We are looking at, it's page 865 in a Pew Bible.
We are looking at verses 22 to 39 this morning.
Last week we saw Jesus teaching about the power of His Word, and today we'll see His
Word in action doing its work, its powerful work.
So let's read together Luke chapter 8, beginning at verse 22.
One day He, that is Jesus, 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, 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.
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?
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?
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.
Well, this morning's passage is not exactly a walk in the park on a beautiful spring day.
It's not pleasant advice given to well-adjusted people with lots of future potential.
This morning's passage is about when life goes off the rails,
hurtling out of control,
heading toward destruction,
overwhelming,
unmanageable,
chaotic.
In that situation,
what difference does Jesus make?
Now, some of you might say,
my life isn't perfect,
but it's going pretty smoothly right now.
I don't really need that kind of divine intervention right at this point in my life.
But think about how suddenly and unexpectedly
trouble can come upon us.
A routine doctor's appointment
results in a worrying diagnosis,
which calls for tests and treatments
and more tests and more treatments
and missed workdays
and mounting hospital bills,
complex medical decisions,
and a disrupted family life.
Or a seemingly stable marriage
flares up in angry conflict,
mistrust and miscommunication
and accusations and defensiveness,
and now there's talk of separation
or even divorce.
or a pleasant drive
along the shoreline,
interrupted by
a repeated ringtone
or a stream of text message alerts
announcing that a loved one
has been in an accident
or been arrested
or worse.
Our external circumstances can change
with hardly a moment's notice,
and suddenly we can feel like
we're sinking into confusion
and helplessness.
We're struggling to keep our heads above water,
blown and tossed
from one side to another.
But it's not just our external circumstances
that can change suddenly
and unexpectedly.
It's also our internal world
that over time can become unmanageable
and chaotic and overwhelming.
Maybe you have anger
and frustration
that comes from feeling powerless
and voiceless,
disrespected,
unheard,
beaten down
over and over again.
And every once in a while
it erupts outwardly in rage.
Or you contain it
and suppress it
in bitterness.
Maybe it's anxiety
or depression
hangs over your life
like a fog
that won't lift
for days
or months
or even years.
Perhaps it mixes
with self-pity
or it morphs
into self-sabotage
or even suicidal thoughts.
Maybe it's an addiction
to drugs,
alcohol,
pornography,
sex,
even food.
You know it's not good for you,
but you still feel the cravings.
And whether you indulge them
or not,
you never feel satisfied.
You always want more.
Maybe you've been in and out
of rehab programs
and outpatient treatment
and group therapy
and one-on-one counseling,
but you keep feeling the pull
and you keep being drawn back
into your old habit.
This morning we're looking
at two stories.
The first one describes
an external circumstance,
a raging storm on the lake
that threatens to tear the boat apart
and drown the disciples.
It comes upon them suddenly
and unexpectedly.
The second story describes
a raging storm inside a man,
an internal chaos
that threatens to tear
his very humanity apart.
This morning I want to look
at three things.
I want to look at the nature
of these storms.
I want to look at Jesus' authority
over the storms.
And third,
I want to look at our response
to Jesus.
So first let's look at the storms
in turn.
Both of these stories begin,
verse 22 and verse 26,
with references to sailing
across the lake.
Verse 22, Jesus says,
let's go across the lake.
Verse 26,
they complete their journey
across the lake.
Verse 37,
they return.
So this whole section
is a unit,
across the lake
and back.
Now the journey
across the lake
begins peacefully,
uneventfully.
Perhaps they're tired
after a long day
of teaching,
Jesus teaching the crowds,
Jesus even goes to sleep,
but then a storm arises.
Notice the strong language
that Luke uses
to describe this storm.
A windstorm
came down on the lake.
Now that's literally
a good description.
The Lake of Galilee
is seven miles long
or seven miles wide
by nine miles long.
It's pretty large.
And it's 700 feet
below sea level.
But 30 miles north,
there's a 10,000 foot tall
mountain,
Mount Hermon.
And so the air currents
coming from the mountain
surrounding the lake
can often come down
onto the lake
and create storms
that appear
seemingly out of nowhere
with little warning.
The boat was filling
with water.
They were in danger
of drowning.
The waves were raging.
Now remember,
Jesus' disciples,
several of them
were fishermen.
Okay?
These were not
inexperienced tourists
prone to hysteria.
