At the end of this sermon, we will all stand together, and as a community, recite the Nicene Creed. The largest portion of that Creed is devoted to describing the Second Person of the Trinity – Jesus Christ. Actually, Christ is his title and should be said The Christ or Anointed One of God. This defining or describing Jesus is important and has been important ever since he walked this earth. For the defining moment in the Christian's life is what they SAY and DO about Jesus.
In this Gospel lesson we hear about a man who is given a mission to perform. We could say He is being called to serve. He is first healed or delivered from a "Legion" of demons.
We have a whole string of miracles in this section of Luke’s Gospel. Luke 8:26-39 is an exorcism. All of these miracle stories become, in Luke’s hands, a prelude to Jesus’ commissioning of the disciples to go forth and do the same work that Jesus does. They are to heal, and they are to preach.
Let’s examine the Mark 5 version:
5They came to the other side of the lake, to the country of the Gerasenes.* 2And when he had stepped out of the boat, immediately a man out of the tombs with an unclean spirit met him. 3He lived among the tombs; and no one could restrain him anymore, even with a chain; 4for he had often been restrained with shackles and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the shackles he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. 5Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always howling and bruising himself with stones. 6When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him; 7and he shouted at the top of his voice, ‘What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.’ 8For he had said to him, ‘Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!’ 9Then Jesus* asked him, ‘What is your name?’ He replied, ‘My name is Legion; for we are many.’ 10He begged him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11Now there on the hillside a great herd of swine was feeding; 12and the unclean spirits* begged him, ‘Send us into the swine; let us enter them.’ 13So he gave them permission. And the unclean spirits came out and entered the swine; and the herd, numbering about two thousand, rushed down the steep bank into the lake, and were drowned in the lake.
14 The swineherds ran off and told it in the city and in the country. Then people came to see what it was that had happened. 15They came to Jesus and saw the demoniac sitting there, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the legion; and they were afraid. 16Those who had seen what had happened to the demoniac and to the swine reported it. 17Then they began to beg Jesus* to leave their neighborhood. 18As he was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by demons begged him that he might be with him. 19But Jesus* refused, and said to him, ‘Go home to your friends, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy he has shown you.’ 20And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.
We do not hear about the disciple’s reaction to the episode. If I had been there and saw what happened I would have been backing up to the boat, but notice that the DEMONS know that Jesus is the SON OF THE MOST HIGH GOD. The disciples have not figured that out yet.
In Luke’s version of the healing of the Gerasene demoniac Jesus calls out the evil spirits, who exit into a herd of swine. The demons do not want to be cast into the abyss or bottomless pit, so they ask to be sent in to the swine. They thought they were being smart, however, animals operate on instinct, not rational thought, so the demons end up in abyss anyway. They just made a “PIG STOP” on the way. It’s a dramatic, wild, and strange episode that ends with the man serenely seated at the feet of Jesus, at last clothed and in his right mind.
The man is “sitting at the feet of Jesus.” He assumed now the posture of a learner, the posture of a disciple. This raises an important question: Why does Jesus heal? In our culture, it’s a rather self-evident question. Why does Jesus heal? We have been taught to answer “because sickness is bad, because Jesus has compassion and cares for suffering hurting people.”
But note how the story ends, not only with the man seated at Jesus’ feet, a student, but also, with Jesus’ rather amazing command to “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” Note that Jesus not only heals and teaches but also calls. The once- possessed man is commissioned to go back home and be a preacher.
Here this untutored, once very confused and troubled man is made a preacher some time before the Twelve are made preachers in Luke 9:1. And we don’t have to wait long for the man to show his obedience to Jesus’ call. The man “went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him.”
One might think that this poor, troubled man would be told, “Go home and have a good time, you deserve it.” Or, “Go home and take that vacation you have always dreamed of.”
No, Jesus tells him, “Go home and testify, go home and witness.” On another occasion Jesus is asked, by the disciples of John the Baptist, “Are you the Messiah or should we look for another?” And Jesus responds to go tell John that the dead are raised, the sick are healed, and “the poor have good news preached to them.” (As a preacher I am going to resist the temptation to comment on the curious fact that Jesus considers the poor having a preacher right up there with healing and resurrection!) The man who was once owned by demons is now commandeered by Jesus. He goes as an evangelist, a missionary, a preacher who, in word and deed, is a sign of the Kingdom.
What does it mean to have a Savior who links healing with vocation? Well, he’s been doing it from the beginning. Moses wrote in the book of Deuteronomy Chapter 6
1 These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, 2 so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life. 3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the LORD, the God of your fathers, promised you.
4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.
It appears that God expects us to proclaim his kingdom whether we are sick or well. It is all about having faith in him, PERIOD! Even after we have our Let’s Make a Deal session with and it turns out that we are healed or NOT, we are still expected to proclaim him.
When you are committed to Jesus Christ you deny your own self and follow Him, because for you he is the answer the question of what do I believe? I heard Pastor Bill Hinson, from First UMC of Houston relate how the Brown Trucking Company used to do Polygraph tests on all the prospective employees, before it became illegal. One question they would ask is "Do you believe in God?" Those people who answered No, always and again I say, always caused to the machine to go haywire, indicating that they were lying. So, it seems that there is a serious case of rebellion going on in those who say they do not believe in God. God has made us for himself, as St. Augustine said. All we have to do is trust and believe and obey. That belief is brought to bear in what we say and do with Jesus Christ. He is both God and man there is no two ways about it or else the Atonement will not work. If he is not man and share in our humanity then his death on the cross makes no sense and if he is not God then his death will not work for us. As Jesus told his disciples "the Son of Man must be killed and on the third day be raised." Without that there is no other means to our salvation. Do you remember those old recruiting posters for the Army that had a picture of Uncle Sam pointing his finger at you as you looked at the poster and the caption read "I want you for the U.S.ARMY?" Well, I wish I had one like that showing Jesus pointing his finger at you and the caption would read WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM?
