Luke 8:26-39

Butler's Comments

SECTION 3

In Evil Spirits (Luke 8:26-39)

26 Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27And as he stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons; for a long time he had worn no clothes, and he lived not in a house but among the tombs. 28When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him, and said with a loud voice, What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beseech you, do not torment me. 29For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him; he was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters, but he broke the bonds and was driven by the demon into the desert.) 30Jesus then asked him, What is your name? And he said, Legion; for many demons had entered him, 31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 32Now a large herd of swine was feeding there on the hillside; and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them leave, 33Then the demons came out of the man and entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.

34 When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country. 35Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36And those who had seen it told them how he who had been possessed, with demons was healed. 37Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them; for they were seized with great fear; so he got into the boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but he sent him away, saying, 39Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you. And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

Luke 8:26-33 Emancipation: Matthew says Jesus arrived across the Sea of Galilee at the country of the Gadarenes. Both Mark and Luke make the place of arrival the country of the Gerasenes. The Greek manuscripts vary here probably due to the fact that Matthew, writing mostly for a Jewish audience, used the name of the city Gadara (about 5 miles southeast of the seashore), which would be more likely used by the Jews, as a generalization for the whole area. Mark and Luke, writing mostly for a Gentile audience used the name of a city 50 miles south of the Sea of Galilee, Gerasa (the Roman capital of the whole region) as a synonym for the whole area. Both Gadara and Gerasa were cities of the Decapolis mentioned in the New Testament. Some ancient Greek texts read Geresa which may be a scribal emendation (attempting to correct what was thought to be an error in an earlier manuscript) since there apparently was a city on the eastern side of the Sea of Galilee closer to the seashore than Gadara.

Matthew says there were two men possessed of demons. Mark says there was a man with an unclean spirit. Luke says Jesus met a man from the city who had demons.

a.

Matthew, Mark and Luke are all correct. They are inspired. Our removal from the situation by 2000 years is the problem.

b.

Probably Mark and Luke were interested in recording the more dominant one (the more spectacular one) possessed of many demons.

c.

Mark confirms in his account that the man was possessed of more than one demon (Mark 5:14-20).

d.

Modern-day news reporters vary in accounts just as these men did and no one accuses them of historical errors.

e.

There is no contradiction unless Mark says there was only one demon-possessed man.

Luke records that when Jesus stepped out of the boat onto the land there met Him a man from the city (Gadara) who had demons. For an extensive discussion of demon possession in the New Testament see our comments on Luke 4:32-41. Modern archaeologists have excavated the cliffs around Gadara (today called, Um Keis) and found tombs measuring 20 feet square; with side recesses for bodies. Like the demoniacs, people still dwell in them today. Nearby there is a field of several acres strewn with stone coffins and their lids. Every demon possessed person Jesus met received compassion and pity from Him. This was an exceptionally pitiful case.

a.

The man had been naked for a long time.

b.

He lived in tombs among dead bodies.

c.

He was seized with fits of violence many times by the. demons.

d.

He was kept under guard and bound with chains and leg irons by the people of the area.

e.

But he broke the chains and irons and the demons drove him into the uninhabited wild places of the area:

When the man saw Jesus, he prostrated himself on the ground before Jesus and (the demons, or one specific demon among many) cried out, What have you do to with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beseech you, do not torment me. Demons recognise their true sovereign! Jesus is Lord of all, and the demons know it. They know they have nothing in common with Jesus except that He is ultimately set to punish them in torments. When asked his name, the man said, Legion. A Roman legion of soldiers numbered 6000, thus the word legion came to signify many. The word abyssos in classical Greek meant bottomless, and was used to describe the ancient Greek cosmogony of a deep, limitless universe or space beyond this world. In the N.T. it is used to describe the nether world or the place of torments where the disobedient spirits are bound. It is translated bottomless pit in Revelation 9:1; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 11:1-19; Revelation 11:7; Revelation 17:8; Revelation 20:1-3. The demons feared this bottomless pit more than anything else.

The demons begged Jesus to allow them to inhabit a herd of swine feeding near the tombs. Mark says there were approximately 2000 swine in the herd. There were strict prohibitions in Judaism against Jews eating, raising or touching swine, However, the Jews who lived east of the Jordan River often accommodated themselves to the culture of the Gentile majority and paid little attention to religious custom, especially if it involved economics. We do not really know if the herdsmen were Jews or Gentiles. The demons knew Jesus would not allow them to inhabit human beingsHe cast them out at every opportunity. They knew they were doomed to return to the abyss if they had no physical body in this world to inhabit. Perhaps they also knew that since the swine had no will by which they could control them, they could destroy the swine and Jesus would be blamed by the populace and the demons would have some temporary victory over Him. The malicious, destructive rebellion of the devil and his cohorts is graphically illustrated here. They will grasp at any straw to destroy anything God has made!

They did not fool Jesus! He knew all along the outcome of this incident. He was not being merciful to the demons. He knew this would shock the materialistic-minded people of this country (which they proved to be, Luke 8:37) out of their indifference later when the man who had been emancipated from this demonic enslavement testified among them how much God had done for him. Many people of this area later became followers of Christ and some of the earliest Christian churches were formed in this area. Anyone who finds occasion to denounce Jesus for allowing swine to be destroyed is as spiritually blind as the people of Gadara were. They see neither the salvation of the one pitiful demon-possessed man nor the subsequent discipleship of the whole area as important as the loss of private property. Foster comments, How often this is the main thing which men considermaterial lossand not the rescue of human beings!. The perverted estimate of the value of material things and of a human soul must needs be corrected. The issue was really: which is more important, hogs or men?

