Today's Gospel relates one of the more spectacular encounters that Jesus had with demon possession. It happened after He had crossed the Sea of Galilee and had just landed in Gentile territory. Today's Gospel says, "When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons." We get the idea that this demon-possessed man confronted Jesus right there on the shore. When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me." Notice that the demons knew right away who Jesus was. The Holy Spirit inspired James to write, [James 2:19] "You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!" There are no atheists among the demons. They know for a fact exactly who God is and it terrifies them.
Notice that Jesus is in complete control of the entire encounter. Although the people of the city had tried to subdue this man with chains they could not do it. On the other hand, a mere word from Jesus exerted absolute control over the demons in the man. Jesus … asked him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion." The demons had to answer. Even though they were the sworn enemies of Jesus, they could only do what He said. Notice that they even had to ask permission to leave the man and enter the herd of pigs. It didn't do them much good because the pigs immediately stampeded into the Sea and drowned.
This account presents us with a difficulty. There is the possibility that the spectacular nature of this event might lead us to believe that demon possessed people are always so obvious. We might expect all demons to exhibit spectacular behavior such as driving pigs into the nearest lake. Demon possession is much more subtle in our culture. Demons are about temptation and temptation is all about being attractive.
The devil is much more likely to appear the way he was depicted in a play that I saw while in high school. I know that I have told you this story before, but it applies to today's topic.
When I was in high school, our drama club put on a version of The Crucible by Arthur Miller. For those of you who are not familiar with the drama, it takes place against the backdrop of the witchcraft trials in New England in the late 17th century. The Salem Witchcraft Trials are probably the most famous of these trials. In the play, a few girls accuse some women of witchcraft. The town goes into a panic. Many perfectly innocent people were found guilty of witchcraft and hanged. The play is an examination of the dangers of superstition, prejudice, and ignorance.
As with many plays, there were some scenes that were impossible to do on the budget of a typical high school drama department. As a work around, the drama coach came up with the idea of a narrator who would help the audience work through some of the deleted material. The drama coach decided to have the devil himself narrate the play. An actor dressed up as the devil and told how he was manipulating the people in the play. As he did this, he filled in the missing information that the audience needed for the play to make sense.
Now here's the thing. The character of the devil did not wear red pajamas, have horns, carry a pitchfork, and smell like smoke. Instead, he wore a very stylish three piece suit. He was well mannered. He never used foul language - in fact, he didn't even use slang. He was an absolute gentleman in every way. It would be very easy to say that the character of the devil was the nicest person in the whole play. He was the kind of guy that mothers wanted their daughters to marry until they found out who he was. He was one of the scariest devils I have ever seen because he was smooth, he was sophisticated, he was polite, he was nice, and yet, as the play progressed, you began to understand that he was totally evil.
We tend to think that the devil wants everything in society to go wrong. Such is not the case. The devil only wants one thing to go wrong. He wants to separate us from Jesus. He doesn't care if the crime rate drops. He doesn't care if charitable donations go up. He doesn't care if people give each other a helping hand. He doesn't care there is a cure for every disease. He doesn't care if we are one, great big, happy family, as long as we are one, great big, happy family on the broad road to hell.
The devil doesn't even care if there are churches on every corner as long as the churches don't talk about sin and its punishment or Jesus and His salvation. The devil doesn't even care if we talk about god as long as that god is not the god who took on human flesh and died for our salvation. The devil doesn't even care if we talk about Jesus as long as that Jesus is just a great example or just a great moral teacher or just a great liberator or just a great unifier. The only God - the only Jesus that the devil hates is the Jesus who died on the cross for the forgiveness of sins and then rose from the dead in order to certify His victory over sin, death, and the devil.
There is only one person who defeated the devil. That person is Jesus Christ, crucified for the forgiveness of all sins and raised from the dead. That person and that person alone is the only person who endured every temptation that the devil could throw His way and yet, never sinned. That person and that person alone endured the forsakenness of hell for us as He died on a cross for our sins. Jesus Christ - crucified for the forgiveness of all sins and raised from the dead - the only person to defeat the devil - that same Jesus Christ offers His victory to us.
That victory is not about material wealth. That victory is not about a better job. That victory is not about being happy all the time. That victory is not about being on a continuous emotional high. That victory is not even about being nice. That victory is about forgiveness. Jesus offers us forgiveness and where there is forgiveness, there is also life and salvation. Jesus offers us nothing other than the right to be called the children of God and stand before God without terror. We can stand before God without terror because Jesus has taken away all our sins and clothed us with the righteousness of His holy life. In fact, because Jesus Christ has defeated the devil with His death on the cross, He encourages us to come before God as dear children come before their dear father. Because Jesus Christ has satisfied God's justice for us, we can stand before God and receive only His purest love. Those who trust in Christ's victory over the devil on the cross will receive God's purest love in heaven forever.
The devil still has his slaves here on this earth. Some of them are preachers. Some of them even claim to be Christian preachers. Yet, even though they claim to be Christian preachers, they fail to preach Christ. The devil loves sermons that fool people into thinking they are Christian sermons, but do not preach Christ crucified for the forgiveness of sins. The devil loves church services that entertain and satisfy people emotionally, but don't give out the gifts that Jesus earned for us on the cross - the gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. The devil likes nothing better than people who think they are Christians, but don't trust in Jesus Christ crucified for the forgiveness of their sins.
Demons don't always identify themselves by driving pigs into a lake. Sometimes they inhabit people who look like grandmas and grandpas. They inhabit people who look respectable on the outside and seem very nice. Just like dangerous strangers tempt children with candy, demon possessed people tempt us with all the things we like. It is their goal to make us feel very comfortable and even righteous while traveling the path to hell.
The real lesson that we can take away from today's Gospel is that Jesus is the one who exposes demons and deals with them. The same Jesus Christ who demonstrated His power over demons in today's Gospel has defeated the devil once and for all on the cross. Trust in Him. Trust in His holy life, His innocent suffering and death, His resurrection from the dead and His ascension into heaven. He is the only one who can protect you from the attacks of the devil. He is the only one who can give you life everlasting. Trust in Christ crucified and risen from the dead and pray that the Holy Spirit will work that saving faith in all people. Amen
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