Luke 8:22-39

22 One day Jesus said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side of the lake." So they got into a boat and set out. 23 As they sailed, he fell asleep. A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger.
24 The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Master, Master, we're going to drown!"
He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm. 25 "Where is your faith?" he asked his disciples.
In fear and amazement they asked one another, "Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him."
26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. 27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don't torture me!" 29 For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.
30 Jesus asked him, "What is your name?"
"Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31 And they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.
32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs, and he gave them permission. 33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
34 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus' feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 "Return home and tell how much God has done for you." So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.

Points of Interest:

• ‘went and woke him’—the storm is so bad that the ship is being swamped and the disciples—several of whom made their living by fishing on this very lake—are certain they are going to die; but Jesus is still asleep. Either he’s a very sound sleeper, or he’s too ignorant of the danger to be as scared—or he knows something they don’t.

• ‘He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters’—this is reminiscent of God forming the sea and the sky out of the formless void (Genesis 1). It’s also similar to Moses parting the Red Sea so that the Israelites could escape from the Egyptian army. Jesus brings order out of chaos by his words, and he’s able to rescue his followers even in the direst of situations.

• ‘Where is your faith?’—Luke himself tells us, ‘they were in great danger’; their perilous situation is an objective fact, not merely some frantic overreaction. So, Jesus waking up from his nap to say essentially, ‘Look, there’s no need to get all stressed out here,’ seems a bit out of touch. What’s going on here?

I think it’s not incidental that this story immediately follows the teaching about the seeds and the soils. The point of that story is that Jesus’ words are worth paying very close attention to. I think that this incident with the storm is a training exercise, to test just how good the ears of the disciples are. Jesus has sown some words here: ‘Let us go over to the other side of the lake.’ They hear those words, and act on them, setting out for the other side—so far, so good. But when the storm comes, they forget them; or, if they remember the words, they no longer believe them. The disciples are like the rocky soil: their excitement at Jesus’ words shrivels in the midst of trouble.

It could be argued that it’s unreasonable to expect the disciples to treat Jesus’ words as a promise that they will indeed make it across the lake. Jesus word sounds more like, ‘I’d like us to go across,’ than, ‘We will most certainly make it to the other side.’ Also, though they’ve seen some pretty amazing things from Jesus, there’s no reason for them to think that he actually has the power to stop a storm. I think Jesus purposely puts them in this exaggerated situation, to stress just how important and powerful his words are: even the most seemingly insignificant of them could make a very big difference. It’s a lesson that will be important for the disciples to understand. Jesus knows that there are more hard times up ahead for him and his followers, and they will need to trust his words if they are to get through them.

• ‘In fear and amazement’—Jesus calms the storm, but not the disciples. They start out afraid of the storm, and they end up even more afraid of Jesus. Through this incident they gain a new level of respect for Jesus: the storm was powerful enough to kill them, and Jesus is powerful enough to kill the storm. That’s impressive, and a bit scary.

• ‘the region of the Gerasenes’—this is a non-Jewish area, which explains why we find a herd of pigs.

• ‘had lived in the tombs’—an evocative, if creepy, image. It simultaneously communicates loneliness—cemeteries were placed outside of the city limits—and a sort of living death.

• ‘What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?’—Luke tells us this scene out of chronological order, perhaps to communicate some of the confusion of the moment. This exclamation actually comes after Jesus has already commanded the demon to leave the man alone.

It’s interesting that Jesus doesn’t silence the demon here, as he has in the past. Perhaps it’s because there’s no crowd watching; or perhaps it’s because he’s less concerned about being unmasked among non-Jews, who were not necessarily on the lookout for a Messiah.

• ‘Legion’—a Roman military division.

• they begged Jesus repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss’—these demons are surprisingly frantic at Jesus’ arrival. Maybe they’ve heard stories of Jesus’ confrontations with evil spirits on the other side of the lake, but they didn’t expect him to come into this non-Jewish area. The Abyss is apparently some kind of prison for demons.

• ‘he gave them permission’—I find it very surprising that Jesus would listen to the begging of a gang of demons. One idea I have is that he is following his own advice to give to everyone who asks (Luke 6:30). When he says give to everyone who asks, he means everyone! If this is Jesus being merciful just like his Father, his Father is beyond unbelievably merciful.

• ‘A large herd of pigs’—the formerly demon-possessed man had been living the life of an animal, chained up or running wild. But he is not an animal. His freedom is worth the life of an entire herd of animals.

