The Man From The Gadarenes
Audio, Part 1
Audio, Part 2
Darkness dispelled:
Spiritual Freedom On Display in Gadarenes
Mission Statement:
NLWC is a body of believers following Jesus by embracing the Great Commission as we live out the Great Commandment
We embrace the Great Commission
– it is something we love to do
– it is something we are passionate about
Why?
- Because we are loving God with our whole heart soul, mind and strength and loving our neighbors as ourselves.
As we do this, what is the result?
To see the result, we are going to look at what happened when Jesus set out intending to “love” His neighbor.
Look at Luke 8.
· Lots of things here in this chapter
· Parable of the Sower
o where Jesus explains the implications of sowing seeds on different types of ground.
Jesus concludes the parable
o He talks about putting the lamp on the lampstand
o rather than hiding it under a bushel basket
Where Jesus is headed will show us an excellent example of what it means to put the lamp on the lampstand.
Jesus gets into the boat with the Disciples – He is heading intentionally to “love His neighbor.”
A storm blows up
o Perhaps supernatural way to keep Him from where God sends Him
o Even in the midst of this turmoil,
o Disciples are perfectly safe
o Jesus is in the boat with them.
Where is He going?
o He is heading intentionally to the most desperate of men
o Matthew 8 has the same story
o it tells of an encounter of 2 men in the same dire straits
o Only one is mentioned in Luke
o Perhaps because of what this one man experienced
o the complete experience Jesus intended for both to have
Verse we as a church have claimed for years is John 8:36:
“If the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.”
This story in Luke 8 demonstrates that verse.
Jesus sets out to set this man free
o Picture the circumstances this man was living in
o He was possessed by demons
o He could not live in town anymore
o He was chained up, naked, living among the tombs.
o Imagine the creepiest of the creepy
o This guy was there
Now, at this point, we need to clarify a few things.
There are Christians who will explain the problems
o simply psychological
o neurological in nature
o Other places in Scripture where the demonic is mentioned
o Explain it as epileptic seizures
o other types of disorders
I do believe that there are neurological disorders.
I also believe that there are psychological disorders.
I believe epilepsy is a real condition.
And I am not in favor of looking for a demon under every bush.
Sometimes, we can go too far in the church
o Claiming there is not such thing as demonic influence
o Blaming everything on demonic influence
o Both extremes are wrong.
To disregard the enemy and his tactics is to misread a tremendous portion of the New Testament Scriptures – which are not discussing some hypothetical enemy. We have an enemy and he is real.
The word translated “demon”
o Used 60 times in the New Testament
o Primarily in the Gospels
o Primarily either by Jesus or in encounters involving Jesus
o Clearly, for Jesus, this was not a psychological or neurological phenomena – it was (and is) a spiritual reality.
But the other extreme:
o Blaming everything on the enemy
o Leaves us without examining problems
o Result of our own or someone else’s carnal nature.
Jesus knew there was a real enemy
o who had a stranglehold on the life of this man in the Gadarenes
o He knew in his own power or strength helpless to fight that enemy
o For some reason it had such a hold on him
o this man was helpless in his grasp.
Jesus also knew something else.
o There was no one around who would fight the enemy for this man
o There was no one equipped to fight the demonic presence
o To bring this man into freedom
o No one
There were people involved in his physical care
o Obviously someone must have brought sustenance to him
o Otherwise, he would have died from starvation
o People tried to keep him from harming himself
There were people who cared.
But caring for someone’s physical needs is not enough when the problem they are facing is spiritual in nature.
Remember:
o Feed my lambs
o Tend my sheep
o Feed my sheep
This lamb was being tended to
o But there was no spiritual feeding going on
o That was allowing the enemy’s presence to go uncontested
o Uncontested so great that a whole host of demons impacting him
This situation did not catch Jesus by surprise
o He knew why He was headed there
o It was to set the man free.
Let’s look at the actual encounter between the man, his demons and our Lord.
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.
In verse 28 – this reference to “crying out”
o Creepy of the creepy
o Fve times in the New Testament
o Four of the five times demons crying out in the presence of Jesus
o Fifth time is in reference to the voice of the angry mob when they cry out to release Barabas instead of Jesus at the crucifixion.
