“Go! Demons!”
Matthew 8:28-34
We continue to look at the miracles and ministry of Jesus according to Matthew, in which Jesus demonstrates qualities and power that only God could possess.
The miracle of Matthew 8:28-34 is also recorded in Mark 5 and Luke 8. In those accounts, a single demon-possessed man is mentioned, but in Matthew there are two mentioned. This is not a discrepancy or error, but Mark and Luke mention the one who was most tormented, having broken free from the chains that had bound him. Mark and Luke tell us that the demon-possessed man’s name was “Legion” and there were 2,000 pigs in Mark who were destroyed at Jesus’ command to “GO”! I am going to refer to the man who was possessed in the plural.
Look at Matthew 8:28: “When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, (a principally Gentile region) two men who were demon-possessed (daimonizomai) met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. (a sepulchre, a tomb; comes from the word for memory: There were caves up on the mountain slopes that were off of a tributary near the Sea of Galilee.) They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.”
Matthew 8:29 “And they cried out, saying, "What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?"
The Demoniacs Revelation
A. Now the first question that the demons posed to Jesus would be translated: “What (is there) to us and you?” What business does God and the devil have with each other? The demons clearly recognize that There is no peace accord between God and the devil. Jesus would demonstrate the sharp contrast between Light and darkness, between good and evil, and between God and the devil. There is no light in darkness and the devil and his hosts are never going to strike up a “business deal” with God. They are eternal enemies of God, and will continue to be so.
B. The fact that the demons recognized Jesus as the Son of God is a clear indication that they recognized Jesus’ Person. In warfare, the enemy is usually clearly defined; when the enemy is NOT defined, you have a problem defending yourself as well as attacking and confronting the opposition. The devils recognize Jesus as God, but do not honor Him as God, and they will come disguised as light in order to deceive and destroy, even the elect if possible. (We’ll look at that in the future, Lord willing, in Matthew 24:24: "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect.” Believers and followers of Christ recognize, not only Jesus’ person, but also His Lordship.
C. The second question that the demoniacs asked is: “Have You come here to torment us before the time?" This is a crucial question which demonstrated that they actually recognized and FEARED Jesus’ Power and His Purpose. We looked at that word “torment” before (Basanizo), and I want you to hear all the meanings: “to test (metals) by the touchstone, to question by applying torture, to torture, to vex with grievous pains (of body or mind), to be harassed, distressed of those who at sea are struggling with a head wind”. The noun refers to eternal punishment.
The devil and his demons know that their time is short, and with the appearance of the Messiah, they realize it more than ever. The reason they use the words “before the time”, is that they know there has been an appointed day of reckoning. They know a day has been fixed by God, the day of Judgment, in which all DEMONS and DENIERS of the Lord Jesus Christ will be judged eternally to the hell that God has prepared for them.
Acts 17:30-31 could not be clearer: “Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, He (God) has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man (Jesus) whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead."
D. The demons recognized Jesus’ First Coming and knew the inevitability of His Second COMING. In 1Timothy 4:1, it says: “But the Spirit (of God) explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons.” Demons recognize that their time is short and are STRIVING to deceive in every way possible. Believers, know that the time is short too, and they should be STRIVING to please God all the more and be diligent in spreading the Gospel all the more.
James 2:19 admonishes: “You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.” If demons believe and shudder, then people in their “right minds” should recognize and do the same…BUT MOST DON’T, because THEY HAVE been DECEIVED. Most are no different than the demon possessed man: If you do not have the Holy Spirit, you still have a spirit of unbelief, and you are still doing what these men did: they were living in the tombs of unbelief and despair, opposing God and the things of God, and showed no Fruit of His Spirit.
Jesus’ Revelation
Look at the next verses in Matthew 8:30 “Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. 31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, "If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine." (So the demons are saying, “Hey wait: This isn’t the end yet. Jesus, you haven’t died for sin yet. You haven’t overcome death yet.” Demons know God’s Word and purpose in Christ, and no doubt know that they have been granted a short time after Jesus’ Death and Resurrection into order to deceive and destroy.)
Verse 32 continues: And He (Jesus) said to them, "Go!" And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters (the sea). Verse 33 The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. (They were probably hired hands, afraid for their jobs, and wanted to be the first ones to explain what happened before any rumors got out.) 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.
A. The first thing to note is that Jesus’ MERCY knows no human limitations. Most all the people in this event were Gentiles, not Jews. They were not the “chosen nation”. The demoniac(s) were probably Gentiles as well. There is no sin too bad that can keep you out of the Kingdom of Heaven, where God’s mercy and grace cannot be greater. When Jesus wills to work, it is done, and no human limitations will stop Him.
