(Matthew 8:28-34)
28 And when He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men confronted Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. 29 And they cried out, saying, “What business do You have with us, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” 30 Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding at a distance from them. 31 And the demons begged Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” 32 And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the pigs; and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. 33 And the herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they pleaded with Him to leave their region.TODAY'S TAKEAWAY
Here we can see the power that demons have, and that they have quite a bit of knowledge, but just from this passage, we can also see that they are not all-powerful, all-knowing or everywhere-present... only God is sovereign! Demons hate and want us to live in fear. God is love and wants us to live in peace. Demons only have evil intentions. God is holy, righteous and good! Demons are working to keep us away from God. God wants to have a personal relationship with us! And we see here that demons recognize Jesus, and know that He is judge, and that one day they'll be sent to hell, the place that God has prepared for them (Matthew 25:41).
Hell is a place that God doesn't want to send anyone, because He desires that all come to know Him - personally - as their Lord and Savior. But, because He is love, He will not force anyone to love Him back. And even for those who choose to love Him back, He will never force us to be obedient. Everything is up to us - our choice.
Now, back to this passage. In this particular location, since pigs were deemed unclean by Jews, the majority of people living here would have been pagans. And these particular pagans did not care who Jesus was, except that they were afraid of Him. They didn't even care to find out how He could help them. All they assumed was that He had already caused them economic loss. And they wanted Him gone!
What the people chose to overlook was the fact that Jesus had removed the threat of violence, making that area safe. As well, they chose to overlook the fact that it was really the demons who had cost them economically. But people don't always put the blame on the appropriate cause. And especially when someone is resisting something that is good, they will look for the bad, and figure out how that might connect to the thing that is good, and use that as an excuse to avoid what they don't understand, or don't care to understand.
We must be careful not to judge God according to what people do or say. And we most definitely must be careful not to judge God according to the evil that happens around us or to us. Remember, because God is love, He will never force anyone to love Him back or be obedient. Therefore, to "judge" the Lord and see that He is good, just, merciful, gracious and patient, we have to get to know Him! The Bible (His word) gives us great insight! And of course, in knowing the Lord personally, we will experience His goodness! The closer we grow to Him, the more evidence there will be in our lives! And we can KNOW that, we not only have eternal protection, and treasures in heaven, but He will see to our needs here on earth.
Most importantly, the value that He brings to us is immeasurable! He values us, because He has created us in His image!!! He took our place on the cross to prepare a way to Him, so that when we believe, He saves us and reconciles us to Himself. Only the Lord can adopt us in order for us to become a child of God. Only He can forgive our sins and change us from the inside out. Only He can complete, fulfill and satisfy us. Only He can fill us with His spiritual peace, love, joy, certain hope, confidence, strength, wisdom... He equips, guides and helps us! He wants the best for us, and gives us purpose.
The Lord judges us fairly! How much time do we take to get to know Him in order to fairly assess and "judge" Him? The Lord values us immensely, sacrificially and unconditionally! How much do we value the Lord?! And the Lord is able to work all things out for good to those who love Him. So, why would we not want Him to be involved in every aspect of our lives?!
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