Reading Luke 8 on Tuesday morning gave me much to consider. Beginning in Verse 22, Luke tells us three amazing stories about the power and authority of our Savior and LORD, Christ Jesus.
He begins in verses 22-25 with the calming of the storm on the lake. After that when the boat reaches the other side, they arrive in the region of the Gerasenes, opposite Galilee. There they are confronted by a man possessed by demons. Jesus commands the demons to leave the man.
The demons recognize the authority of Jesus that they must leave the man, but they beg Him not to “banish them to the abyss.” [vs 31 HCSB]
Jesus gives them permission to enter a herd of pigs. Unable to contain the “Legion” of demons, the pigs rush down a steep bank and drown. That upsets the men tending the pigs who rush off to report the incident to the town.
When the townsfolk come out to see what happened, they find Jesus and the formerly-demon-possessed man sitting and talking. Verses 36 and 37 report the outcome and as it turns out, it is the same reaction the disciples had when Jesus calmed the storm – fear.
“Meanwhile, the eyewitnesses reported to them how the demon-possessed man was delivered. Then all the people of the Gerasene region asked Him to leave them, because they were gripped by great fear.” [HCSB]
Fear was the response of the disciples when Jesus took authority over the storm, and fear was the response of the people in the region of the Gerasenes when Jesus took authority over demonic powers. In these two incidents we see the power and authority of our Savior, Christ Jesus, over the natural world and over the spiritual world.
No wonder we stand in wonder in the Presence of Jesus! All authority, all power are His!
