man for themselves.
The crowd came up to Jesus, and saw the man dressed and in his right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus. For the first time, they saw the man who had been behind the man they were afraid of in the past.
Then the most disappointing thing happens: When they saw the power of Jesus to change a person’s life, they asked Jesus to please leave their community. They were afraid Jesus might cause them to lose some more pigs. They preferred profit over people. How many other people in their area needed a miracle from Jesus, but now wouldn’t get it. If we have to make changes to reach people, will your response be to maintain your preference of what you like or trying to see who we can be used by Jesus to set free.
When the man saw the people’s response, he knew it was going to be hard for him to live with those people. This time he begged for himself. He begged Jesus to allow him to go with him and be one of his disciples. But Jesus would not allow him to do so. Jesus gave him a much bigger task. “He told him, Go back to those people who want nothing to with me, Return Home and tell how much God has done for you.” Jesus wanted a witness left behind since he wouldn’t be coming back. Jesus is always seeking those who are willing to be a witness. This man was willing.
Verse 39 tell us
So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
You know you might say, if I had been there, I would have treated the man differently. The reality is, we are all in this story. In fact we are the very man that Jesus came to deliver. Just as the man was bound by spiritual forces that were intent on destroying his life, those same forces are at operation in our midst today.
This man had no power over what was controlling his life. We don’t know if he was a Gentile or a Jew. We do know He had no hope of a recovery. It wasn’t that he simply ran to Jesus. It was actually Jesus that came to him. God is at work in each of our lives before we knew who God is. You might not even know God today, but God knows you. You are here because God is drawing you to Himself and we are a stop along the way.
God knew you would need a power in your life to set you free from some of the desires you have that you know are wrong. He sent Jesus Christ into this world to die for our sins, that is all the wrong things we have ever done, thought, or plan to do. There is a law in the universe that insists that for all act of rebellion against God, a punishment will be given. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, since he was the perfect Son of God only he could pay for the penalty of our sins. If we were a defendant in a courtroom and found guilty Jesus would rise and insist on taking our place at the sentencing. He has more than enough righteousness to give to us to remove the penalty for our sin.
Not only did Jesus die on a cross. Three days later God raise him from the dead with a power far greater than the power of sin over our lives. Just as he sent the demons out of the man, He can send things out of our lives and give us the Holy Spirit to keep them out.
But before we can receive what God has for us, we must see ourselves as that man was, naked, bruised, isolated and without hope of saving ourselves. For if we are not willing to admit our sin and our failure, there is little that God can do in providing us with his salvation. Once you give your life to Jesus Christ, you will spend the rest of your life asking the question, “What do you want with me Jesus, Son of the Most High God.” If you have stumbled and fallen this week, God is still willing to lift you up and restore you to a right relationship with him, through your repentance. God has a calling upon each of our lives.
The one thing God wants from everyone is to return home and tell how much God has done for you. God saves us from sin, from depression, from isolation, from addictions, and from situations so that we might go and tell others what the Lord has done for us. What would happen to us as a church, if each week we were committed to telling at least one other person, what God has done for us. I pray that we find out.
