Jesus Meets Us in Our Affliction

This sermon was preached for Capital Pres Fairfax on Sunday, September 28, 2025, as a part of our Fall sermon series titled “Jesus Meets Us.” During his ministry on earth, Jesus encountered a variety of people from different walks and stations of life. As we explore how Jesus engaged with different people, we’ll see that Jesus continues to meet us in all our areas of need—covering us with his abundant grace and sending us in his name to minister to others. We looked at Luke 8:26-39 together. A recording of this sermon will be available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. 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.” For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.)

Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion,” for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.

When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned.

The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. (Luke 8:26-39)

Quite the passage we have this morning, isn’t it? I wonder what your reaction is to what we read together. Here’s how I’ve felt about this passage this week. You know what it feels like to try to get work done when you have a really messy desk? My desk at the start of this week had all kinds of books and binders and papers and other random stuff all over it. A mess like that makes it hard to focus on what I’m supposed to be doing. 

We’re a few weeks into our sermon series titled “Jesus Meets Us,” we’re looking at all the different kinds of people Jesus met in all kinds of scenarios to see that Jesus is here to meet with you exactly where you are. If you’re like me, that’s hard to focus on in this passage because there’s a lot of other stuff going on here. And really the biggest clutter is right there at the start, verse 27, “there met him a man who had demons.” 

How in the world are we supposed to think about demons? I know there’s people in here coming from a lot of different backgrounds with different thoughts about demons. Some of us come from a Western culture where demons are in the same category as the easter bunny, and all we know about them comes from movies and TV shows. Some of us come from cultures where demons are real and ever-present, whether from India or South Africa or even rural parts of our own state. Some of us come from churches that have never once addressed the existence of demons. Some of us come from churches who are entirely consumed by a focus on spiritual warfare. 

What are we supposed to do about all this? First, we’re going to clear away the clutter around these demons—at least, as much as we can. We’ll build a framework to help us understand spiritual realities. Once we have that straightened out, then we can focus on the main thing here, which is truly astounding. Lastly we’ll close with thinking about what Jesus is calling us to do in this story. 

Framework 

If you’ve got a Bible on you, go ahead and open it back up to Luke 8; we’re going to be looking at specific details together. Before we do, though, we need to have a quick conversation to build a framework for this passage. So here’s your crash course on spiritual creation and demons. 

At the most basic level, the word “spiritual” describes immaterial reality. Last week we read John 4, and in John 4:24 Jesus said “God is spirit.” By that, Jesus means that God does not have a physical form. God isn’t bound to the material world, he is a supreme, eternal being who is beyond all creation. God created all things, as Colossians 1:16 says, “both visible and invisible.” That includes the material world of matter and energy and our bodies, and the spiritual world of angels and our souls. 

In the Western world, it’s widely taught that reality is only material, that we’re fully reducible to atoms and neurons and things we can observe. It’s important to note, that’s a very small minority view, not just across all human history, but even across all human cultures in the world today. What most people recognize is that there is more to reality than what we can see and touch and study. There is an unseen, spiritual world full of immaterial personal beings—the Bible uses the word “angel” as an umbrella term for all these creatures. 

Some of the angels have chosen to rebel against God and seek to destroy his creation. We’re not told when this happened or what led to their choice, all we know is that they rejected the glory and beauty and love of their Creator and are now determined to oppose all that he has made, and they are especially interested in afflicting humans as those made in the image of God. The most extreme form of this affliction is possession, where demons so forcefully impose themselves on a person they become fully subservient to the demon’s will. 

If you have any questions on this, I’d be happy to talk more after the service, and I can share with you an article I wrote diving into way more detail. For now, let’s take this framework and come back to our passage. 

We live in a culture which is increasingly aware of mental health. I believe that is a good thing! I have been greatly helped by counseling, I have many friends and loved ones who have benefitted from medication to help with anxiety, depression, ADHD, and more. It would be a mistake to dismiss all mental illness as demonic affliction. But it would be just as dire a mistake to dismiss all demonic affliction as pure neurochemistry. 

