12/14/2007
Luke 8:26 - 28 (HCSB)
26Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27When He got out on land, a demon-possessed man from the town met Him. For a long time he had worn no clothes and did not stay in a house but in the tombs. 28When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What do You have to do with me, Jesus, You Son of the Most High God? I beg You, don’t torment me!”
Luke 8:30 - 33 (HCSB)
30“What is your name?” Jesus asked him. “Legion,” he said—because many demons had entered him. 31And they begged Him not to banish them to the abyss. 32A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. The demons begged Him to permit them to enter the pigs, and He gave them permission. 33The demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.
In 1989, I visited Israel. We went to this region. A church had been built on the traditional site of this event, but now stands in ruins. A tile mosaic on the floor still gives witness to the event. In the distance, not too far to the south, is a steep hillside that leads directly into the Sea of Galilee.
I find it interesting that in this case and in similar cases where Jesus meets a demon possessed person, the demon is able to identify who Jesus is immediately. Look what the demons say through the possessed man: “I beg You, don’t torment me!” The parallel passage in Matthew says “Have You come here to torment us before the time?”
Not only do the demons know who Jesus is, they know He has the authority to torment them. And according to the Matthew passage, they will be tormented by Him at some future time. This fact terrifies them and they beg Jesus to let them inhabit the heard of pigs nearby rather than return to the abyss (the Greek says “bottomless pit”) which we can only presume is their rightful place.
(Just a side note, the heard of pigs belonged to Gentiles. The Jews would not have kept pigs for any reason.)
Nonetheless, I sometimes wonder if the people following Jesus completely comprehended the demonic utterances. You will recall also that Jesus rebuked the demons (on at least one other occasion) to not tell who He was. But did the people who heard this connect-the-dots, so to speak?
People were always amazed at the miracles of Jesus. Interestingly, many believed He could heal the sick, but scoffed at His claim to raise the dead. But if even the demons recognize Jesus as deity, shouldn’t we also recognize Him as deity?
Philippians 2:10 - 11 (HCSB)
10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow—of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth—11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jeff Justus
Cleff Publishing
www.cleffpublishing.com
©2007 Cleff Publishing, all rights reserved.
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