The Dominion that Defeats the Demons

Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, 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 many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned (Luke 8:26-33).

After Jesus demonstrated His authority over creation by calming the storm with a rebuke, He moved on to the next lesson for His disciples. When they arrived on shore at the opposite side of the Sea of Galilee, a demon possessed man showed up exactly on cue for a confrontation with Christ. There were three persons at the center of this conflict. There was the demon called Legion, the poor victim of his possession, and the Son of God. Our Teacher, the Holy Spirit, leads us to see how this three-person confrontation reveals the cruelty and corruption of demonic activity but also clearly demonstrates the Dominion that defeats the demons.

We see here the cruelty of the demons. The Bible gives little evidence of the origin of demons and unclean spirits. We know they are separate from the fallen angels because they have a desperate need to possess the bodies of human beings. The angels have no need of a body because they can make themselves appear as human beings… “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares” (Hebrews 13:2). The demons are homeless, on a relentless pursuit of a human body to inhabit… “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’” (Luke 11:24). They are foolish because though they publically confessed who Jesus was, they did not fear Him They feared only what He could do to them… “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7). Their foolishness left the demons bound and shackled, and their harassment of human beings reminds us that misery loves company.

We see here the corruption of the demoniac. When the demons entered his life they made the poor man as homeless and foolish as they were. He was naked, in chains, and he felt at home only among the dead. Demons will blind their victims to their true spiritual condition… “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). The gospel of Jesus Christ offers deliverance to the demon oppressed and possessed… “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:18). The same Spirit anoints those who proclaim His gospel today.

We see here the compassion of the Christ. Jesus offered both the demons and the victim a new home. The demons received a familiar and comfortable home in the bodies of pigs. The demoniac was delivered to a new life of freedom in Christ. In each case Jesus demonstrated that He truly is “Son of the Most High God” through His conquering compassion. Today we are reminded that whenever Christ’s compassion intersects our faith, demons are defeated… “’And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.’” (Mark 9:22-23).

As we grow up into Christ we proclaim spiritual victory to others through our growing faith in…

The Dominion that Defeats the Demons.