Thursday, January 29- Matthew 8:28-34

28When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.
-Not one but two demon possessed men. They were marked by their violence. It must have been a frightening thing to see people like that.
-For some reason these men wanted to meet with Jesus.

29"What do you want with us, Son of God?" they shouted. "Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?"
-They recognize Jesus as the Son of God. Interesting that a very spiritual element is talking. Its not the men, but the demons inside that are directly addressing him.
-Their fear was torture. They recognized themselves that there was an appointed time when it would happen to them.

30Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding.
-Pigs were around. Prolly normal part of life.

31The demons begged Jesus, "If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs."
-For some reason going into pigs was a better option than something else. Perhaps demons have some sort of longing to be within a body of some sort. It leaves the option open that animals can be possessed as well as humans.


32He said to them, "Go!" So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water.
-Jesus grants their request. They go into the pigs and then destroy them. Its a weird action to take.

33Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.
-Poor pig tenders. They lost all their property.
-There were witnesses to the event.

34Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.
-People often fear what they don't understand. Even though he did a good thing for the two men, the towns people didn't want to deal with it at all.
-Demons are a weird entity that in many regards are very mysterious. We probably can't really understand fully what went on in that exchange, but there's more to this life than flesh and blood. We have to be aware that spiritual opposition is real and around us. We need to fight accordingly.