Who Did That?
Scripture Reading: Luke 8:26-39
This story is one of the better known in the gospels. It has sensational elements to it that make it compelling and memorable. The man was possessed by a “legion” of demons. The demons, when cast out, entered a herd of swine. The pigs, when possessed by the demons, found it intolerable and killed themselves, running over a cliff and into a lake where they all drowned. The people of the area became so fearful that they asked Jesus to leave. This was high drama.
All of that might easily and understandably so occupy our attention that we miss the most important part of the story. After being delivered, the formerly demon-possessed man begged Jesus to let him be with him. Instead of granting that request, Jesus told him to go home and “declare how much God has done for you.”
Then there comes the last sentence in the story. It describes the man’s obedient response. “He went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.”
Did you catch that? Jesus commanded him to “declare how much God” had done for him, but he “proclaimed…how much Jesus had done for him.” Was this partial obedience? Did he do what Jesus said with a slight modification? Actually, I think he got it 100% right. As little as the man knew, without any formal theological training or education, he understood that saying “Jesus did that,” was the same as saying “God did that.”
The miracles of Jesus were one of the clear pieces of evidence of Jesus’ divine nature. The demoniac (formerly so) of Gerasenes got that. I hope you do too.