When it comes to this guy, we need to be clear on the problem. And the problem isn’t just him. It’s not just his own struggles, it’s not just poor coping with trauma, or an anti-social predisposition, or deeply entrenched neural pathways which push him toward self-destructive behavior. There are outside forces involved in his problems—spiritual persons are choosing to afflict this man. They have so entirely overwhelmed him that it’s hard for us to tell where he ends and the demons begin. And then as soon as the demons are driven away, the man is in his right mind. 

Now I’d be willing to bet that this man at the end of our passage needs counseling, he probably needs to process the hell on earth he’s survived. But what the man needed at the start of the passage wasn’t good therapy, he needed God to rescue him. 

What does this mean for us today? At least three truths. First, Demons are real, they can and do afflict people, even today.  I hope you take that seriously. This is not fun. This is not entertainment—even though our culture has created a whole entertainment industry around demons. Can I speak specifically to our teens and young adults? You guys are the target demographic for this industry. If you consider demon possession to be entertainment, that is a grossly inhumane form of entertainment, even if fictional. 

This is the most immediate confrontation with spiritual evil we can encounter in our world. Horror movies and ouija boards prick our hearts just enough to trigger a fear of something we innately know is real, but in a small and controlled enough dose that we can pretend it’s not. Let me warn you: at best, you are mocking the enemy of your soul (wisdom would tell us “don’t poke a sleeping bear”); at worst, you are opening the door to real spiritual affliction. Don’t make peace with the enemy. Don’t desensitize yourself to spiritual warfare. This isn’t a game. This isn’t pretend. This is real. 

I recognize how terrifying all this is. That is why it is so important for you to hear this second truth: If you are a Christian, you cannot be possessed by a demon. Let’s think about that word “possession.” What does it mean when someone talks about their personal possessions? I think about my phone, my car keys, my wallet—these are things I own, I have full control over, I do with them as I so choose. 

When it comes to demon possession, we’re saying that evil spirits have claimed ownership of a human being. If you are a Christian, you can say with full conviction “I am not my own, but belong—body and soul, in life and in death—to my faithful Savior Jesus Christ” (Heidelberg Catechism Q&A 1). This comes straight from 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God…You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.” 

Demons cannot claim ownership on you; they may strive to afflict you, but they cannot possess you. Rest in the promises of Scripture, that “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world” (1 Jn 4:4) and “He who began a good work in you shall bring it to completion in the day of Jesus Christ” (Php 1:6). 

Third truth: Even if you are the subject of demonic attack, Jesus can save you. That brings us to the focus of this passage: Jesus meets us in our affliction. 

Focus

There’s two things I want us to see here. First, see the power Jesus wields. I was reminded this week of a trip my family took to Disney World when I was about six years old. One ride in particular stands out in my memory: the Dinosaur ride in the animal kingdom. Anybody been on that? It scared the heck out of me! I was sitting next to my big brother William who was about ten years old. Right toward the end there’s a jumpscare where a giant T-Rex pops up and lunges at you. I will never forget what happened: as soon as that dinosaur popped out, William screamed “Patrick get down!” and covered my head to protect me. I’m pretty sure we left that ride with me wrapped around my Dad’s leg and Will walking in front of us to make sure no more dinosaurs would pop out and get me. 

It was my big brother’s instinct to step in between me and danger. Our big brother Jesus has the exact same instinct. If at any point you feel afraid or threatened by demons, you can run to your Heavenly Father and your big brother Jesus will step in to protect you. 

That’s exactly what we see in our passage this morning. Jesus comes face to face with this man who is possessed by a legion of demons, and he doesn’t flinch. He comes straight up to him, addresses him clearly, and drives out all the demons with a word. The same word who brought creation into existence, the same word which spoke those evil spirits into being, the Word who took on flesh simply has to speak and the demons flee. That’s what we sang in our first hymn today: “The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure; one little word shall fell him. That Word above all earthly powers.” 

