Fear or Freedom

Pentecost 4 (June 24, 2007)

Rev. Steven D. Spencer

Luke 8:26-39

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. 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. 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.

.I. Possessed by Fear

To get to the country of the Gadarenes, Jesus and his disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee in a boat. During that crossing a storm arose and the disciples feared for their lives. They woke Jesus because they expected Him to be bothered with the fact that they were perishing. "Master, Master, we are perishing!" (Luke 8:24) “Jesus the arose and rebuked the wind and the raging of the water. And they ceased, and there was a calm.” And the disciples asked each other, "Who is this, that he commands even the winds and the water, and the obey him?" (Luke 8:25). Do the disciples get who Jesus is? Do they have a clue?  

In contrast, when Jesus stepped out on land, He is greeted by a man who has never seen Him yet who knows Him as "Jesus, Son of the Most High God" (Luke 8:28). Jesus commands the winds and waves, but that didn’t help the disciples know who Jesus is. But when Jesus commanded the demons to leave they knew right away who Jesus is. The demons are puzzled by why Jesus would even bother with them, "What have you to do with me?" (Luke 8:28). The disciples knew Jesus but didn’t trust Him because they didn’t know if He was willing to do anything for their benefit. The demons also knew Jesus and also didn’t trust him because they knew Jesus was capable of doing anything but didn't trust that Jesus would do anything for their benefit.

II. Possessed by Unbelief

The demons and the disciples were both owned by unbelief. The demons and the disciples didn’t trust Jesus. To them, Jesus wasn’t good news from God. They thought Jesus failed. The disciples thought Jesus failed because though they wanted him to be of benefit, they didn’t know Him as God's Son. The demons knew Jesus was God's Son, but thought Jesus failed because Jesus wouldn’t act in a beneficial way for them. Thus, the disciples were tormented by the storm and the demons by Jesus. Neither was comforted. That’s why Jesus asked the disciples, "Where is your faith?" in verse 25. That’s why the demons cried, "I beg you, do not torment me" (Luke 8:28). The people in town, when they came out to see what had happened, found the man from whom the demons had fled sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind (Luke 8:35). "And they were afraid" (Luke 8:35), for they didn’t believe Jesus was from God and they didn’t trust that Jesus was of any benefit to them, which is why they asked Jesus to leave them (Luke 8:37). To the people from the town, Jesus failed.

III. Possessed by Death

The man who had demons lived in the tombs (Luke 8:27). He was owned by death because he was against God and God was against him. The disciples were afraid of being owned by death. The people of the town were afraid of Jesus. Though the disciples and the people from the town didn’t live in the tombs, they were as good as dead to God because they were owned by their unfaith. When people are owned by unfaith (not loving or trusting God), they are possessed, not by a relationship of love with God, but by a relationship of perceived justice in the law. That relationship with God based on law ends in death. For God gives death to all who do not trust God as the giver of life. Death is for those who do not fear love and trust in God above all things.

For those who are against God, those that live in self-centered ways, those that take joy in continually bringing harm to others, is eternal death.  Death in the abyss this is what the demons named Legion wanted to avoid.

IV. Possessed by Jesus

From the day Jesus was born in human flesh in Bethlehem it seems that people were trying to get Him to leave. They even tried by killing Him on a cross. People killed Jesus because they didn’t accept that He was from God. They refused to accept the benefits He offered them. They instead leaned to their own understanding, thinking that somehow they could work out their own salvation.  Not realizing that God's way of justice gives death to all people who don’t live the Law perfectly.  But that’s why Jesus was born into human flesh, to live the Law perfectly. Jesus came to live perfectly and then to die perfectly for the sake of all people. Jesus came to pay for our fear, to pay for our unbelief and to pay for the price of death that we owed. He paid it all for us! He has redeemed us and we are His possession!

V. Possessed by Love

By His holy incarnation, by His nativity, by His baptism, fasting and temptation, by His agony and bloody sweat; by His cross and passion; by His precious death and burial; and by His glorious resurrection Jesus paid the price for us. His love cast out all fear and unbelief. No longer is there a need to be in fear. The price has been paid in full. Perfect love cast out fear (1 John 4:18). This is what the demon possessed man in our text experienced. No longer is the man afraid, instead, he is in his right mind and sits at feet of Jesus (Luke 8:35).

VI. Possessed by the Spirit

Galatians 5 says: “The desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law" (Galatians 5.17-18). The man possessed by demons was against God. A battle was inside him, He couldn’t protect himself. He was often kept often under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven into the wilderness (Luke 8:29). But now that he was possessed by faith in Christ, he wanted to be with Jesus (Luke 8:38). Jesus gave him a new way of life. And Jesus commissioned him to share with others the new relationship with God he had, through Christ, "Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you." (Luke 8:39). To declare how much God had done for him, the man proclaimed throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.

The man proclaimed a message that was based on Christ. A message of how a man’s heart and mind became at peace with God. He was no longer possessed by fear but was set free. For that day that man learned about the peace of God which surpasses all understanding. He learned about the forgiveness of sins that only Jesus can give the same forgiveness He gives you. In Jesus name, Amen!

And now, may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, now and forever. Amen!    T