SCRIPTURE: Matthew 8:28-34 (ESV)
DATE: 7-30-23
It’s good to be with all of you. Thank you to pastor Blair and the staff here at Living Hope for the invitation to be with you all today. I bring you greetings from the congregation I have the joy to serve at Gateway Church. Something I tell the folks of Gateway — every time I stand before them — are the words God loves you and I love you too. I tell them this because no one hears the words God loves you or I love you enough. So — if you forget everything else I say today — remember that God loves you and that I love you too.
INTRODUCTION
You’re in a series titled Transformed by Jesus — a series looking at chapters 8 and 9 of Matthew’s gospel. In previous weeks, you’ve been learning what it means to trust and follow Jesus and — today — we’re going to encounter a truth that I hope will be a word of comfort to you. What truth? The truth that Jesus rescues.
So — if you have your Bible — please turn to Matthew chapter 8. We’ll be looking at verses 28-34. And while you’re finding Matthew chapter 8 — know that today’s gospel story gives us a glimpse of Jesus’ power — but our text is a rescue story. And though it contains a rescue from the demonic — know that the power we see in our verses is the same power Jesus uses to rescue people today — which sets up our big idea — which is this:
Because Jesus has the greatest power of all, we must rely upon him to rescue us. Because Jesus has the greatest power of all, we must rely upon him to rescue us.
Now I know not everyone believes in a spiritual world or the demonic. There are many people who say they believe only what their eyes can see, but even that’s not quite true. Love — for instance — is something many people believe in even though we can’t see it. And — if love is too sappy for you — there are many people who believe that death is it — after you die — you simply cease to exist. But this belief is unprovable — it’s unverifiable. What happens after death isn’t something we can see — which means — regardless of what you believe about what comes after death — your belief is based on faith.
Now — even though there are people who don’t believe in a spiritual world — my guess is that most of us do — or — at the very least — you have a curiosity about it. The reason why I say this is because our culture has a high interest in the spiritual world. All you have to do is flip through options on Netflix or Disney plus and you’ll quickly notice that our culture loves the spiritual world — we have a fascination with it. It doesn’t matter how bad the writing or acting is — if you throw in angels or demons or wizards it seems you’ll have an audience. But — for us — it’s both wise and helpful to get God’s perspective on all of this. Interest in the supernatural is already part of our culture — but a biblical perspective and understanding is what’s lacking. And the Christian faith teaches that Jesus has power greater than what’s found in the spiritual world — and there are some implications we should draw from this truth.
And I’d ask you — even if you don’t consider yourself to be a Christian — to give the Bible’s perspective about Jesus’ power a fair hearing because maybe — just maybe — it will help you better understand the spiritual world you’re curious about and what true power is actually like.
GO TO HIM
And here’s the first thing we learn about Jesus’ power. Because Jesus has the greatest power of all, we must go to him with our problems. We must go to him with our problems. Look with me in verse one.
And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. 29 And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” 30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” 32 And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. – Matthew 8:28-32 (ESV)
Because Jesus has the greatest power of all, we must go to him with our problems.
Now we’ve all got problems — but you’ve got to admit — the men in our story are not having a good day. Jesus and his disciples have just crossed the Sea of Galilee by boat and — as soon as they arrive on the opposite shore — they encounter these two guys who obviously have a serious problem. Matthew describes them as being demon-possessed — which makes us think of all kinds of images from Hollywood movies or Stephen King novels.
But — before we go any further — let’s address two potentially confusing details. First, Matthew tells us that there are two guys who are demonized — but if you read Mark and Luke’s account of this story — only one man is mentioned. So what do we do about that? Here’s a simple answer: Just because Mark and Luke mention one guy — well that doesn’t mean only one guy was demonized. All it tells us is that Mark and Luke focus their accounts on one guy. Matthew mentions two guys — but his account includes a lot less detail than Mark and Luke’s — whose focus seems to be on how one guy responds to Jesus’ rescue. We’ll be going back and forth between Matthew and Mark’s accounts of this story — but don’t let the one versus two guys detail trip you up.
Here’s the second potentially confusing detail — and this goes back to our view of the demonic being influenced by Hollywood — but — brace yourselves — for I know this will be hard to believe: Sometimes Hollywood makes up stuff that isn’t based on reality. Writers, actors, directors, and so on use this thing called their imagination. So it’s a bit silly to allow our beliefs about the spiritual world — and I’m including Christians and non-Christians here — but often our ideas about the spiritual world and the demonic are based mainly — and for some of us — entirely on Hollywood.
