As we come to the first eight verses of Matthew 9 we have another story of an encounter of the Lord Jesus Christ with one of the people of his day. In the context of the story it actually involves more than the one individual. It was something that took place in public. There was a large crowd around, and in the conversation that transpired Jesus dealt specifically not merely with this paralyzed man, but with the teachers of the law who were present.
If we seem to prefer our own comfort to the spiritual condition of others, the Lord may do one of two things to correct us. First of all, sometimes it’s necessary for us to lose the pigs. That is to say, we have to enter on hard times and find that we can get along with a lot fewer things than we think we have to have in order to be happy. One of the problems with things is that they tend to ensnare us and trap our souls. And the more we have the more we’re ensnared like a spider spinning a web.
Now the point I want to make is that it is necessary that the Lord Jesus Christ have authority in the most powerful sense if the demon is to be driven out. And if we’re to go and preach the gospel and have any hope of success, it must be by that power and authority of Jesus Christ as well.
In my experience I have never known anybody whom I would say has been demon possessed, but I do believe it happens. But by way of application, I have known people who have been afflicted in a similar way, possessed by some bad spirit or sin, and so have come under all the various influences and experiences that these men had. One thing about demon possession is that those who are possessed are unable to break free. The evil spirit is stronger than they are.
Now, Acts 8 tells us of the healing of these two demon possessed men. It took place in the region of the Gadarenes. There’s some manuscript peculiarities where that’s concerned due to the fact that nobody is quite certain where this area was. One thing that is certain is that it was a Gentile area, and it was probably on the northeastern side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus had crossed over there, and as he did, out of the tombs came these two men who were demon possessed. We have to start with an analysis of them and we have to ask what they were like before this encounter with Jesus.
