In today’s society it is easy to reject stories of demon possession as ignorant and unscientific descriptions of mental illness. However, such a dismissive view leaves too many questions unanswered, both in our experience today and in Scripture. In Luke 8:26-39 we have an encounter that Jesus had with an individual who is described as being possessed with a great number of demons.
So what are these demons? The basic, biblical answer is that they are evil, spiritual entities that are in league with Satan. Though they are invisible to the human eye, the effect of their activities can be seen. Without detail, the Bible describes the reality that demons are able to take varying possession of the faculties and actions of certain vulnerable people. In the Bible demonic possession involves more than simply “acting crazy.” There is usually interaction with an intelligence that seems beyond the person, and is repulsed and removed by the power of Jesus. For a man to go from years of “mental illness” and speaking as if he had demons within him to total transformation within a matter of minutes begs any natural explanation. Such is the case in our story today. Christians should be careful of seeing all things strange as the result of demons. However, neither should we fall into the materialistic tendencies of the modern age that sees such things as patently impossible.
Now the title of this sermon is about how demons obey the command of Christ. How do I mean that? God’s commands can be prescriptive in the sense of how we ought to live. Thus His command: love one another as I have loved you. Yet, God’s commands can also be directive or judicial in the sense of what will happen whether we cooperate or not. God won’t force us to love one another. But when he commands demons to leave a man, it is a judicial command that cannot be “disobeyed” any more than a man sentenced to prison can disobey and walk out of court. They have no choice.
Having crossed the Sea of Galilee, Jesus and his disciples come to the shore of the opposite side in the area of Gadara. Here they are met by a raving man who has been abused by demons for a long time. We are given the account of an interaction that Jesus had with these demons and in it we recognize two clear facts: Demons do not care for humans and they are not working with God.
Another thing we find is that demons are numerous. Regardless the number, a great number of demons were working together to keep this man under their control and to work through him. Any attempt to quantify the population of demons that are preying on mankind would be pure speculation. Another point of note comes from Luke 11:24-26. There we see that some demons are more wicked than others and the condition of a man is worse when more than one demon is involved. Also, that demons have no “rest” until they have taken possession of an individual. It stands to reason that wicked individuals become more susceptible to demonic possession as they morally degrade. We would also expect societies that are heavily involved in working with spirits to see higher numbers of these possessions because they would have a higher number of vulnerable individuals. Thus some places in the world may see very little of this and in other places it may be a common thing.
Another thing we see here is a classic sign of demonic possession. Demons always abuse those they inhabit. The abuse begins in the mind. A demon that possesses a person will force its personality and will upon an individual from time to time. Though it may be sporadic at first, it can become worse over time. In this story the intellect of the man who is possessed does not appear until after the demons are cast out. However, the abuse is obviously more than mental. Note that the passage describes the man’s life. Somewhere along the line these demons began to manifest to the point that the city in which he lived tried to restrain him. However, nothing they tried was able to restrain the man. He eventually is driven out into the tombs and lives among the dead and wearing no clothes. He has become an outcast driven into the wilderness. Thus demons abuse the host and yet also abuse others through the host.
At this point you might be scared of these beings. Yet, notice that they are very afraid of Jesus. As spirit beings they are perceptive of spiritual matters. Thus they direct the man out of the tombs to meet Jesus at the shore with the question, “What have I to do with you?” This area lies outside of Israel at the time. Thus Jesus is stepping onto the spiritual turf of these demons. He is a threat and they want to know why Jesus is there and what he is doing. Lastly they are afraid that Jesus might be there to torture them by commanding them into the Abyss. What is the Abyss? Sometimes translated as “bottomless pit” it is only explained in Revelation chapter 9. Here we see it is a kind of spiritual prison for wicked spirits. Why some are in this prison and not all is not explained. These demons are clearly afraid Jesus has come to put them in it. Thus demons would rather be free to roam the earth and possess the vulnerable than be locked up in the Abyss awaiting the end of this Age.