They knew how to
keep a boat afloat.
But here they were,
crying out like babies,
Master, Master,
we're perishing.
We're going to die.
It's all over.
It's like Psalm 107
describes it.
They mounted up to heaven.
They went down
to the depths.
Their courage
melted away.
They reeled
and staggered
like drunken men.
They were at their wits' end.
The storm threatened
to tear apart the boat
and drown them
forever in the sea.
They were facing
an external circumstance
beyond their control
and they were absolutely terrified
and there was nothing
they could do
to stop that storm.
Maybe you can relate
to that experience.
Maybe you've been there.
Maybe you feel like
you are there
in the middle of a storm
that's not your responsibility
and out of your control
and there's
really nothing you can do
to change the weather
and you feel like
it's going to break you apart.
But that's not the only storm
in this passage.
Look down at verses 27 to 33.
In some ways,
an even more terrifying storm.
Luke introduces us
to a man from the city
who had demons.
And you might think,
well, if he's from the city,
why isn't he in the city?
Well, Luke tells us,
the second half of verse 27,
he's not living in the city
because for a long time
he's been running around
naked and homeless
and living in the graveyard.
Now, the graveyard back then
was not like a modern cemetery.
Peaceful, dignified,
freshly cut grass,
nicely arranged flowers.
The graveyard back then
was a series of limestone caves
on the hillside
that were used
to temporarily store
dead people's bones.
It was considered unclean,
the kind of place
you avoid as much as possible,
sort of like a toxic waste site
or an abandoned housing project
with windows boarded up
and broken glass
all over the road.
That's where this man was living,
a place unfit
for human habitation.
And furthermore,
this was Gentile territory.
The country of the Gerasenes
was where foreigners lived.
It was the wrong side
of the tracks,
the wrong side of the lake.
And that's why
they were raising pigs.
Pigs were unclean
in the eyes of the Jews.
Most likely,
they were raising pigs
in order to feed
the Roman occupying armies
who intimidated
and oppressed
the Jewish people.
You see,
this is a place
where no respectable individual,
let alone a religious leader,
would ever choose
to come and hang out.
If you notice,
the Pharisees have been present
in almost every story
that we've looked at
over the last three months.
The Pharisees,
the scribes,
the lawyers,
the teachers,
they've been criticizing Jesus,
they've been observing Jesus,
they've been sometimes
talking with Jesus,
and here,
they're nowhere to be found
because they would never dare
go there.
It's that kind of place.
When the man saw Jesus,
he cried out
and fell down
and started shouting at him,
Why are you messing with me, Jesus?
I beg you,
don't torment me.
He recognizes Jesus' authority,
but he resists it
at the same time.
It's like a drug dealer
doing his business
on the corner
who looks up
and sees the narcotics squad
approaching from all directions
and shining their spotlights
in his face.
And he says,
No!
I know who you are.
You're out to get me.
I don't want to see you.
You're my enemy.
In verse 29,
Jesus had commanded
the unclean spirit to leave.
And in verse 29,
Luke gives us
a little bit of a glimpse
into this man's past,
into his history.
He says,
Many a time,
the demon had seized him,
overpowered him,
taken control of him.
People tried to lock him up,
but he could never be contained.
He would break the chains
and isolate himself
in solitary places.
Verse 30 tells us
it wasn't just one demon,
it was a legion of demons.
A legion was a Roman military unit
of 5,600 men.
This man was inhabited
by an army of demons.
Now, some of you might be asking,
Well, what exactly is all this
about demons?
Is that just a primitive way
of speaking about
what we know to be
mental illnesses?
The answer is no,
or at least not always.
The New Testament
distinguishes between
sicknesses,
including things like epilepsy,
which are not always
attributed to demons.
It distinguishes between
sickness and demonic activity.
So not all physical
or mental
or emotional disturbances
are caused by demons,
according to the Bible.
But according to the Bible,
demons are real.
There are evil spirits,
and they can and do
oppress and attack people.
But consider what it would
have felt like
to be this man,
just as he's described.
Once he had a family
and a home.
Now he is alienated
and homeless,
finding shelter in caves
full of dead people's bones.
Once he would have had friends
to eat and drink with.
Now he's broken off
all his relationships.
He's destroyed them all.
No one seeks out his company.
Once he interacted freely
with people in society.
Now they just try
to lock him up.