But here’s some clarity to help us understand what’s going on. The word “demon-possessed” — in our verses — can mean anything from “being possessed by a demon, to having an illness or disability because of a demon, to being controlled by a demon.” And — in the Bible — oftentimes it’s hard to tell the difference in how the word is being used.
- Is the demon in the person — this is Hollywood’s go to supernatural storyline?
- Is the person being controlled by the demon — but the demon isn’t in the individual?
- Or is the demon just manipulating someone to do certain things — like making them ill so they can’t do something because they’re sick?
- It can be hard to tell — yet — most folks have only one way of interpreting the idea of being demon-possessed — thanks Hollywood!
But here’s what we do know: Jesus has greater power than the demonic. And apparently these demon-possessed guys see something in Jesus because they approach him — they’ve got a problem — and they go to Jesus with their problem.
Now — from Mark’s gospel — when know that at least one of the guys — when he gets to Jesus — he falls down at his feet. It’s as if he recognizes the power that Jesus has — and — instinctively knows that the power Jesus has is a power that’s to be honored. It’s a power you fall down in front of — just as people would bow down in front of kings in ages past.
Something else Mark lets us know is that these men have been tormented by the demonic for a long time. They’ve been living in isolation from the rest of the community — living among the tombs — where the dead were buried — a place where only the poorest of the poor would live — those who had no hope lived out at the tombs.
And — again from Mark’s gospel — Matthew just doesn’t give us all of the details that Mark does — but from Mark we discover that one of the men was so desperate to have the demonic removed from him that he — and this is a bit graphic — but he was so desperate he would cut himself in an effort to get rid of the demons that were tormenting him.
And when these men approach Jesus — not only do they recognize Jesus’ power — but so do the demons — and the demons confront Jesus. Matthew simply records the demons’ questions: “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
Once again Mark is helpful as he records Jesus asking the demonic for its name. And we’re told the name is Legion — which is more likely describing how many demons were present in these men’s lives than a demon’s actual name. But this name — Legion — helps us understand what happens to the herd of pigs. Why do thousands of pigs jump to their death into the sea? Because there was a lot of demonic activity happening to these men.
Which leads to another question and — for some of us — this is the most important question of all. Why did Jesus let the pigs die? I mean Jesus just killed Ms. Piggy — or Piglet — if he’s your favorite pig — or Wilbur — for all of you Charlotte’s Web fans — Ms. Piggy, Piglet, and Wilbur just jumped off the cliff — we, we, weeing all the way to their death — or at least that’s what we envision in our minds, right? And we think, “Why did the little piggies have to die?”
Though we’ve been having some fun — know that this is not a question to be dismissed. Why did Jesus send the demons into the pigs? Two reasons.
First, it wasn’t time for these demons to be eternally defeated — remember — the demons did ask, “Have you come here to torment us before the time?” These demons will be eternally defeated — but that time will come later. Yet — it’s interesting to observe how the Bible describes the eventual defeat of these demons — along with Satan — their demonic leader. In Revelation chapter twenty we read, and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. – Revelation 20:10 (ESV)
The pigs — jumping to their death into the sea — foreshadows the destiny of these demons. One day they will be thrown into a fiery lake for all eternity — but the time for their eternal destruction had not yet come.
The second reason why Jesus sends the demons into the pigs is to show the destructive nature of the demonic. For instance, in the death of the pigs we see the violence the demons were doing to the two men. An entire herd of pigs is destroyed — that’s the nature of the demonic. Destruction. Violence. Death — which should be a warning to all of us about messing around with the demonic. And — Jesus wants us to see the nature of the demonic — so he sends the demons into the pigs.
But don’t miss this: Even with the amount of power these demons have in creating chaos and destruction — Jesus has greater power than these demons. Jesus commands them and the demons obey — now that’s power. And because Jesus has the greatest power of all — like the men in our story — we must go to him with our problems.
Now I don’t know everything going on in your life — but here’s what I know from this story. These men had no one. In Mark’s gospel we read how…
- No one could tie them up.
- No one could keep them bound with chains.
- No one could help them.
- The townspeople resorted to leaving them isolated and all alone in the tombs.
- These men had no one until Jesus came to rescue them.
So if you feel like you’re ready to give up on life because no one has been able to help you with your marriage, or no one’s been able to help you overcome that addiction, or no one’s been able to help you get over your anger — like the men in our story — you need an encounter with the power of Jesus. You may feel all alone and that no one can help you — but there is One Person who can help you because he has power capable of rescuing you from all of your problems. So go to Jesus with your problems — go to him in the Bible — go to him in prayer — go to him and let his power be the source of your rescue — go to Jesus with your problems.