A. BACKGROUND NOTES: MESSIAH
1. [meh SIGH uh] (anointed one)-- the one anointed by God and empowered by God's spirit to deliver His people and establish His kingdom. In Jewish thought, the Messiah would be the king of the Jews, a political leader who would defeat their enemies and bring in a golden era of peace and prosperity. In Christian thought, the term Messiah refers to Jesus' role as a spiritual deliverer, setting His people free from sin and death. The word Messiah comes from a Hebrew term that means "anointed one." Its Greek counterpart is Christos, from which the word Christ comes. Messiah was one of the titles used by early Christians to describe who Jesus was.
2. In Old Testament times, part of the ritual of commissioning a person for a special task was to anoint him with oil. The phrase anointed one was applied to a person in such cases. In the Old Testament, Messiah is used more than 30 times to describe kings [2 Samuel 1:14, 16[, priests Leviticus 4:3, 5, 16], the patriarchs [Psalm 105:15], and even the Persian King Cyrus [Isaiah 45:1]. The word is also used in connection with King David, who became the model of the messianic king who would come at the end of the age [2 Samuel 22:51; Psalm 2:2]. But it was not until the time of Daniel (sixth century B. C.) that Messiah was used as an actual title of a king who would come in the future [Daniel 9:25-26]. Still later, as the Jewish people struggled against their political enemies, the Messiah came to be thought of as a political, military ruler.
3. From the New Testament we learn more about the people's expectations. They thought the Messiah would come soon to perform signs [John 7:31] and to deliver His people, after which He would live and rule forever [John 12:34]. Some even thought that John the Baptist was the Messiah [John 1:20]. Others said that the Messiah was to come from Bethlehem [John 7:42]. Most expected the Messiah to be a political leader, a king who would defeat the Romans and provide for the physical needs of the Israelites.
4. By the time of the apostle Paul, "Christ" was in the process of changing from a title to a proper name. The name is found mostly in close association with the name "Jesus," as in "Christ Jesus" [Romans 3:24] or "Jesus Christ" [Romans 1:1]. When the church moved onto Gentile soil, the converts lacked the Jewish background for understanding the title, and it lost much of its significance. Luke wrote, "The disciples were first called Christians [those who belong to and follow the Messiah] in Antioch" [Acts 11:26]. As the Messiah, Jesus is the divinely appointed king who brought God's kingdom to earth [Matthew 12:28; Luke 11:20]. His way to victory was not by physical force and violence, but through love, humility, and service. (From Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
B. DOCTRINAL POINTS
1. Son of God - Jesus was acclaimed as the Son of God at His baptism (Mark 1:11). But He was also given this title by the angel Gabriel at the annunciation: "That Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God" (Luke 1:35). The Gospel of John especially makes it clear that the Father-Son relationship belongs to eternity-that the Son is supremely qualified to reveal the Father because He has His eternal being "in the bosom of the Father" (John 1:18). The demoniac calls Jesus the Son of the Most High God when they travel to the territory of the Gerasenes.
2. The other Gospel writers tell us Peter confesses that Jesus is the Messiah at Caesarea Phillipi but Luke makes no mention of the exact spot. Far more important than geographical location for Luke is what Jesus was doing there. “He was praying in seclusion.” The prayerfulness of Jesus is a Lucan theme. We find the Lord at prayer at every major event of his life as he makes his way on his pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
3. Thus the stage is set for a major happening that is composed of four parts. The first is the negative: the false ideas of those who think that Jesus is a reincarnation. The second is the positive confession of Peter that Jesus is the Messiah of God (see Mark’s “Messiah” and Matthew’s “Messiah, Son of the Living God”). The third is Jesus’ affirmation that the disciples are correct in the title, but wrong in the job description. The fourth is Jesus teaching about their own role. It follows from his role, and it means embracing the Cross.
4. Messianic expectations ran high at the time of Jesus. People were looking for the precursor of the Messiah whose coming they thought was imminent.
C. APPLICATION/DISCUSSION:
One of the most interesting books I have read lately is titled “The Case for Christ” written by Lee Strobel, a former legal editor for the Chicago-Tribune. Lee was an atheist who took his journalism and legal skills to interrogate a dozen experts and authorities in their fields on the evidence for Jesus. He retraced his own spiritual journey from atheism to faith and found it was based on the rock solid foundation of Jesus Christ. In the book he interviews Louis Lapides, a Messianic Jew from Newark NJ who now pastors a congregation in Sherman Oaks, CA called Beth Ariel Fellowship. Strobel wanted to find out if Jesus in fact fit the “fingerprint” of the Messiah. From Lapides background and study he points out how Jesus fulfills so many of the Old Testament prophesies about Messiah that it is beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is the Messiah. The chance of just eight prophecies being fulfilled would be one chance in one hundred million billion. That is more than the number of people who have EVER lived on the earth. And that is just eight prophecies. Peter Stoner writing in “Science Speaks” points out that Jesus fulfills 48 prophecies which raises the probability to one chance in a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion.
As Peter said that day, long ago. “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!!!” The question for each of us is who do we say Jesus is?”