The writer sees that the worship of idols is inadequate for
moral reasons. If there is no ultimate
judge, morals and ethics are only as strongly held as we choose them to be or
as we obey conscience. If there is no
judgment on moral and ethical issues, no accounting that must be given, there
is no ultimate standard either. I may
not want to act out of step with my values and beliefs but if necessary I can
do so and avoid consequences in some situations. Judeo-Christian belief, however, says that
while consequences may be neither immediate or temporal, there are
consequences. We don't restrain conduct,
however, for fear of eternal punishment.
The writer gets it right when he says that God rules all things in mercy
and "even if we sin we are yours…"
Our righteousness is in knowing Him and not in our actions which we
restrain because we know Him, not only as judge, but as our covenant partner.
The witness here is not of judgment but of the power of
mercy and love. Jesus goes to the
country of the Gerasenes specifically to heal this man. He finds the worst possible case of demon
possession in this wicked, pagan land and displays His power over these spirits
of which the people are in fear. Their
reaction is greater fear for the one whose power is greater than these
spirits. In the same way Jesus got the
disciples' attention in yesterday's Gospel reading, so today He gets the
attention of the people from the Decapolis by commanding these evil spirits. The man had not been healed by anyone there
for however long it had been and we are told it was a "long time" but
Jesus shows up for a few minutes and completely delivers him. What would have happened if they had not
asked Him to leave but rather by what power He acted? They had all the information they needed to
know the Lord, both power and compassion in seeking this man out and acting on
His behalf. Remember the parable of the
sower from earlier in the week?
It is amazing how often we see judgment passed by one
brother over another for things indifferent.
Denominationally we have problems with this very thing. Paul speaks of eating and drinking in
particular here. Some are vegetarians
while others eat meat. There are ethical
considerations to the eating of meat even though the Lord has graciously given
us flesh to eat. We should think about
such things but Christians can differ about this because the Word gives us the
right but also we see that prior to the flood such was not the case. The fall changed everything, even the animal
kingdom. One way is not purer than
another. In all things we are to trust
that our brothers and sisters have made prayerful, conscious decisions about
those things which Scripture does not prohibit.
When Scripture is clear, however, and we see our brothers and sisters
straying from its dictates, we should be quick to speak into the
situation. Sin is still sin.
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