"Begging Jesus" (Luke 8:26-39)!

After a brief period of calm, Jesus and his disciples cross the lake to the other side. While there is some dispute as to the exact location what is clear is that this is a Gentile area on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.   Luke 8:26–39

Imagine the disciples sailing across the lake after Jesus had calmed the hurricane like storm. They're rowing their boat on the glassy sea and they’re discussing among themselves ‘who is this that the wind and waves obey’? (7:49, 8:25) How do they explain that their miracle-working Rabbi can speak to the wind and waves and they obey him. 

The twelve would have been traumatized by their near death experience, but elated that Jesus delivered from the storm. They’re perplexed that the 'wind and waves’ obey Jesus, particularly since in the Psalms it is God who calms the seas and at creation it is God who brings order out of the chaotic seas. (Genesis 1, Psalm 65:7, 107:29) So they’re in the boat drenched by the sea, both amazed and 'afraid’ because the Rabbi they’re following speaks to the ‘wind and waves’ and they obey him.

The howling wind had ceased, and the turbulent waves were still, but as they approach the shore they hear a man yelling. They’re discussion about this one who calms the storm is interrupted the shouting of a demon-possessed man who runs up and falls at Jesus feet. The man is naked and he’s shouting, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!”  He's unrestrained and he can break chains, but the demonic presence seizes him and drives him into isolated places among the tombs. The disciples look up to see this naked demonized gentile and there are tombs in the background and a herd of 2000 pigs on the hillside (Mark 5:13). Where has Jesus taken them? What kind of wretched and unclean place is this?

This guy is messed, he’s a gentile, he’s naked, he’s homeless, he lives in a graveyard, and he’s inhabited by a host of demons. The demons give him strength to break chains, but he lives in isolation among the tombs. He’s demonized by so many spirits that his name is "Legion”. If a Roman legion ranged from 3500 to 8000 soldiers, then this guy was gripped in the clutches of demonic evil.  Luke and the other synoptic writers say nothing about the disciples getting out of the boat. Could it be that they’re so overwhelmed by the demoniac, the tombs and the large herd of pigs that they chose to observe from the boat? This is no place for faithful Jew!  

The man or the demonic presence gives Jesus his name. Then the entities within him beg Jesus, ‘not to torture them or throw them into the abyss’. They plead with Jesus for permission to enter a large herd of pigs on the hillside. Jesus allows them and so they leave the man and enter the pigs. Then the herd rushes over a steep bank and drowns in the lake. Those tending the pigs rush into the town to tell the people why the pigs are now dead in the water. The people come out only find Jesus and the man, formerly demon-possessed, dressed at Jesus’ feet and in his right mind. They see this and when they hear how the man was healed they're so afraid that they beg Jesus to leave the area.

To summarize, first the demonized man begs Jesus not to torture him. Then the demons beg Jesus not to be thrown into the abyss but to permit them to enter the pigs. When Jesus does they leave the man, enter the pigs and then drown in the lake. When the owners find their pigs drowned in the lake they beg Jesus to leave their area. Then the formerly demonized man begs to go with Jesus only to be told to go home and tell others what God had done for him.  In this story the same Jesus who ‘calmed the chaotic storm’ calms the chaotic life of demonized man! This man was unrestrained and out of control. He could break chains and he lived in torment among the tombs. Jesus liberates this captive from demonic evil by the power of his word! The story tells me that Jesus has power over all things seen and unseen! 

The extent of the demonic evil that infested this man’s life is disturbing. However, if Jesus can transform this man, then surely he can transform us no matter what we've done or what we are facing! The story ‘opens our eyes’ to get a bigger VISION of JESUS and to ask, ‘who is this that the wind and waves and the unseen spiritual forces obey?’ When Jesus and his disciples reach the shore Jesus steps out only to be confronted by a demonized Gentile man. If the disciples even got out of the boat, they must have wanted to get back in asap! Jesus steps out and into the tragic life and confronts a whole host of demons. He then drives the demons out of the man and permits them to go into the pigs. The pigs then rush over a steep bank and drown in the lake. The disciple had feared drowning (8:24), but now a heard of unclean pigs drown in the lake. Jesus has crossed the lake to calm another storm; and as a result a gentile man receives salvation! 

When the people from the town see this they afraid and they're more concerned about their pigs than the man. When they see the formerly demon-possessed man now dressed and in his right mind they're afraid. However, they respond by begging Jesus to leave their area. The liberated man begs to go with Jesus, but Jesus wants him to ‘go home and tell what God had done for him.’ This is exactly what he does, and by doing so he shows himself to be ‘good soil’ (8:15). But where are our twelve disciples? The text doesn’t say, but we do learn is that what God has done, Jesus has done! The man has be reconciled to God and Jesus wants him to go and be reconciled to others. To tell others what Jesus has done is to tell them what Jesus has done. As Paul says, “God was ‘in Christ’ reconciling the world to himself (2 Cor.5:19)!”