The 
ight House
Sunday School (Jesus Casts Out Devils)
Jesus Casts Out Devils
(Matthew 8:28-34)
Verses 28-34 read as follows…28And 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. 29And, 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? 30And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. 31So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. 32And 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. 33And 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. 34And, 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.
(Matthew 8:28-34)Some non-believing scoffers who attempt to discredit the bible may point to this verse as a contradiction since the books of “Mark” and “Luke” only mention ONE possessed man while the book of Matthew mentions TWO possessed men. This is not a discrepancy. The books of Mark and Luke simply emphasize the predominate convert of the two. If the books of Mark and Luke stated that there was only one convert, then there would be a contradiction, but an omission of reference is not an implication that something does not exist.
The demonic spirits addressed Jesus not only by name, but also by rank or title, “Jesus, thou Son of God”, therefore they knew both who and what he was. This is agreeable with another verse in the book of James…
Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
(James 2:19)The question has been asked in the past, “Does Satan and his demons truly know their fate, or do they believe they will prevail in the end?” Here, we see evidence that they do indeed know of their fate and are not deceived in believing they will be victoreous in their war with God. That evidence is in their question to Jesus, “art thou come hither to torment us before the time?” It also shows that they not only know who Jesus is, but also that they are aware of his power over them and that they know why he had come into the world.
The request of the demons to be sent into the heard of swine and the fact that the swine then ran into the sea illustrates that demons would rather inhabite the body of a pig than face the wrath of God, AND the swine would rather perish in the depths of the sea than to be inhabited by the demons.
God Bless you,
Carl
I may not look like much, but I cost a bunch!
