How Much Has Jesus Done For You?

[0:01] Heavenly Father, your word is powerful. Through your word you create. Through your word you save, turn us into new creations.

[0:19] And it is before that mighty word we humble ourselves now and incline our ears. Lord, would you speak to us?

[0:36] Teach us about your son, Jesus Christ. And challenge us.

[0:49] Change us. So we become bold witnesses of the good news we receive from him. Amen.

[1:02] It's in his precious name we pray. Amen. Luke chapter 8, verses 22 to 39. Amen.

[1:12] One day he got into a boat with his disciples and he said to them, let us go across to the other side of the lake. So they set out.

[1:24] And as they sailed, he fell asleep. And a windstorm came down on the lake and they were filling with water and were in danger. And they went and woke him saying, master, master, we are perishing.

[1:40] And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves. And they ceased. And there was a calm. He said to them, where is your faith?

[1:51] And they were afraid. And they marveled, saying to one another, who then is this that he commands even winds and water? And they obey him.

[2:02] 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.

[2:18] 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?

[2:37] 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.

[2:48] 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?

[3:01] And he said, Legion. For many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss.

[3:12] 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.

[3:30] 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.

[3:50] And they were afraid. And those who had seen and 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.

[4:05] 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.

[4:22] And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him. This is the word of the Lord.

[4:37] It's not every day that we get to witness something that has extraordinary power, something eye-inspiring, so powerful that it's unnerving to be in the presence of.

[4:48] Maybe something like the tornadoes of the Great Plains of Oklahoma, or maybe earthquakes that can topple buildings, as in California or other places, or tsunamis like Indonesia and Japan.

[5:03] When you encounter something like that, it makes you feel so small, and it fills you with fear and wonder because of the sheer power and force of it. And here in this passage, they encounter such force of nature, but they encounter something even more powerful than that.

[5:20] They encounter a person who has power over nature and even over the evil spirits that can rule a human being. And this passage is intended to confirm for us, that's Luke's intention, Jesus' identity as the Son of God and the Messianic King.

[5:37] And in this passage, we learn that as those who have experienced Jesus' saving power, we should proclaim what he has done for us. That's really the main point of this passage.

[5:49] And the passage is divided into two sections. First section, we see Jesus' power over nature, verses 22 to 25, and then his power over demons in 26 to 39.

[6:00] First, let's look at his power over the demons in verses 22 to 25. So one day, Jesus invites his disciples to go and across to the other side of the lake.

[6:14] And verse 23 tells us that as they sailed, Jesus fell asleep. And the windstorm came down on the lake and they were filling with water and were in danger. So the lake in view is the Sea of Galilee, which sits about 700 feet below sea level, and it has hills surrounding it.

[6:32] And because of its geographic setting, the cool air rushing down the hills would sometimes collide with the warm air sitting on top of the sea, and it would create sudden storms.

[6:42] It's not an uncommon event. And so on this occasion, the windstorm that occurred in this manner was so severe that their ship was filling with water, and it was endangering the entire crew.

[6:54] But interestingly, Jesus was fast asleep. So verse 24 says, The disciples went and woke him, saying, Master, Master, we are perishing. Their later response to Jesus' miracle shows that they weren't expecting Jesus to perform a miracle.

[7:12] Since the ship is about to sink, they're kind of indignant that Jesus is sleeping. I mean, what is going on here? Surely we could use an extra pair of hands to mend the sail or at least dump some water out the boat.

[7:23] Like, what? Jesus, Master, Master, help, we are perishing. So this is not a faith-filled response, but it's a fearful response, a faithless response. And we can hear their panic in the way they repeat the word, Master, Master, Master.

[7:37] We're perishing. And when Jesus is woken up by his disciples, it says in verses 24 to 25, He rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased.

[7:50] And there was a calm. He said to them, Where is your faith? And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?

[8:02] So there's a deliberate contrast here that Luke is drawing between Jesus' sleeping and his disciples panicking. That's instructive for our own lives. Look at verse 23 one more time with me.

