What is your name?

Luke 8:26-39

Key Verse 8:30

Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" "Legion," he replied, because many demons had gone into him.

This passage teaches us how Jesus reached out to a multitude of people in the Gentile world by personally visiting and shepherding over one rebellious person. 

[Caution: do not get into discussions about “demons” and/or “evil spirits”, for the first thing a Bible student should know is to know what he does not need to know. God intentionally made the identity of demons unclear, for in His divine judgment, it is to our best interest not to know what demons are all about. Anyone who presents all kinds of theories, pretending to know about demons better than others is only trying to promote his own interest, and it is not out of healthy motives.]

1. Where did the demon-possessed man live? (26,27) 

** He lived in the tombs. He is representative of all the Gentiles who are sitting in the shadow of darkness, caught by the power of sin and death. Unless someone goes there and serves them with the gospel they are bound to be swallowed up by the power of the tombs. [Tombs = emptiness, indicating that life without faith in the Lord will only result in emptiness.]

2. How did this man meet Jesus? When the man first saw Jesus how did he respond to him? (28)

** He was not able to bring himself to Jesus. So Jesus brought himself to the man. 

Jesus' move here foreshadows the tide of the gospel going beyond the boundary of the Jewish world into the world of the Gentiles as recorded in the Book of Acts. 

The Gentiles were held down by the power of the tomb. God had mercy on them. He raised the apostles such as the Apostle Paul who visited the place of the Gentiles and preached the gospel, for the Gentiles could not bring themselves to Jesus. 

** He was hostile to Jesus. 

His response is typical of all the responses the Gentiles are showing to the gospel. Indeed, history proves that most of the Gentiles responded to the gospel with hostility, not because they were inherently bad, but because of the demonic powers working in them. Remember how the rulers of the Gentile world (such as the Roman Emperor Nero) persecuted the servants of the gospel and think about why they did what they did to the servants of the gospel. 

3. When he saw the man what did Jesus do for him? (29)

** He commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. 

This shows us that Jesus is the God who is the supreme commander holding complete sway over all creation in existence, both in the physical and spiritual realms.

4. Think about Jesus' question to the man (30) and the man's reply. Why do you think Jesus asked the man this question?

** Probably Jesus wanted to help the man to put his finger on the problem, and thereby help the man recover himself. Indeed Jesus' question uncovered the problem which remained "hidden", that is, many demons residing inside of him. 

5. Upon Jesus permitting the demons to go into some pigs, what happened to the pigs? (31-33)  What does this episode tell us about Jesus?

** They all died. 

** Jesus values one soul as more important than the value of pig businesses. 

6. How did the townspeople respond to the work Jesus did for the man? (34-37) Why did they respond in this way? 

** They responded with "fear" not "faith" in the Lord. So they rejected Jesus. 

** They valued money as more important than anything or anyone else. 

7. Compare the man's request in verse 38 and Jesus' direction for the man in verse 39. Why might Jesus have given him this direction?

** Most likely Jesus wanted to save the townspeople even though they proved themselves as unworthy.

 

The end

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