Okay, one questions at a time. The demons quickly recognized Jesus. This fact alone should bring us to repentance. How many times have we failed to recognize His presence? How often have we missed Jesus because our activities kept us from paying attention? These demons, bent on causing harm and harassing all who drew near, acknowledge Jesus with fear. Why? They understood their fate.
The "appointed time" is a time when history on earth comes to a close, and Satan and his followers will face a final judgment. This judgment will result in their eternal suffering in a pit of fire (Revelation 20:10). The demons knew their fate and still begged for justice ("not our time"). They knew mercy did not await them. Their hosts, however, still had a chance!
The demons begged to be sent into a herd of pigs. This seems weird but with study, I have found that Jesus had reason for allowing this. The people of Gadara were likely not Jews since they possessed pigs (considered unclean by the Jews). Jesus was expanding His ministry to the Gentiles who lived nearby. By letting the demons enter the pigs Jesus was ending their destructive presence within the men. The demons, who were violent by nature, decided to kill the pigs since they were no longer permitted to torment the souls of the two men. Demons seek to harm us by any means. We must keep our focus on Christ.
The people of the land heard the bad news and the good news. No longer are these men attacking people, They were restored and set free. The villagers, however, rushed by the men and up to Jesus. They were more concerned with their possessions than with people. They demanded that Jesus leave before they had to give up anything else.
How often do we place more value on our property, on our programs, or even on our church than on the value of people? Jesus was just beginning a good work and the people could not handle it. They insisted He leave before He did more good. What more did they miss out on because they failed to let Him complete His full work? How often have we pushed Christ away because it cost us something?
"Sometimes the worst that can happen to us is for Jesus to answer one of our poorly considered requests." - Life Application New Testament Commentary
We need to learn from this lesson. We need to use wisdom before we ask God to act on our behalf. We need to fully be sensitive to His loving intentions. Rash decisions can lead to rash answers - not God's answers. We need to stop determining answers before God answers. We have to listen. We should learn to see the big picture and not our small part in it. Jesus, who started a good work, is faithful to complete it; but He left Gadara and did not return!
- Are we inviting Christ fully into our lives or are we putting limits on His access?
- Are we really counting the cost of following Jesus? Are we prepared to give up or to sacrifice things in order for Him to work in and through us?
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