Luke 8:26-39
"And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs," Luke 8:26-39. The twelve disciples and Christ get to the other side of the sea of Galilee, and as soon as they stepped forth onto land they were met by a man whose life was in utter ruins. The man did not have to tell them his life was in utter ruins, it was easily obvious. You could see it, hear it, and smell it. Everything about this man proclaimed wickedness. There was no effort on his part to hide his wickedness. How did this man get to this point? What road was he on? "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat," Matthew 7:13. You look at this man and say, I do not want to be on that road, but the biblical fact is that we are all born on this road. This man did not start out like this, but this is where he is. The lost person may say that they will never get to where this man is at, and it could be he said the same thing, but here he is. We do not realize to what depths of sin we can go to. Sin is deceptive, and so are our sin loving hearts (Jeremiah 17:9). "But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin, and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death," James 1:14-15.
We do not know this man's name. We know him as the mad man of Gadara. The people of that region knew him well. The bible simply says, "a certain man met him". This certain man was a known man. Mark gives us a little more information in Mark 5:1-5. This man was possessed by demons for a long time. The bible doesn't give us an exact amount of time. We don't know if this man progressively got worse as more demons moved in, or if they all entered at one time. We don't know how old this man is. It is easy to dwell on what we do not know, but let us dwell on what Scripture has given us. This man is from the city that is straight across the sea from the town of Galilee. Those people knew him by name. They may have given him a nick name as we have, but they knew him well. This man had supernatural strength. Though they tried to restrain him from either hurting himself or others, they could not tame him. No matter what type of restraint they put on him, he always broke free. Either the people of the city drove him away out of the city, or he fled from them. He lived in the tombs. These tombs would be cut out of the mountain side. He was more comfortable around the dead than the living. As he would navigate from tomb to tomb he would cry aloud. This means he would croak like a raven, he would holler at the top of his lungs. We don't know what he would say, but it is no doubt that the people in the city and surrounding areas could hear him as his voice would echo across the valley and out of the tombs. Some may laugh and say, there he goes again. Others may use him as an example of what not to do for their kids. I can't help but wonder what his mom and dad would say when they heard him. Did their heart grieve for their son? Had they tried everything they knew to do but to no avail? What had he done to his parents? There is so much that resonates with this man's actions, and the grief and pain that goes with them. It is easy for people to mock and ridicule when they have not had a loved one in this predicament.
This man had been in this state for a long time. It would be easy for people to write him off and say he would never change and that there was no help for him. But with Jesus Christ salvation is possible for anyone. Jesus Christ interrupted this man's life. This man was in the depths of sin the likes of which most of us have never known. Jesus Christ came to him. Jesus is the Initiator. Not only is Jesus the Initiator of our salvation, He is also the Finisher, and anything in between. It is Christ that lived a sinless life; Who went to the cross; Who took upon Him all the sins of all who have and will believe; it is Christ that paid that sin debt in full; it is Christ that gave His life; it is Christ that rose again on the third day; it is Christ that is seated at the Father's right hand; and it is Christ that is coming back one day to ultimately and finally to deliver us from sin, death, and the devil. Positionally we are with Christ, but practically we are still here wrapped with this sin loving flesh. Even so, come Lord Jesus.
Jesus Christ must come to us because if left to ourselves we will never come to Him. "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil," John 3:19. "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ," Philippians 1:6. "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God," Hebrews 12:2. "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins," Colossians 1:12-14. "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost," Luke 19:10.
Jesus Christ saved this man. Christ made him a new creation (II Corinthians 5:17). Look at Luke 8:33-36. Christ had compassion on this man. When others would rather not look at this man, Christ came to set the captives free. "In His tender mercies, God has an incredible capacity to love the unlovely," R.C. Sproul. Can you say amen? This man in our text is actually a good picture of all lost people. Some lost people are able to hide the fact they are lost by false piety and learning the lingo, others are more open about their sins, but both are in the same spiritual condition. Some are clothed with religion, do's and don'ts, self-righteousness, but on the inside they are no different than the mad man of Gadara. The great news is that Christ is able to save you just like He saved this man. Will you look away from your good works, your self-righteousness, your sins, and look to Jesus Christ's finished work of redemption on the cross to save you? "All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out," John 6:37. "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved," Romans 10:13.
Lord willing next time we will look at Christ interrupting those who oppose Him.
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Soli Deo Gloria.
