Reading: Luke 8:26-39

And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee. And when he went forth to land, there met him out of the city a certain man, which had devils long time, and ware no clothes, neither abode in any house, but in the tombs. When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not. (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.) And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him. And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep. And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them. Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked. When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country. Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed. Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back again. Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.

How many times have you read this story? Surely many!
How precious it is to know how the life of a tormented man can change by knowing Jesus! As it changed your life, surely, and mine too!
What a pity to see, on the other hand, how fear made the witnesses of such a miracle end up rejecting Jesus!
But let me focus on something particular in this text: What happens with the demons in this passage? When they see Jesus, they are so frightened that they beg him not to send them to the abyss, but to let them go to a herd of pigs that was in the place.
How is it possible for the demons to fear in this way? The answer to this question is the same as the previous passage, and the one that follows. Who is this? Who is Jesus? The demons tremble because they know that Jesus is the Son of God, the one who has power and authority over everything. Jesus is God.
Jesus is the one who calmed the storm and is also the one who now shows his authority even over the demons.
This man who walked through Galilee is the Creator of all. How could the demons not fear him? How could we not experience the same freedom as the Gadarene when we met him?
The purpose of the Gospel is that, that we know Jesus and that is our life, our freedom, our hope, our new reality.

MEDITATE: May we always see and know Jesus more in every situation and in every passage of Scripture. God Bless You!