Sea Demons
Notes
Transcript
Sea Demons
Sea Demons
As we work our way through the Gospel of Luke, we are going to come across some events that are critical to the identity of Jesus.
These events are central to the storyline of scripture, the cosmic plan of God, but often, we reduce these events to their “natural” meanings to explain them away.
The scriptures have been given to reveal the nature and truth about God, the world in which we live, and us. While it can speak to nature, we cannot ignore the theological meanings behind these events.
These can be broken down into two categories:
Power
Authority
Power & Authority of God
Power & Authority of God
When you read that, you know the words are different, but our first thought might be that they are likely synonyms. But in their core meaning they are not the same.
Power: Something you have that another does not and you can leverage the power to achieve your will.
Power is solitary and rarely given
Power reveals fear, unless there is great trust
i.e. Overpower someone or something
Authority: Command something, to rule something, to be like a general or a leader. Authority means you can direct things to achieve your will.
Authority relies on OBEDIENCE to be effective
Authority can be given, delegated
This is important as the story of Jesus calming the storm is used to demonstrate the Power of Jesus, the Power of God. But, it might be better read as demonstrating the Authority of Jesus, the Authority granted to him by God the Father.
But first, we need some reminders about water in scripture.
Water as Chaos (a biblical character)
Water as Chaos (a biblical character)
On page one of the Hebrew Bible, God is “over” the “deep waters.” He commands borders for the waters (shores) and allows the land to emerge. He raises the land above the waters. He then breaths life into the humans he formed from the land.
On page six of the Hebrew Bible, God allows the waters of chaos to fall over the land in judgement and then orders the waters to recede again.
In Exodus, God is leading the Israelites out of Egypt, but before they cross the sea, he has them camp “Before Baal-Zaphon,” the great mountain to the north. And then he commands the sea (delegating authority to Moses) to part so Israel can cross.
Joshua watches the Jordan river split before him so Israel can pass into the land. The land is guarded by Chaos.
One Character goes into the water and is consumed by Chaos. Do you know who?
Jonah. Jonah, who has been given authority is fleeing from God because he does not want to go too Nineveh. This one is very interesting.
Do you remember why Jonah does not want to go to Nineveh? It is in the last chapter and the cartoon books usually just skip it. Jonah knows that God is quick to forgive, patient, and full of loving kindness, and he does not want God to forgive the Ninevites.
Jonah goes to Jappa, a port on the Mediterranean sea and sails to Tarshish, towards the West. Let’s read it for a quick reminder.
Jonah 1:1-6
Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.” But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord. But the Lord hurled a great wind upon the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship threatened to break up. Then the mariners were afraid, and each cried out to his god. And they hurled the cargo that was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down into the inner part of the ship and had lain down and was fast asleep. So the captain came and said to him, “What do you mean, you sleeper? Arise, call out to your god! Perhaps the god will give a thought to us, that we may not perish.”
Notice a few things:
Go East to Nineveh
Jesus is headed East to Gentile areas where they have demon possession and raise pigs.
Jonah goes down...
Down to Joppa
Down into the ship
Down into the ship’s inner parts
Who “hurled a great wind”?
The LORD, Yahweh, on the sea
The ship “threatened” to break up
The mariners were afraid, each crying out to their god.
Jonah is asleep
The captain (authority) commands him to “arise” and call out to “your god,” so we might not perish.
In their minds, a god, or gods, control these storms. There is a storm god in the ancient near east. That god’s name is Baal. The same one that Moses and the Israelites were to pause and face the night before they crossed the sea.
Baal was in the land that Joshua was entering, that is who they worshipped and whom the Israelites would build altars, causing them to go into exile.
Chaos, the waters, is an ancient representation of the “gods”, the “unseen powers of chaos” that all humans must wrestle with.
Let’s take a look at what happens to Jesus
Luke 8:22-25
Luke 8:22–25 (ESV)
One day he got into a boat with his disciples, and he said to them, “Let us go across to the other side of the lake.” So they set out, and as they sailed he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
As it turns out, Jesus has authority over the “chaos powers” represented by the storm, the wind and the waves.
More interesting is the connection with Jonah in this event. In the story of Jonah, who sent the great wind? It was God, Yahweh.
In this story, who stops the wind and the waves? Jesus. He has the same authority to command the wind and waves, just as Yahweh does.
Now, when Jonah is thrown “down” to the sea, he is swallowed by a great fish. If you read the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible it will read he was swallowed by a sea monster.
But, in his prayer after he is cast down to the sea, he says that he is:
In the belly of Sheol (the place of the dead)
Cast to the deep, the heart of the seas, the flood surrounded me
Waters closed in over me to take my life
You brought my life up from the “pit”
All of this is important for the next even that happens when they get to the other side.
Luke 8:26-39
So they arrived in the region of the Gerasenes, across the lake from Galilee.
As Jesus was climbing out of the boat, a man who was possessed by demons came out to meet him. For a long time he had been homeless and naked, living in the tombs outside the town.
As soon as he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down in front of him. Then he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please, I beg you, don’t torture me!”
For Jesus had already commanded the evil spirit to come out of him. This spirit had often taken control of the man. Even when he was placed under guard and put in chains and shackles, he simply broke them and rushed out into the wilderness, completely under the demon’s power.
