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.”

Luke 8: 26-28

When a flight lands at its destination, someone on the flight crew will say something like, “Welcome to Dallas” and then give a brief update on current weather conditions.

In the verses above, Jesus wasn’t exactly greeted by a friendly voice. Instead, a naked man who was possessed by demons met him with a shriek!

Many people scoff at the idea of demon possession in the 21st century and I’ve heard some state that Jesus encountered a man suffering from an acute mental illness. As someone who has encountered patients with severe mental illness for thirty years or so, we shouldn’t discount the power of the spiritual world to also tear someone apart. In the instance described here by Luke, Jesus’ encounter with the man and the Legion of demons resulted in something I’ve never witnessed in the mental health arena – the man was completely well after meeting Jesus.

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.

Luke 8:35-36

We live in a world that often appears less than stable, but we can be confident that there is One who is able to intervene in what appears to be impossible situations.