Introduction
And just like that, we leave the Farewell Discourse of John, and we plop down into the middle of the Gospel of Luke. We’ve already skipped over a fair amount to this point.
This is one of my favorite biblical passages. It speaks to addiction and recovery better than almost any other passage. I will touch on that a bit throughout but then reflect on this text more broadly in the context of what demon possession means for us today.
Narrative Context: Jesus on the Margins
Luke 8:26–39 places Jesus and his disciples in Gentile territory. “The country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee.” The geography matters. Jesus has just calmed a storm on the Sea of Galilee (Luke 8:22–25), demonstrating his power over the elements. Now, he steps out of the boat and onto land that represents everything outside the boundaries of religious purity, ethnic familiarity, and cultural comfort.
The man who meets him is a walking symbol of marginalization. He is unclothed, untethered, unwell. He lives not in a home, not among people, but among tombs, among the dead. The community has tried to bind him with shackles, but he’s broken them. He is completely alienated, socially, spiritually, and even physically, from the rest of the community. He is as good as dead among the tombs.
What follows is the longest and most detailed exorcism in the Synoptic Gospels. It is also one of the clearest illustrations of what happens when the kingdom of God breaks in. Liberation, fear, and unexpected witness.
The Demons Know Him
When Jesus steps onto the shore in the Gentile region of the Gerasenes, he is immediately met by a man who has been cast out—naked, wild, and living among the dead. Before Jesus says a word, this man, or rather the demons within him, cry out, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?” (v. 28).
This is not the first time in Luke’s Gospel that demons recognize Jesus. In fact, earlier in Luke 4:34, a man with an unclean spirit in the synagogue similarly cries out, “I know who you are, the Holy One of God!” Again in 4:41, Luke tells us that “demons also came out of many, shouting, ‘You are the Son of God!’” The demons, throughout the Gospel, know who Jesus is, perhaps even more clearly than the crowds or the disciples do.
This narrative moment is crucial. The demons recognize Jesus’ identity and authority immediately, without introduction, and without question. In contrast, the people in the Gerasene region are confused and afraid. The disciples are often puzzled. But the demons (those forces that seek to distort, destroy, and divide) know exactly who they’re dealing with. They recognize that Jesus has the power to unbind what they’ve bound, to restore what they’ve unraveled, and to bring life where they’ve brought death.
In this way, Luke paints a picture of cosmic conflict. Jesus is not just a teacher or healer; he is the one with power over the spiritual realm, over forces that disfigure individuals and isolate them from community. This recognition by the demons sets the tone for the entire passage: Jesus is here to confront and cast out that which breaks down our humanity, both personally and systemically.
Jesus’ Liberation: Not Just Healing, But Restoration
When Jesus casts the demons into the pigs, the man is not just cured, he is restored. Luke notes he is “clothed and in his right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus.” The phrase “sitting at the feet” is one of discipleship (see Luke 10:39). The man becomes the first apostle to the Gentiles in Luke’s Gospel.
Jesus then tells him to “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” This instruction is both personal and communal. Restoration is not complete until it returns us to right relationship with others. In recovery language, this is what it means to “make amends.” Healing is not just about individual salvation, it’s about reconciling with the community, even one that may still be afraid.
The Community’s Fear
One of the more challenging parts of this text is the community’s reaction. They are not amazed or grateful. They are afraid.
The presence of Jesus disrupts the fragile social order. The man’s possession, while tragic, had a function: it kept him at the margins and the community undisturbed. But now that he is restored, everything is upended. What happens when the “monsters” we’ve cast out come back transformed? What happens when the people we’ve marginalized are restored to their full humanity?
Sometimes we fear liberation more than possession because it demands something of us. It forces us to change. It forces us to see the other as human and not some “thing” to just discard. Sometimes it means we open ourselves up to actually forgiving someone.
God’s Liberating Love
The man who was once possessed becomes a witness to the liberating love of God. His healing becomes the seed of Gospel proclamation in Gentile territory. He reminds us that no one is beyond the reach of God’s love, no system is too entrenched, no force too strong.
Jesus still crosses boundaries to meet us, still speaks life into the places of death, and still commands the Legions (whatever name they go by now) to leave us alone.
As preachers, this story invites us to proclaim that God is not only in the business of healing, but of restoration and that even today, people are being clothed in grace, restored to wholeness, and sent back into community as witnesses to God’s liberating power.
Preaching Possibilities
What Is Demonic Possession Today?
Too often, we modern preachers are tempted to skip over or allegorize texts about demon possession. The language can feel archaic or even unhelpful. But this passage offers a robust metaphor for the forces that possess individuals and communities today.
Jesus’ encounter with Legion invites us to reflect on what demonic possession might look like in our time. Not in horror-movie caricature, but in the real-life bondages that distort identity and isolate people from community.
Addiction can possess someone, turning their actions against their values, isolating them from relationships, and convincing them that they are irredeemable.
Racism functions as a communal possession, distorting the truth of who our neighbors are and demonizing entire populations.
Classism and economic injustice can possess a society, leading us to accept the normalization that some are disposable while others hoard resources.
White supremacy, patriarchy, militarism, xenophobia, despair—these “Legions” are many and they are legion still.
The possessed man in Luke 8 has lost even his name to these forces. He is no longer himself. He is “Legion.” This is the power of systemic sin: it erases identity and tells a person or a community, “You are what torments you.” But Jesus challenges that lie and calls the person and the whole community into restoration.
A Necessary Clarification: Demonic Possession Is Not…
Before moving deeper into the metaphor of demonic possession, it is critical to name what this metaphor is not. When we speak of “possession” in a modern sense (as a way to understand the isolating, identity-consuming nature of addiction, racism, or internalized hatred) we must be extremely careful not to conflate this with neurodivergence, mental illness, or disability.
Neurodivergent identities (such as autism, ADHD, learning differences, or mental health conditions) are not demonic. They are not things to be cast out. They are not evidence of separation from God. In fact, many people with neurodivergent experiences or mental health conditions describe them as gifts from God or unique experiences to better understand relationship with God.
Similarly, people with disabilities are not “less than,” not broken, not possessed, and not in need of being “fixed” to belong in God’s kingdom. Jesus consistently honors, heals, and lifts up the dignity of those whose bodies and minds differ from societal norms, not to erase those differences, but to welcome and restore people to community and belovedness. The healings are about restoration to community.
The metaphor of possession (especially in the case of Legion) is better understood as the consuming force of sin that distorts identity and separates individuals from community and from their own sense of self. When we use that framework to describe addiction, racism, white supremacy, greed, or violence, we are speaking about things that call for repentance, about forces that require amends to be made, because they often result in harm (to self and to others) and call us into repentance and healing.
The lens of demon possession is best understood as a way of understanding how destructive systems and choices can overtake people’s lives (often with societal reinforcement) and how liberation in Christ includes truth-telling, repentance, healing, and return to community.
Naming what demonic possession is NOT helps us better see what it is: anything that seeks to erase God’s image in us and isolate us from grace, truth, and one another.
Micah Krey 
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