He suffered not the devils to speak

I am always so grateful, and awestruck, when something new appears in a familiar Bible passage. There is more to learn as we take the time and make the effort to work with our Bible lesson every day.

This morning I read the whole lesson on Man, loving all the references to 'perfect' and 'perfection' and making a note of where each of the synoyms Mrs. Eddy has given us for God has a special place in each of the seven sections. Today I am working with Section 4.

This section features God as Principle, the law of ever present good. It starts with ideas from Psalms 19....the law of the Lord is perfect....the testimony of the Lord is sure....the statutes of the Lord are right. Words that relate to law and Principle. Jesus had come to Galilee and many followed him there to listen to his teachings. That evening, when the heat of the day had passed, the people of that city gathered at the door of the house where Jesus was staying. They brought many who were sick and those who seemed possessed of devils. Jesus healed those that were sick and cast out the devils. This is the part that moved me today.

When he cast out the devils he suffered them not to speak.  There have been times when I have felt in need of Christian Science treatment, specific prayer by a Christian Science practitioner to support me while I worked through a claim or challenge. Over the years I have had many healings on my own as well. What I like about this passage....he suffereth not the devils to speak....is that Jesus commanded those suggesters of illness to be silent. He cast them out, removed them from the person's thought and body and they were not going to speak to them again.

What a comforting thought! When we have turned to the Christ for help and gotten our healing there can be no relapse or return of the claim. Christ proved it had no basis in truth. God has not created it or caused it. It had no authority. It certainly did not have a voice that could demand to be heard or whisper 'I'm back' or 'I'm still here'. Error is nothing and it only has what reality we give it. Once you see an illusion for what it is, you cannot be fooled again. Principle, the law of ever present good, over rules anything that claims to be unlike good.

And it gives us the power and dominion to 'suffer not the devils to speak'.