The Gadarene Demoniac
Luke 8:26-39
The man Jesus meets in the tomb would make a good subject for a horror movie. Here was a troubled and violent man. One can only imagine what fear the local populations must have had. they could not even bind him with chains. One can think of the terror which a person possessed by a single demon could wreak. But this man was possessed with an entire legion of devils. When the word “legion” was heard in the Roman world, this in itself was cause for terror. A Roman legion with the supporting troops was well-disciplined and consisted to about ten thousand soldiers including the support troops. In good times, they maintained a sense of order through fear. The people knew what would happen if they rebelled against Rome. The horrific account of what happened to Spartacus during the slave revolt reinforced the fear which the people had. Spartacus was a champion gladiator, and many of his followers fought in the arena. They were good fighters one on one. But they were no match for the superior discipline and co-ordination of the legion. The Jews would themselves taste the terror of the legions during the Jewish war of 66-70 AD. Many years later in Britain, Queen Boadicea raised up a revolt against Rome who was guilty of grossly insulting the people. The queen had some initial success, until the roman legion came. Even though Boadicea’s troops vastly outnumbered the legion, they were slaughtered by the legionnaires.
So this man from Gadara was quite a piece of work. Even though everything about the man himself was chaos, the fact that a legion of devils could inhabit him required quite a bit of discipline on their part. Much of the strength of the legion was seen in their submission to authority. They knew how to obey orders. Even though there was a legion of them, they knew how to take orders. As frightening as this man was to the villagers, one can only think of the terror the man himself felt. The torment was so great, that h cut himself with stones and cried out in his anguish. If two cohorts of the 10th Roman legion could keep Palestine in terror, just think of an entire legion of devils in a single man.
Let us now look at this episode in its fuller context, so that we might discern what the Holy Spirit wants us to learn. The first thing we need to do is to see what happens immediately before, which is the calming of the sea by Jesus. In fact, we need to go on to Luke 8:21:
?
Luke 8:21 NKJV
But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it.”
The Gospel of Mark gives us some additional detail. The reason Jesus’ mother and brothers had come was to take Jesus away because they thought he was insane. Jesus replied to this summons by saying that His true kinfolk were those who heard what He said and put it into practice. One could at first think that this was addressed to the Jews who believed Him. And this is right, as far as it goes. The true Israel consists of those who hear the Word of God and perform it. But is this all. I think that Luke here gives even a broader context.
Following this verse, it says that Jesus got into a boat to cross over to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberius or Genessaret was not a very large body of water, being 10-12 miles long and less than 5 miles wide. But culturally speaking, it might as well fave been the Atlantic ocean. The other side of the lake was where the Gentile live. They were looked down upon the Jews. These people raised pigs! Pigs represented what was unclean, according to Jewish law. The Jews remembered when the Greek Emperor Antiochus Epiphanes sacrificed a pig on the altar in Jerusalem which sparked the Maccabean revolt. the Gentiles were held in fear as well. Jews would avoid such unclean places. The Jews as hill people were afraid of being out on the water which tells us just how disobedient Jonah was when he got into a boat to go to Spain, in order to not preach to the Gentiles at Nineveh. We all know of the storm which came in which Jonah was thrown overboard to still the storm and then swallowed by the great fish who vomited Jonah up on the shore three days later for him to continue to Nineveh. The concept of “sea” represented “chaos” tot he Jew, and the word “sea” was also used to refer to the Gentile people.
So, the request to cross over to the Gentile side of the lake probably stirred up wonder in the disciples. Why go there? But they obeyed Jesus. Jesus fell asleep. But then chaos erupted. A storm arose on the lake. Violent storms often and suddenly erupted on the lake before. Peter and the fishermen knew of these storms. But this storm must have been more violent than those they had previously encountered. they were filled with terror. They could not understand how Jesus could sleep during this storm. Even as the fishermen tried to keep the bow of the boat facing into the waves to keep the boat from being swamped and bailed out the water, they realized that they were losing the battle. Was god punishing them for crossing the lake? Surely not! But why was their Lord asleep. did He not care if they perished? A Jew could look back to Elijah and his challenge to the prophets of Baal to see who the true God was. Baal was considered to be the god of the storm. But he could not bring the desperately needed rain. Elijah taunted the prophets of Baal by saying their god was busy or did not care. But Jesus was in the boat with them. If they perished, surely Jesus would perish also.
