Friday, February 13, 2015

Released from demon possession...

Luk 8:35  Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.

Imagine.

A lunatic, a known lunatic...

Mar 5:2  And when he was come out of the ship, immediately there met him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit,
Mar 5:3  Who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no man could bind him, no, not with chains:
Mar 5:4  Because that he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, and the fetters broken in pieces: neither could any man tame him.
Mar 5:5  And always, night and day, he was in the mountains, and in the tombs, crying, and cutting himself with stones.

This man, this lunatic, this insane, naked, crazy man after encountering Jesus - is clothed and calm- in his right mind.  Surely all the visages of his life of insanity weren't instantly erased, he was recognizable as the same crazy person who dwelled among the tombs. A man who was bound in chains by people, a man who was feared by people, a true monstrosity that many knew enough to stay away from or risk life and limb. A man whose crying night and day, whose cutting of his own flesh with stones, a man in mental and emotional, as well as physical, agony and yet helpless to change.   No others could change him, and he certainly couldn't change himself.

Now we need to IMAGINE this REALITY,  not as some fabled monster story told to scare people, not some fantasy tale meant to incite mystery and excitement. We need to comprehend that Jesus rid the man of DEMONS, demons possessing him, controlling him, abusing him. Why was that man filled with demons? I have no clue. But we do know he was and people tried their best to get him under control over the years without any success. The man possessed strength beyond human ability, the demons in him able to break chains.  The man was FREED of this possession and instantly calm. He was still recognizable to the people but he'd been changed severely.

What did it mean to have a MAN who could release another man from demon possession? Yes, the Jewish people knew about exorcising demons, they had exorcists, they comprehended demon possession. Yet here comes a man, an ordinary man who had no intense learning in the temple, he wasn't a man of priestly lineage.  He wasn't a scribe, he wasn't a priest as the Jewish people- His people- knew the priests to be, yet he was casting our demons!  He had POWER, power that only those of God were supposed to have. His power was extraordinary beyond anything that  anyone had ever seen. They hadn't seen it before but they knew the stories, the true stories of their historical ancestors, men and women of God that had walked with God in His power performing powerful acts by His grace. They had historical figures to believe in but here and now there was a man of God unlike any before and he was working miracles such as they never imagined possible. 

Do WE believe in a miracle working God? Is Jesus just a historical figure we look to in the past without expecting anything more? Our Savior came with a message, the message of salvation, of eternal life. Our Savior want s us to live in Him and let Him live in us, working through us by the Holy Spirit as a REALITY, not some unrealistic fantasy. God wants us to produce fruit and the only way to do that is by living in Him, really, living in Him.

Please Father! We would live in YOU and YOU in us! Please Father! Please bear fruit through us!  Help us to know You as a reality, to know Your power as a reality!

Please.  All by the grace and mercy of our Savior, our Lord, Jesus Christ, now and forever.


Amen.

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