Taken Hold Of And Control Of...

At the church where I serve, we have been looking at various encounters that people had with Jesus that are recorded for us in an account of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of Luke. T

This week, I would like for us to look at another encounter that an individual had with Jesus that is recorded for us in the gospel of Luke. And as we look at this encounter that this individual had with Jesus, we are going to discover another timeless truth that can occur when we encounter Jesus. So let’s discover that timeless truth together, beginning in Luke 8:26:

Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.

Luke begins this section of his account of Jesus life by providing for us the context for the encounter with Jesus that we are going to look at this morning. After miraculously telling a storm to stop sinking the boat that they were traveling in, Jesus and His disciples continued across the Sea of Galilee to a region that was referred to as the country of the Gerasenes.

The country of the Gerasenes was located on the southeastern shores of the Sea of Galilee. Capernaum, which was located in the region of Israel know as Galilee, was located here on the map. This is why Luke states that Gerasenes was opposite Galilee. This region of the Sea of Galilee was largely Gentile in population. Now when the Bible refers to the Gentiles, these were people who were not Jewish ethnically or culturally. So if you are not Jewish you would be considered a Gentile.

And in the culture of the first century, Jewish people viewed themselves as being religious people, while viewing the Gentiles as being irreligious people. In the culture of the first century, Jewish people viewed themselves as being insiders when it came to having a relationship with God, while Gentiles were viewed as being outsiders who were far from God. After providing us the context for this encounter with Jesus, Luke then gives us a front row seat to this encounter with Jesus. So let’s take that front row seat together, beginning in Luke 8:27:

 And when He came out onto the land, He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me." For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.

Luke tells us that as Jesus and the disciples stepped out of the boat and onto dry land, they were met by a man from a local town who was possessed by demons. In other words, this man was no longer in control of his life. Instead, his life had been taken hold of and was controlled by demons.

Now both Jesus and Paul teach us that demons are a group of supernatural beings who are under the leadership of the devil, or Satan. We also know that demons have superhuman, but limited knowledge and power. Demons are angels that were created by the Lord before the creation of the universe, who rebelled against God sometime before the fall of humans that is recorded for us in the very first letter in the Bible in Genesis 3.

And at some point, this man ended up in a place in his life where demons took possession and control of his life. Notice that Luke says demons, not demon. So this man was under the control of a multitude of demons. Luke then reveals for us the reality that as a result of being taken hold of and controlled by this multitude of demons, this man had not put on any clothing in a long time and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. In other words, this man ran around butt naked and lived in a cemetery. This man was isolated from people and was unable to be controlled by people.

Can you imagine what that scene must have looked like? Can you imagine stepping off a boat to be confronted by a butt naked man who lived in a cemetery? Now it wasn’t that people hadn’t tried to control this man. Luke explains that this man was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard on several occasions. This man’s family and friends would attempt to regain control of this man’s life in an attempt to rescue this man’s life.

However, time after time of reaching out to their relative and their friend, they ended up without success. Even after being bound and placed under guard, the man would simply break his bonds and return back to the cemetery outside of town, driven there by the demons who had taken hold of and controlled his life. You see, the demons gave this man supernatural power that prevented him from being restrained for his protection. And these demons would drive him into the desert and into a life of isolation and destruction. Because that is what demons do: Demons desire to destroy God’s kingdom and destroy God’s people.

Luke then explains that upon encountering Jesus, the demons drove the man to fall at the feet of Jesus and proclaim with a loud voice "What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me." Now this phrase, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “What is there between us, that You have come here? We know who You are; You are God, so why are you here now? We plead with you do not mess with us but leave us alone”?

You see, demons are fully aware of who Jesus is. And demons recognize that Jesus has authority and power over them. However, demons reject and rebel against Jesus. And in their rebellion and rejection, these demons attempt to manipulate Jesus through the man that they had taken hold of and control of. Notice that the demons say do not torment me, not do not torment us. The demons were attempting to deceive Jesus when it came to their numbers and who was actually in control of this man.

Tomorrow, we will see how Jesus responded to the demons attempts at manipulation…