Daily Devotions
March 7th, 2012 by Pastor SolleyMatt 8:28-34
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. 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? 30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. 31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. 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. 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. 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.
Not everyone who met Jesus, who knew who Jesus is, who saw the power of the Son of God, wanted Jesus to be near them, wanted a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. In our text this morning the demons wanted nothing to do with Him, but the people wanted nothing to do with Him as well. We know Legion did, but what of the others? When the Son of God stood before them why did they want Him to depart? That is as big a puzzle as we find today as we try and introduce people to the Son of God. The whole city came out to meet Jesus but they besought Him to leave them, to leave the city, to leave the region. Over and over we see the lost turning away from Christ today. Turning away from eternal life, turning away from forgiveness of sin, turning away from the Son of God. And you find that even professing Christians seem to want to have as little to do with Jesus as possible. Come to church once a week, no service for the Lord, no time to give Him, live life apart from Him and His Word as much as possible. All the while they miss all that Jesus has for them. Have you ever wondered what this city missed because they sent Jesus away? What do people miss today who send Him away? What do people miss today who will not surrender their lives to Him? What might you be missing today?