EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/28/2026
7:52 PM
My
Worship Time Focus: PT-2
“The Delivering Power of Jesus”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Luke
8:29a, 30-35
Message of the verses: “For He had commanded the unclean spirit to
come out of the man…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.”
I continue to quote from John
MacArthur’s commentary: “After the
demons implored Him to permit them to enter the swine, Jesus gave them
permission. Here is further
confirmation of Jesus’ divine power over the demons; they could do nothing that
He did not allow them to do. In an
amazing scene the demons came out of the man and entered the swine; and the
herd, acting with the same maniacal, self-destructive frenzy that had
characterized the demon-possessed man, rushed down the steep bank into the
lake and was drowned. This shocking
development offered vivid, unmistakable proof that the demons had left the
man. It also demonstrated Jesus’
absolute authority over them, since they had no choice but to do so. Their destruction of the pigs also displayed
the demons’ evil propensity to kill and destroy.
“After they recovered from their
shock, the herdsmen who saw what had happened ran away and reported
it in the city and out in the country. In
response to their excited report, the people went out to see what had
happened. Matthew notes that the
entire city turned out (Matt. 8:34) to investigate. Having heard the eyewitness account of the
herdsmen, they came looking for Jesus.”
(Matt. 8:34)
“34 And behold, all the city came out to meet
Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.”
“Some have argued that the people
were upset at the loss of the pigs, and came to Jesus to hold Him accountable
for their deaths and the economic loss.
But the owners of the pigs are never mentioned in the gospel accounts,
nor are the pigs the issue. The focus is
on the sensational transformation of the formerly demon-possessed man and above
all on Jesus, who transformed him. When
the crowd arrived, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out,
sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. His radical change was complete, undeniable,
and inexplicable from a human perspective.
The man was clothed, not naked; seated at the feet of Jesus, not
wandering aimlessly; away from the tombs, the realm of the dead, and in the
presence of the Lord of life; quite, not shrieking; calm and peaceful, not out
of control and deadly; confronted, not tormented; in short, manifesting
God-given sanity, not demon-inspired insanity.
This is a magnificent picture of salvation transformation. No doubt Jesus explained the gospel to him,
telling him that He had come to save lost sinners (Luke 19:10), and the man had
repented and been forgiven.”
(Luke 19:10)
“10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save
the lost."
“One would have expected the people
to rejoice with the man over his deliverance, or at least to be relieved that
he no longer posed any threat, but instead they became frightened. Frightened translates a form of the Greek
word phobeo, which refers to extreme fear or terror (the related noun phobeo,
is the root of the English word ‘phobia’).
They realized that they were sinners in the presence of the holy God
(cf. Luke 8:25).”
(cf. Luke 8:25)
“25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And
they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this,
that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”
9/28/2026
8:15 PM
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