The Unfettered Christ and the Fettered Man Text: Luke 8:26-39
Introduction: The Collision of Kingdoms
We live in a sanitized age, an age that has tried to domesticate God, declaw the devil, and dismiss the demonic. We have exchanged the spiritual realities of the New Testament for the bland psychobabble of a therapeutic culture. We are far more comfortable with syndromes than with sins, with disorders than with demons. But the world of the Bible is not a padded room; it is a battlefield. And in this passage, we see the front lines with stark clarity. Jesus Christ, the King of Heaven, sails across the Sea of Galilee and lands in a place of profound spiritual darkness. This is not just a geographical journey; it is an invasion. It is a D-Day landing on enemy-occupied territory.
The region of the Gerasenes was Gentile country. It was a place of tombs, a place of the dead. It was a place of pig-herding, an unclean business for any self-respecting Jew. And it was the domain of a man who was the very picture of satanic degradation. This man was not just troubled or misguided; he was a walking infestation, a human tenement for a legion of unclean spirits. He was naked, homeless, violent, and utterly broken. He was the epitome of what the devil wants for every man, woman, and child made in the image of God: stripped of dignity, isolated from community, and enslaved to chaos.
Into this desolate scene steps Jesus of Nazareth. And what follows is not a negotiation or a therapy session. It is a collision of kingdoms. It is a raw display of absolute authority. This account is here to show us the nature of the enemy, the absolute sovereignty of Christ, the cost of true liberation, and the wildly different ways that men respond to the presence of unvarnished holiness. Some are saved, and some are terrified. Some beg to be with Jesus, and others beg Him to leave. The question this text forces upon us is simple: when the raw power of Jesus Christ disrupts your comfortable arrangements, how do you respond?
The Text
Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. And when He came out onto the land, a man from the city met Him, one who was possessed with demons and had not put on any garment for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. Now seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What do I have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.” For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it 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. And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they were pleading with Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.
Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain, and the demons pleaded with Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission. And when the demons came out of the man, they entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
And when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside. 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. And those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been saved. 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. But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him. But He sent him away, saying, “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.
(Luke 8:26-39 LSB)
The Face of Bondage (vv. 26-29)
We begin with the arrival of Jesus and His encounter with this man.
"And when He came out onto the land, a man from the city met Him, one who was possessed with demons and had not put on any garment for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs." (Luke 8:27)
The description is a portrait of total alienation. This man is cut off from everything that makes for a human life. He is without clothing, which is a sign of dignity and civilization. He is without a home, cut off from community. He lives in the tombs, the place of death and uncleanness. He is a man whose life has been systematically dismantled by the enemy. This is the satanic program: isolation, degradation, and death.
But the moment he sees Jesus, the demons who control him react violently. They recognize authority when they see it.
"Now seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, 'What do I have to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me.'" (Luke 8:28)
Notice the irony. The demons have perfect theology. They know exactly who Jesus is: "Son of the Most High God." James tells us the demons believe, and shudder (James 2:19). Their orthodoxy is impeccable, but it does them no good because it is not coupled with submission and love. They know who He is, and they are terrified. Their first words are an attempt to create distance: "What do I have to do with You?" This is the cry of the fallen world to the holy God. It is the cry of Cain, "Am I my brother's keeper?" It is the cry of our rebellious age, "Who are you to tell me how to live?"
They beg Him not to torment them. To a demon, the mere presence of Jesus is torment. His holiness is an agony to their uncleanness. His light is a torture to their darkness. And they know He has the authority to judge them, which is why Luke adds the detail in verse 29: "For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man." Jesus did not wait for an invitation. He saw the affliction and immediately issued the command. He is the aggressor against the kingdom of darkness.
The man's condition was beyond human remedy. He was bound with chains and shackles, but he broke them. This is a picture of the futility of all man-made solutions to the problem of sin and spiritual bondage. We try to restrain evil with laws, with education, with therapy, with prisons. But the demonic power of sin shatters these human fetters. Only the authority of Christ can truly set a man free.
The Sovereign Negotiation (vv. 30-33)
Jesus then engages the demons in a way that reveals His absolute control over the situation.
"And Jesus asked him, 'What is your name?' And he said, 'Legion,' for many demons had entered him. And they were pleading with Him not to command them to go away into the abyss." (Luke 8:30-31)
Jesus asks for a name, not because He is ignorant, but to expose the extent of the problem. A Roman legion was about six thousand soldiers. This man was not just oppressed; he was occupied by an army. This name reveals the overwhelming, corporate nature of the evil that had enslaved him. And what is this "abyss" they fear? It is the place of confinement for demonic spirits, the bottomless pit (cf. Rev. 9:1). They know there is a place of final judgment, and they know Jesus has the authority to send them there. They are on a leash, and Christ is holding it.
