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If one believes the Bible to possess any credibility at all, Jesus must be seen as a person with an unequaled devotion to truth. Likewise, He must be seen as the author of the love that is produced when one wholeheartedly embraces the truth. In fact, He totally epitomizes the love of the truth!

How would someone (such as the Christ) who epitomizes the love of the truth be treated by other human beings? To ask this question another way, how would you expect to be treated if you were able to epitomize the love of the truth? Would you be treated honorably by the world, or would you at times be treated with disdain or even contempt? As much as we might like to think otherwise, someone who fully embraces and exemplifies the love of the truth could expect to be treated much as was the Christ! It is a fairytale world that envisions one who embraces the love of the truth to be honored by the world; quite the contrary, the cold reality of the human story almost demands that such a person be mistreated, maligned, slandered, tortured, and perhaps put to death by the world! A quick journey in this direction with the Christ will bear out these observations.

“When He [Jesus] had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. And suddenly they cried out, saying, 'What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?' Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. So the demons begged Him, saying, 'If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine.' And He said to them, 'Go.' So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water. Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men.” (Matthew 8.28-33).

Wow! What a marvelous event! What power! What compassion! “Never have we seen anything like this!” These are all reactions that one might suppose would follow the miraculous display of Jesus' power over the power of Satan! But what was the actual reaction? You are commended to read the rest of the story. “And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region. So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city.” (Matthew 8.34-9.1). Hardly the reaction that our minds would have hoped for, but nonetheless, real. Jesus did not receive a hero's welcome, though He certainly was one. Neither, as a result of His deeds, was He received into the city as a local celebrity. Rather, He was unceremoniously requested to leave the area! With this turn of events, He had little choice but to leave and go “to His own city!”

In future messages we will continue to explore how the world treated the Man who perfectly exemplified the love of the truth. The reader is exhorted to compare the reactions to Jesus noted in the Bible with the reaction of today's populous to our leaders and future leaders. If someone has the love of the truth, how will he/she be treated?

Questions:

1. What power did Jesus demonstrate by casting the demons out of the man?

2. Why would the locals react the way they did (see Luke 8.37 before answering)?

3. Should one who possesses the love of the truth today be expected to be treated any better than Jesus was?

4. If a person today is treated almost universally with great respect and admiration, is there a valid conclusion that can be drawn about that person and his/her love of the truth?

"Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life" from Tom Kelley

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