Lastly, we see in this passage the manipulative nature of demons. As evil beings they cannot be trusted. Even “truthful” things they may say cannot be trusted. I am not saying that Jesus is duped here. However, the demons are attempting to control the situation to their benefit. As long as they do not end up in the Abyss they are "happy." They are not happy about Jesus being in this area. Thus, I believe, the petition to be allowed to enter the pigs is more about creating a scene than attempting to stay in the pigs. When Jesus allows this, the demons drive the pigs into the sea thus killing them. This would then deprive the demons of their hosts causing them to escape into the area looking for more prey. Why would they do this? There seems to be an element of rage in this scene. The full, destructive rage of demons is generally checked by their desire to retain possession of a host. However, in this case, they do not care about the pigs and in a fit of rage throw a kind of tantrum as a means of venting against Jesus. Yet, they also create turmoil in the area that would make the inhabitants fearful of Jesus and angry at their loss of income. So there may be a kind of defensive maneuver here to protect their territory.
Now in looking at the demons we do not want to lose sight of what is happening for the man. Jesus has healed him of his affliction. Even more serious than a physical sickness is a spiritual sickness in which one’s inner being is invaded by something worse than cancer. We see here that no number of demons is a match for Jesus. There is no battle, nor week long exorcism. Jesus has absolute command over these demons. Though they try to manipulate it, they had to leave the man they had controlled for so long. Now for Jesus it is no problem. However, for us, some spirits are more difficult than others. Believers who come into contact with a demon possessed person need to be humble and careful. Through prayer and fasting we can purge our life of anything that might be between us and our Lord. Jesus is the power that demons fear. If they fear believers at all, it will only be because of our close relationship with Jesus and dependence upon his power alone.
The owners of the pigs had witnessed this event and ran to town in order to tell everyone what happened. Thus a large group gathers at the beach and finds the previously possessed man “in his right mind.” He is no longer a raving lunatic that is destroying himself and anyone who gets in the way. He is his “old self.” Even here we see the recognition that a switch in personality and activity has happened, and without years of counseling and psychotropic drugs. Unless you write off the account as a myth, it is hard to explain this other than the biblical explanation. Let me take a moment to contrast the way that God’s Holy Spirit works in the lives of believers to the way demons operate in their hosts. God does not want to take away control of our own mind. He wants us to follow Him out of loving obedience. However, evil spirits lust to subject the personality of an individual beneath theirs in domination. They operate in an abusive mode, whereas the Holy Spirit operates in a gentle mode. They operate in deception and manipulative promises, whereas the Holy Spirit operates out of truth and purity of intent.
Even though the man is in his right mind, the locals want Jesus to leave. He is a "trouble maker" who threatens the order of things in their district. Their fear of Jesus and what he is capable of doing causes them to push him away. Jesus is going to leave. However, I believe this encounter was exactly what he had come to do. He had come to confront these demons and set a man free. In light of this we may now have deeper understanding into why the storm threatened to swamp their boat and kill them all. Spiritual battles often play out in the material world unknown to man. Christ was causing enough problems in Israel. Satan did not want him entering other strongholds.
The man’s response is understandably different. The man is so thankful that he wants to follow Jesus and become a disciple. He may also be afraid to leave the side of Jesus in that the demons could come back. How wonderful it would be to follow such a man of power and compassion. Imagine the safety and joy that would be his in the presence of Jesus. Yet it was not to be so. Following Jesus is not always about going somewhere. Sometimes it is about staying. It is not that this man lacks the qualifications to be a disciple that followed Jesus around, but rather, it is that Christ had a different purpose for him. He would become a witness who would spread the truth throughout the area that Jesus delivered him from a legion of demons. Later when the apostles spread out from Jerusalem due to persecution, Christians would enter this area and find people who were prepared to receive the gospel because of the faithfulness of this man who had been possessed by demons.
Let me close by warning believers. We may run into this more and more in the United States of America in the future. We are clearly casting off the Word of God and at the same time embracing all manner of spiritism. Beware of playing with things that seek to contact spirits or satan even if it seems benign. Beware of using spirits to try and foresee the future, whether through seemingly innocent Ouija boards or occult rituals. These spirits are manipulative and deceptive. By the time you think to back out, it will be too late. Also, be careful that you are not hiding secret sin in your life because this will inhibit your ability to be a source of freedom for others. Guard your heart from the seduction of spirits that promise the heavens but instead deliver hell.