[8:15] It says, As they sailed, he fell asleep, and a windstorm came down on the lake, and they were filling with water and were in danger. Of course, it's the boat that's filling with water, but not the passengers themselves, but by saying that they, the disciples, were filling with water, Luke conveys this kind of sense of present immediate danger.

[8:36] It's an emergency. So the boat was getting swamped with water, and they were feeling swamped and overcome themselves, and so they wake Jesus up urgently, and notice the stark contrast, Jesus is sleeping while the disciples are getting swamped, in danger, and they say they are perishing.

[8:56] You wonder how they can be in the same boat, right? And the contrast is revealed, the point of the contrast is revealed in Jesus' implicit rebuke in verse 25.

[9:07] He said to them, where is your faith? Jesus is identifying the source of the disciples' fearfulness as their faithlessness.

[9:19] They panicked whilst he rested because the difference is in the faith. The fact that Jesus was with them did not keep the disciples from getting caught in a dangerous storm, and later in Luke's sequel to his gospel, the Acts of the Apostles, the book of Acts, the fact that the Holy Spirit is with the disciples does not keep them from getting martyred and persecuted for their faith in Jesus.

[9:45] So the fact that you are a Christian and that God is with you does not mean that your entire life will be smooth sailing. However, the fact that God is with you does mean that you can trust him and rest in him in the midst of your trials and sufferings.

[10:04] Do you feel swamped in your life? Do you feel like you're being overcome? Do you feel threatened by your life's circumstances?

[10:15] Do you fear that you are perishing? What you're facing has not caught God by surprise. He's still reigning majestically from his throne, and he has total control over the minutest detail of this world and of your life.

[10:36] And that all-powerful, all-knowing God is not a cruel tyrant, but he is your loving father if you are a Christian.

[10:48] He's your gracious helper. And it's faith in that reality that dispels fear from our lives, and that faith is the key to resting in God. Psalm 121, 1-4 says this, The God who made heaven and earth is our help, and it's because the God who keeps us does not sleep that we as his people can sleep in peace.

[11:29] A faith-filled Christian can, and they still do, get tired and sleep-deprived, but a faith-filled Christian is never restless. So if your life is characterized by restless busyness, a frantic attempt to regain control of your lives that seem to be spiraling out of control, or frantic attempt to avoid something that you dread and fear, then let Jesus' incisive question dwell in your mind today.

[12:09] Where is your faith? Is God God or not? Does he care for you or not?

[12:24] Even when we are manning the ship, it's the Lord who is ultimately in control and driving our lives. Only those who have faith, Jesus teaches here, can sleep on a ship being tossed to and fro by the waves.

[12:38] And Jesus' admonishment of his disciples for their lack of faith in this passage does make it appropriate for us to apply it to ourselves and encourage us, ourselves, really to trust in God and have faith in him in the midst of our circumstances.

[12:53] But that's actually not the main point of this passage. The main point comes at the end, verse 25, when the apostles themselves ask, who then is this that he commands even winds and water and they obey him?

[13:09] Because this question comes at the end of the section, it's what's emphasized and what sums up this entire episode. So who is this Jesus that even the winds and water, these inanimate and powerful forces of nature, they obey him?

[13:26] Look again at the language used, verse 24, Jesus rebuked the wind and the raging waves. He spoke to them as if they're people. He spoke to them as if they're well-trained pets that will respond to his every command.

[13:40] It's similar to how Jesus rebuked the fever earlier in chapter 4. Who then is this that he commands even winds and water and they obey him? And this is a weighty question because throughout the Old Testament, it's God himself who commands winds and water.

[13:59] Psalm 104.3, Psalm 135.7 describes God as the one who brings forth wind from his storehouses. Psalm 104.3 describes God poetically as the one who rides on the wings of the wind.

[14:18] Not only that, recalling God's deliverance from Israel, deliverance of Israel from Egypt through the Red Sea, the Old Testament frequently describes God as the one who rebukes the sea and makes it dry.

[14:34] It's God who rebukes the sea throughout Scripture. So when Jesus rebukes the sea and it does his bidding, when the storm calms down, the question is automatically raised.

[14:50] Who then is this that he commands even winds and water and they obey him? And the only biblically consistent answer to that question is that Jesus is the Lord God.

