Pastor Tom Johnson, June 23, 2013
In this account of the Gerasene demoniac, I counted more than
ten words or descriptions that describe bondage of all kinds. You have the
demons who bind this poor guy, which is perhaps the most obvious bondage. The
attacks the individual suffers “sieze” or bind him. The authorities “keep him
under guard;” they bind him with chains and shackles. Jesus himself is his held
his captive audience, with his back to the sea, and must face this sensational
display of behavior. Even the demons themselves are “legion,” a company of
demons who are bound to to torment this man day and night. And when they
encounter Jesus, the Son of the Most High God, they are bound in the fear that
Jesus may throw them into the abyss.
For an Israelite, this is literal hell—to dwell in Sheol, the
place of the dead—to be naked, bound, and under the power of death and the evil
one—to live among the unclean swine—to be human but live more wild than the
domesticated pigs around him. One fourth century Christian poet (Prudentius) calls
this man’s condition a “sepulchral prison”—a jail of death that keeps this man
from living, loving, and experiencing the goodness of the world around him.
But the Gerasene demoniac is a bondage breaker. With
superhuman strength, he pulls on his chains and shackles; he stretches, twists,
and breaks his iron bonds. And when he breaks his bonds, he reveals the truth
that chains and shackles cannot reform the human spirit. Incarceration will not
redeem a person’s soul. As the Scripture says, “Our struggle is not against
enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12). This bondage breaking man
with a legion of psychological, mental, and spiritual afflictions reveals the
powerlessness we all experience. Flesh, blood, chains, shackles—our strength
and technology cannot tame the savage nature of sin.
But Jesus delivers him. His afflictions transfer to the herd
of swine and they drown in the sea. The once afflicted, wild, and out of
control man is now sitting down, clothed, and in his right mind. This is the
sobering truth about evil: he was not just a perpetrator of bizarre behavior;
he was also the victim of spiritual and psychological oppression. It’s sobering
to realize that our behavior is not under our control but the result of
whatever has bound us—whether it be a spiritual affliction, substance abuse,
mental illness, lust for power or pleasure, or something as simple but
paralyzing as fear. When the rest of
those in the surrounding country of the Gerasenes hear the story, They don’t
rejoice over that one of their own has been delivered from his madness. They
are “seized with great fear,” our text says. That is to say, they are in a
bondage of their own—not with the bonds of chain and shackle—the enemy that has
bound them is fear. The pig herdsmen and authorities were not only powerless to
subdue this man, did more harm to him than good, and were apathetic to his
newfound freedom; they are all in a bondage of their own—seized by fear. Is it
fear that Jesus will do even more damage to their agriculture and way of life?
Is it fear that Jesus has unmasked their powerlessness to control someone on
the fringe of their community? Is it fear that Jesus will continue to uncover
those things that bind us and keep us from truly living? Is it the frightening
prospect that we are not the captains of our souls like we often like to think
we are? Whatever it is, it is sobering and a frightening thing to realize that
we can sometimes be helpless to free ourselves from whatever binds us.
Before we sit down, clothed, and in our right minds, it is a
scary prospect for Jesus to uncover our deepest and darkest prisons. He brings
our chains and shackles into the light of day. But does not do so to shame us
but deliver us. He is the Bondage Breaker, the one who breaks all bonds that
bind us. “He breaks the power of canceled sin, He sets the prisoner free; His
blood can make the foulest clean, His blood availed for me.” Jesus breaks the
bonds of sin, death, and the devil so that we are free—free to live and tell
our stories.
The healed man begs Jesus to go with him. But Jesus tells him
to live and tell his story: “Declare how much God has done for you.” Just tell
your story—sensational or not. And so he goes, “proclaiming throughout the city
how much Jesus had done for him.” “I was naked but Jesus clothed me. I was
outcast but he brought me in. I was rejected but he accepted me. I was in
bondage but he set me free. I was running around wildly but now I am at peace.”
Jesus frees us to live and tell our own stories. Scripture
says, “No testing has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is
faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the
testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it.”
So that we can say, “I was naked in my sin and brokenness but Christ’s clothed
me with the robe of his righteousness. I was outcast but he brought me in. I
was an orphan but the Father adopted me. I was in bondage to unspeakable things
but he set me free. I was running around aimlessly and dangerously close to
death but he gave me peace and a new lease on life.”
“Thank the Lord and sing his praise; tell everyone what he
has done. Let all who seek the Lord rejoice and proudly bear his name. He
recalls his promises and leads his people forth in joy with shouts of
thanksgiving. Alleluia. Alleluia.”
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