And he breaks the chains
and scares them off.
Once he felt like
a human being.
Now he lives
like a wild animal.
Once he wanted to live,
and now he just wants to die.
No one cares about him.
And even if they did care,
no one could help him.
These are the storms
that Jesus confronted.
Both externally
and internally.
But what we see
in this passage
is that Jesus is Lord.
He has authority
over the storms.
He's the master
and commander
of the storms,
both externally
and internally.
And at one level
this is deeply comforting.
Consider Jesus' response
to the storm on the lake.
Unlike the disciples,
Jesus wasn't confused.
He wasn't fretting.
He wasn't afraid.
He wasn't despairing.
even in the midst
of the storm.
And sometimes
that truth in itself
can be a comfort.
The next time
you're anxious
and restless
about something
that you can't control
and you're not
responsible for,
ask yourself,
is my Lord
and Savior
Jesus Christ
the ruler
of all creation,
the commander
of the wind
and waves,
is he sitting up
in heaven
wringing his hands
and biting his nails
and anxiously waiting?
Of course not!
And so speak to yourself
with that truth.
I have a Savior
who knows me
and cares for me
and even though
I feel completely
overwhelmed by anxiety,
I can't sleep,
he is watching over me.
He knows the end
from the beginning.
He is not anxious.
He is not restless.
Jesus simply spoke a word
to the wind
and the raging waves
and they ceased.
They obeyed his command.
They listened to his voice.
The result
was
one person's words,
a mysterious,
supernatural calm
that testified
both to the
sovereign power
of God
and to the
deep peace
and security
that belong
to those
who follow him.
In Isaiah 43,
God says to his people,
do not fear
for I have
redeemed you.
I have summoned
you by name.
You are mine.
When you pass
through the waters,
I will be with you.
And when you pass
through the rivers,
they will not sweep
over you.
And we can know
that that promise
is true
if we've looked
to Jesus
in faith
because he has
linked his fate
with ours.
He's with us
in the boat.
He's promised,
I will never leave you,
never forsake you.
If we perish,
he perishes with us.
And that's why
ever since the early
days of Christianity,
the church
has been symbolically
represented as a boat
like Noah's Ark
in the midst
of the flood.
You can even see
that idea reflected
in traditional church
architecture.
If you look up
at the ceiling,
it's basically like
we're sitting
in an upside-down boat.
And that's why
the main part
of a traditional church
is called the nave,
which is from a Latin word
navus,
which means boat.
If you're with Jesus
in the boat,
he's with you.
And he's your protector.
And he's your refuge.
And he'll carry us
safe to the other side.
And consider also
the comfort
of Jesus' response
to the storm
inside the man.
Jesus confidently
approached this man
who everyone else
was terrified of.
Maybe some of you
can relate to the man
in the graveyard.
Maybe you've burned
bridges over and over.
You've sabotaged
countless friendships.
You've alienated
family members
and former spouses.
You've destroyed
everything that once
was yours.
And your life
feels like a hollowed,
emptied-out shell.
Or worse,
perhaps you feel like
you've been invaded
by hostile forces.
Maybe you've opened
yourself up
to evil spirits.
Maybe you've felt
the dark spiritual
forces oppressing you.
It's a miracle
you're even in church
today,
but even though
you're in the building,
you feel ashamed
and worthless
and unredeemable.
If that is you,
you are not too far gone
for Jesus to come near.
You are not too messed up
for Jesus to heal
and restore.
Jesus does not stand
far away at a distance
looking at you
with disgust
or disdain.
Jesus does not wait
for you to make yourself
more presentable.
He approaches you
with fearless confidence
and with saving grace.
Verse 36,
Luke says,
the demon-possessed man
had been healed.
That same word
can be translated
saved
or made whole.
If Jesus could save
and heal
and restore this man,
surely he can save
and heal
and restore you.
However disturbed
and afflicted
and restless
and alienated
you may be,
however full of anguish
and rage
and fear
and hatred
you may be,
however deeply
you have been locked
into self-destructive patterns
that you can't seem
to stop,
however much
you've hurt other people
and broken past relationships
as this man certainly had,
Jesus is stronger
than all the forces
of evil
that afflict you,
stronger than all
the resistance
you hold inside you
and he has come
to set his people free.
this man is an extreme example
in an extreme situation.
