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JANUARY 11

8:21 let me first go and bury my father. This 8:24 suddenly a great tempest arose. The
does not mean that the man’s father was Sea of Galilee is more than 690 feet below sea
already dead. The phrase “I must bury my level.To the north,Mt.Hermon rises 9,200 feet,
father”was a common figure of speech,mean- and from May to October strong winds often
ing “Let me wait until I receive my inheritance.” sweep through the narrow surrounding
gorges into this valley, causing extremely sud-
den and violent storms. He was asleep. Just
before the disciples saw one of the most awe-
the other side. Then a certain scribe came some displays of His deity, they were given a
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and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You touching picture of His humanity. He was so
wherever You go.” weary that not even the violent tossing of the
And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes boat awakened Him—even though the disci-
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and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of ples feared they would drown (v. 25).
Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
Then another of His disciples said to Him,
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“Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”
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But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let out, saying, “What have we to do with You,
the dead bury their own dead.” Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here
Now when He got into a boat, His disciples to torment us before the time?”
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followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest 30 Now a good way off from them there was a
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arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered herd of many swine feeding. So the demons
with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His begged Him, saying, “If You cast us out, per-
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disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, mit us to go away into the herd of swine.”
“Lord, save us! We are perishing!” 32 And He said to them, “Go.” So when they
But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, had come out, they went into the herd of
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O you of little faith?” Then He arose and swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine
rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was ran violently down the steep place into the sea,
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a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, and perished in the water.
“Who can this be, that even the winds and the 33 Then those who kept them fled; and they
sea obey Him?” went away into the city and told everything,
When He had come to the other side, to including what had happened to the demon-
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the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him possessed men. And behold, the whole city
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two demon-possessed men, coming out of the came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw
tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one Him, they begged Him to depart from their
could pass that way. And suddenly they cried region.
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DAY 11:What does it mean to be demon-possessed?
Matthew 8:16 and 8:28 refer to individuals who were demon-possessed. This means “demo-
nized,” or under the internal control of a demon. All of the cases of demonization dealt with by
Christ involved the actual indwelling of demons who utterly controlled the bodies of their victims,
even to the point of speaking through them (Mark 5:5–9), causing derangement (John 10:20), vio-
lence (Luke 8:29), or rendering them mute (Mark 9:17–22).
From Matthew 8:29,it is evident that even the demons not only recognized the deity of Jesus,
but also knew there was a divinely appointed time for their judgment and He would be their judge.
Their eschatology was factually correct, but it is one thing to know the truth and quite another
thing to love it (see James 2:19).Luke 8:31 relates they pleaded not to be sent into the abyss,mean-
ing the pit, the underworld, the prison of bound demons who disobeyed (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6). They
knew Jesus had the power and authority to send them there if He desired.
Deliverance from demons and healing were a fulfillment of the words spoken by Isaiah the
prophet concerning the atonement (Is. 53:4,5). Christ bore both the guilt and the curse of sin (see
Gal.3:13).Both physical healing and ultimate victory over death are guaranteed by Christ’s atoning
work, but these will not be fully realized until the very end (1 Cor. 15:26).

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