Healing of the Demon Possessed
Bible Passage: Matt 8:28-34; Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-29; Matt 9:32-34
The stories today are familiar. Man or men possessed by demons. At the word of Jesus, they fled. Instead of rejoicing, the onlookers begged Jesus to go away.
What is your take on their reactions?
It is worthwhile to take stock of where or who we are. We have read of many miracles this month so far. We may have even experienced them in our lives and see it in the lives of others around us.
But do we understand the significance of what they truly are?
I see two groups of people here.
Group 1 – The Onlookers
These were the people that were there – observing and seeing what Jesus did.
Now Jesus works are full of compassion which many people in those days and even now do not really understand.
Many of us are selfish. We only look out for our own.
Some people in those time were selfish and thought only of the pigs they lost not the people that were healed.
Others were just afraid of what will happen when they get near Jesus. They want to remain as they were.
So even though they saw the great miracle of Jesus, they missed it completely. They were blinded by their prejudices, their material losses and did not even see the goodness that came to their fellow man.
They were upset that they were inconvenienced and griped about it.
Are we like that?
Group 2 – The Healed
The other group obviously were those who had the demons chased away from them.
It is hard to imagine what they went through and the relief that they must have felt when the evil spirits left them – unless we have experienced it ourselves (which I truly pray we do not have to).
But let’s see what happened when that happened?
…and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid (Luke 8:35).
The man was now found clothed, rested, in his right mind and sitting at the feet of Jesus!
What kind of witness was this for those who came running? What does this tell you about how we need to be seen by others?
We all have also experienced a miracle in our lives. We once lived lives without Jesus. But now, the evil sin that enslaves us no longer binds us. We are freed – just as the demon possessed man was!
But do others see the same response from us as from the man?
Now don’t get me wrong, we can’t sit at Jesus’ feet 24/7.
But what I am saying is that after the miracle that happened in our lives, do we still do things we do not want others to see. And when we do things for others to witness – it is real or is it all a show? This man was thankful, as we should be for all the things that the Lord has done for us. Let our response and witness show this as well.