November 18, 2012
Last week we saw the disciples in the boat and now they are
on the other side. They learned a lesson while on the boat and now it is back
to reality. It’s time for action.
V28: They reach land and they are greeted by two demon possessed
men. These men come to meet Jesus and they are fierce and violent to the point
that people were afraid to pass the road these men were on. Everyone is afraid
but Jesus. When He got off the boat the demons addressed Him and recognized him
as God asking Him not to hurt them.
V29: The demons want to know why Jesus has come to mess with them.
Why didn’t He go back to the city and heal those people and leave them alone to
terrorize this place. We have to understand that there were demons in these two men not one demon each
but many which is why they are so fierce. These many demons asked Jesus for
mercy. The Word of God, in James, tells us that demons tremble at the name of
Jesus and we see that happening here. Demons don’t just tremble at Jesus but
the Jesus in us.
V30 - 31: Do you notice that Jesus does not answer these demons? The
demons do all the talking. The demons knew that because Jesus is the Son of God
who has come to set us free they knew they could not stay in these two men. The
demons knew that Jesus doesn’t want man to be possessed so they asked to be
cast into the pigs. We have to open our hearts and open the door to allow the
demon in but that is not God’s will. God wants us to be free.
V32: Jesus tells them to go into the pigs. Why would Jesus let
them go into the pig? Pigs have no soul. Demons want to be able to roam free.
Jude 1:6 – The cast out angels was locked in an abyss. This is their chance to
be move free on the earth. They want to roam free but they couldn’t stay in the
men so they chose the pigs and destroyed them over a cliff.
V33: There are people who witnessed this. The tenders of the pigs
saw all that took place. These individuals would have to tell their employer
this story. They went to the town and told them everything; the demons, the
pigs and what happened to the demon possessed men who were now free.
V34: The whole city came out to meet Jesus after the story
was relayed. When they saw Him they begged Him to leave. They wanted Jesus to
go far away. These people focused on drowning pigs and not on the two lives
that were now free. The people of this city did not recognize that the man that
set these possessed men free could set them free and provide them more pigs.
Sometimes we think blessing are supposed to come in pretty wrappings. They
don’t always come that way. Blessings can come out of loss and tragedy.
We need to look for God’s hand in every situation. We need
to look where there is life. We always say “Oh My God” and never look for the
blessing in the tragedy. We always blame God for the wrong when it really is
our own sin that has caused it. We always focus on the negative and death. God
doesn’t focus on death but on life. Therefore our focus like God’s must be on
the living.
God dwells in that which brings life. This story shows us
that God is about life. God is cool with us when everything is going right. When
things go bad then we cry out “Where is God?” However, when Jesus is in the
midst blessings are ALWAYS there.
This Thanksgiving season we need to be thankful that Jesus
Christ is in our lives and in our homes. There is no one that blesses like
Jesus and as long as He is in our lives WE ARE BLESSED! Let’s make sure that
our doors are always open to Jesus. Never look towards the death always look
towards the God that brings LIFE!
Pastor Pete
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