In our last study we looked at this man that was possessed by the Legion of demons and how Jesus cast the demons away. In this study we will look at the people from the city and their reaction to what happened. Then we will look at the man’s reaction to what just happened to him. Coming off of such a display of power and authority this should bring a great reaction from the people of this city but as we will see that is contrary to what happens here.
Remember that Matthew’s account of this story has two demon possessed men being healed and I said last study that I do believe that two men were healed. I also believe that only one man was saved in a salvific way and that is the reason why Mark and Luke only includes the one man. They deal with the reaction of the people of the city along with the one man’s reaction where Matthew only deals with the reaction from the people of the city. I think this will be clear as we go into this text. Let’s look at our first point for this study.
1.The reaction from the people from the city.
Look with me at Luke 8:34-37 And when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside. 35 And the people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 36 And those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been saved. 37 And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to leave them, for they were gripped with great fear. And He got into a boat and returned.
We must keep in mind that these two demon possessed men ruled the area with their constant torment and dangerous actions. Matthew records in Matthew 8:28b that these two men were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.
Mark says in Mark 5:3b-4 no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him.
Then we see in Luke 8:29 that the demon had seized him many times, and he was bound with chains and shackles, being kept under guard. And yet breaking his bonds, he was driven by the demon into the desolate regions.
So keeping this in mind shows us that if these two men were somehow miraculously healed then you would think there would be much joy but that is not the case as we will see. At the time of all of this happening, the original language says “idontes de hoi boskontes to gegonos” which translates Having seen then those feeding [them] that having taken place. What we see in our text is that most translators say something like And when the herdsmen saw what had happened.
The fact is that the herdsmen who would have been tending to these pigs had a front row seat to what just happened. They saw the pigs take a dive into the lake but they also observed the two men free from this demon possession. Matthew 8:33 says Now the herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs.
Again our focus is only on the one man because it is this one man that was healed and saved, the other was just healed from the demon possession. What these people find when they get to this location is astonishing. Luke 8:35 says And the people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid.
What they find is that this man who once was terrorizing the people and this entire region was now sitting, clothed and in right mind. The original language indicates to us that this man’s mind went from one of rage, out of control action to one that is now temperate and in control. This is amazing but notice that these people were not joyful but were afraid.
This is the Greek word ephobēthēsan which is rooted in the word phobeó (fob-eh’-o) that we have looked at several times in our study of Luke. This is a fear of knowing to be inadequate. This is a recognition from these people that they knew they were in the presence of God or some higher deity than themselves. I do not think they confessed Jesus as the Son of God but rather rejected Him because of their own fear. They feared the demon possessed men but now they had very great fear of the One that had just delivered these men.
I believe by the time they got to where Jesus was that the other man had took off and was nowhere to be found. But they saw this one man sitting and in control. They did not thank Jesus but rather allowed their fear to push Jesus away. Now as we move along in our text what we see in Luke 8:36 is that the herdsmen who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been saved.
They recounted everything that happened. They made sure to tell of how this man was saved or healed. This is not an indication of the salvific nature of what just happened but only indicates to us that this man along with the other man had been delivered from what controlled them before. The salvific nature of what happened is noticed in the man’s reaction that we will look at in our next point but before we look at him let’s look at our final verse for this point. Luke 8:37 says And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to leave them, for they were gripped with great fear. And He got into a boat and returned.
The news of what happened to this man reached beyond the people of the city pretty fast. These people were not thankful but only allowed their fear to now control them. I know that we may think that this seems a little harsh because we too may have a sense of fear if something like this happened to someone we know. I would say that if you were to ever be in the presence of God, I would expect nothing but fear. The fear that we as Christians would have would be a reverent fear that would draw us closer to Him and not push Him away. Here their reaction shows their rejection and with that Jesus gets into the boat and leaves.
Before He leaves we will see the reaction from the man that was once demon possessed and the request he makes as Jesus begins to set His steps towards leaving this area. Let’s look now at our next point.
2.The reaction of the once demon possessed man.
Look with me at Luke 8:38-39 But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him. But He sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your house and recount what great things God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
Clearly the people of the city and surrounding region have not accepted Jesus, welcomed Jesus, thanked Jesus for healing these two men but they have asked Jesus to leave. Let’s be clear here that they are not asking Jesus a question about when He will leave but this really shows that they were begging Him to leave their region. The Greek word for asked back in verse 37 is erótaó (er-o-tah’-o) which means to ask or to question from a preferred position. So this asking is not that they were wondering if He was going to leave but asked Him if He would leave immediately. They rejected Jesus even though He removed these two demon possessed men as threats to their land and city.
They may have rejected Jesus but there is one here that wants to follow Jesus. There were two men restored but only one wants to follow. The other man is not even mentioned in either Luke or Mark. This indicates to me that the other man may have ran off in embarrassment from his nakedness or just simply because he is like a lot of us that had no real appreciation for what just happened to him. This is something that will happen often throughout Jesus’ ministry. He heals people, delivers people from demon possession and they walk away from Jesus. They may be thankful to some extent for the healing but they reject Him as Messiah and Lord.
I want to direct our thoughts towards Luke 17 where we see this happen in similar fashion. Luke 17:11-19 says And it happened that while He was on the way to Jerusalem, He was passing through Samaria and Galilee. 12 And as He entered a village, ten leprous men who stood at a distance met Him. 13 And they raised their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14 When He saw them, He said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And it happened that as they were going, they were cleansed. 15 Now one of them, when he saw that he had been healed, turned back, glorifying God with a loud voice, 16 and he fell on his face at His feet, giving thanks to Him. And he was a Samaritan. 17 Then Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? 18 Was there no one found who turned back to give glory to God, except this foreigner?” 19 And He said to him, “Stand up and go; your faith has saved you.”
Notice that last statement that says that your faith has saved you. None of the other former lepers came back to thank Jesus or to glorify God. They were happy to follow the law that said to show yourself to a priest but they were not redeemed, they were not converted. This Samaritan was converted and saved in a salvific way as he displays the heart change that moved him to worship God for what had just happened.
I relate this story to what we see back in Luke 8 because this one man does not leave. He does not return back to his old life even before he was demon possessed but rather looks to follow Jesus immediately. Luke 8:38-39 records this as we see: But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him. But He sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your house and recount what great things God has done for you.” So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
I love how Mark 5:19 says it, it says And He did not let him, but He *said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.”
I love the fact that Jesus mentions how he needs to proclaim what God had done to him simply because God had mercy on Him. This man was not seeking for God, this man was demon possessed with power to break chains, rule whatever area he was in and was in his mind his own god. But by the mercy of God this man was delivered from demon possession and was given eternal life.
How do we know he received eternal life? Because Luke 8:39b says So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
Also Mark 5:20 And he went away and began to preach in the Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was marveling.
We do not have a record of how his efforts went. We do not have a record of this man in history and the work he did other than what we have right here. We know that even if no one ever received what Jesus did, even if not a single person got saved or started following Jesus that this man was obedient to the call to preach and proclaim the good news of salvation. This man was a Gentile with no former connection to the Jewish customs or the idea of a Messiah and yet God saved this man. The story of the leper showed us a Samaritan that the Jews despised and here a Gentile that they would look at as those damned for eternity. Here Jesus is clearly expanding the Gospel beyond any cultural boundaries. This man was saved and in that we glorify God for this man and our own salvation.
Disciple's Direction 