Jesus Power Over Demons

Jesus came to reverse the curse.

Luke 8:27-33  As Jesus was climbing out of the boat, a man who was possessed by demons came out to meet him. For a long time he had been homeless and naked, living in a cemetery outside the town.

28 As soon as he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down in front of him. Then he screamed, “Why are you interfering with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please, I beg you, don’t torture me!” 29 For Jesus had already commanded the evil spirit to come out of him. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the entire herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned.

Luke 11: 17 He knew their thoughts, so he said, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart. 18 You say I am empowered by Satan. But if Satan is divided and fighting against himself, how can his kingdom survive? 19 And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said. 20 But if I am casting out demons by the power of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. 21 For when a strong man like Satan is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe 22 until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings.

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Jesus power included the ability to rule over the demonic forces that he encountered, this was a well known fact that every demon knew, just look at how they always reacted every time that they were in his presence. Not only were they scared of him but most of them actually acknowledged who Jesus was and they made it clear that they were powerless against him.

The people knew that there were only two forces that could control Satan's demons, Jesus was one option but they didn't want to admit that he had the power so they accused him of being a demon and pulling some kind of trick on the other demons. They were desperate to explain Jesus power, as silly as it seems that Satan would be fighting against Satan, they could not admit that Jesus was God.

Satan is powerful and dangerous but our Savior makes the claim that he is stronger than our enemy (1 Peter 5:8, Luke 11:21-22) . The Devil refuses to acknowledge Jesus as Lord and continues to fight a battle that we cannot see, the battle to destroy the Devil and reverse the curse of sin (Ephesians 6:10, 1 John 3:8).

I must not allow myself to look at the evil in this world and get a defeated attitude. Jesus proved that he is in control of the forces of evil and the evil will be overcome with good.

Thank you Lord for loving me and defeating the Enemy so that I can spend eternity with you.

Jesus control over demons:

Blind mute  // Boy // Canaanite's daughter // Capernaum synagogue //
Gerasenes demonic‎ // Mute man // At sunset

I Know Who Is In Control

Everybody likes to be in control, but are we ever really?

Mark 5:1-20   So they came to the other side of the lake, to the region of the Gerasenes. Just as Jesus was getting out of the boat, a man with an unclean spirit came from the tombs and met him. He lived among the tombs, and no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain. For his hands and feet had often been bound with chains and shackles, but he had torn the chains apart and broken the shackles in pieces. No one was strong enough to subdue him. Each night and every day among the tombs and in the mountains, he would cry out and cut himself with stones.

When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and bowed down before him. Then he cried out with a loud voice, "Leave me alone, Jesus, Son of the Most High God! I implore you by God - do not torment me!" For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of that man, you unclean spirit!" Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" And he said, "My name is Legion, for we are many." He begged Jesus repeatedly not to send them out of the region. There on the hillside, a great herd of pigs was feeding. And the demonic spirits begged him, "Send us into the pigs. Let us enter them." Jesus gave them permission. So the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs. Then the herd rushed down the steep slope into the lake, and about two thousand were drowned in the lake.

Now the herdsmen ran off and spread the news in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and saw the demon-possessed man sitting there, clothed and in his right mind - the one who had the "Legion" - and they were afraid. Those who had seen what had happened to the demon-possessed man reported it, and they also told about the pigs. Then they asked Jesus to leave their region. As he was getting into the boat the man who had been demon-possessed asked if he could go with him. But Jesus did not permit him to do so. Instead, he said to him, "Go to your home and to your people and tell them what the Lord has done for you, that he had mercy on you." So he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis what Jesus had done for him, and all were amazed.

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Who is in control?

The victim wasn't in control, this poor fellow was a wreck, injuring himself, running around and screaming, he probably didn't even get to sleep.
 
The shepherds were not in control, they probably felt uneasy everyday while they were out there with the pigs, wondering what this guy was going to do next and if they were going to get hurt.
 
Satan wasn't in control, how do you think he felt when he saw his demons bow down at Jesus feet and they called him the Son of God.
 
The disciples were not in control, they were probably still sitting in the boat, they may have been jumping overboard and trying to swim away. This is one crazy scene, of all the things that happened while the disciples were following Jesus, this is probably one of the events that they talked about the most.

Jesus wasn't surprised when the crazy demon filled man came running to him and he isn't caught off guard about any of the circumstances of our lives either.
 
Life is full of surprises for us but you are never shocked by what happens to us or what we do to ourselves. Help me to remember that you are in control no matter what is going on.