Jesus Delivers Out of Bondage (Luke 8:26-39)
Sermon Summary
Pastor David Yan
1 September 2024
Here is a man out of control. He is naked, homeless and lives in a cemetery.
The man was unable to help himself. He is in bondage to demons. We also are in bondage – bondage to sin. Like this man we cannot extricate ourselves. Only Jesus could deliver this man. Only Jesus through his mercy can deliver us. Salvation is not by graft but by grace. It is not earned; it is given.
The man saw Jesus. How crucial for people to see Jesus. Certain Greeks once came to Philip the disciple and said “we wish to see Jesus” (John 12:21). The writer of Hebrews spoke of seeing Jesus (Heb 2:9). The only hope for the demoniac was to see Jesus. The only hope for people in bondage is to see Jesus.
Jesus asked the man what his name was. Everyone has a name. Everyone is precious in the Creator’s sight. But the demons had taken over the man’s name. Their name was Legion for they were many. But that demonic name was about to be destroyed by the name that is above all other names – the name of Jesus.
Note the demons begged Jesus. They controlled the man but Jesus controlled them. Under the command of Jesus the demons left the man and entered the swine who were drowned in the sea.
The man is healed. He sits at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. See what Jesus does. He restores the soul. He calms the situation and leads people beside still waters.
The people ask Jesus to leave their region. They failed to recognize their day of visitation. Peter once asked Jesus to depart but he fell down at Jesus’ feet and worshipped (Luke 5:8) knowing it was the hour of divine visitation.
Jesus told the man to go to his own house and tell what great things God had done for him. Witnessing begins in the family. Jesus establishes this. The gospel was proclaimed in Jerusalem before Antioch.
The man went everywhere proclaiming what Jesus had done. To him, Jesus was God. Jesus himself spoke of God doing the work. Yet he it was who drove out the demons. Jesus did not deny his deity.
Are people demon-possessed today? That possibility cannot be dismissed but more likely the devil works today in a way as revealed in Scripture. He walks around in the world seeking people to devour (1 Peter 5:8). He blinds the minds of people lest they believe the gospel (2 Cor 4:4). He controls the world (1 John 5:19). This control is a reduced control for the Lord God alone has absolute control.
The deliverance of this man is foreshadowed in the Old Testament. Israel was in bondage in Egypt but God delivered her. Israel was in bondage in Babylon. But God again delivered her. Our deliverance is foreshadowed. Jesus came, as prophesied, to save us from our sins (Matt 1:21).
We are born in bondage but can be born again into the liberty with which Christ sets us free. Repent of your sin and trust in Jesus, the Saviour of people in bondage.