[15:03] So do you know about this Jesus? If even winds and the waves obey him, Luke is implying that Jesus is someone we should follow and obey.

[15:16] And some of you are here today not yet as followers of Jesus Christ but as observers. Considering the teachings and the claims of Jesus, wondering who Jesus is, and these accounts are not a product of people's imagination.

[15:32] The earliest followers of Jesus were not politically powerful and following Jesus meant persecution, exclusion, and martyrdom for many of them. They persisted as witness of Jesus Christ not because it was socially, financially, or politically advantageous for them but because they had been confronted by events like this.

[15:55] And ultimately the death and resurrection of Jesus that forced them to come to terms with who Jesus really is. Who is this man? The Gospel of Luke is not a fairy tale.

[16:12] In fact, from the beginning to the end it has clear marks of the best of Greek historiography. Sir William Ramsey is a 20th century, he was a Scottish archaeologist, he died.

[16:25] By the time he died though, he was considered the foremost authority on the history of Asia Minor. And he was trained in the Tübingen school of thought. It's the German skeptical thought line of theology where people doubted the reliability of the New Testament.

[16:41] That's how he was trained. And he brought that skeptical lens to the Bible not expecting it to have any accuracies with the decisive bias against it.

[16:53] But as he was studying Luke in particular and the geographical and historical details that he included and with great precision, he wrote this, Luke is a historian of the first rank.

[17:10] Not merely are his statements of fact trustworthy, he should be placed along with the very greatest of historians. Who do you say Jesus is?

[17:26] Who then is this that he commands even the winds and water and they obey him? Jesus is not just a great teacher or a sage. He claimed to be the son of God and his works attest to that reality.

[17:39] And if he really is who he said he is, that he is worthy of our worship. He is worthy of our complete submission and allegiance.

[17:52] And if you're not yet a follower of Christ, I urge you this morning to come to terms with who he is today. Having demonstrated Jesus' power over nature, Luke next recounts an event that demonstrates his power over spirits.

[18:09] In verses 26 to 39, he has power not only over the physical realm but also over the spiritual realm. When the waters come down once again, it says in verse 26 that Jesus and his disciples sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.

[18:28] And it's important to note that this is a Gentile region. It's the Gentile region opposite Galilee where primarily non-Jews lived. Verse 27 continues, When Jesus had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons.

[18:44] For a long time he had worn no clothes and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. Luke tells us that this stranger had demons, plural.

[18:57] Multiple demons have possessed this man and this is confirmed later by verse 30 as well. Luke does use the singular in verse 29 to refer to them as a unity in an abstraction of the demon but this is a plural, this is a multiple possession.

[19:13] There are many demons who have indwelled this man and so that's not, this is not an ordinary demon possession. And as a result he went around naked for many years but he's probably covered with scars, no clothes, so much shame and ostracism that comes with that as well.

[19:32] And he lived among the tombs so he's really living a ghastly existence. And the Jews in particular considered contact with the dead including the tomb and being in the vicinity of the dead it brought ritual uncleanness according to Numbers 19.

[19:49] So the fact that this man is living among the tombs highlights this man's uncleanness. Not only is he possessed by an unclean spirit he's ritually unclean he's among the dead.

[20:01] Everything about this place and this man is unclean. And verse 28 tells us that 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.

[20:20] Of course this is not really the man speaking but the demons who not control him and once again Christ's identity comes to the fore. Who is this man? And unlike Jesus' disciples who have trouble recognizing Jesus for who he really is these demons have no trouble they say clearly he's the son of the most high God recognizing his superior authority and power and to demonstrate that they prostrate themselves before him and they say two things.

[20:49] First they say what have you to do with me? He's saying basically Jesus what do you the son of the most high God have to do with me unclean spirit? We have nothing to do with each other so let's leave each other alone.

[21:04] Second the demons get more specific and they say I beg you do not torment me. So they fear some kind of torment something that Jesus can do to them and exactly what kind of torment is in view will be explained later in verse 31.

[21:19] So they were begging Jesus this way and the reason is given here 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.

