Category: New Testament
Scriptures:
Matthew 8:28-34
Matthew 8:28-34
28 When he came to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, two people possessed by demons met him there, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that nobody could pass that way.
29 Behold, they cried out, saying, “What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
30 Now there was a herd of many pigs feeding far away from them.
31 The demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of pigs.”
32 He said to them, “Go!” They came out, and went into the herd of pigs: and behold, the whole herd of pigs rushed down the cliff into the sea, and died in the water.
33 Those who fed them fled, and went away into the city, and told everything, including what happened to those who were possessed with demons.
34 Behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged that he would depart from their borders.
Commentary
You would expect the citizens of the area who witnessed what Christ did to this man to fall at Christ’s feet in awe and thankfulness. Finally, an uncontrollable legion of devils had been expelled! This man, their old friend and neighbor, had been restored again. With their own eyes, they saw that he was “sitting, clothed, and in his right mind". You might even think that they would have implored the Lord Jesus to have compassion on them as well.
We do read that they were “afraid”. They realized something great had happened. They were impressed and in awe, and yet, as so many, they did not submit to Christ. Instead, “(t)hey began to pray him to depart out of their coasts”. What a contrast with the restored man, who “prayed him that he might be with him”. You can’t imagine two more opposite responses to Christ.