June 22, 2025 

Today's Reading: Luke 8:26-39

Daily Lectionary: Proverbs 25:1-22; Proverbs 26:1-28; John 19:23-42

“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.” (Luke 8:37)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

Jesus and His disciples have arrived on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The storm has been calmed, but the disciples' unbelief is less calm. Immediately as Jesus stepped out on land, He was met with an accusation. A man possessed with many demons cries out to Him, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me” (v. 28). Jesus, the calmer of storms, the Lord of all creation, yes; but Jesus the tormentor?

The demons do what the disciples do not and openly confess who Jesus is, yet this is not a confession of faith. It is a confession of fear and an attempt to take Jesus away from why He came in the first place.

So Jesus, Lord of all creation, deals with the demons as He did with the storm. “For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man” (v.29). Jesus, the word made flesh, commands even the demons. At this point, the legion can only submit and beg for mercy. Jesus accommodates them only to send them into pigs, which are then driven into the lake to drown.

All the people of this Gentile country are astonished, and yet their unbelief manifests in fear as they ask Jesus to depart from them.

Fear not. Fear not the storms of this life; fear not the devil who prowls around, seeking to devour you. Fear not the world whose unbelief fears an almighty God. Fear not, because this almighty God cares for you, just as He cared for those around Him.

Jesus doesn’t just command creation for His own glory; He sets His glory aside to restore all creation. Jesus doesn’t command demons to show His sovereignty. Rather, His sovereignty is revealed by the throne to which He will ascend and reveal Himself as the Son of the Most High God, who dies for you.

Jesus, the Son, Who takes all the unbelief, the fear, and the doubt, and by His death and resurrection makes all things new. He makes you new; He makes you His, just like He the man in the Gerasenes His. We do not fear but believe and proclaim all that God has done for us.

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

O God, You have prepared for those who love You such good things as surpass our understanding. Cast out all sins and evil desires from us, and pour into our hearts Your Holy Spirit to guide us into all blessedness;  through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.

- Justin Chester is a seminary student at Concordia Theological Seminary, Fort Wayne, IN.

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

In Clarifying the Great Commission, Rev. Daniel Christian Voth identifies common omissions from our collective understanding of Jesus’ farewell discourse—omissions that turn Christ’s promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation into a legalistic command. Come and discover a richer understanding of The Great Commission.