[21:35] So Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man which suggests that the demon was inside the man and the demon was begging Jesus not to torment him after he comes out. So Luke gives us further details in verses 30 to 31 but before he does that just just for a moment he tells us how unmanageable this demoniac really was.

[21:59] The demon it seems there were cycles of possessions he took over this man's life on many occasions and even though people tried to restrain him with shackles chains literally they tried to tame him put him under guard they put guards on him yet this man with some kind of superhuman strength probably demonic would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.

[22:24] this man was uncontrollable because he was controlled by a demon but Jesus does hear what was previously unimaginable he holds a seemingly sane conversation with this man or rather with the demons controlling the man it says in verse 30 Jesus then asked him what is your name?

[22:47] some people make much of this dialogue people who are I think maybe a little bit too fascinated with demons and exercising demons they say this is the process you're supposed to name them first and then you can control them that's not what this is about at all there are many occasions when Jesus simply expels demons without naming them at all that's not what's going on here but it does show Jesus' power and his complete peace and control over this situation you think when you're faced with such a terrifying human being you immediately try to do something but here Jesus has no he's not in a hurry he's not fearful what is your name?

[23:33] and he says legion for many demons had entered him the word legion comes from the Latin word for a military unit made up of a thousand soldiers we don't know if that's literal here that this is literally a thousand demons but there's definitely a lot of demons and this name introduces the element of spiritual warfare what's happening here what we're viewing right now is a form of spiritual warfare here is literally an army a thousand unit legion army of demons and here's Jesus our champion and you would expect an epic battle but there's no fight only a brief discussion of the terms of surrender demon says in verse 28 he said in 28 I beg you do not torment me he now elaborates in verse 31 they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss so the torment that they feared is some kind of confinement in what is called the abyss we don't know exactly what the abyss is but 2 Peter chapter 2 verse 4 does mention a place called the chains of gloomy darkness where disobedient angels are kept until the final judgment it seems that that's maybe what the legion is fearing and seeking to avoid please don't send us to the abyss it's a remarkable display of Jesus power here is an army of demons and here's a demonic whom no man could control and here he is prostrate before Jesus begging him and verses 32 to 33 continue the story 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 banks into the lake and drowned anything's better than the abyss since Jesus will not let them indwell a man they will settle for indwelling animals and they begged Jesus for the permission to do so so and we're not told why

[25:50] Jesus gives them permission but the fact that Jesus is in the position of giving out these permission slips to these demon armies serves to reveal Jesus extent the extent of his authority these powerful demons can't even enter the pigs without Jesus' express permission so the demons enter the pigs and drive them down the steep bank into the lake and some people get to this point of the story and they think poor pigs but that's to miss the point of the story first these pigs are a visual representation of the havoc that the demons were wreaking inside the man so our first instinct should be praise and rejoicing at the man's deliverance and not lament for the pigs God cares about the animals yes that much is clear from Jonah 411 when God says that the numerous cattle in the city of Nineveh is one of the reasons why he didn't want to destroy it in the first place he cares about the animals but no creature in this world compares to the value of a human being created in the image of God there's no question what's more important no hesitation second these pigs are in a

[27:20] Gentile region Jews wouldn't even keep them so presumably they're being raised for human consumption anyway they just died a little early the humans get they miss out and the third thing is that Luke is making a larger narrative point since the Old Testament scriptures categorize pigs also as ritually unclean and therefore unfit for Jews to consume the biblical reason for this is given in Leviticus 11 7 and the pig because it parts the hoof and is cloven footed but does not chew the cud is unclean to you that's not the reason why we normally think of them as unclean right pigs still have the reputation of being unclean nowadays and that's because they don't really sweat so they need to cool their body down by regulating temperature by wallowing basically taking mud baths so we think that they're unclean because of it but apparently as I was doing some research about this they're one of the cleanest animals around unlike dogs and cats that like to pee and poop in their living quarters and eating quarters actually pigs will refuse to do that unless they have to and so pigs are apparently clean animals in that sense hygienically clean but they're ritually unclean and that's the larger point and why are they ritually unclean and the reason is kind of puzzling right