“Fell down” in His presence
o Not the concept of kneeling or bowing in worship
o It is a violent, thrashing, blowing down sense
o It would be an ugly thing to see
Jesus had already told the demons what to do
o He had commanded them to come out of the man
o Demons knew what they had to face Jesus and His authority
o But they were not going to go without a fight.
You see, the enemy has read the end of the book
o he knows he is a defeated foe
o he still wants to fight
o he is seeking much collateral damage on his way out
And as the demons even acknowledge the presence and identity of the Most High God, they still are kicking and screaming and creeping everybody out.
But it doesn’t matter. When Jesus is on the scene and a person is ready to be set free, there can be kicking, there can be screaming, there can be hissy fits and gnashing of teeth and whatever else the enemy wants to do.
But Jesus promises, “where the Son sets you free, you are free indeed.”
And so Jesus proceeds to set the man free.
So what happens?
The demons negotiate a deal
o They think they are going to have a last hurrah
o do some collateral damage on the way out
o There is an abundance of them
o Legion
o They beg to go into the swine
o Jesus obliges them.
But there is a method to Jesus’ agreeing. It sets the stage for revealing the true nature and need in the Gadarenes.
Picture this: the man who once was bound, the man who was so imprisoned by the demons who controlled him, the one who needed others to provide his food and keep him safe from himself.
o He is the one that Jesus chooses to use.
How does Jesus use him?
o He puts him on a lampstand.
What do I mean by that?
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.
The man is now in his right mind
o Everyone sees it
o Everyone is wondering about it.
o He has been “sozoed” by Jesus
o There is nothing more that he needs.
But, he wants to be with Jesus. And he asks Jesus, who it appears is being run out of town, to take him with Him.
But Jesus instead tells him, “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.”
The man’s willingness to leave everything and go with Jesus tells us he is willing to live out the first part of the Great Commandment – love God with everything.
And look at what else Jesus wants him to do – love his neighbor as himself.
This will have a tremendous impact on his neighbors
o imagine seeing this man finally caring for himself
o tending to his body
o shaving
o wearing clean clothes
o cooking dinner.
Imagine when his neighbor is sick
o this man from the Gadarenes shows up
o helps gather in his sick neighbor’s harvest
o helps tend his flocks.
And all the while, this man from the Gadarenes is also living out the Great Commission – telling others what God has done for him.
Whoa – are you catching this!!!
This man is on a lampstand
o His light is in position
o It is shining throughout the entire neighborhood
o The whole region is talking about it.
o Everywhere they look, they see the difference in him
o It is so radically obvious
o Every time they hear him speak, they listen
o It sounds so incredibly different
o Creepy, evil voice he used to speak with
And softly, tenderly, he tells them of the Savior
o Who crossed the Sea that stormy night
o Who calmed the winds and the waves
o Who cast out the demons and set him free
o Who told him to stay there
o Glorifying God in their midst
Look at the ingenuity of Jesus here
o The crowd rejects Him
o They send Him on His way
o Jesus knows
o They’re going to let the man He has healed stay there
o They don’t understand Who was in their midst
o They would have realized
§ He was worth far more than that herd of swine.
They didn’t understand
o that the change was also possible for them
o But that’s what they would hear
o and see
o and come to believe
o from the evidence this man’s life would produce.
We cannot look at this story and not see the implications for our neighbors – for this community – for the direction and mission of this church.
We are the ones who God has kept in Mecca
o There have been countless people in the recent past
o People have come and gone
o But instead of calling us out of Mecca
o Jesus has said
§ “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.”
Why?
Because He is placing us on a lampstand.
As we love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength – and we love our neighbor as ourselves – we will naturally tell others of the change God has brought into our lives.
As we tend the sheep and help our neighbors, as they see Him in us, they are drawn to Him. And as they are drawn, He sets them free.
And as He sets them free and tells them to tell their neighbor, He places them on a lampstand, too.
That is how the light is spread in Mecca.