Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. Luke 8:35
What was the first thing that Adam and his wife discovered after they partook of the forbidden fruit? Their nakedness! Before their act of disobedience, they were naked, but they were not ashamed (Genesis 2:25). But they made aprons of fig leaves and hid themselves in their shame. Ever since that time, nakedness and sinfulness have gone hand-in-hand. Even today, strip clubs have the reputation of being the most vile of businesses. And the most degraded and wicked of the rock music performers expose as much of their flesh as the law will allow. Public decency and morality requires that we be clothed in the presence of others. Deviating from this is regarded as antisocial and inappropriate. There is something wrong with people who do not wear clothing. And when those people resume the use of raiment, something has changed for the better. That’s what happened to the man in our text.
The demoniac of the Gadarenes experienced three great changes when he encountered the Lord Jesus, when the demons that had possessed him were gone: he was seated at the feet of Jesus, he was clothed, and he was in his right mind. These were all dramatic changes, and shocked the people who lived in that community. But they are all changes that each of us who are saved have experienced. While he was influenced by the demons, the poor man knew no peace, and ran violently about in his madness. But his release brought him peace, and he assumed the peaceful posture of sitting, something he could not enjoy before. That he could sit at the feet of Jesus was a great blessing that we also have been brought into by our salvation. His peaceful soul could now enjoy the presence and the instruction of his Saviour, just as our peaceful souls can do. The second great miracle was that of being clothed. Before we were saved, we might very well have taken a shameful approach to decency and moral purity. Our actions, our speech, and our companions were wrong. But we are now able to appreciate that we belong to One Who is good and holy, and desires His children to be like Him. The third miracle the demoniac received was sanity. Those of us who have been saved for a number of years often forget just how unreasonable we were in the former days. We can’t understand how people can ignore and reject the Gospel message. It makes no sense to us why people would turn down God’s free offer of a full pardon and a home in Heaven. It seems to us insanity for anyone to hold onto their destructive sins and to continue to follow the broad road to destruction. And it is insanity, when we consider it from our vantage point now. It took a miracle to get us to change our minds.
Seated, clothed, in our right minds! It’s quite the change we have experienced, thanks to our Lord. -Jim MacIntosh