RESPOND TO HIM
“Come on Josh. Maybe that simple kind of advice works over at Gateway — but I do read my Bible and I do pray — is that all there is to being rescued by Jesus because — if so — I don’t think it’s working for me?” You’re right — there’s more to being rescued — which is what we find next in our verses. Because Jesus has the greatest power of all, we must respond to him in faith. We must respond to Jesus in faith. Look with me in verse thirty-three.
The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region. – Matthew 8:33-34 (ESV)
“Well that doesn’t look like a response of faith.” You’re right, but Mark tells us that…
As he (Jesus) was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed with demons begged him that he might be with him. 19 And Jesus did not permit him but said to him, “Go home to your friends and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.” 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled. – Mark 5:18-20 (ESV)
With Mark’s help — the faith of one of the healed men is pretty obvious — we see his response in verses eighteen through twenty — he begs Jesus to let him become a disciple. “Let me be with you — let me become one of your close followers,” the man pleads. But Jesus tells him no. Instead, Jesus tells him to go and tell everyone in the surrounding towns what the Lord has done for him. “Go tell everyone you meet how merciful God has been to you — tell them the Good News that God’s power is life changing.” And the man responds in simple obedience or — what we’d call — faith.
But — in the man’s response — we also see that not only has he been rescued from the demonic — he also believes that Jesus is God. How so? When Jesus tells him to go and tell everyone what the Lord has done for you, what does the man do — and the word “Lord” — here — means “God” by the way — so Jesus tells him to go and tell everyone what God has done for you. But what does the man do — how does he respond? He goes and tells everyone what Jesus had done for him — he tells people about the mercy and power of Jesus.
And I love how Mark tells us that everyone who heard him “marveled” at what he said — they were mesmerized — they were in awe — his story was completely unexpected. The man had been rescued by Jesus’ power and he responded to Jesus in faith — believing him to be God — the Great Rescuer — and he went out telling everyone about Jesus. Like I said — this is the obvious response of faith.
The not so obvious response of faith is what we see in the crowd — the crowd also responds in faith — just not faith in Jesus. When the townspeople hear what had happened to the pigs and the men — they quickly come out to Jesus — and I want you to notice that they beg him as well. One of the healed men begged Jesus to let him become his disciple — but the townspeople — having seen the results of Jesus’ power to rescue — they beg him to leave. They’re afraid of him. They don’t know what to do with his power. They don’t trust him. They respond to Jesus by rejecting him.
And here we see something we all do when we encounter Jesus’ power. We either respond to him in faith — trusting him to rescue us — asking him to make us his disciple and doing whatever he asks of us — or we respond by rejecting him and putting our faith in something else to be our rescuer. You see — and this is true for all of us — we either trust in Jesus’ power to rescue us or we trust in the power of something else to be our rescuer.
But here’s what both the Bible and life teach us and — Christian or not — you know this is true. Whatever “it” is — whatever the thing is — or whoever the person is — that you put your faith in to be your rescuer — if it’s not Jesus — eventually it fails you. Eventually you discover that their power isn’t all that powerful — it’s not reliable — it can’t be trusted. And the terrible thing is — and let me just warn you because this is how it always happens — whatever it is you’re trusting in — if it’s not Jesus — it’s going to fail you at the exact moment you’re in most need of being rescued. You don’t even know when that will be — or what the situation will be like — but nothing can measure up to the “rescuing power of Almighty God” except the rescuing power of Almighty God. Your marriage can’t. Your kids can’t. Your health can’t. Your beauty can’t. Your job can’t. Popularity can’t. The latest gadgets can’t. Nothing and no one has the power to rescue you — except Jesus — thus — we must respond to him in faith.
RECEIVE HIM
Finally…Because Jesus has the greatest power of all, we must receive him as our substitute. We must receive him as our substitute.
Now — this isn’t as obvious from our text as the first two points — but this is where hope’s found — this is where your life can be transformed — this is where unimaginable joy is discovered — this is where Jesus’ power is made personal for you. And this is why I’m thankful not only for Matthew’s account of this story — but am thankful that both Luke and Mark record it as well.
In Luke’s recording of our story, the man’s described as being “healed” and — the word for “healed” — that Luke uses — is a word often translated as “saved.”
- As in “believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved,” kind of saving.
- The “you are healed for all eternity” kind of saving.
- The “spiritually dead being made alive — the lost being found — the child of wrath becoming a child of God” — kind of saving.
