Recognizing Jesus: Do You Know Jesus?
Mark 5:1-13;18-20; Luke 7:18-23
This week’s lesson deals with Jesus cleansing a man possessed with many evil spirits and they were many living inside the man and were called legion. In looking at this lesson and its topic I would ask the question do you know Jesus. Reflecting on last week’s lesson and how the leper was healed when he met Jesus. The leper knew that Jesus was somebody special who could do extraordinary things and placed his faith and trust in Jesus to heal him of his condition, as his leprosy caused him to be a social outcast.
Today’s lesson deal with a man being a social outcast from his demonic possession or what is known in today’s society as mental illness. It makes no difference whether being a social outcast is from a physical, emotional or spiritual condition Jesus is the answer. His spiritual invitation remains open for all to come to Him and be healed. Jesus is the only doctor who has the power to heal all diseases as He is the balm in Gillian; just as He healed during His earthly ministry He is still healing today. It is our responsibility to recognize who Jesus is; Satan did then and he know Jesus today. Do you know Jesus?
With that being said/asked, let’s look at our lesson outlines, which are
(a) Jesus Encounters Unclean Spirits
(b) Jesus’ Authority over Evil Spirits
(c) Jesus Commissions the Healed Man.
What happens in the first outline and what lesson can we draw from it? The first thing we see is the Spirit of God who controls people in varying degrees so does Satan or evil spirits (the Devil) as he is sometimes called. However, while under the influence of evil spirits and the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness and there is no way out seek Jesus and His healing powers. Turn your life over to Him and He will remove any and all unclean spirits. Reflect on Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9) who was possessed with seven devils, but when she met Jesus He healed her and she became a devout follower of Jesus. The similarity in today’s lesson with the demonic man being possessed with many evil spirits and Mary Magdalene; the results are the same—both were healed. If there is a difference in these two demonic possessed persons is the man was strong, dangerous and beyond reasons. He would inflict tremendous pain upon himself, it is not record whether Mary Magdalene did such things. What is recorded is that after meeting Jesus, both had a testimony of what Jesus had done in their lives. What is your testimony?
What are Demons? Demons are fallen angels who joined Satan’s kingdom after he was kicked out of heaven. They then join in the fight against God. There was a war going on in heaven where Satan wanted to be equal with God his creator and God said no. When Satan left heaven he brought a third of the kingdom with him. Satan has powers but not all power as God does. He has power to possess ones mind, body and soul; look at the Job story, Satan couldn’t touch or harm Job’s soul as this belongs to God.
What lessons we learned from this section? The lesson learned from this section is regardless of a person’s condition, there is a healer---Doctor Jesus. It is God’s desire that all should be well. Another lesson learned is “that no matter how mentally unstable a person may be or feel, God is able to get His message of hope to the heart” (Sunday School Commentary). Another lesson is that Jesus has power and authority over all and He has no limitation. The most important lesson to be learned is that if the evil spirits recognized Jesus as the Son of God, then so must we. Also, if the demonic possessed man and his evil spirits bowed down before Jesus then it is true that every knee will bow at the name of Jesus (Philippians 2:10 paraphrased).
(b) Jesus’ Authority over Evil Spirits:
The question may be asked are there many devils? The answer is no. There is only one devil but “many demons who serve the devil which make his powers practically universal” (Sunday School commentary). What happen in this section is that as the demonic possessed man saw Jesus approaching far off, he ran and fell on his knees, and the demons recognizing who Jesus was begged Him not to torture them and permit them to be cast into the swine (pigs). Jesus honored their request and they ran into the herd of pigs that drowned themselves in the sea. Jesus being all knowing, ask the demons to identify themselves and they answered—legion.
Lessons learned from this section is that the demons recognize and obeyed Jesus; Second, Satan is alive today and has uncountable evil spirits at his disposal to inflict harm upon all today as during the Bible days. They are unseen with the naked eye, but we see the harm they do. Lastly, “our fight is not with flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers---against wicked spirits in high places” (Sunday School Commentary). God has provided us with our combat gear (Philippians 6:10-18).
(c) Jesus Commissions the Healed Man:
What happed to the healed man? The healed man wanted to remain in the company of Jesus, but Jesus commissioned him to “Go home to thy friends and tell them” (v 19). Why did Jesus make such a request? Jesus knew this man’s testimony would serve a far greater value in spreading the gospel message. As a person’s testimony have a far reaching impact on the hearers. What does this say for believers today? After meeting Jesus we have a testimony and we are to tell it everywhere we go. Be a witness! Jesus looks at worship as part of our Christian experience---the other is service. The question now become, are we in total compliance with what is required of us? It is note worthy to say that if person have ever been healed of any sickness whether physical, emotional, or spiritually have a testimony worth sharing. Witnessing can and will draw others to Christ, as with the demonic possessed man who shared his healing testimony with his community and the healed leper in last week’s lesson.
What lesson or lessons learned from this section? Jesus wants us to share our testimonies with others as our healing is our mountain top experiences. We are worship and serve in our communities. Also, our holy living serves light to others in a sin riddled world. Lastly, we are to believe the words of Jesus as recorded in John 16:33 which states “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” “God said it that settles it”—believe and have faith!
Conclusion:
“God desires for all to be physically, emotionally, and spiritually well.” Regardless of our sickness Christ is the healer. Satan will use many diseases in an attempt to separate us from God and His love, but all believers who know Jesus know Satan has no win. Once healed tell others what Jesus has done in your life.
