[Listen to an audio version here]
When the Bible speaks of the world, it often uses the metaphor of a surging sea. The world is like a sea of rough, choppy water. Trying to sail in the world can be a very scary thing. For example, the world order that we have enjoyed since the fall of communism may be falling apart with the rise of an aggressive Russia and China. Things may become very difficult and challenging for our nation. How are we to deal with it?
The problems of the world are so big and so out of our control that it is easy to let anxiety control us or just to bury our head in the sand like the ostrich does and not want to deal with it. How do we maintain our sanity in the midst of it and still move forward in service? The passage that we are looking at provides an answer. It is faith in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Triune God, as Lord over all things.
We will see this as we look at the two stories. The first is of the storm. The second is of the demon army.
The Storm
Much of Jesus’ ministry takes place around the Sea of Galilee. The Sea of Galilee is a beautiful lake in the northern part of Israel. It is a source of life and blessing to the surrounding region. Several of Jesus’ disciples had made their livelihood from this sea in the form of fishing. They had access to boats and knew how to navigate the lake.
As they were on the sea, there was a great storm. These storms are common there. The Sea of Galilee is like the bottom of a bowl, and the storms sweep down from the surrounding hills. Our text tells us, “A squall came down on the lake, so that the boat was being swamped, and they were in great danger” (Luke 8:23). These experienced fishermen were afraid.
We need to remember that Jesus is great, and He also took upon Himself the weaknesses of humanity. In this story, He went to sleep in the boat as they went across. As a side note, this is the only time the Gospels ever mention that Jesus slept! The disciples were in a panic as the storm came on, and they saw that Jesus was still sleeping. “Master, Master, we are going to drown!” (Luke 8:24). They said.
At this point, Jesus “got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm” (Luke 8:24). Then, He rebuked them. “Where is your faith?” He asked them.
Now, this is an interesting question. We might wonder why Jesus would bring up faith here. After all, were they promised deliverance from the storm? How did they know that they would survive it?
One answer might be that they should have had faith that Jesus was the Messiah and so would not die. That is possible. However, I think Jesus has something different in mind. I think He is talking about what He would say later on his way to Jerusalem: “Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6–7). And, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear” (Luke 12:22).
How do we get such confidence? It is by great faith in God’s favor toward us and His will to do us good. This is founded on His promise of free forgiveness and grace in Jesus Christ.
John Wesley, for whom I am named, was a preacher in England in the 18th century. God used him to bring tens or even hundreds of thousands to Christ and to bring the churches of England back to the Gospel. He was the founder of the Methodist Church which God used to spread the Gospel to the pioneers who settled this land.
What gave Wesley his great motivation to preach? God used a storm. He was coming to the colony of Georgia to preach the Gospel. On his way, there was a storm at sea. He was terrified. However, there were some Moravian Brethren on the ship, and Wesley was amazed at how they were completely calm in the midst of the storm. They were calm because of their faith in the forgiveness God had given them and the favor He had towards them. Wesley came under the conviction that he did not really understand the Gospel. He realized through these Moravian Brethren that God could give joy and peace simply through believing. During his time in Georgia, he realized the amazing joy that could come from faith, from knowing that we are accepted by God through faith alone. He returned to England after his time in Georgia, and this deep conviction led him to tell everyone in England how much God had done for him.
So, God still uses storms to show us our need for faith. This is the sort of faith that will tell the world that we are confident in Jesus. I have been struck by a passage in the Psalms that Jesus may have shaped Jesus’ own understanding of faith in His heavenly Father. It speaks of the man who fears the Lord, and it says, “He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord” (Psalm 112:7). This is the faith Jesus is talking about.
What we need is a greater sight of Jesus and His works. The truly marvelous thing here is that Jesus is not only a man who trust in His Father, but He is the true Son of God who has a power equal to the Father. He rebukes the waves, and the storm is stilled. He sleeps because He is a man, but He stills the storm because He is God. It is a marvelous thing to study the wonder of the contrast of the two natures in the one person of Christ in these accounts.
