Jesus' Business

Jesus traveled to a country called the Gerasenes, opposite Galilee, and when He stepped on the land, He was met by a demon-possessed man. Here is the way Luke writes about this confrontation in Luke 8. Luke 8: ²⁶ Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. ²⁷ And when He stepped out onto the land, a man from the city met Him who was possessed with demons; and he had not put on clothing for a long time and was not living in a house, but among the tombs. ²⁸ And seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell down before Him, and said with a loud voice, “What business do You have with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me!” ²⁹ For He had already commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times, and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break the restraints and be driven by the demon into the desert. ³⁰ And Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” because many demons had entered him. 31 And they were begging Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.

If you don't believe we are in a spiritual battle, then this is a great reminder of the evil Jesus had to confront at almost every place He traveled. Jesus handled this situation like all the others, with the power of God, and His realization of the power of evil caused Him to never be caught off guard. You may notice the demons in the man called him Jesus, Son of the Most High God, as you can see the demons knew who Jesus was, as we should. When we receive Jesus, we enter into a personal relationship with Jesus, Son of the Most High God, and Jesus is personally involved in the affairs of His children.

I have heard commentary on this event by many, and too many times it is addressed as a "story" in the Bible. I have a problem with just calling this a "story" that could or could not be true to life. It happened, and how Jesus handled the demons in this man is a wonderful reminder of how Jesus deals with the spiritual needs in our lives. Before Jesus, "we are dark," and the light is not in us. After we receive Jesus, the Holy Spirit shines the light through each of us who call Jesus lord. Paul wrote the following words to the church in Ephesus in Ephesians 4:¹⁷ So I say this, and affirm in the Lord, that you are to no longer walk just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their minds, ¹⁸ being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; ¹⁹ and they, having become callous, have given themselves up to indecent behavior for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. ²⁰ But you did not learn Christ in this way, ²¹ if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught in Him, just as truth is in Jesus, ²² that, in reference to your former way of life, you are to rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit,²³ and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴ and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.

Wherever the gospel is presented there is going to be opposition, but Jesus "know" opporsition as evidenced in the Luke and He shows us how to deal with that opposition and also gives us discernment to recognize that evil. This is also why we need to walk in "the Spirit" of God so we can handle whatever may come our way. God continues to grow us in our faith walk and equips us to live this life of victory, as Paul told the Ephesians. Dark is now light, and that light is powerful and shows us the way to walk our faith walk. Live in the light as He is in the light, and you will see life with eyes wide open and not half shut to the devices of the evil one. We are living our lives doing Jesus' Business, so we need Jesus' power, and it is available.

The Pilgrimage Continues,

David Warren