Isn’t it amazing the things we can imagine? The brothers just know that this is going to
go badly so they come up with the scenario that they are brought in for a meal
so that “he may assault us and fall upon us to make us servants and seize our
donkeys.” Did the man need a pretense to
do this or does he have the power and authority to do it? The steward’s response to their entreaty was
interesting, God, your God and your father’s God, put money in your sacks, I
received your money. It is certainly
possible that another returned their money without the steward’s knowledge but
does he know about their God and the con Joseph is running on his brothers? We see the fulfillment of Joseph’s dream, his
brothers bowing before him not once but twice, the second time prostrating
themselves before him. At the meal they
had their fill but Benjamin’s portion was five times the rest. Would jealousy rear its ugly head again?
We see the extraordinary authority of Jesus in this story
and we also see the demons recognizing and submitting to His authority. People didn’t submit to Him necessarily but
the demonic spirits certainly did. Here
they come pleading with Him not to torment them and begging not to be sent out
of this country (what made this country so hospitable and desirable for
demons?) and He gave them the permission they sought, to enter the pigs. The herdsmen of the pigs were going to have
some explaining to do and they begged not the demons to leave but the one with
power and authority over the demons. The
power they had seen caused them to fear Him without worshipping Him. Their reaction to Jesus was appropriate in
fearing due to the power to heal and the power over the demons, but their
conclusion was wrong in not seeking Him and bowing before Him.
“Let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to
him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the
churches.” That is often the most
difficult command we are given. We want
the life someone else is called to, we truly believe the grass is greener over
there and are not often content with our own lot. The brothers of Joseph had to deal with that
in the feast when they saw Benjamin’s portion.
The herdsmen and men of the Decapolis had to sort out whether they
wanted what the demon-possessed man had received and they chose to ask Jesus to
leave. We are called to bloom where we
are planted. Does that mean that we
should not seek advancement in our careers, no, but it means that shouldn’t be
our primary concern. Joseph hadn’t
sought the job he had but the Lord called him to the work. Paul was called to a difficult mission and
ministry of reaching the Gentiles while fighting off Jewish enemies of the
Gospel. Where are we fighting against
the Lord’s will in our lives?
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