Sunday, September 9, 2007

Luke 8:27-36 - Spiritual forces

Scripture:
 
Luke 8:27-36
27 And when He came out onto the land, He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs.
28 Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me."
29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert.
30 And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him.
 
31 They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss.
32 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain; and the demons implored Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission.
33 And the demons came out of the man and entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
34 When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country.
35 The people went out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened.
36 Those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well.
NASU
 
 
Thoughts:
 
Here we see the power of Jesus, even over demons (verses 31-32).  This scene stands in stark contrast to the popular ideas of spiritual forces, and the idea that there's some sort of "balance of power" between good and evil.  Clearly, there isn't a balance of power.  Jesus stands in authority as the demons are begging Him (verse 31) not to send them into the abyss (basically, a place of torment or hell). 
 
This is such a vital issue for us to understand.  Although we as Christians cannot be possessed by a demon as the Holy Spirit now lives in us, we do still face spiritual attack.  Rather than being afraid however, we can have confidence because the power of our God is in no way rivaled by dark spiritual forces.  He is Lord of all.
 
And how wonderful that although He is powerful, He is still moved with compassion.  It's a common observation that when people are given power, it tends to corrupt them.  But not so with our God.  Though all powerful by nature, He still cares about each person He has created, even one such as this (verse 27) that most would consider beyond help.
 
 
Prayer:
 
Lord, it is such a great comfort to know that You are the supreme power in the universe!  With You on my side, what do I have to fear?  You are able to protect me from harm, even from spiritual forces.  Thank You! 
 
Amen

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.