LUKE 8: 26-39

There are six types of fledgling Christians whose faiths have not matured yet, like tree saplings among churchgoers. First, there are the wagon types who must always be pushed towards the life of Christian faith. Second, we see the kite types who must always be held, lest they fly off and disappear into the wind.

Third, we encounter the cat types who must always be stroked and patted to be content and satisfied. Fourth, we hear about the football types who, only God knows in which direction they will bounce next. Fifth, there are the balloon types who are so full of hot air that we don’t know when they will burst. Lastly, we know of the light bulb types who can burn with grace of God, just as filaments instantaneously burn with energy, and who just as easily fall into temptation, akin to filaments that have burned out.

This morning, let’s quietly think about which category we, as Christians, fall under. I can only imagine how difficult it would be for a pastor of a church full of these types of members in their congregation as well as how trying it would be for the people of the congregation themselves.

If there is anyone who falls under one of these categories within our family, here at St. Luke, I hope that at this hour, we can escape the categorization into this characterization under the fledgling-Christian umbrella. Exodus 16: 26 states that our God is the One who heals us. During the past week, the Holy Spirit moved me and convinced me that I must preach about God’s abilities and grace which heals the broken bodies and hearts of man and mankind.

 Therefore, over the course of next several weeks, I will talk to you about the deep spiritual meanings behind the numerous instances and events of healing recorded in the Bible.

In preparing today’s sermon, regarding the healing powers of God, I first focused my attention on today’s scripture, which records God’s healing of the man who had been tormented by a legion of demons in a foreign land called Gadarenes.

 This account of God’s healing is so important that not only is it recorded in the Gospel of Luke, but also in the other two diatessaron of the Christian Gospels, the Gospel of Matthew (8: 28-34) and Mark (5: 1-20). First, we must carefully look at the account of the healing this morning.

Gadarenes, which was located opposite of Galilee, was a pagan land, full of people who did not believe in God. In Gadarenes lived a pagan man, who had been tormented by demons for a long period of time as a result, this man wore no garments, and lived wandering from tomb to tomb. Matthew 5, verses 3 through 5, explains this man in great detail; in short, the demon had possessed him long and often and he was bound under chain and shackles, but he broke the bonds and was driven into the wilderness by the demons. Night and day, this man wandered in the mountains and amongst the tombs, yelling and screaming, sometimes inflicting injury unto himself with stones. In a word, he was like a wild animal. The disheveled nature of this man is a graphic depiction of the animal-like uncircumcised pagans, as illustrated in Isaiah 65: 1-4. The expression, "who sits among the graves, and spend the night in the tombs; who eat swine’s flesh, and the broth of abominable things is in their vessel," seem befitting of this man who was possessed by the demons.

This man, who was possessed by demons, happened to meet Jesus in Gadarenes, a pagan land that was about 33 miles from Galilee. When Jesus commanded the demon to come out of this man, the demon, trembling in trepidation, falls down before Jesus and cries out to him. As stated in verse 28, the demon deplores, "What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!" It is then that Jesus asks the demon of his name. Surprisingly, the name of the demon was ‘legion.’ The word ‘legion’ is derived from Latin, and it denotes an unit equivalent to a Corps during the days of the ancient Roman Empire an unit approximately 3000 to 6000 infantry soldiers strong, which includes about 300 to 700 cavalry soldiers. Therefore, being possessed by the legion does not mean that some demon with military orientation possessed the person; rather, it means that countless number of demons have possessed the person in question. Not only is this person possessed by the single demon, but he is possessed by a Corps-sized army of demons. As a result, this person, as we can imagine, was screaming and moaning in great pain and torment.

In verse 31, this demon asks Christ not to "command them to go out into the abyss." Abyss, as the word itself denotes, defines a bottomless pit, a rut, or a crevice in land, without an end. As stated in Revelations 20: 3, this abyss will serve as a prison for Satan a place where the devil will be held for eternity. This demon, deathly afraid of this abyss and the pending judgment within, pleads with Jesus to help him not fall into the abyss. Fortunate for the demon, a herd of swine was feeding alongside the foothills of a mountain; Jesus allowed the demon to mingle with the herd of swine. Countless number of demons exited from the tormented man and entered into the herd of swine; these demons, intermingled amongst the swine, eventually drowned when the herd of swine raced into the lake that outlined the edge of the foothills.

The swine herders, who witnessed the chasing away of the bevy of demons, spread the news across the city. When people of the city came out of their homes upon hearing this news, they saw the man who had been possessed by these demons and whom none of the villagers could restrain or resist dressed in garment and sitting at the feet of Jesus Christ. In looking at verse 37 of today’s scripture, we can tell that the people of the village, fearful and trembling, pleaded Jesus to leave their village. Why did they plead with Christ to leave them, out of fear? They were terrified of Jesus, who cured, with one phrase, the man who had been possessed and tormented by a legion of demons and whom none of the villagers could restrain. Most importantly, they were fearful of the economic impacts or losses of so many swine being drowned at the river and the ocean.