Luke 8:34-39 Effects: This spectacular demonstration of divine authority over demons and the material creation resulted in a number of exciting consequences:

a.

When the herdsmen saw what happened, they fled, and told it in the city and country. Spontaneous evangelism!

b.

Then people went out to see what had happened. No one could remain indifferent to such storiesthey had to see for themselves.

c.

The multitudes saw the man clothed and in his right mind and were afraid.

d.

When the story was told again of how the demons were cast out of the man and the swine ran down into the sea and drowned, the people were seized (Gr. suneichonto, grasped, gripped in, laid hold of) by great fear (Gr. phobos).

The impact of what Jesus had done, and Who He must be paralyzed them with fear at what He might yet do.

e.

The people of the area entreated Jesus to leave their area. They may have been concerned that more private property might be destroyed by this mysteriously powerful Galilean. More probably, they were afraid of Him because of their sinful guilt. Even Peter had earlier cried, Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man (Luke 5:8).

Guilty, unforgiven sinners, in the presence of divine holiness and power are slain and destroyed with fear!

f.

The man kept on begging Jesus that he might go with Him:

(1)

His love and gratitude would make him ready to serve Jesus with his very life.

(2)

He could be sure of staying rid of demon possession if he remained at Jesus-' side.

(3)

Everyone in this area knew him and would forever associate him with the loss of 2000 hogs.

But Jesus had a work for him to do right in the most difficult place on earth to live for Christone's own home area.

The emancipated man proclaimed throughout the whole region what Jesus had done for him. The record of this great demonstration of divine power had been proclaimed now for almost 2000 years and millions have believed Jesus is who He claimed to be and have been freed from an enslavement worse than 2000 demons.

Applebury's Comments

The Gerasene Demoniac
Scripture

Luke 8:26-39 And they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is over against Galilee. 27 And when he was come forth upon the land, there met him a certain man out of the city, who had demons; and for a long time he had worn no clothes, and abode not in any house, but in the tombs. 28 And when he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the Most High God? I beseech thee, torment me not. 29 For he was commanding the unclean spirit to come out from the man. For oftentimes it had seized him: and he was kept under guard, and bound with chains and fetters; and breaking the bands asunder, he was driven of the demon into the deserts. 30 And Jesus asked him, What is thy name? And he said, Legion, for many demons were entered into him. 31 And they entreated him that he would not command them to depart into the abyss. 32 Now there was there a herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they entreated him that he would give them leave to enter into them. And he gave them leave. 33 And the demons came out from the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd rushed down the steep into the lake, and were drowned. 34 And when they that fed them saw what had come to pass, they fled, and told it in the city and in the country. 35 And they went out to see what had come to pass; and they came to Jesus, and found the man, from whom the demons were gone out, sitting, clothed and in his right mind, at the feet of Jesus: and they were afraid. 36 And they that saw it told them how he that was possessed with demons was made whole. 37 And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes round about asked him to depart from them; for they were holden with great fear: and he entered into a boat, and returned. 38 But the man from whom the demons were gone out prayed him that he might be with him: but he sent him away, saying, 39 Return to thy house, and declare how great things God hath done for thee. And he went his way, publishing throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done for him.

Comments

the country of the Gerasenes.Both Mark and Luke say Gerasenes, but Matthew says the country of the Gadarenes. See Matthew 8:28 and Mark 5:1. It is possible that the country belonging to Gadarathe city itself was situated several miles southeast of the Sea of Galileereached to the shores of Galilee. Luke locates the incident on the banks of the Lake opposite the territory of Galilee.

a certain man out of the city, who had demons.Matthew says there were two demoniacs (Matthew 8:28). Luke tells of only one of them.

That this is a genuine case of demon possession manifesting itself as extreme mental illnessnote the psychotic symptomscannot be questioned. Luke, a trained physician, says the demon was an unclean spirit. Further proof that this was demon possession is indicated by the following: (1) Jesus conversed with the demons; He asked the man, What is your name? He said, Legion, for many demons had entered him, (2) Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (3) The demons begged Jesus not to send them into the abyss, but to allow them to enter the bodies of the swine. (4) When they entered the swine, the herd rushed headlong into the sea and were drowned.

at the feet of Jesus.When the report of the miracle reached the people of the city and surrounding country, they came to Jesus and found the man whom they had often tried to subdue sitting at the feet of Jesus. The storm that once raged in his wretched life had ceased. He was as calm as the sea after Jesus had rebuked the winds. He was clothed and in his right mind, that is, the demons were gone, and he was in control of his mental powers.

and they were afraid.The miracle of the Lord caused them to fear, for they were sinful people. Peter reacted the same way after he witnessed the miracle of catching fish (Luke 5:8). Adam and Eve hid themselves from God, because they knew they had disobeyed Him.

asked him to depart.They were seized with a great fear. Fear, not the loss of property, caused them to make the request. Sinners will always hide from God unless they can become convinced that He has commended His love toward them by the fact that Christ died for them while they were yet sinners. Romans 5:8.

prayed him that he might be with him.At the request of the people, Jesus was leaving their shores. But the man from whom the demons had gone out, wanted to be with Him. Jesus said, Go back to your home and tell how great the things are that God has done for you, for this is the secret of being with Him.