B. Jesus is Lord over the natural and the spiritual. He is Lord over Creation, the winds and waves (we saw that in the calming of the sea), He is Lord over the Natural, He is Lord over the physical (as we have seen), He is LORD over the spiritual. I thought of Abraham Kuyper’s quotation concerning the Sovereignty of Christ: “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry, "Mine!” All Jesus has to say is “GO!” and two thousands demons move, and move quickly at His command, because He IS LORD over all.
C. The devil, who is the prince of demons has no power over Jesus, the Prince of Peace. Jesus reveals that His Kingdom has indeed arrived and the kingdom of this world has to get going and prepare to move out of the way. JESUS says to the demons: GO. WITHDRAW YOURSELF and let the man be free. In John 11:44, after Jesus called Lazarus from the grave, it says this: 44 The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him GO." (the same Greek word: Hupago).
To be bound to the devil means to be bound to death and darkness. It means to be an enemy of God, but Jesus comes with the command, to “GO”, to release those who are spiritually dead and bound to the grave and to the tombs that will only result in eternal punishment. The demon-possessed cannot seek Jesus; they can’t do anything other than follow the command of the devils: that is the picture of every single sinner until the Spirit of God moves first.
Initially, the demon-possessed people come out as Jesus finishes crossing the sea: Matthew 8 tells us: “Two men who were demon-possessed (daimonizomai) met Him as they were coming out of the tombs.” The word for “met” is not as simple as it may seem. “Hypantaô” (hu-pan-ta-o) is what the military does when they are going to have an oppositional meeting with the enemy. It is not a peace treaty or peace keeping, but the intent is to be confrontational, but when the enemy, the devil, has no power over the Prince of Peace.
D. Jesus proves once again that HIS Kingdom standards do not coincide with the world’s standards. As soon as the demons are released, and the pigs (a picture of the UNCLEAN) meet their demise, the herdsmen run to town in order to relay the story. No doubt, the townspeople knew who Jesus had healed, because THEY probably had bound the demon-possessed in the tombs in the first place for their own safety and security, but there is no indication in the three accounts that they wanted to view the man who had been restored. They wanted Jesus to leave, because He had cost the pig-owners a lot of money, and nobody wanted that to happen to THEM. Jesus showed that God’s care for people supersedes that of pigs even though some people prefer swine to the Savior.
Mark 5:15 gives this account of the townspeople: “They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the "legion "; and they became frightened. 16 Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. 17 And they began to implore Him to leave their region. 18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany * Him. 19 And He did not let him, but He said to him, "Go home to your people and REPORT to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you." Did you hear that?
This miracle and last week’s miracle of Jesus’ calming the sea both contain the image of the sea and the judgment from which God has saved those who have received saving grace and faith. You have to understand that Jesus crossed the “sea” in order to come and heal this man. Jesus crossed the “sea” and “waves of God’s wrath” for sinners. This is a miracle in which the demon-possessed did not come looking for Jesus. It does not speak of the de mon-possessed’s faith, or their request, or their works, but only the mighty power of Jesus. God alone can chase the demons of unbelief away and JESUS is God, that is why He is able to do what God alone can do.
E. If you have received Mercy from the Lord Jesus, then you have to “REPORT” what He has done. The word for “report” in the Greek is “Apaggello” (a-pang-el'-lo) meaning “to proclaim, to make known openly, to declare.” We get the word “evangelize”, and that’s what Jesus told the man to do: “Don’t come with me physically, but go back to your home (oikos). Go back to the people you know and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you. Be an evangelist back at home, right where you live; tell them how God has had mercy on you.”
We are not ALL called to go to a foreign place in order to share what God has done for us but we are called to share it first of all with those around us. We all have a sphere of influence in our lives, and that is where we begin as “evangelists”. First of all, go home and tell them how God has had mercy on you.
I. The Demoniac’s revelation:
A. There is no peace accord between God and the devil.
B. They recognized Jesus’ Person.
C. They feared Jesus’ Power and Purpose.
D. They recognized Jesus’ First Coming and knew the inevitability of His Second.
II. Jesus’ Revelation:
A. Jesus’ Mercy knows no human limitations.
B. Jesus is Lord over the natural and the spiritual.
C. The prince of demons has no power over Jesus, the Prince of Peace.
D. Jesus’ Kingdom standards do not coincide with the world’s standards:
God’s care for people supersedes that of pigs,
even though some people prefer swine to the Savior.
E. Mercy received requires us to “report” what God has done.
