“And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him” (Luke 8:30).
When the Lord entered left Galilee for the land of the Gadarenes, we move one scene of chaos to another. Just before this passage, the Lord Jesus was asleep in the boat as a violent storm raged on the Sea of Galilee. At a word from Him—“Peace, be still”—the storm was subdued and a great calm followed. Now, as in Gadara we encounter a different kind of storm, not on the waters but in a man’s soul. Here again the King of glory comes to subdue chaos and to bring peace, and He does so not by force of arms but by the sovereign power of His word and His grace.
When Jesus steps onto Gentile soil, He does not leave His authority behind. Unlike the false gods of the heathen, who were thought to rule only within certain territories, He is the Lord of heaven and earth. He goes where He wills, and He wills to go into this dark, heathen region to display His grace and His dominion. Immediately He is confronted by a man whose condition shocks us: naked, homeless, living among the tombs, violent and uncontrollable. This is a man made in the image of God, yet utterly broken, dehumanized, and enslaved. He once belonged to the city, but now he dwells among the dead. It is a fitting and terrible picture of what sin and Satan do to a human being!
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