Matthew 8:28-34

Matthew 8:28-34
This passage teaches us several truths that may not be comfortable for us.

• Demons do exist.
• They can possess people. v. 28  I want to hurry to say that demons CANNOT possess a believer because we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 3:16, asks "Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?"  And 2 Timothy 1:14 says, "Guard the good deposit (the Gospel) that was entrusted to you--guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us." These are only 2 of many scriptures that assure us that God Himself in the form of the Holy Spirit lives within us as believers.
• Demons are evil--caused the men to be extremely violent & they destroyed the pigs. vv. 28, 32
• They recognize Jesus. v. 29
• They know their eventual end (the appointed time). v. 29
• They are subject to Jesus. Though they are a powerful foe, they are NOT more powerful than God. v. 32

We don't understand everything about the unseen world. Ephesians 6:12 tells us "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." And so we know we are in a spiritual battle. However, nowhere are we told to study demons or place our focus on them. In fact, we should do just the opposite. Our focus should be on the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God is all-powerful. He can defeat Satan now, and He will eventually destroy him and his demons for all eternity.

My opinion, for what it's worth, is that we should confine our knowledge of Satan and demons to what the scripture tells us. Don't dabble in the weird!

Getting back to the scripture at hand, notice that Jesus had compassion on these unfortunate men. We should remember that every individual is precious to God, and Jesus died for everyone--even those who are frightening or repulsive to us.

Why do you think the people asked Jesus to leave the region after this miracle? Is is possible that they were more upset about the loss of the pigs than they were happy about the deliverance of the two men? We can't be sure, but we can be careful that material possessions do not become more important to us than people!