Let’s close with this question, if you met Jesus would you know Him? The evil spirits knew Him.
This week’s lesson deals with Jesus cleansing a man possessed with many evil spirits and they were many living inside the man and were called legion. In looking at this lesson and its topic I would ask the question do you know Jesus. Reflecting on last week’s lesson and how the leper was healed when he met Jesus. The leper knew that Jesus was somebody special who could do extraordinary things and placed his faith and trust in Jesus to heal him of his condition, as his leprosy caused him to be a social outcast.
Today’s lesson deal with a man being a social outcast from his demonic possession or what is known in today’s society as mental illness. It makes no difference whether being a social outcast is from a physical, emotional or spiritual condition Jesus is the answer. His spiritual invitation remains open for all to come to Him and be healed. Jesus is the only doctor who has the power to heal all diseases as He is the balm in Gillian; just as He healed during His earthly ministry He is still healing today. It is our responsibility to recognize who Jesus is; Satan did then and he know Jesus today. Do you know Jesus?
With that being said/asked, let’s look at our lesson outlines, which are
(a) Jesus Encounters Unclean Spirits
(b) Jesus’ Authority over Evil Spirits
(c) Jesus Commissions the Healed Man.
What happens in the first outline and what lesson can we draw from it? The first thing we see is the Spirit of God who controls people in varying degrees so does Satan or evil spirits (the Devil) as he is sometimes called. However, while under the influence of evil spirits and the feelings of helplessness and hopelessness and there is no way out seek Jesus and His healing powers. Turn your life over to Him and He will remove any and all unclean spirits. Reflect on Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9) who was possessed with seven devils, but when she met Jesus He healed her and she became a devout follower of Jesus. The similarity in today’s lesson with the demonic man being possessed with many evil spirits and Mary Magdalene; the results are the same—both were healed. If there is a difference in these two demonic possessed persons is the man was strong, dangerous and beyond reasons. He would inflict tremendous pain upon himself, it is not record whether Mary Magdalene did such things. What is recorded is that after meeting Jesus, both had a testimony of what Jesus had done in their lives. What is your testimony?
What are Demons? Demons are fallen angels who joined Satan’s kingdom after he was kicked out of heaven. They then join in the fight against God. There was a war going on in heaven where Satan wanted to be equal with God his creator and God said no. When Satan left heaven he brought a third of the kingdom with him. Satan has powers but not all power as God does. He has power to possess ones mind, body and soul; look at the Job story, Satan couldn’t touch or harm Job’s soul as this belongs to God.
What lessons we learned from this section? The lesson learned from this section is regardless of a person’s condition, there is a healer---Doctor Jesus. It is God’s desire that all should be well. Another lesson learned is “that no matter how mentally unstable a person may be or feel, God is able to get His message of hope to the heart” (Sunday School Commentary). Another lesson is that Jesus has power and authority over all and He has no limitation. The most important lesson to be learned is that if the evil spirits recognized Jesus as the Son of God, then so must we. Also, if the demonic possessed man and his evil spirits bowed down before Jesus then it is true that every knee will bow at the name of Jesus (Philippians 2:10 paraphrased).
(b) Jesus’ Authority over Evil Spirits:
The question may be asked are there many devils? The answer is no. There is only one devil but “many demons who serve the devil which make his powers practically universal” (Sunday School commentary). What happen in this section is that as the demonic possessed man saw Jesus approaching far off, he ran and fell on his knees, and the demons recognizing who Jesus was begged Him not to torture them and permit them to be cast into the swine (pigs). Jesus honored their request and they ran into the herd of pigs that drowned themselves in the sea. Jesus being all knowing, ask the demons to identify themselves and they answered—legion.
Lessons learned from this section is that the demons recognize and obeyed Jesus; Second, Satan is alive today and has uncountable evil spirits at his disposal to inflict harm upon all today as during the Bible days. They are unseen with the naked eye, but we see the harm they do. Lastly, “our fight is not with flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers---against wicked spirits in high places” (Sunday School Commentary). God has provided us with our combat gear (Philippians 6:10-18).
(c) Jesus Commissions the Healed Man:
What happed to the healed man? The healed man wanted to remain in the company of Jesus, but Jesus commissioned him to “Go home to thy friends and tell them” (v 19). Why did Jesus make such a request? Jesus knew this man’s testimony would serve a far greater value in spreading the gospel message. As a person’s testimony have a far reaching impact on the hearers. What does this say for believers today? After meeting Jesus we have a testimony and we are to tell it everywhere we go. Be a witness! Jesus looks at worship as part of our Christian experience---the other is service. The question now become, are we in total compliance with what is required of us? It is note worthy to say that if person have ever been healed of any sickness whether physical, emotional, or spiritually have a testimony worth sharing. Witnessing can and will draw others to Christ, as with the demonic possessed man who shared his healing testimony with his community and the healed leper in last week’s lesson.
What lesson or lessons learned from this section? Jesus wants us to share our testimonies with others as our healing is our mountain top experiences. We are worship and serve in our communities. Also, our holy living serves light to others in a sin riddled world. Lastly, we are to believe the words of Jesus as recorded in John 16:33 which states “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” “God said it that settles it”—believe and have faith!
Conclusion:
“God desires for all to be physically, emotionally, and spiritually well.” Regardless of our sickness Christ is the healer. Satan will use many diseases in an attempt to separate us from God and His love, but all believers who know Jesus know Satan has no win. Once healed tell others what Jesus has done in your life.
Let’s close with this question, if you met Jesus would you know Him? The evil spirits knew Him.
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