![]() |
|
8:28 And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
8:29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
8:30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
8:31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
8:32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
8:33 And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.
8:34 And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.
The two men in Matthew 8:28 were unclean according to Jewish law in three ways: they were Gentiles, they lived in a graveyard, and they were possessed by devils. Jesus helped the men anyway. We should be like Jesus by helping people who need help, even if it might be unpleasant for us to do so.
The devils recognised Jesus as the Son of God, but they didn't think that they had to obey Jesus. The two things Christians have to do are to believe in Jesus, and obey Jesus. When the devils asked if Jesus was going to torment them "before the time", they were referring to the end times in Revelation 20 where Jesus casts all evil in the world into the lake of fire.
The devils destroyed the herd of pigs after they were cast out of the men. These devils were very destructive, and when they couldn't keep tormenting the men, they destroyed the animals. This shows that Satan and his minions don't want good things to happen to people and can't be trusted. Put your trust in God and Jesus, who will give you many good things.
It seems strange that the people of the city would ask Jesus to leave their territory. They were probably upset that their valuable herd of pigs had been destroyed, and also afraid of Jesus's power. They should have been thinking in the opposite manner, by welcoming the Saviour and not worrying about material possessions.
God bless you.