But the whole story
is simply a picture
of what it means
for anyone
to become a Christian,
to pass from death
to life,
from fragmentation
to wholeness,
from restlessness
to peace,
from alienation
to everlasting union
with Jesus Christ.
Look at the extent
of the change
that took place
inside this man.
At the beginning
of the story,
he had many demons.
At the end of the story,
the demons were gone.
At the beginning
of the story,
he wore no clothes.
At the end of the story,
he was clothed
with dignity
and honor.
At the beginning
of the story,
he fell down
and shouted at Jesus
in the posture
of an enemy.
At the end,
he's sitting
at the feet of Jesus
in the posture
of a disciple.
At the beginning,
he was alienated.
At the end,
he was accepted.
At the beginning,
he was out of his mind.
At the end,
he was in his right mind.
Is there anything
Jesus can't do?
Now, I know
the transformation
doesn't always happen
immediately
and completely
like it seems
to happen here.
Even in this story,
there's resistance.
The demons
didn't immediately leave
the moment Jesus
appeared on the scene.
It took some
back and forth.
Maybe you're still
resisting Jesus'
authority
over your life
at some level.
Surrender to him
today.
Today.
He's the rightful
Lord over all creation.
He's come to reclaim you,
to restore in you
the image of God
that you were created
to bear.
His grace is greater
than your sin.
His redemption
and the hope
that he has
for your future
is greater than
all the mess
you have in the past.
Now, I know
that for some of you,
it's so hard
to believe those truths
because your sin
seems greater
than God's grace.
Your past
seems bigger
than God's
redeeming power.
your addiction
seems to define you
more than your
identity in Christ.
Your shattered
relationship
seems so far
from ever
being rebuilt.
But I pray
that today
that you would
see Jesus,
the persistent
and victorious
and merciful Savior,
and that you would
believe and trust
in him
with all your heart
and with all
your soul.
Jesus' authority
over the storms
can be a deep
comfort.
But before we go on,
we also have to admit
that Jesus' authority
over the storms
can be deeply
unsettling as well.
Notice how both
Jesus' disciples
in verse 25
and the people
of the Gerasenes
in verse 35
responded to
Jesus' authority.
authority.
They
were
afraid.
Same words,
both of them.
What was so
unsettling
about Jesus'
authority
in both instances?
Consider the storm
on the lake.
Jesus calmed the storm
with a word.
Surely that is comforting.
But he also
led his disciples
into the storm
in the first place.
Did you notice
verse 22?
Jesus said to them,
let us go across
to the other side
of the lake.
Do you think
he had no idea
what he was getting
his disciples into?
And even if you
would say,
perhaps Jesus
in his human nature
did not
see what was coming,
he was living
in absolute trust
and obedience
to God,
his heavenly father
who surely did.
However you think
Jesus' human
and divine natures
worked together
in what he knew
and what he was
conscious of.
The storms we face
are not outside
of our Savior's control.
The trials we experience
do not take
our heavenly father
by surprise.
Sometimes he
intentionally steers
our ship
right in the middle
of them.
J.C. Ryle
wrote in his commentary,
if we are true Christians,
we must not expect
everything smooth
in our journey
to heaven.
We must count it
no strange thing
if we have to endure
sicknesses,
losses,
bereavements,
and disappointments
just like other people.
By affliction,
God teaches us
many precious lessons
which without it
we would never learn.
He shows us
our emptiness
and weakness,
draws us
to the throne
of grace,
purifies our affections,
weans us
from the world,
makes us long
for heaven.
On the resurrection
morning,
we will all say
with the writer
of Psalm 119,
it is good for me
that I was afflicted,
that I might learn
your statutes.
That's why Jesus
asked them in verse 25,
where is your faith?
It's not that they
had no faith at all.
It's that their faith
wasn't yet mature.
They weren't yet
fully living into it.
The word of God
was in them
but it hadn't penetrated
all the way down deep.
And so when they
faced a time of testing,
they panicked.
They acted out
of desperation
instead of trust.
They did turn to Jesus
in their desperation
and that's good.
But Jesus is warning them,
don't be like
the rocky soil
that we looked at
last week
that receives
the word with joy
but has no root
that only believes
for a little while
and then when trials come
falls away.
Storms will come,
Jesus says.
They're part of the course
I have laid out for you.
You see,
Jesus' authority
was unsettling
to his disciples.
It was also
even more unsettling
to the people
of the Gerasenes.
