Daily Devotions
Matthew
Many Lessons to be Reviewed
Text: Matthew 8 : 28 - 34
The disciples learned many lessons that day when Jesus brought them to the city of the Gergesenes. Let us ponder over some of the lessons that Jesus must have wanted them to learn.
1. The Scope of Ministry
One of the lessons that Jesus wanted them to realize was the scope of the ministry.
a) The Ministry in Israel
The ministry in Israel was already very obvious. Multitudes flocked to Jesus! The disciples probably had never seen so large a crowd around a person! They had never seen so many sick people congregate together before! The ministry in Israel saw Jesus ministering to the point of exhaustion! And still the work was not complete.
b) The Ministry Outside Israel
There was a valid ministry outside Israel! This ministry was even harder than the one in Israel.
There was more ignorance! This could not have been more obvious than to witness Jesus being asked to leave the region of the Gergesenes.
There was much to be done if ministry outside Israel was to be considered. Was Jesus intimating to His disciples that one day they would have to minister to this and other regions? How inadequate they were and how unequal to the task they must have felt!
2. A deeper appreciation of the spiritual dimension of the ministry
It is always sad to see how demons could hurt and destroy lives! Both in Israel and outside Israel, the disciples saw the deadly devastation that the demons brought to those they chose to possess. Did Jesus expect them to confront demons too? If so, then they would have to work very hard at cultivating their faith! Their present level of faith left much to be desired!
Healing people of physical illnesses was already a very hard thing to do! To confront, to contain and to defeat demons – that was a different proposition altogether! Could the disciples ever find that faith in God to wield such powers over demons?
3. Rejection to be Accepted
Rejection is never easy to understand, much less accept! Yet, the disciples witness how Jesus was asked to leave by the people of the city of Gergesenes! How could Jesus have acquiesced so humbly? How easy it was to be angry with the citizens there!
a) What right did they have to ask anyone to leave their city?
b) Did Jesus not heal the two men who had terrorized so many in the region?
c) Weren’t they happy that two men had been healed and had their lives restored to normalcy?
d) These Gentiles were both ignorant and ungrateful! How could anyone have desired to minister in their midst?
These angry thoughts could have more than flitted across the minds of the disciples! It was a marvel that Jesus could have thought of ministering in the region of the Gergesenes at all!
DID JESUS FAIL AT GERGESENES?
The answer is a straightforward one! No, Jesus did not fail! Let us consider why we come up with this conclusion.
1. The witness of the erstwhile demon-possessed men
The changed lives of these two men would be the most powerful witness of the power of Jesus! Jesus may not be able to minister there at this point of time, but He had left two witnesses in that region.
2. A powerful and dramatic object lesson
The drastic loss of the herd of swine would be the talk of the town for many days. There would be those who would curse and swear over the loss of the pigs. But then the loss of the lives of animals was not altogether uncommon. Swine fever could have decimated the herd. However this dramatic loss was a powerful and dramatic object lesson. Yes, there may have been the loss of hundreds of pigs, and that meant a good deal of money lost! However, on deeper evaluation, what was the loss of money, if lives could be redeemed as the former mad men’s lives were obviously transformed!
3. The deep plans of Jesus
What was the intention of Jesus when He went to the city of Gergesenes? The obvious reason seems to have been obscured somehow! He went there for the specific purpose of releasing these two men from the power of the demons!
a) Jesus did not want people to be drawn to Him simply because they wanted to be healed!
b) Yet, here in the shores of Gergesenes, the only act Jesus performed was to heal the two men who had been possessed!
The plans of Jesus were obviously deeper than any thoughts the disciples could have suggested. The challenge to the disciples became more and more obvious. They were never to assume that the Life and Ministry of their Master was easily comprehensible. All that He taught and did, must be carefully pondered over! They would need a far deeper faith to comprehend everything He said and did!