“From the Haunts of Demons to the Feet of Jesus”
Original sermon given on Sunday, June 22, 2025 written and delivered by Pastor Jeff Leininger at First Saint Paul’s Lutheran Church.
Watch the sermon live.
“From the Haunts of Demons to the Feet of Jesus”
Luke 8.26-38
Luke 8.26-38
In the name of the living God and the risen Christ. Amen.
We have before us this morning a gripping, graphic gospel. Of all the healings and cleansings which our Lord performs, this is one of the most detailed of all accounts. We might say that the demons are in the details this morning. St. Luke gives us such a vivid picture of the power of evil over this poor man, that he might show us, all the more the powerfully, the Son of the Most High who we worship this morning and who also cleanses and frees and sends us.
Consider the particular plight of this poor man:
Jesus and his followers disembark in a Gentile region, the area called Gerasene. This is very non-Jewish territory — the herd of pigs sort of gives it away, doesn’t it? Its technical name was The Decapolis, a loose federation of ten pagan city states. The Lord of life, of cleansing, of freedom, of healing, steps out of the boat and onto “unclean earth.”
Who can forget that the man is possessed by a plurality of demons? Not just one, but “Legion” we are told, for they were many. A Roman legion had three to six thousand soldiers with Cavalry and was one of the most feared bodies of the ancient world. The name “Legion” for the Jews of this time represented the military might of a cruel, occupying force. So, we know that this man is powerfully possessed, and cruelly afflicted. He is helplessly enslaved to the evil within.
The details of his condition evoke a combination of both fear and sympathy in us. He’s naked, living outside the city, roaming and homing among the tombs. We might describe him as a man with unclean face, from an unclean race, living in an unclean place. His dwelling place is with demons, darkness, despair, and death.
We’re given some details as to his physical condition too: the Legion has physically “seized” him so violently that he needs to be guarded, chained, and shackled. But so powerful was the evil which afflicted him that it would break his chains and drive him to the deserted places — considered the haunts of evil spirits.
Now, I want you to consider the results of the story:
The man with the unclean face, from an unclean race, living in an unclean place… now sitting at the feet of Jesus; now abiding in the presence of holiness, peace, freedom, rest, life. Before he could have been no further from God, and now he can get no closer to God. He is clothed, in his right mind, and those who before had lived in fear of him because of the demons are now so amazed they live in fear because he is healed. (The poor guy can’t win, right?)
But no matter to him: his desire is to be with Jesus. Nothing else matters anymore, more than abiding at the feet of the one who saved him; resting in the words of the one who gave him life from death, freedom from slavery, holiness from uncleanness.
It’s a gripping, graphic gospel, and my prayer is that it will also grip you this morning. Because these words of God are, through the Holy Spirit, the very means through which the Son of the Most High steps out of the boat and into our lives this morning — no matter how many demons, or how thick your chains, how lonely or scary your world has become. The same Jesus who intervened into the life of the man with an unclean face, from an unclean race, living in an unclean place entered into our full humanity in his birth at Bethlehem. In the incarnation —God with us — took on our very flesh and blood; he stepped onto our unclean earth, not abandoning our world to sin, injustice, loneliness or death, but rather seized hold of our humanity for our salvation. And at the cross of calvary, the Holy One, Jesus, took on the full fight, forgiving our sin, paying our debt, defeating Satan and all his evil hoards once and for all. And at his resurrection, he showed his ultimate power over all things. No matter what’s happening in your life, this Jesus is more powerful still.
This gripping, graphic gospel grabs hold of me in another way, too, this morning. In a strange way, both the unclean, demon possessed man and then the cleansed and freed man convict me; call me out, as it were. That is, he reminds me: how seldom do I cry out to God, and how little I desire to sit at his feet, and how reluctant I am to declare how much he has done? (Are you with me on this?)
Consider how loudly, persistently the demons cry out to Jesus, falling at his feet begging before him. And they do this only out of servile, cowering fear. They know only his power. We, on the other hand, know fully both his power and love; and far from being his enemies fearful only of his wrath, he calls us friends and promises us healing. In the gospel of grace, he delights to hear our voices. Yet how seldom do we, and with such reluctant voices and with such little fervor, call upon the Son of the Most High?! Is it not to our shame that the demonic enemies of Christ cry out more loudly to him for mercy than do we?
And now on the other hand, consider the man after he has been cleansed. He longs for, begs even, to sit at the feet of Jesus. He doesn’t ever want to leave the Lord. So often we, on the other hand (and this is to our shame), seem to want to spend as little time as possible with Jesus. We seem to want him just to go away and leave us alone, especially when it’s awkward or inconvenient. Isn’t this in stark contrast to the cleansed man who the Lord can hardly get rid of, right?
And then, when Jesus sends him to declare how much God has done for him, the healed man does boldly, continually, no matter the cost, no matter the results, no matter if they will laugh at him, run from him, or chain him up all over again. God was active, powerful, and present in Jesus, and nothing would stop this cleansed man from proclaiming this good news.
This morning’s gripping, graphic gospel is a lesson from the man with the unclean face, from an unclean race, living in an unclean place. The one who has cleansed us with the power and love of the gospel, so also sends us unto all the world to sing his praises.
Come soon Lord Jesus. Amen.