Tuesday, February 17, 2009

The Demon-Possessed Man - Time Really Isn't On Your Side

Luke 8:33 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.

In 1998, Denzel Washington starred in the film "Fallen". It has been awhile since I've seen it, but it certainly left a mark on my idea of demon possession. It was the story of a demon who was inside a serial killer who was executed and then the demon travels from person to person. All the while, Denzel is studying anything and everything on demons to try and kill this one.

When we look at this verse, it is very cut and dry. Jesus said go to the pigs, and the demons went to the pigs. There was no back talk, there was no demon who lagged behind and decided to stay in the man - at the command of Jesus - each demon left and went into the pigs.

This is where we, as humans, start to fade from the realization of what we are actually capable of doing. Poor Denzel, try as he might in that movie, would never be
able to get rid of that demon on his own. We see in verse 33 that the demons are called out, simply, by Jesus. A task we would never be able to complete by ourselves. When will we realize that we HAVE to fully rely on Jesus?

2 comments:

Greg C said...

Good point. We can't drive the demons out ourselves but we can ask God to do it. I think frequently we mistake denons for the devil and think we are powerless to do anything. Sometimes all it takes is a simple prayer to ask for help and we can move mountains.

Edie said...

There is power in the NAME of Jesus Christ. We cannot command demons by our own power, but we have the power of the Holy Spirit and authority by the Name of Jesus Christ.

I did a study on being demonized in my SS class about a year ago. I've been thinking about posting about it but I'm not sure yet. I can say that it has totally changed the way I view some passages concerning demonization.