Clothed and in my Right Mind
Hello:
Today, we are continuing our study from yesterday. I will list the text again for your convenience.
Matthew 8: 28 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29 ”What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” 30 Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” 32 He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. 33 Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.
Yesterday, we focused on a certain day……. Today we want to cover some other aspects of this story. This story appears two other times in the bible. It has a remote context in both Mark and Luke. What I mean by remote context is when the story is taught in another source outside of the original. Studying the remote context can give you a full picture of what is happening. The remote context often has information that is not found in the passage you are studying and when you study all sources it gives you a clearer picture of what happened.
Let me demonstrate this to you. When you read this passage in Luke it says the following;
26 They sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from
Galilee.
27 When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs.
28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!”
29 For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.
30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?” “Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him.
31 And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.
32 A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission.
33 When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
34 When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside,
35 and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
36 Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured.
37 Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
38 The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying,
39 ”Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
As you can see Matthew is a more abbreviated version of the story. From Luke we know that his name is Legion. Luke’s account says that it was one demon-possessed man that met Jesus while Matthew says two (that’s a whole different topic). Luke’s account teaches us that after Jesus cast out the demons and when the town came out to see what was done they found the man sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. Luke’s account also tells us that when Jesus got ready to leave, the man in whom the demons were cast out of begged Jesus to go with him but Jesus instructed him to stay and return to his home and show how great things God hath done unto him.
Luke closes his account with the man going out and publishing throughout the whole city the great things that Jesus had done for him.
Okay, the end of my “how to study the bible session.” I was simply trying to show you how studying the remote contexts can give you a complete picture of what really happened.
Today, I want to focus on a couple of details that Luke gives us which Matthew doesn’t. The first one is after Jesus cast out the demons, the text says that he was found sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind.
I remember when I was a little girl being reared in the Baptist church, I use to hear the older mothers and deacons of the church get up and testify that they thanked God that they woke up this morning “clothed in their right mind.” They simply meant that they thanked God that even in their old age, they still had the soundness of their own mind and it also meant that they were so glad that they had discovered the truth of the gospel which was “right thinking” or being in their “right mind.”
When I became an adult and when I came across this story for the first time, I laughed. I was not laughing at those men and women in that small country town where I was born that used it because they were innocence and sincere about what they were thanking God for. I laughed because for the first time, I found out where they got the saying.
In this text, it was not saying that the man was clothed in his right mind it was saying that the demon possessed man had originally approached Jesus naked and his nakedness was now covered and Jesus had even restored his mind.
Let’s look at a couple of things. The text says he was sitting at the feet of Jesus. In the ancient world, this was a phrase to denote the mentor/student or the teacher/student relationship. What I love about this is that Jesus did not just cast the demons out of this man and set him free. He started training him on how to think again. I often wonder when I read this text how awesome it would have been if the scriptures would have revealed the private lessons that were given to this man to restore his mind but even though we didn’t have a glimpse into that conversation, in speculation, it was probably similar to what he taught in the sermon on the mount for I know that in my own personal study of that sermon I felt like for the first time in my life, I understood what God required of me and how to meet those requirements. It was life changing and mind renewing.
Jesus restored him. We can only imagine the torment that this man must have gone through all these years being possessed by this devil. He had to learn how to live again, How to trust again, how to function in society again and how to let go of all the mental and emotional problems that came from being demon possessed. I have no idea what it must feel like to not have control of your mind. The closest I could ever come to even imagining would be the times that my mind has been consumed with so much negativity, fear, confusion, frustration, pain, failures, and helplessness to the point that I once wanted to commit suicide because the mental pain was just too intense.
But GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh…….. I thank you. God I love ya. Freedom in you. My mind is free. As the old folks use to say I woke up this morning clothed and in my right mind.
On Monday, we’ll finish our story but what I want us all to take away from this is that the teachings of the bible or the word of God is so transforming and so powerful that no matter what we are battling mentally and emotionally, it has the power right now to “put us in our right minds” or get us thinking how God would want us to think.
Have a great weekend. See you on Monday for the conclusion of the matter, there is still some fascinating facts to uncover.
God Bless.
Don’t forget to pray and read God’s word daily.
This entry was posted on 22. August 2008 at 08:30 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.
25. August 2008 at 01:38
My world came crashing down today. (I won’t bore you with the detail). I had 2 options - 1. feel sorry for myself and cry out to God or 2. continue to praise God for all He has done for me. I chose the latter! I choose Joy!
Your message today is so appropriate and one of my other devotionals is based on Jeremiah 29:11. How can I not continue to serve and thank God, despite my circumstances. I listened to Cece Winans - Alabaster Box and Great is Thy Faithfulness and Tye Tribbetts - Stand Out!! This morning I was driving to the mechanic and I was listening to Bishop Paul S Morton - Be Blessed.
I serve such a great God!
25. August 2008 at 11:05
Hello there Bless Woman of God!!!!!!!!!!!
Clothed in my right Mind/ I Thank God everyday that I am clothed in my right mind and have my health and strength; and able to bath and clothed myself.
Sorry I didnt respond was very busy this weekend I had to speak this by weekend on the temple and was very awsome.
Much Love!!!!!!
Crystal/North Carolina