You're Never Too Old to Try
Bob Wickizer
Galatians 3:23-29; Luke 8:26-39
You're never too old to try
Last week we circled back to the Pentecost gospel from a week earlier, and we highlighted the idea that you, those of you sitting in the pew, the membership list of this church, your families, Friends, social networks, and people you have yet to meet - all of you and then some ARE the church. And we are promised that we will do greater works than Jesus. It's a staggering thought and worth repeating.
Today, we will talk about crazy people, pigs jumping off a cliff, and the greater works that you are or will be doing. Are you with me?
Our miracle story today involves Jesus exorcizing the demons out of a man possessed by them. The term for demon in Jesus' day is what we would call "mental illness." It is fair to say that anyone who would meet this man then or now would say he is certifiably crazy. There are other, more colorful expressions that I cannot repeat here.
One good practice when reading the bible is to put yourself in the shoes of each character in the story including Jesus. Ask yourself how would you feel or behave in that situation? The story we are given says the swineherds and villagers feared this man and presumably, the spirits that possessed him. That's understandable, the first century world had no understanding of modern medicine, psychiatry, or mental illness. From their point of view, the Gerasene demoniac was inhabited by bad spirits. Spirits you would want to steer clear of.
Now the revealing part of this story is not what the text SAYS. It is what the text DOESN'T SAY.
Imagine you are a swine herder or the owner of the swine. How would you feel if you watched your entire annual income go jump into the lake? Here we might cautiously interpolate something into the text. Besides their justifiable fear of this crazy man, I imagine that the swine herders, the farmers, and the whole village are seriously ticked off at Jesus. ...
Bob Wickizer
Galatians 3:23-29; Luke 8:26-39
You're never too old to try
Last week we circled back to the Pentecost gospel from a week earlier, and we highlighted the idea that you, those of you sitting in the pew, the membership list of this church, your families, Friends, social networks, and people you have yet to meet - all of you and then some ARE the church. And we are promised that we will do greater works than Jesus. It's a staggering thought and worth repeating.
Today, we will talk about crazy people, pigs jumping off a cliff, and the greater works that you are or will be doing. Are you with me?
Our miracle story today involves Jesus exorcizing the demons out of a man possessed by them. The term for demon in Jesus' day is what we would call "mental illness." It is fair to say that anyone who would meet this man then or now would say he is certifiably crazy. There are other, more colorful expressions that I cannot repeat here.
One good practice when reading the bible is to put yourself in the shoes of each character in the story including Jesus. Ask yourself how would you feel or behave in that situation? The story we are given says the swineherds and villagers feared this man and presumably, the spirits that possessed him. That's understandable, the first century world had no understanding of modern medicine, psychiatry, or mental illness. From their point of view, the Gerasene demoniac was inhabited by bad spirits. Spirits you would want to steer clear of.
Now the revealing part of this story is not what the text SAYS. It is what the text DOESN'T SAY.
Imagine you are a swine herder or the owner of the swine. How would you feel if you watched your entire annual income go jump into the lake? Here we might cautiously interpolate something into the text. Besides their justifiable fear of this crazy man, I imagine that the swine herders, the farmers, and the whole village are seriously ticked off at Jesus. ...
There are 6310 characters in the full content. This excerpt only shows a 2000 character sample of the full content.
Price: $5.99 or 1 credit
