Luke 8:26-29

Luke 8:26-29

And they arrived into the region of the Gergesenes, which is on the opposite side of Galilee.  And after coming upon the land, a man having demons came out of the city to meet Him.  And he did not wear clothes for a long time.  And he was not living in a house but rather in the tombs.  And after seeing Jesus and after crying out he fell down before Him and he said in a great voice, “What is this to me and to you, Jesus, Son of the most high God?  I beseech you, do not torment me.”  For He was commanding the unclean spirits to come out from the man, for he had seized him for a long time.  And he was being bound by chains and shackles while being watched by a guard.  And breaking the bonds, he was being driven by the demon into the wilderness.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

This is such an intriguing scene for study.  Here is a man across the sea of Galilee.  He is driven mad by demons.  He hasn’t worn clothes for a long time.  He hadn’t lived in a house for a long time.  My guess is that his hygiene was pretty bad.  My guess is that his body language was unusual.  My guess is that his speech was harsh.  He had been kept in chains and under guard, but he couldn’t be bound.  He was so hard to keep that when he broke free and wandered into the wilderness they let him go and didn’t come out to get him.  Here is a man that society is happy to ignore and even pretend he doesn’t exist.

If you came upon a naked, strange acting, and homeless man, how would you respond?  Why do you think society is content ignoring such people as they go about their life?

Second Thought:

Jesus, however, seems to go there intentionally.  He got into a boat and ordered His disciples to go through a storm to get to this man.  Jesus isn’t afraid to go to the people that the world deems as unreachable.  Jesus isn’t afraid to go to the hard cases.  Jesus isn’t afraid to go through hard storms in life to get to the person who is hard to reach and in need.  Jesus sees the need, not the difficulty in meeting the need.

Why do you think Jesus can come to this man that the world would prefer to let live in the wilderness?  Are you able to imitate Jesus in this perspective?

Third Thought:

The reaction of the demon is quite interesting.  The demon comes to Jesus.  Jesus had been rebuking the demon and telling it to come out.  The demon resisted.  The demon didn’t want to give up its hold on the man.  But the demon also knew its place.  It begged to not be tormented.  It knew that it couldn’t resist Jesus.  So the demon resists but bows before Jesus.  This just goes to show us an important truth.  The demons know of Jesus.  The demons even know Jesus.  The demons even bow before Jesus.  What is the difference between them and a true follower?  True followers know of Jesus, they know Jesus, and the bow before Him while submitting obediently to Him.

How well do you submit to Jesus?  How willing are you to not just bow before Him but listen to Him and follow Him?

Passage for Tomorrow: Luke 8:30-33