• ‘the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned’—I often wonder whether or not this is what the demons had planned. Did they just want to go out with a bang? Or were they unable for some reason to control the pigs? When the pigs died, did the demons have to go to the Abyss anyway? This fascinating little vignette makes me think that life in the spiritual realm is much more complicated than I would otherwise assume.

• ‘dressed and in his right mind’—Jesus has calmed this man, just like he did the storm.

• ‘and they were afraid’—they respond just like the disciples did when the storm was calmed. They start out afraid of the demon-possessed man, and end up even more afraid of Jesus—so afraid of him that they ask him to leave. I’d completely understand if they were afraid of Jesus because all of the destruction he just caused, but actually it’s seeing the man in his right mind that they can’t handle. They’d grown used to the idea that the man’s situation was hopeless, and it’s unsettling to them to see that reality change. They seem to prefer that things stay as they are, even though it would mean consigning this man to continuing in his death-like life forever.

• ‘sent him away’—this man wants to leave everything and follow Jesus (just like Simon, Andrew, James, John, and Levi did), but Jesus refuses. I can think of a couple of reasons why Jesus doesn’t take the man with him:

1. Perhaps he thinks the man is more motivated to escape than to follow Jesus. He wants to get in the boat and leave his entire past behind on the shore. Given what the man has been through, it’s understandable that he’d want a clean slate, but Jesus has something better in mind: he wants the man to get his life back, and to be able to celebrate his amazing restoration with his friends and family at home.

2. Practically speaking, it would be very difficult as a gentile to travel with Jesus around Judea and Galilee: he would become a focus of negative attention; he wouldn’t understand the societal norms at all; he wouldn’t be received into homes; he’d become the center of tremendous controversy. Maybe neither the Jews nor this man himself were ready for such a radical step.
It seems unfair and, in fact, unjust for Jesus to deny this man’s request, especially if the refusal is ethnically motivated—and even more especially since he’s just honored the demons’ request. Why should the demons get what they ask for, and not the man whom they were oppressing? Perhaps the way to look at it, though, is that Jesus is not so much denying the request as giving the man even more than he asked for. Jesus sends him out with good news. Rather than being rejected, he’s being commissioned; this man is being made an apostle (remember it means, ‘sent one’). He’s the first non-Jewish apostle, and the first of the apostles to be actually sent, while the original twelve are still being trained. This man is put on the fast track.

• ‘tell how much God has done for you’—all the man knows about God is that he rescued him when he seemed beyond help, but that’s enough. In fact, in this regard the man has an advantage over many of Jesus’ Jewish listeners, whose centuries’ worth of history with God and prophecies about the Messiah give them a lot more knowledge about God. We’ve seen some of the positive aspects of the Jewish expectation of the Messiah: Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Simeon, and Anna gushed in praise at the satisfaction of their long-delayed desire; and the tax collectors, soldiers, and the rest of the crowds eagerly listened to John’s message and repented, in expectation of the rewards they’d receive at the Lord’s return. But there’s a downside to the Messianic expectation as well. Over time, people have developed very specific ideas of who the Messiah is and what he would do. We’ve seen the Pharisees and teachers—and perhaps even John—wrestling with the ways Jesus doesn’t fit into their categories; even more, they’ve actually tried to shove him into their categories or rejected him because he doesn’t fit. We’ll soon see that their own ideas about the Messiah will even become a barrier for the twelve apostles. This man has no such preconceptions. All he knows is that Jesus saved him from terrible captivity, which is precisely the message Jesus wants told about him; in fact, it’s what Jesus has been trying to say about himself all along.

Taking it home:
• For you and your family: Even a small word from God can make a big difference for our lives. Ask God to help you notice when he is speaking to you. Ask him for the faith to hold on to those words. If listening to God is a new thing for you, consider giving it a try. Say something to God or ask him a question; then listen for an answer. You probably won’t hear an audible voice, but you might get an impression that feels sort of like when you mentally form a sentence before saying it. If that happens and the words are good and seem like they’re not just your own thoughts, that might be God speaking to you. A good rule of thumb is if you’re not sure whether you’re hearing God but the words aren’t destructive to you or anyone else, proceed as if it is God speaking to you; if something further happens, you’re experiencing the story of the seeds and soils in your own life.

• For your friends: Have any of your friends had a good experience with God recently? If so, consider suggesting that they share their story. It’s a great way to move forward in their relationship with God, and it could be very helpful to the people they tell as well. It doesn’t matter if they don’t know much about God. If all they know is the good thing God has done for them, it’s enough—in fact, it might be better that way.

• For our city: Ask God to give us as a city hope for change in problem areas that seem like they will never change, like youth violence or racial tension, for example. Pray that we will not be so used to these problems that we’re more comfortable with them than without them.