This truth was just beginning to dawn on the disciples. They were filled with amazement and wonder. “Who is this? He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey him” (Luke 8:25). Who is this? A great question. When we get clarity on the answer, we will know the way to calm in the storm.
The Demon Army
Behind the storms of the nations, there is a great agitator. Satan and his demons. They are opposed to all that is good. They are thieves, and they come to steal, kill, and destroy. The world is filled with their wreckage. In this story, Jesus encountered what we might call a demon army, and He showed that He is the one who can overcome the demons.
Jesus and His disciples completed their voyage across the sea. On one side of the lake lived the Jewish people, the chosen people of God. On the other side, in the region of the Gadarenes, lived the Gentiles. So, Jesus was going to the land of the Gentiles. He spent most of His time with the Jewish people, but His aim was always to bring light and salvation to the ends of the earth, to all the nations.
There, they met a man who was in a hopeless situation. “When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs” (Luke 8:27). The people of the area had tried to control him, but they could not. “Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places” (Luke 8:29). What had happened to this man? He was under the total domination of demons.
When Jesus approached, the man under their influence cried out, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” (Luke 8:28). Jesus asked him what the demon’s name was. He said, “Legion.” This was the term for a unit in the Roman army. There were many of them there. It was an appropriate name because it is a sort of demon army that had wrought destruction in that area. They knew who Jesus was and begged Him not to send them to hell.
It’s a strange thing, but Jesus agreed. Perhaps the time had not yet come for their complete defeat. At any rate, he sent them into a herd of pigs. Pigs, of course, were a symbol of the uncleanness of the nations outside of Israel. These demons entered the pigs, and the pigs entered the cliffs and ran into the sea. The pig-herders were frightened, and they went and told the people in the town.
The people of the region were confronted with two amazing things: what had happened with the pigs and what had happened to the man. Jesus completely upended things. “Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear” (Luke 8:37). When the power of Jesus comes, we need to be prepared that it will upend things.
Jesus, however, accepted their request. He got into the boat and left.
While he was getting ready to leave, the formerly demon-possessed man came up to him and wanted to go with Jesus. Jesus said, “Return home and tell how much God has done for you” (Luke 8:39). There are two very interesting points about this statement. First, Jesus is the one who had cast out the demons. However, Jesus identified His work with God’s. “Go tell them what God has done for you.” Jesus said. Jesus identified Himself as God, the one who can rebuke storms and demons and have them flee. Second, the experience of what Jesus had done for him made him want to be with Jesus. Jesus said, though, that he needed him to be apart from Jesus for a time. Why? Because He wanted him to tell them how much Jesus had done for him. When we become a believer, we might say, why doesn’t Jesus take us to be with Him? The answer is because He wants us to tell others who much God has done for us.
Conclusion & Application
The question is, do you have a deep sense of what Jesus has done for you? First, have you ever gone to Him to receive forgiveness and deliverance from the power of darkness. If not, He offers that to you as a free gift. His power is still present here to heal, deliver, and forgive.
Second, you may have accepted Jesus. But maybe you have forgotten how much Jesus has done for you. Do you keep it fresh in your mind? Are you living every day out of His forgiveness and grace? Do you remember times where Jesus has delivered you and healed you? It’s easy to get caught up in our daily grind and forget how much Jesus has done for us. We need to go back to these points again and again.
If we remember all the things Jesus has done for us, then we will have something to share. John Wesley never forgot the wonder of God’s free grace and forgiveness. It led him to share all over England how much God had done for Him. When we realize it, the same will be true for us. We will see the marvelous works of Jesus that He has done in our lives, and that will lead us to share with others how much God has done for us, and those people will experience the marvelous works of Jesus as well. Thus may it be. Amen.
Benediction: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
________
Photo by Marcus Woodbridge on Unsplash