Their request is telling. They would rather inhabit pigs than face the abyss. This is how much they hate being disembodied and how much they fear the judgment of God.
"Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain, and the demons pleaded with Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission. And when the demons came out of the man, they entered the swine, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned." (Luke 8:32-33)
Why does Jesus grant this request? First, it demonstrates the reality of the exorcism. This was not a psychological episode; these were real entities that could be transferred from one host to another. Second, it demonstrates the destructive nature of demons. Their only desire is to defile and destroy. Even in pigs, their nature drives them to chaos and death. Third, it is an act of judgment on the unclean economy of the Gerasenes. They were raising pigs, unclean animals, likely for export to Roman garrisons. Jesus, in one stroke, liberates a man and bankrupts an illicit industry. And fourth, it shows us the value of one human soul. Jesus values this one man more than two thousand pigs. Our culture, with its abortion and euthanasia, has this calculation entirely backwards. It will sacrifice human life for economic convenience. Jesus sacrifices economic convenience for one human life.
Two Kinds of Fear (vv. 34-37)
The reaction of the townspeople is one of the most sobering parts of this account.
"And when the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and in the countryside. 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." (Luke 8:34-35)
The transformation is total. The man who was wild is now calm, "sitting at the feet of Jesus," the posture of a disciple. The man who was naked is now "clothed," his dignity restored. The man who was insane is now "in his right mind," his sanity restored. This is a picture of salvation. It is a restoration of true humanity. He is brought from chaos to order, from death to life, from madness to sanity.
But look at the town's reaction. "And they were afraid." This is not the reverential awe of the believer. This is the terror of the sinner in the presence of holiness. They were comfortable with the madman in the tombs. They had learned to manage him, to guard him, to live with the dysfunction. But they could not handle the man who was healed. They were not afraid of the demoniac, but they were terrified of his deliverer.
"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." (Luke 8:37)
This is utterly tragic. They preferred their pigs to the Prince of Peace. They preferred their compromised economy to the presence of the Son of God. The presence of Jesus was too disruptive. His power was too unsettling. His holiness was too revealing. They loved their sin and their swine more than they loved the Savior. And so they asked Him to leave. And He did. This is a terrifying picture of judgment. The worst thing God can do to a people is to give them what they want.
The First Missionary to the Gentiles (vv. 38-39)
The story concludes with two contrasting requests.
"But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him. But He sent him away, saying, 'Return to your house and recount what great things God has done for you.'" (Luke 8:38-39)
The townspeople begged Jesus to leave. The healed man begs to go with Him. This is the natural response of a heart that has been truly saved. You want to be with your Savior. But Jesus has a different plan. He has a mission for this man. The town may have rejected Jesus, but they cannot escape the testimony of a transformed life. Jesus is leaving, but He is leaving behind a witness. This man is to be the first missionary to the Decapolis.
And what is his message? "Recount what great things God has done for you." This is the essence of all true evangelism. It is not about our cleverness or our arguments. It is about bearing witness to the saving power of God in our own lives. We are simply beggars telling other beggars where to find bread.
Notice the glorious conclusion:
"So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him." (Luke 8:39)
Jesus told him to proclaim what God had done. He went and proclaimed what Jesus had done. He understood perfectly that Jesus is God. He did not need a council to explain the hypostatic union. He had experienced the divine power of Jesus in his own liberated soul. His life was now a walking, talking sermon on the grace and authority of Jesus Christ.
Conclusion: Your Legion and Your Mission
It is easy for us to read this story as a bizarre, ancient spectacle. But we must see ourselves in it. Every person outside of Christ is in bondage. We may not be living naked in a graveyard, but we are enslaved. We are bound by the chains of our own sin, our pride, our lust, our bitterness, our rebellion. We have our own legion. And no human effort can break those chains.
But the good news is that Jesus still crosses the sea to come to us. He comes to invade the territory of our hearts, to confront our legion, and to command our chains to be broken. The same authority that silenced the demons in the Gerasene has silenced the accusing voice of the law at the cross. He has conquered sin and death and the devil.
When He sets you free, you are left with the same two choices that faced the Gerasenes. You can be afraid of the disruption He brings. You can cling to your pigs, your comfortable sins, your familiar brokenness, and ask Him to leave you alone. Or, you can fall at His feet, clothed in His righteousness and in your right mind, and beg to be with Him. And if you do, He will give you the same commission He gave this man. Go home. Go to your office. Go to your neighborhood. And tell them what great things Jesus has done for you.