[28:44] Leviticus 11 said because they part the hoof but it's cloven footed and does not chew the cud and the reason is this it's that they are a deviation from God's creative design animals that have parted who were supposed to chew the cud that's the type of animal the category that they belong to and because it's a hybrid of that it represents a deviation of God's creation design and of course this is intended to teach a larger lesson for the people of God the Jews he's teaching them that as a chosen people of God that you ought to be set apart and you ought to be clean and you ought to live in a manner that's consistent with God's creative design unlike these Gentiles unlike the rest of the nations and that's the lesson that these dietary restrictions convey these are unclean they're not consistent with the creative design of God so Luke is making a larger point that it's and it's no accident that Jesus enters a

[29:44] Gentile region encounters a demoniac who lives among the tombs which is unclean who is possessed by an unclean spirit expressly described that way in verse 29 and so that they and expels them to enter the unclean pigs when they go off the cliff and they die Jesus is driving out uncleanness from this Gentile region he is bringing even the Gentiles from the nations into God's glorious salvation plan this point is emphasized over and over again in the gospel of Luke Ephesians 2 11 to 13 11 to 16 rather puts it this way therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision which is made in the flesh by hands remember that you were at that time separated from

[30:52] Christ alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise having no hope and without God in the world but now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ for he himself is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two so making peace and might reconcile us both to the Jews had broken their covenant with God and the Gentiles were excluded from this covenant with God and both were alienated from God separated from him because of their sins and excluded from the kingdom of God but Jesus Christ reconciles them both by reconciling them to

[31:55] God so that in him they are brought together as one new humanity and citizens of the kingdom of God Jesus does this by dying on the cross for our sins as the atoning sacrifice and he fulfills the entire requirement all the requirements of the law by doing that his blood becomes the agent of our cleansing so that all those who acknowledge their sinfulness and humbly come to him and entrust themselves to Jesus for salvation are cleansed of their sins and reconciled to God have peace with God that's what we do when that's what we practice and express when we observe passing of the peace as a part of our service we have peace with each other only because that hostility the dividing wall has been broken down because of our union with Christ our reconciliation with God we're now common citizens in the kingdom of God when the

[32:57] Nazis invaded France in order to appease Hitler the Portuguese dictator Antonio de Oliveira Salazar issued a decree that no Jew is to be granted passage to Portugal even if they were fleeing from the Nazis but Aristides de Souza Mendez I don't know if you guys have heard the name there's a big Portuguese population here so he's kind of like a folk hero here but he was a Portuguese consul at the time this decree went out in the country of Portugal and he made this announcement to his staff I cannot allow all you people to die many of you are Jews and our constitution clearly states that neither the religion nor the political beliefs of foreigners can be used as a pretext for refusing to allow them to stay in Portugal I've decided to be faithful to that principle but

[34:00] I shall resign for all that the only way I can respect my faith as a Christian is to act in accordance with the dictates of my conscience so he stayed in his post and he issued approximately 30,000 visas to Jews and other stateless refugees what Jesus did for us as our mediator is far greater than what he did what that man did for the Jews we were not only aliens but we were rebels undeserving of access into the kingdom of God we were facing imminent death and not only physical death but eternal spiritual death because of our sins but Jesus grants us passage he signs our papers with his blood he reconciles us to

[35:08] God the father and makes us citizens in the kingdom of God that's what we call the gospel the good news of Jesus Christ we have a mediator in the consulate of the kingdom of God have you heard of him if you turn to him in faith he will surely save one of my favorite hymns is how firm a foundation and its last verse says this the soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose I will not I will not desert to his foes that soul though all hell should endeavor to shake I'll never no never no never forsake I'll never no never no never forsake that's our

[36:09] Lord our Savior Jesus Christ after the herd of pigs drown the episode causes a stir and the news of Jesus what he did to this crazy man spreads in the city and the country so that some people journey to the country of the garrisons to see for themselves and it says in verse 35 that 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 so this is a picture of the man's full restoration before the demons were inside the man now they had gone before the man had worn no clothes but now he is clothed and before the man was out of his mind and crying out in a loud voice like a man that he was but now he is in his right mind before he was roaming among the tombs and was driven to the desert by the demons and no one was able to restrain him but now he is sitting at the feet of

