DEMONS, WITCHCRAFT, AND JESUS (28)
by Zach Terry
Scripture: Luke 8:26-29
This content is part of a series.
Title: Demons, Witchcraft, and Jesus (28)
Series: Luke
Author: Zach Terry
Text: Luke 8:26-39
INTRODUCTION: The text before us today is one that many of you will be tempted to ignore. It will seem at first to be antiquated and impractical to life as you know it. However, I want to warn you to refrain from checking out. Before this sermon is over, you may be shocked at how much influence the demonic world has over your daily life and the lives of your kids and grandkids.
CONTEXT: The story comes on the heels of Jesus calming the storm, which we looked at last week. There, we saw Jesus' absolute authority over the created order. Remember, just before they got into the boat, Jesus said, "Let us go over to the other side." Well, the other side is the country of the Gerasenes, named for the city of Gerasa or Jerash, which is located about 30 miles southeast of the Sea of Gallalie.
Gerasa was a Greco-Roman city - it was filled with Pagan temples to the Pantheon of Greco-Roman gods. Now, that is significant. You see, Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians that there is a sense in which an idol is nothing; it is simply a piece of stone or wood carved by the hands of a man. But also, he tells us that Demonic spirits hijack the idol and use it to deflect the worship of the true God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Other accounts call this the area of the Gaderenes - that is a reference to the tribe of Gad who settled here on the West Bank of the Jordan River rather than crossing over with the other tribes.
So you have a long history of Jewish settlement in this region, and you also have a significant Pagan influence of the Greek idols. Remember, as we discussed in the opening sermon about the Intertestamental Period - a significant attempt had been made to erase the Jewish Culture and replace it with a Greek culture - this process was called Helenization.
One of the places where Hellenization was most embraced was here in the regions of the Gaderenes. ...
Series: Luke
Author: Zach Terry
Text: Luke 8:26-39
INTRODUCTION: The text before us today is one that many of you will be tempted to ignore. It will seem at first to be antiquated and impractical to life as you know it. However, I want to warn you to refrain from checking out. Before this sermon is over, you may be shocked at how much influence the demonic world has over your daily life and the lives of your kids and grandkids.
CONTEXT: The story comes on the heels of Jesus calming the storm, which we looked at last week. There, we saw Jesus' absolute authority over the created order. Remember, just before they got into the boat, Jesus said, "Let us go over to the other side." Well, the other side is the country of the Gerasenes, named for the city of Gerasa or Jerash, which is located about 30 miles southeast of the Sea of Gallalie.
Gerasa was a Greco-Roman city - it was filled with Pagan temples to the Pantheon of Greco-Roman gods. Now, that is significant. You see, Paul tells us in 1st Corinthians that there is a sense in which an idol is nothing; it is simply a piece of stone or wood carved by the hands of a man. But also, he tells us that Demonic spirits hijack the idol and use it to deflect the worship of the true God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Other accounts call this the area of the Gaderenes - that is a reference to the tribe of Gad who settled here on the West Bank of the Jordan River rather than crossing over with the other tribes.
So you have a long history of Jewish settlement in this region, and you also have a significant Pagan influence of the Greek idols. Remember, as we discussed in the opening sermon about the Intertestamental Period - a significant attempt had been made to erase the Jewish Culture and replace it with a Greek culture - this process was called Helenization.
One of the places where Hellenization was most embraced was here in the regions of the Gaderenes. ...
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