Deuteronomy 11:1-12:32
Luke 8:22-39
Psalm 70:1-5
Proverbs 12:4
Luke 8:37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
These gentiles, not Jews, didn't know who Jesus was so when they saw this demon possessed man speaking to Jesus and the demon addressing Him by name and then Him doing all that He did it was shocking and scary. I would think that watching an exorcism would be. But they did not just witness all this demonic activity and miraculous power of God but their livelihood was threatened when their pigs drowned. In Mark he says that there were about 2000 pigs. That is a good picture of the depth of torment that man had been in and a lot of pigs to lose. The demons thought that it would be better to be in the pigs than to be cast out but just as it crazed the man they also crazed the pigs and that is why they ran into the water. And that probably made the people of the region pretty angry as well as frightened. Instead of seeing the miracle and turning toward Jesus they push Him away and Jesus grants their wish.
Luke 8:38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
The man who was set free has the opposite reaction. He has a genuine desire to follow Jesus. He becomes the first witness to the gentiles. Instead of telling Him to keep it to himself like He had been telling the Jews He tells this guy to go and tell people what God has done for him. The gentiles did not have the prophecies and they were not the ones who were going to kill Him. God's timing is always perfect. The word needed to be started among the Gentiles. I see it as priming the pump for Paul's ministry and doing so would not interfere with the timeline for His arrest.
We see 2 different responses to what happened just as we see today. Those who personally experience Jesus and are set free turn to Jesus and want to follow Him. Those who are focused on their own stuff who instead of turning toward Jesus they push Him away. Jesus does not impose Himself on anyone but He does have the ones who want to follow Him stay and tell the others about Him. That is what we are to do in this world full of people who are pushing God away. We need to live among them and let them see how Jesus has changed us and telling them about what Jesus has done for us.
Proverbs 12:4 A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown,
but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.
We are doing the alpha marriage class right now so this caught my attention. Then as I read it again it brought to my mind a humorous picture of a miniaturized me as a crown on Daves head. My head in my hands with my face as a jewel in the front and my knees clamped down on the sides of his head and my feet hooked around the back. Which I guess is a much better picture than one of me chewing on his bones like a dog or of my presence turning his bones to powder making him weak and unable to function.
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