Luke 8:28 “When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before Him, and said in a loud voice, “What do You have to do with me, Jesus, You Son of the Most High God? I beg You, don’t torment me!”
The forces of darkness are not well understood. On one hand that is a good thing. Delving too deeply into demonology is not only dangerous, but useless. However, on the other hand, evil is not understood as well as it should be by most because good is not understood as well as it should be by most. A proper understanding of the good, will aid in perception about evil.
This is not widely accepted, but it is true. You don’t have to be a master of evil to really know evil. In fact, those who might call themselves lords of the darkness really have no idea what they are playing with. Scripture makes it clear that those who really understand the operations of the dark ones are those who are well acquainted with the light. Those who belong to Christ and cling close to Him have much more perception concerning evil than anyone else.
The demonic forces here did what most would not expect them to do. They proclaimed that Jesus was the Son of the Most High. Why? Why would they do this? Wouldn’t that be counterproductive? Yes and no. I say yes because they really had no choice but to submit to the Lord Jesus. So in that since they had no hope of doing anything beneficial to their cause. But no because this was still consistent with their mission. If they recognized Him though on the surface it would seem to bring glory to Him, it actually brought glory to them.
How so? The answer is a very important concept to grasp. God cannot truly be glorified by anyone without His involvement. For instance, if a person who is antagonistic to God praises Him that does not directly bring Him glory. Now, indirectly, everything brings Him glory one way or the other. That is because He is so powerful that He can work out even the bad to turn out for the good. But, the proper way to bring Him praise and glory is to do it in accordance with His will. Thus, this demonic personality did not glorify Jesus, at least not willingly.
What about the boon the demons ask about torment? What was their purpose? Were they just afraid? So, once again we have to understand what is going on here. The forces of darkness are ALWAYS afraid. Don’t forget that. They exist in absolute dread of The One Who Is, our God, the True and Living One. The devil himself has never yet for one moment stopped being absolutely scared half out of his mind. He is insane with fear. Everything he does is motivated by it. And, he cannot, nor will he ever, stop.
These dark ones asked Jesus not to torment them for two reasons. First, they knew He could do much more that torment them! They were not completely sure of His intentions, but they knew His capabilities. The devil himself, I am convinced, did not fully grasp the magnitude of what Christ was about to accomplish. And why, because he couldn’t actually conceive of anything that loving or beautiful. Second, the demons hoped to cast a bad light upon Christ. To give the picture of Jesus vexing this personality implied a limitation in Christ. He needs not to test or try the forces of darkness. He needs only to command and they must obey. Much like their master, they were subtly tempting Christ. But, He wasn’t about to fall for it.
Always remember one very important thing. The devil is a showman. And all of his minions are as well. Their most diabolical schemes will never follow the line of our expectations. This is why we need to ready the panoply of God and stand firm in resistance.
Heavenly Father, You are so powerful that all that this world and its worst cannot even be compared with Your little finger! You are so great and wise and good, that the most studied in the arts of evil are completely caught off guard by things that the least of Your children understand readily. You are the Great and Mighty God of the Universe! You alone are able to understand the deep things of this creation of Yours. Only You can truly conceive of anything outside of it. In the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.