Verse 37,
all the people
of the surrounding
country of the Gerasenes
asked him to depart
from them
for they were seized
with great fear.
You might say,
why did they respond
that way?
Well, for one thing,
a large herd
of pigs,
a significant chunk
of the regional economy
had just been destroyed
with Jesus' permission.
Why did Jesus
have to destroy
all the pigs
in the process
of healing the man?
Wasn't that
gratuitous violence
against innocent animals?
Or depriving
hard-working herdsmen
of their livelihood?
Wouldn't pass
with either party,
right?
What would Jesus
do next?
I think we can see
at least two reasons
why Jesus permitted
the demons
to destroy the pigs.
Number one,
to demonstrate
the magnitude
of the deliverance.
Who would have known,
would everyone
have believed,
that this man
had been taken over
by a whole army
of demons
if they hadn't gone
and entered
the large herd of pigs?
If Jesus just drove
out one demon,
well, there were
other exorcists
who claimed to do that too.
Or maybe the guy
was just crazy
and not really possessed.
But when all the pigs
ran off the cliff
into the lake,
there was no more
disputing the magnitude
of what Jesus had done.
But the second reason,
I think,
is to force the townspeople
to clarify their priorities.
Which matters more?
A large herd of pigs?
A big chunk
of the regional economic assets?
Or one lost
and tormented human soul?
Who's now clothed
with dignity,
thinking clearly,
and sitting peacefully
at Jesus' feet?
Jesus cares more
about the restoration
of one lost
and tormented soul
than he does
about the GDP
of downtown New Haven
or the United States.
Jesus is willing
to empty out
your personal savings account
without asking
your permission
in order to carry on
his work of redemption
in the world.
And that's unsettling.
Jesus' authority
knows no boundaries.
It's deeply comforting,
but it can also be
deeply unsettling.
And so that brings us
to our third point.
What's our response
to Jesus?
We've seen the nature
of the storms.
We've seen Jesus' authority
over the storms.
How do we respond
to this Jesus
and to his comforting
and yet unsettling
authority?
We see three responses
in the story to Jesus.
First, we see
the disciples' response.
They were afraid
and they marveled.
Verse 25.
This is not a bad response,
but it also
doesn't get them
very far.
Or let's say
it doesn't get them
all the way to the end.
However,
they are asking
the right question
in verse 25
when they say,
who then is this?
Because Jesus
has just done something
that according
to the Old Testament
and according
to common sense,
only God can do.
Psalm 107,
which we read earlier,
says,
they cried out
to the Lord
in their trouble
and he delivered them
from their distress.
He made the storm
be still
and the waves
of the sea
were hushed.
Jesus just did
what only God
could do.
And if you read
the New Testament Gospels,
you see this happening
all the time.
Jesus claims
to forgive sins,
but only God
can do that.
Jesus calls himself
Lord of the Sabbath,
but according
to the Bible,
God instituted
the Sabbath.
Jesus calls himself
the bridegroom,
but that's how God
described himself
in the Old Testament
as the faithful husband
to his bride.
When Jesus says things
that only God should say
and when he does things
that only God
has the authority
to do,
you have to ask
the question,
who then
is this.
C.S. Lewis said,
you can't just say
he was a good
moral teacher
if he said things
like that.
A man who said
and did things
like that,
you must conclude
either that he was
a lunatic,
he was out of his mind,
or that he was
a liar
and a deceiver,
or that he was
the Lord
who he claimed
to be,
God himself.
Who then is this?
Have you answered
that question?
Ask that question
until you answer it.
Second,
we see the garrisoned
people's response.
They asked him
to depart.
Leave us alone,
Jesus.
Go away.
We're afraid
of what you'll do next.
We don't want you
to disrupt our lives
too much.
Our lives are going
pretty well right now.
We don't want to lose
any more pigs.
Or perhaps,
we don't want you
to heal any more
crazy people.
Because then we'll
actually have to
treat this guy
like a human being.
And not just try
to lock him up
like an animal.
They allowed
what was unsettling
to them about Jesus
to dominate
their picture.
And in the process,
they missed
and rejected
his incredible offer
of saving grace.
But finally,
we see the man's
response
in verse 38
and 39.
And that's where
Luke ends the story.
And Luke wants
to end there.
We know that this
is intentional
because it's not
strictly chronological.
