“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.
In the physical realm, there are forces that I cannot see that act upon me. Gravity is one. I have never seen the force of gravity with my physical eyes but I have experienced its effects every time I have fallen down. Just so you know, basophobia is the fear of falling. In the spirit realm, there are forces working on my side – angels. There are far more angels than there are demons. To understand the deceptive temptations by which demons do their work, I always recommend for Believers to read (or reread) “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis written in 1945.
Here’s the most important takeaway from the pronouncement in v. 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!” Every inhabitant of the spirit realm in that day knew Jesus was the Only Son of God – the second person of the Trinity. So, every inhabitant of the spirit realm today knows every Believer has the Holy Spirit dwelling within her or him. Remember – they are like firecrackers and the Holy Spirit in you is like a nuclear bomb! NO COMPARISON!
The naming of the demons and the number of the demons is open to debate. There are more than one and have made this wild guy’s life a living hell. They don’t want to be banished from our world so they beg Jesus to send them all into a herd of pigs. Some of you may have had a pet that made you believe this story. Anybody watch that show, “My Cat from Hell”? The guy on the show, Jackson Galaxy, deals with behavior modification and is usually teaching the humans to change their habits. I can’t tell you one way or another about a demon in your cat, but in this one instance in God’s Word – Jesus sends the demons into a herd of pigs. (That’s a lot of bacon lost?) When I look at all of this, I see the destructive power within the spirit realm for both the Unbeliever and for the Believer who thinks, “If I don’t talk about it, it does not exist.” All Believers have the Holy Spirit. They have the power of prayer and the empowerment that comes from being in God’s Word every day.
Our next encounter is with…
The Local folks v. 34-37
“34 When those who fed them saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then they went out to see what had happened, and came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 36 They also who had seen it told them by what means he who had been demon-possessed was healed. 37 Then the whole multitude of the surrounding region of the Gadarenes asked Him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. And He got into the boat and returned.”
Apparently, they live in a place like we live because bad news travels fast – or was it the good news? If we look at v. 35-36, there is no mention of the herd of pigs. All the focus is on the wild man who has undergone a radical change. In Mark’s Gospel, the pigs are mentioned side-by-side with the wild man (Mark 15:16). Every time I have heard this taught or preached, the focus is on the economic impact, but that’s not what I read here. They saw a radical change in the wild man and then we read – “And they were afraid.”
As Gentiles in that day, they would not have been followers of the God of the Israelites. They may have seen Jesus as being a kind of powerful sorcerer who could control even the demons of the spirit realm. I think it’s very likely they were putting the blame on Jesus and the wild man for the destruction of the herd of pigs. Here is a quote from A.B. Bruce who wrote in the 1800s – “The owners draw a natural inference: the cure caused the catastrophe and request Jesus, as a dangerous person, to retire.” (The Expositor's Greek Testament, Vol 1 The Synoptic Gospels by The Rev. Alexander Balmain Bruce, D.D. Professor of Apologetics, Free Church College, Glasgow)
Could this explain the lack of celebration for a wild man set free? No matter the reason, we know what the reaction is to their encounter with Jesus – “GO AWAY!” We have seen the reaction of the demons and of the local folks, now we get to our final reaction…
The Wild Guy v. 38-39
“38 Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.”
This man now speaks for himself. When he was speaking before, it was a legion of demons doing the talking. Don’t forget – the Believer with the Holy Spirit dwelling within him or her can’t be demon controlled, but you and I can still be tempted. Our words are a constant target of temptation! Listen to the warning in James 3:5-8 – “5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.”
This man, now speaking for himself, wants to join the traveling band of disciples. There is a part of me that would enjoy reading an account of Jesus putting one Gentile in His group of Jewish disciples. That would lead to some awkward moments!
Jesu tells the man to go back to his hometown. Imagine the joy among his family and friends. The city of Gadara was a large, important city of that day. They had a reputation of great philosophers and mathematicians. In Jewish tradition, this was the place where Balaam’s donkey runs into the wall and the angel reveals himself in Numbers 22. I was unable to find a good estimate for the number of people who lived there in the first century, but this man went there and did exactly what Jesus told him to do – “39 “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.”
Could this be our calling – even if we were never just like this wild guy? Luke’s account of the commissioning of the disciples comes in Acts 1:8 “you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” For too long, the Church focused on sending missionaries to the ends of the earth and neglected “Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria.”
What if Jerusalem is your own family?
What if Judea is your own neighborhood or community?
What if Samaria is your town or city or extended circle of influence?
In all of these places we will find those who are suffering today because they are not experiencing the freedom we find in Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Just so you know, I could not find the name for an irrational fear of telling others about the good news of freedom in Jesus Christ, so I will just call it “evangeliphobia.” Let’s all shake off this fear and step up as the witnesses needed for others to hear about the freedom so many crave right now.
Is this the season to proclaim the same freedom the wild guy found? Amen