Second, see the lengths Jesus goes. Let’s back up a bit and put ourselves in the sandals of the disciples. What did this day with Jesus consist of? Jesus tells his disciples to get in the boat and sail some six miles to the country of the Gerasenes—the absolute last place any pious Jew would ever go. This is a place populated by Gentiles, who are pagan and unclean in their eyes. This is where a garrison of Romans soldiers from the tenth legion are stationed, so their invading occupiers are here. This is where those Gentiles bring their herds of pigs, which is the most vile and unclean animal a Jew would never dream of getting close to. On top of it all, they land right on the banks of a large cemetery, and dead bodies are the most unclean thing of all! 

And of all the people Jesus comes to meet here, he goes to the worst of the worst: a homeless man coming from the graves, wearing nothing but chains around his wrists and ankles, screaming at Jesus the moment he gets off the boat. Jesus briefly speaks with the man, an entire army of demons leave him and enter a whole herd of pigs who immediately drown themselves. The whole town shows up terrified of what’s going on, they ask Jesus to leave, and he does. Back in the boat, six miles home. All in a day’s work. 

All of that insanity for one man. Brother, sisters—do you feel that this morning? Do you see the lengths Jesus would go for one straying, afflicted sheep? In John 10, Jesus says “I am the good shepherd…My sheep hear my voice…I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand…and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (Jn 10:11, 27, 15)

If you are a Christian this morning, you are this man. You are the straying sheep. The odds of anybody in this room having faced demonic affliction to the same extent as the man in our story is very low. But the truth is, we have all suffered spiritual affliction. If you were in our adult Sunday school class this morning, you heard this in Ephesians 2. 

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air [that is, the devil], the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience…But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved (Eph 2:1-2, 4-5) 

Jesus stepped in between you and the enemy of your soul. See the lengths to which Jesus went to save you! Jesus, God himself, came from the spiritual to the material—the Word took on flesh. He came from the glory of heaven to the last place on earth you’d expect to meet a pure and holy God: a cradle in a manger, a cross on a hill, and he’d go to another cemetery to rescue you. 

Where did Jesus meet you? How did Jesus find you—what condition were you in? In the darkest moment of my story, Jesus met me on Route 64 heading to Charlottesville. I was totally overwhelmed by dark thoughts and sin and shame, and Jesus met me there. Where did he meet you? In a college dorm? On a lonely street? Deep in despair? I hope you have a chance to process your story with a friend, or your CG this week. Wherever it was for you, Jesus meets you in your affliction to save you, and to send you. 

Following Jesus 

One of the details I love in this passage is the progression of this man begging Jesus. In the start of the story, he’s been convinced that Jesus is the enemy of his soul and begs Jesus not to torture him. By the end of the story, he’s begging Jesus to let him stay with him. He’s come to see that Jesus isn’t his enemy, he is his Savior. What does Jesus tell him? 

Jesus sent him away, saying, “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” (Lk 8:38–39) 

In some ways, this feels like a sad ending! We really wish this guy had been able to go with Jesus. The good news is, Jesus goes with him. Remember: God is spirit! Jesus is a man, but Jesus is also GOD, and the spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, has filled this man’s heart. No matter where he goes, Jesus is with him always. And his Savior now invites this man to share the salvation he’s found with his friends and family. That’s how the story ends, “And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.”  (Lk 8:39) 

Friends, we are invited to do the same. Think of how many people heard about Jesus through the power of this man’s testimony. Again, none of us here have faced demonic affliction like this man, but we all have a testimony of God saving us from spiritual slavery. What would it look like for each of us to go forward like this man as it says in verse 39, “proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him”? Take some time to think through that this week with a friend or your CG. For now, let’s close singing our praises to the God who rescues us from all spiritual affliction.