We All Have Demons
We have heard many Gospel stories of Jesus casting out the demons from within possessed people. The man in today’s Gospel reading was possessed by many demons for a long time which forced him to live a terribly lonely, destructive, miserable life among the tombs. Today, we may not experience demons the way they were described in the Bible. We may not be possessed the way this man was. But we all certainly have some demons that are preventing us from being the people that God intends us to be.
The possessed man in the gospel had demons that caused self-destructive behavior. He felt trapped by the demons, was forced away from society and unable to live a normal family life. Today, we are surrounded by demons that can have these same effects on our lives. Our demons can come in many different forms, including mental illness, addictions, obsessions, and destructive habits. When severe, these demons can take control and destroy our lives. When we are faced with these demons, we must do what this man did. He asked for Jesus to help him. “He cried out and fell down before Him.” We too must do the same. We cannot do it alone. We need God’s help and we need the help of other people. We need to pray for the strength to admit and acknowledge our demons. And we need to pray for the courage to ask for help to overcome and defeat the ailments that possess us. We must not be afraid.
The people from town that witnessed this miracle were afraid. They were afraid of the demons, afraid of the possessed man, and now they were afraid of the Lord’s power. Not only did Jesus cast out the demons, but he healed the man. The man believed in the Lord and was completely cured and his life was fully restored. This scared the people because they had never seen such power. Never fear or doubt the power of God. It is only when we pray and ask for help from God and our loved ones, that we can be healed from the demons that possess us. We must set aside our fears and open our hearts and let the Lord in so we can witness all His miracles.