So this man is healed in the greatest sense of the term — he experiences the rescuing power of Christ and is saved. Then he’s sent out — almost as a precursor to what the disciples would one day be told to do — go to the ends of the earth proclaiming the Gospel — he went out to the surrounding towns proclaiming to others the Good News about Jesus.
- But have you ever asked, “How could Jesus heal this man?”
- How could Jesus save this man?
- How could this man believe in Jesus — in such a way that — not only was his demonic possession cured — but his eternal damnation reversed?
The answer is that Jesus became his substitute.
I described this earlier — but listen again to the man’s condition prior to Jesus rescuing him. In Mark’s gospel we read…He (the demonized man) lived among the tombs. And no one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain, 4 for he had often been bound with shackles and chains, but he wrenched the chains apart, and he broke the shackles in pieces. No one had the strength to subdue him. 5 Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out and cutting himself with stones. – Mark 5:3-5 (ESV)
When we first meet this man he’s all alone — he’s isolated — he’s abandoned by everyone. And the hope for all of us is that what Jesus did for this man — he’s done for us. Jesus substituted himself for this man — he took this man’s place — when he found himself all alone, isolated, and abandoned by everyone — even his closest friends — when he hung on a cross to die.
- The man was out among the tombs — that’s where he lived — where dead men are laid to rest. Jesus took this man’s place when — after he had died — his body was placed in a tomb and was laid to rest.
- The man spent day after day crying out in torment and pain — he was desperate to be rescued from the pain he experienced — pain from which he found no relief — and Jesus gave him that relief. Jesus could rescue him — because he — Jesus — would one day cry out in desperation — in great torment and pain — saying, “My God, My God why have you forsaken Me” as he experienced the wrath of God being poured out on him for the sins of all mankind. Yet Jesus experienced no rescue from the pain of God’s judgment — for your sins and mine — when he substituted himself in our place.
- The demonized man was so desperate to be rescued that he would cut himself in an attempt to put an end to the torment of an unbearable existence. Jesus took this man’s place when his back was cut open as the Roman soldiers whipped him over and over and over again — an unbearable experience that weakened Jesus so much that he was unable to carry his cross on the way to his execution.
- And the man was up on a mountain — when we first met him — this was his place of torment. Yet Jesus — in his great love for this man — healed him at great cost to himself. For the cross Jesus was crucified on was located up on a mountain so the crowd could easily see him. And they mocked him — he was left completely exposed to the ridicule of people who did not believe in his power or see the beauty of his sacrifice — Jesus suffered the humiliation of being gazed upon by those who were completely unaware that he was offering himself as a sacrifice on their behalf — as a substitute for their sins so he could be their Rescuer.
CONCLUSION
But know that the power Jesus has is not just a power that can heal us — it’s not just a power that can bring us comfort — it’s not just a power that offers us freedom from our addictions or isolation or even freedom from the demonic — his is a power that will judge us. And one day, Jesus will return as Judge and each of us will have to give him an answer to questions like: Did you believe in me? Did you receive my death as the payment for the penalty of your sin? Did you receive me as your substitute? Did you respond to me in faith? Did you run to me with your problems — including your greatest problem — your sin against me? Did you come to me for your rescue?
You see, Jesus’ power is greater than all other powers. Powers on Earth and powers in Heaven. Powers seen and powers invisible. And with the curiosity that our culture has with the spiritual world — it’d be wise to seek out the One who’s more powerful than anything Hollywood and our imaginations can come up with — the One who is all-powerful.
His name is Jesus. And his power is the greatest power of all. His is a power that transforms lives — therefore we must rely upon his power to rescue us. Let’s pray.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank you for reminding us that Jesus’ power is greater than all other powers — those seen and those not seen. And — Jesus — not only are you all-powerful — you are good, kind, and loving — so we can trust you with all of our problems — we can trust that you’ll use your power for our good as we respond to you in faith — faith made possible because you substituted yourself on our behalf. You lived for us, died for us, satisfied God’s wrath for us, and defeated death for us so that we can have great confidence in knowing that your power has rescued us.
Spirit of God, help all of us to respond to Jesus in faith. Some trusting in him for the first time for their salvation. Some trusting in Jesus with a major life decision. Others trusting Jesus to find us on the other side of the lake where we’re isolated and all alone — tormented and in despair — in desperate need for someone to come and rescue us. Spirit, help us trust that Jesus has heard our cries and has promised to come near to all who call out to him.
Father, Son, and Spirit, thank you for these undeserved graces in our lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
BENEDICTION
May you go trusting in Jesus’ power to rescue you. Amen.