Chapter # 8 Paragraph # 6 Study # 6
May 31, 2009
Lincolnton, N.C.
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<532> Thesis:   "Disaster" is built into the system: Truth cannot be violated with impunity. Introduction:   One of the interesting facts about Luke's record of Jesus' authority over the demons of the Gerasenes is that we are not told "why" the man was demon possessed in the first place. However, we are told why the demons possessed the pigs. Jesus. He was evicting them from the body of their human host and He gave them permission to possess the pigs as an alternative. Luke's "point" here is exceedingly clear: demons cannot "do as they please". Like it or not, they are restricted to "the will of God". Now, it is only a small step backward in the logic of their compelled submission to Jesus to the realization that they had been in dominion over their human host only by "the will of God". In other words, though Luke does not say it in so many words, the reason the man was possessed by a legion of demons was that God had given them permission to possess him. This is Luke's "point": no one can live a "Jesus-free" life. No decision can be pursued except as God permits. The corollary to this "point" is that those who attempt to do this impossible thing reap the consequences of their futility. The Bible has always said, "The day you eat thereof, dying, you shall die." This morning we are going to see even more of Luke's evidence of his "point". It was his intent to show that Jesus is the Elohim of the Old Testament record and his method was to show just how absolute is His authority over even those whose active hatred of Him has reached its pinnacle. This is the "back door" approach to the issue ... using a potent negative example to establish the Truth (the "front door" approach was the use of power to establish "Life" for the sake of the dying). Even in this record both approaches are seen, depending on where our attention focuses. If we focus on the "poor man possessed by a legion of demons who are tormenting him mercilessly" we see Jesus imparting "Life" to him by His power. If we focus on the "demons" who are abject in their submission to Jesus, we see Jesus contradicting "Death" by His power. This morning we are going to look into the judgmental side of Jesus as He deals with those who hate Him.