Daily Bible Reading 16th July 2026 // Luke 8:26-39
26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 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. 28 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.” 29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many a time it had seized him. He was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.) 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Legion”, for many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. 32 Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and were drowned.
34 When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 35 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. 36 And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. 37 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. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.
The second point is that place can be given to the devil by ignorance. For, after all, he is a deceiver and an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:13ff). Now to discuss at this point whether such ignorance is culpable. It is certain that this can lead people into an awful morass of demonic influence in life that can break their health and lead to despair. And, paradoxically, it is often at the point which is the very opposite of dabbling with evil, viz., that of consecration and commitment that the attack can come. And if there is an area of ignorance in the mind, depend upon it, Satan will find it and exploit it to the full. Having said this, however, something else must be said, and said very unequivocally. It is this: contrary to the confident and solemn assertions made by many, there can be no question of Christian people being 'demon-possessed'. How could it ever be thought that a heart indwelt by Christ could also be indwelt by Satan? How could temples of the Holy Spirit (which we are) be desecrated by the presence of the enemy of all righteousness? To say the least, this would be to place an extremely low estimate on the 'company' Jesus likes to keep. Is it likely that He would acquiesce in Satan's being in hearts that He has made His own? No: the victory of Christ over Satan is so real that he can have no kind of authority or power over the Christian. In Christ the believer is safe and victorious. The 'wicked one toucheth him not' (1 John 5:18). Indeed, the most important consideration of all - more important than anything else that has been said in these notes - is the glad and triumphant testimony of the Scriptures that Jesus Christ has conquered Satan. Nothing - no preoccupation with the reality of the demonic, no concern with the widespread evidence of Satan's power in the world and in the lives of men - must be allowed to obscure this glorious fact. The Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered, and Christ Jesus is King!