Jesus demanded, “What is your name?” “Legion,” he replied, for he was filled with many demons.
The demons kept begging Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit.
There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding on the hillside nearby, and the demons begged him to let them enter into the pigs. So Jesus gave them permission.
Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned.
When the herdsmen saw it, they fled to the nearby town and the surrounding countryside, spreading the news as they ran.
People rushed out to see what had happened. A crowd soon gathered around Jesus, and they saw the man who had been freed from the demons. He was sitting at Jesus’ feet, fully clothed and perfectly sane, and they were all afraid.
Then those who had seen what happened told the others how the demon-possessed man had been healed.
And all the people in the region of the Gerasenes begged Jesus to go away and leave them alone, for a great wave of fear swept over them. So Jesus returned to the boat and left, crossing back to the other side of the lake.
The man who had been freed from the demons begged to go with him. But Jesus sent him home, saying,
“No, go back to your family, and tell them everything God has done for you.” So he went all through the town proclaiming the great things Jesus had done for him.
The region of the Gerasenes. We don’t know exactly where that is, but there is a location in Israel that kind of lines up to it. El Koursi.
The point is this: Where they are headed is likely a mixed area of some Jews, but mostly Gentile, pagan romans and other cultures in the area. In short, not majority Jewish.
He meets a man who is oppressed by an unclean spirit. That is all evil knows, oppression. This is exactly what Jesus is here to overturn, and this spirit knows it.
Notice the unclean spirit “falls down in front of Jesus.” Recognizing Jesus’ power or authority? Authority.
What the spirit says is fascinating:
Why are you “interfering” with me?
As if the spirit has dominion over this territory
Son of the Most High God
A term that is used by all unclean spirits because they know the heirchy
Don’t torture me
This is predicted in the OT as the outcome of the coming of the king
But, what the spirit does not know is that it is not time.
Jesus commanded the unclean spirit. He has authority over the spirit.
And those spirits, the Legion, continued to beg Jesus not to send them to the “bottomless pit.” Rather, they beg to enter the pigs. (this is why it is likely a non-jewish area)
The demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire pig herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned.
CONNECTIONS: Jonah is cast down to Sheol, the deep, the pit, swallowed by the waters. Noah’s flood is to cleanse the earth of the unclean spirits, casting them down to the pit. And what happens here is the pigs are cast over the ledge into the sea (lake), the deep, the pit, to Sheol.
Jesus never said he would do what they wanted and let them go free. Rather, he uses pigs to transfer the unclean spirits to the deep. He could have used the man to do that, but we see in Jesus that he does not want to do that.
He turns them into Sea Demons.
Once the good towns people hear about this, they ask Jesus to “go away and leave them alone.” Why?
Because Jesus clearly has power over the god(s) of the region. They don’t know this God that Jesus represents and they are afraid of what will happen. It will upset their lives and livelihood.
The man who prior to the “cleansing of the unclean spirit” who was speaking words against Jesus, is now begging to go with him.
But Jesus does not allow it, rather he sends him home. Interesting, while it does not say this man is a gentile, it is assumed in the text.
He is sent away with a mission. Go to your family and tell them all that God has done for you. And that is what the man does. In other miracles Jesus instructs the healed person to “not tell anyone” what was just done. But here, in the gentile lands, in the unclean areas, Jesus wants the word to spread.
What is the message? The Kingdom of God has arrived. The redemption of humans and creation has begun. Turn to Yahweh, leave your gods and worship the Most High God.
Now, what can we take away from this section?
Jesus has all authority over all things
Jesus has all authority over all things
Jesus is interested in freeing people from the oppression of evil. Because evil is oppressing and merciless.
In our day we would simply drug and institutionalize this man and say he is likely out of the reach of God, at least by us.
But what we see is the heart of Jesus in that he never judges this man based on the oppression he is experiencing.
Let me say that again...
Jesus judges the oppression not the person
Jesus judges the oppression not the person
Do you know anyone that judges themselves based on the evil they have experienced?
Jesus seems to be interested in freeing people from that oppression, and he does not see this person as unreachable or worthless.
Often, though, that is what we do. We will see someone who is tangled with oppressive people or chemicals and we just don’t know what to do with them.
Some faiths see addictions as demon influenced or possession. But that is not correct. What Jesus brings to the scene is authority and judgement over the evil and love to the person.
That is tricky to handle. The person who is affected by evil, often, does not differentiate between what they are experiencing and who they are.
Jesus sees to the core of the matter, that this man was a human being, an image of the Living God, and Jesus acts accordingly towards them.
How do we know that? Well, it is in the story:
He has been “chained” many times
He is Naked
He is Homeless
He is living “outside” (exiled) the city in the tombs (making him unclean)
What happens
He becomes clothed (whose clothes is this man wearing?)
He is at Jesus’ feet, learning
He is in a position of a disciple
Does this remind you of anything you have read in Luke before this?
God blesses you who are poor...
Love your enemies! Do good to those who hate you...
Give without expecting to be paid back...
Then what will happen? “You will be living as children of THE MOST HIGH.” Luke 6:35 “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.”
Jesus is giving us an example of how to live out the Beatitudes he previously taught.
We would do well to follow this example when we interact with others.