Pigs, Demons, and Tombs, Oh My
Luke 8:26-39
The out of context kingdom
Jesus felt compelled to leave his comfort zone to bring the kingdom to people who didn’t receive it
Jesus began his mission with “the kingdom of God is near”
He then began to take this message from one end of the Jewish countryside to the other
One day, he decides to go across the Lake of Gennesaret and lands in the region of the Gadarenes
For us, this story doesn’t really spark much interest in quickly reading through - Jesus does his thing by casting out some demons
On a closer examination, there are some clear signs that Jesus left his comfort zone here
First - the Gedarenes were Gentiles - they raised pigs
Second - the first place Jesus enters is a cemetery of Gentiles
Third - in the cemetery, there is a person who is running around threatening people while naked
Jesus casts a multitude of demons out of the man
We know that the demons flock into the pigs and the pigs jump off into the water and die
The man is restored to sanity and puts some clothes on
Jesus appears to have done the work of the kingdom of God
But a crowd of people gathers to confront him and, in tones similar to the demons, rebuke Jesus and tell him to leave
Jesus was out of his context when he does the kingdom’s work
It is Gentile territory so they may not be as aware of the background of the Kingdom of God, the ministry of Jesus, or Jewish promises of a Messiah
Jesus is standing among the tombs of their ancestors, performing weird acts that most of them have not witnessed, but Jesus seems just as crazy as the demon-possessed man
Jesus has cost someone a livelihood - those pigs represented economic value as well as a way of life
The kingdom message that Jesus wants to proclaim is completely ignored
Yet Jesus still felt it necessary to go to a place “opposite Galilee”, completely alien to his ministry, and do what he does
Jesus went out of the familiar to a place of discomfort to bring the message of the Kingdom, no matter how receptive the audience
The single positive result
Jesus returned to Galilee and continued on his ministry mission, seemingly unshaken
How would you like to be the man that Jesus had restored?
The man wants to accompany Jesus, even into places he was unfamiliar with
Jesus tells the man to do one simple thing - tell people about what God has done for him
Jesus offers the man one job - tell people like himself about God even though the man didn’t know much about God
He was likely a Gentile unfamiliar with the Jewish writings of scripture
The man had been isolated by the community and forced into seclusion so he may be a little socially awkward
The only thing he needed to do was go back to his own people and tell them about the difference in his life
The church is a comfortable place for Christians
I talk a lot about getting out of our comfort zones and doing the work of the Kingdom
This passage should remind us that our work of the kingdom is only one job
We are supposed to tell others about how much God has done for us
It doesn’t require a seminary education or memorizing loads of scripture
It doesn’t require knowing all of the answers or being the most polished speaker
All it requires is going about the places we are familiar, seeing people we are neighbors with, and just simply telling them what God has done for us
Jesus has already walked into the uncomfortable places
He brought his message to the Gentiles
He also did the work of breaking the power of sin and giving us freedom in going to the cross
He also did the work of defeating death by going into the grave
He also did the work of restoring a broken relationship with God for us by being raised from the grave
He has already gone to the limits of stepping outside of his comfort zone for us
All he has asked us to do is tell other people, who we already know, about how much God has done for us
Luke 8:26-39
The out of context kingdom
Jesus felt compelled to leave his comfort zone to bring the kingdom to people who didn’t receive it
Jesus began his mission with “the kingdom of God is near”
He then began to take this message from one end of the Jewish countryside to the other
One day, he decides to go across the Lake of Gennesaret and lands in the region of the Gadarenes
For us, this story doesn’t really spark much interest in quickly reading through - Jesus does his thing by casting out some demons
On a closer examination, there are some clear signs that Jesus left his comfort zone here
First - the Gedarenes were Gentiles - they raised pigs
Second - the first place Jesus enters is a cemetery of Gentiles
Third - in the cemetery, there is a person who is running around threatening people while naked
Jesus casts a multitude of demons out of the man
We know that the demons flock into the pigs and the pigs jump off into the water and die
The man is restored to sanity and puts some clothes on
Jesus appears to have done the work of the kingdom of God
But a crowd of people gathers to confront him and, in tones similar to the demons, rebuke Jesus and tell him to leave
Jesus was out of his context when he does the kingdom’s work
It is Gentile territory so they may not be as aware of the background of the Kingdom of God, the ministry of Jesus, or Jewish promises of a Messiah
Jesus is standing among the tombs of their ancestors, performing weird acts that most of them have not witnessed, but Jesus seems just as crazy as the demon-possessed man
Jesus has cost someone a livelihood - those pigs represented economic value as well as a way of life
The kingdom message that Jesus wants to proclaim is completely ignored
Yet Jesus still felt it necessary to go to a place “opposite Galilee”, completely alien to his ministry, and do what he does
Jesus went out of the familiar to a place of discomfort to bring the message of the Kingdom, no matter how receptive the audience
The single positive result
Jesus returned to Galilee and continued on his ministry mission, seemingly unshaken
How would you like to be the man that Jesus had restored?
The man wants to accompany Jesus, even into places he was unfamiliar with
Jesus tells the man to do one simple thing - tell people about what God has done for him
Jesus offers the man one job - tell people like himself about God even though the man didn’t know much about God
He was likely a Gentile unfamiliar with the Jewish writings of scripture
The man had been isolated by the community and forced into seclusion so he may be a little socially awkward
The only thing he needed to do was go back to his own people and tell them about the difference in his life
The church is a comfortable place for Christians
I talk a lot about getting out of our comfort zones and doing the work of the Kingdom
This passage should remind us that our work of the kingdom is only one job
We are supposed to tell others about how much God has done for us
It doesn’t require a seminary education or memorizing loads of scripture
It doesn’t require knowing all of the answers or being the most polished speaker
All it requires is going about the places we are familiar, seeing people we are neighbors with, and just simply telling them what God has done for us
Jesus has already walked into the uncomfortable places
He brought his message to the Gentiles
He also did the work of breaking the power of sin and giving us freedom in going to the cross
He also did the work of defeating death by going into the grave
He also did the work of restoring a broken relationship with God for us by being raised from the grave
He has already gone to the limits of stepping outside of his comfort zone for us
All he has asked us to do is tell other people, who we already know, about how much God has done for us
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