In fact,
this whole story,
Luke sort of goes
back and forth in time.
He doesn't go
play by play.
He emphasizes
certain things
by how he tells
the story.
And he emphasizes
at the end
of the story
this man.
Because in verse 37,
it says,
Jesus got into the boat
and returned.
But then verse 38
and 39
leave us with this
parting,
it's sort of like
the parting shot,
the last scene
in the movie.
The thing that Luke
wants to stick in your mind
more than anything else,
this conversation
between Jesus
and the man
from whom the demons
had gone.
The man begged
that he might be
with him.
This is actually
the third time
in this story
that someone
has made a request
that has begged
Jesus or asked
Jesus for something.
In verse 31,
the legion of demons
begged Jesus
not to command them
to go into the abyss.
That is the bottomless pit,
the place of punishment
for evil spirits.
And Jesus said yes
to their request.
He gave them permission
to go into the pigs instead.
Verse 37,
the people of the Gerasenes
asked him to depart
from them.
And Jesus said yes.
He got into the boat
and went back
across the lake.
But here in verse 38,
the best request
of them all,
Jesus,
I want to be with you.
And Jesus says no.
Isn't that by far
the best request
of them all?
Doesn't this man
deserve to have Jesus
answer his prayer
more than anyone else
in the story?
Doesn't he understand
Jesus better
and love him more?
And yet Jesus says no.
Because he has
something better in mind.
Go home
and tell them
how much God
has done for you.
Well,
he doesn't just go home.
He proclaims it
through the whole city.
He becomes the first
Christian missionary
to the Gentiles.
And the content
of his message
shows that he knew
the answer
to the disciples'
question,
who is this?
Because when Jesus said,
go and proclaim
how much God
has done for you,
verse 39 says,
he went proclaiming
how much Jesus
had done for him.
He recognized
that Jesus has done
what only God
could do,
that Jesus is
God in the flesh.
Joel Green
put it this way,
Jesus gave
the former demoniac
the very task
that Luke would exercise
in the writing
of his gospel,
namely,
narrating
and proclaiming
God's mighty acts,
a high and holy
calling.
to stay behind
for the sake
of his family
and friends
and his city,
for all the people
who he had formerly
tormented and frightened,
so that they,
for all the people
who initially
rejected Jesus,
so that they too
might know
the saving
and healing
and transforming
power of Jesus
the merciful Lord.
In conclusion,
I want you to consider
how intentional Jesus
is through this
whole story.
Jesus took
his disciples
all the way
across the lake
through a raging storm
that almost killed them
to a bad neighborhood
and an unclean graveyard
where no one else
would dare to go
in order to rescue
and redeem
this one
demonized,
tormented man.
And once he healed
the man,
he got back in the boat
and went back
across the lake.
Mission accomplished.
It was the one thing
he came to do.
That's how much
he valued this man.
That's the length
he went to
to reach him.
Today's Palm Sunday
when we remember
the intentionality
of Jesus
and the lengths
he went to
to come and reach
each one of us.
How he rode
into Jerusalem
and he was hailed
as king,
but knowing
that the crowds
who welcomed him
would soon turn on him.
and on Good Friday
how he carried
the cross
up the hill
and hung there
for six hours
enduring the storm
of human rejection
and mockery
and brutal pain
and divine judgment
for our sins.
That's how much
he loved us.
Do you see how far
he came
for you
to rescue
you
and me?
Brothers and sisters,
if you have experienced,
if you have even begun
to experience
Jesus' healing
and transforming power,
go home
to your family,
to your friends,
to your neighborhood,
to the graveyards
of this city
and tell the world
how much Jesus
has done for you.
Let's pray.
Amen.
Jesus,
we praise you.
We acknowledge you
as the Lord.
We praise you
for the comfort
that that gives us
when we pass
through the waters
you have promised.
I will be with you.
You can speak
to the raging waves.
Be still.
And we thank you
that you can speak
to the depths
of our souls,
the pain
and torment
and shame
and anger
and self-destruction.
you can speak
to all that.
You can speak
peace
and life
and hope.
We pray
that we might
encounter you today
either for the first time
or at a deeper level.
We pray
that you would give us
the love
and obedience
that this man
demonstrates
at the end of the story.
to long
to be with you
above all else
and to obediently
go and proclaim
how much
you have done
for us
and how great
is your mercy.
In your name
we pray.
Amen.