[37:23] Jesus voluntarily the phrase sitting at the feet implies discipleship as the request that he brings that he may be with Jesus those are both languages of discipleship that's where the pupils sit when they're with their teachers at the feet of the teachers that's the technical way of describing their relationship so before this man wanted nothing to do with Jesus but now he is submitted to Jesus and receiving instruction from him and verses 37 to 39 contrast the response of this cured demoniac from that of the other witnesses please read again with me 37 to 39 then all the people of the surrounding country of the garrisones 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

[38:28] God has done for you and he went away proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him there's a theme a running theme of fear in this entire passage verse 25 said that after Jesus calmed the storm the disciples were afraid verse 35 says that after seeing the demoniac healed and in his right mind the people were afraid and now here again it says in verse 37 that they were seized with great fear when you encounter power of this magnitude when you find yourself in the presence of a divine representative that is the only proper response of a weak human being unless you have faith unless you have reason to approach him with boldness so the people in the city ask Jesus to leave because they're afraid of Jesus and what he is capable of doing and what that implies for them if this is who

[39:30] Jesus really is what does that mean for me obviously they can't live the same way anymore I wonder if any of you are afraid of Jesus if Jesus really is God then he demands your allegiance your life will never be the same again are you afraid of the radical change in lifestyle that Jesus demands of you are you afraid of what you might lose are you afraid what he might say to you these men lost a herd of pigs maybe you lose your worldly preoccupations your selfish ambitions but Jesus has come into your garrison country and he is bringing cleansing forgiveness and healing and will you now refuse him in contrast to these fearful people the healed man wants to follow

[40:44] Jesus on his journey as a disciple because he has experienced Jesus saving power but interestingly Jesus denies the man's request and sends him away saying return to your home and declare how much God has done for you sometimes God tells us no when we ask for good things because he has in mind things that are better and in this case the garrison demoniac becomes the first gentile missionary to this country that would otherwise have no witness for the gospel of Jesus Christ he's entrusted with taking the good news of Jesus Christ to his city and to his country and the man does exactly this it says he was proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him and the word proclaim is the technical word that refers to the proclaiming the preaching of the good news of Jesus Christ it's the same word that Jesus used earlier in chapter four to refer to his mission he came to proclaim the year of the

[41:51] Lord's favor and this is not only the task of vocational preachers it's the task of every single Christian if you're a disciple of Christ you're called to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ how much has Jesus done for you the demoniac is an obviously extreme case but every Christian has experienced Jesus saving power that's why verse 36 is those who have seen it told him how the demon possessed man had been healed the word heal is literally saved it's the verbal form of the noun salvation this demoniac healing from his demon possession is a picture of the Christian salvation do you proclaim to all those around you how much Jesus has done for you there's an interesting and I think intentional contrast between

[42:57] Jesus' command and the demoniac's obedience in verse 39 I hope you noticed it in the scripture reading Jesus tells him to go declare how much God has done for you but the man goes proclaiming how much Jesus has done for him because Luke is once again making a statement about Jesus' identity Jesus is God's ultimate the final agent the messenger he speaks the very words of God in fact Jesus is the son of God and all the saving works of God the father are carried out through his son Jesus Christ how much has Jesus done for you look at the demoniac radical transformation you may not have been demon possessed but everyone at one point was ruled by Satan Ephesians chapter 2 verse 2 teaches that all unbelievers knowingly or not follow the prince of the power of the air referring to

[44:05] Satan who rules over the invisible realm of evil spirits we were once under his tyrannical rule we were opposed to God and his will for our lives oppressed by the legion of demons but God sent us a champion he sent his divine warrior he sent Christ the king to conquer sin to conquer death and to conquer Satan and to rescue us so that we might be restored to the kingdom of God as citizens how much has Jesus done for you nothing short of bringing us from death to life bringing us from slavery to freedom from alienation and separation to citizenship and reconciliation let's return to our homes and our neighborhoods after the service to declare how much

[45:11] God has done for us by and