 The people of Gadarenes, far from being happy and thankful to Christ for curing a mentally ill man, were instead worried about the negative economic impact to the region and secretly wished that Jesus would leave them. This is similar to the story of a possessed fortuneteller in Acts 16: 16-39, who was cured by Paul in Phillipi. When Jesus cures this woman of her illness, her master wishes that Christ would go away, not to interfere with his interests or plans.

Because Jesus was the only one able to cure his illness, when everyone else failed, this man wished to always be with Jesus. But the Lord gently tells the man to return to his quarters, erstwhile giving him a new mission and purpose in life by stating, in verse 39, "Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you." This man, who had been possessed and released by the demons, proclaimed around his neighborhood the work of Christ and became the first missionary of the Gentiles, spreading the deed of Christ in helping him.

The fact that Jesus exorcised the legion demon from a man in Gadarenes hence curing the man of his afflictions tells us that Jesus possesses the power to cure spiritual and visceral disease of not only people of the Hebrew descent, but of all people world wide. We must remember that the legions of these demons still possess and torment people all over the world today. Demons, in the form of carnal desires, hedonism, drugs, illegal substances, sex, Internet addiction, etc. are attaching themselves to people all over the world, holding them captive and making them into slaves.

When Christopher Columbus stepped onto the island known today as Bahamas, he said something to the natives of the island that would alter the course of history on the American continent for the next 400 years. Shaking hands with the natives gathered around him and probably speaking in Portuguese Columbus asked, "You got any of this?" and held out a small variety of gold coins and trinkets to the natives. Columbus, who accidentally discovered the New World, was bent on finding gold in the new land. "Show me the gold!" was his motto. The root of materialistic imperialism, or gold imperialism which would eventually sweep across the new continent started with Columbus. The legions of demons that possess and torment so many people today are materialistic greed and the all-consuming desires.

The most fitting and the most representative example of modern people’s demonic material greed was the Titanic. Couple of years ago, a movie was made about this luxury ship on a most exorbitant budget in the history of filmmaking. The Titanic, the most modern, technologically advanced luxury liner whose builders and designers boasted that the ship could not be sunk, slowly sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean on Saturday, April 14, 1912 at 11:40 PM after colliding with an iceberg. Early in the morning of next day, Titanic eventually settled on the ocean floor of the Atlantic Ocean. At the time of her sinking, the Titanic was 882.5 feet long and 93 feet wide.

The ship weighed 103,774,720 pounds. She was virtually a floating city. One could easily become lost on board; she had a swimming pool, a gymnasium, squash courts, verandahs, a darkroom, a Turkish steam bath, and a special compartment for storing automobiles. Of course, what the Titanic is most remembered for is being a $10 million casket. More than 1,500 people died when she sank. Only 705 passengers were rescued. As it was made clear in the movie, the primary reason for this high number of casualties was man’s vanity which translated into the fact that there were only enough lifeboats to carry about half of the 2,200-plus passengers on board.

Some very wealthy and powerful people did perish in this catastrophe; however, far more of the drowned victims were found among the lists of second and third class passengers. Sixty percent of first class passengers lived, compared with 44% of second class passengers and only 25% of the steerage passengers (not to mention the even more severe rate of casualties among the cooks, dishwashers, waiters, cabin boys, mechanics, etc.) including two-thirds of all children booked in steerage. Second and third class passengers had to pay their way on board, just like the first class passengers, albeit a lesser sum; however, all appointments, facilities, and operations of the ship were catered towards the most wealthiest and privileged people on board. Even before the moment of truth, the sinking of the Titanic, such discrimination and injustice based on wealth the weight of gold in one’s pocket took place all the more often.

What was the Titanic’s greatest and most fatal flaw? Her builders and architects were so convinced of her unsinkability, her owners were so determined to make her nothing but luxurious, that the Titanic was severely short of lifeboats on board. Unadorned, low-tech, austerely basic as these simple wooden rafts were, they became the sole means of survival for all passengers of the Titanic rich or poor, educated or ignorant, young or old. If one didn’t get a seat on one of these lifeboats, one had no chance of surviving the icy-cold death grip of the North Atlantic Ocean.

The only thing that could save the people of today, those who are possessed by such demons as materialism and belief in the omnipotence of material possession, is the basic, simple lifeboat. What is this lifeboat that will save us and free us from the legions and hordes of demons? Our lifeboat is constructed out of the rough, splintered, bloodstained wood of the cross. Only by keeping afloat in our faith in Jesus Christ’s redemptive love and sacrifice, can we escape Titanic possession and demonic obsession and navigate the uncharted waters of the twenty-first century.