Jesus was asleep because He knew that this wasn’t His time to die. God had appointed a different time, place and purpose. He arose and rebuked the wind, and there was calm. He then rebuked His disciples for their lack of faith. The disciples wondered. Certainly one who can still the storm was no ordinary person. It is Jesus they truly needed to fear.
So when they finished crossing over to the other side, they landed at a cemetery. This was probably a Gentile cemetery which made the place doubly unclean to an observant Jew. And adding to this uncleanness was a naked man who was tormented by a legion of devils and cutting himself with stones. This horror show came to meed Jesus. It is interesting to note that it does not mention that the disciples got out of the boat with Jesus. They were happy to be spectators. But Jesus remained calm. The devils who understood and obeyed authority knew that a greater authority than Satan was before them. The devils knew him beforehand and trembled when they saw Him. They understood something about Jesus that we are slow to recognize. Jesus asked their name, to which they replied “legion.” We should realize that naming is an act of authority. We practice naming in this way. A mother who expects her child to obey her command and say here to take out the trash. The dialog might go like this: “John, would you please take out the trash. when this request is ignored, the word “please” is removed. “John! Take out the trash!” And if necessary, we hear: “John William Smith, take out the trash! Now! So here in this incident, Jesus asking their name is the first step in exerting his authority over them.
The legion of devils understood that Jesus was going to expel them from the man. And for some reason, the prospect of becoming disembodied spirits terrified them. They begged that they might enter into a herd of about 2000 swine which were grazing nearby. Being granted permission, they entered the swine, and they rushed off headlong into the lake and drowned. As swine were practically worshiped as gods, so the swineherds were terrified as well as at the loss of 2000 pigs of which they would have to give account. Their terrifying report was spread throughout the region, and the people, instead of showing the proper worship of the only true God, begged instead that Jesus might depart. It says he went back to the boat and prepared to leave. Note that it does not say that he and the disciples entered the boat.
The man who had been naked, unmanageable, and possessed was now calmly seated, clothed and in his right mind. Unlike, his fellow villagers, he begged that he might go with Jesus. He was prepared to hear and obey the word of God. In other words, even though he was a Gentile, and up to this point the worst of the Gentiles now wanted to follow Jesus. For some reason, Jesus told Him to go back home and tell the people what great things God had done for him. In other words, this man becomes the first missionary to the Gentiles.
What should we learn then from this passage. Certainly, we see that Jesus is sovereign God, the Son. As being equally God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, He is to be feared and obeyed by all, especially His disciples. We can also learn that this same Jesus is Sovereign among His people. People and devils try to torment us constantly. what we realize is that God knows when to stop the mouth of the lion and calm the storms in our life.
But perhaps what is often overlooked is this connection that the family of God consists of those who hear what He say and puts it into practice. This being followed by Jesus trip to Gentile lands tells us that being Jesus’ brethren does not consist of physical relation to Him, whether close kin or as to the Jews. It consists of believers and disciples, regardless of there they came from or whether they were “good people” or the chief of sinners like this man. The disciples had not done very well here in following Jesus. They had lost faith in the storm. They also did not follow Jesus out of the boat. Jesus, not Paul, sets the example of not only to the Jew but also to the Greek, Jesus crossed the lake and the storm to come to a Gentile cemetery to heal one (or two if on follows Matthew) man possessed by a legion of devils. One hopes that this man won many of his fellow villagers to Jesus. After much more convincing. The Apostles would get the message and come to Gentile lands as well as the Jewish enclaves. The gospel is for everyone. We must not be overcome with prejudice and fear. Get out of the boat and follow Jesus into the filed of ministry.
