Welcome to The MHB Podcast. This is Michael Baun. And welcome to my 203rd episode. In this episode we’re going to continue our study of the book of Matthew. We are in chapter 8. I think we’ll finish chapter 8 in this episode. So far we’ve discussed Jesus cleansing a leper, His discourse with the centurion which gave us some insight into a godly perspective on sickness and disease, and in the previous episode we unpacked the cost of discipleship. In this episode we’ll see Jesus calm the storm — another one of His most famous miracles. Then we’ll see Him heal two men possessed by demons. Let’s begin with verses 23-27:
Mat 8:23 When He got into the boat, His disciples followed Him.
Mat 8:24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being covered with the waves; but Jesus Himself was asleep.
Mat 8:25 And they came to Him and woke Him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!”
Mat 8:26 He *said to them, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.
Mat 8:27 The men were amazed, and said, “What kind of a man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”
In the previous episode we talked about how Christ’s ministry was not meant to remain in one place forever. In the same way, the gospel has a nomadic element to it. Yes you can (and probably should) put down roots and invest into your hometown community. But until Christ returns there will always be a need to send workers into dark places bearing the light of the good news of Jesus. That’s what we see happen when Christ gives sailing orders to His disciples — that they might cross the sea of Galilee (also called lake Tiberias) into a land which was part of the territory of the tribe of Gad. That is the place where Jesus would rescue a man who was possessed by a legion of demons.
It would have been no factor for Christ to take His disciples into this territory by a land route, but crossing the sea would give Him the opportunity to show them how all power belongs to Him — even power over the weather. Enduring a storm in the midst of the sea is far more dangerous than trying to bunker down on land. At sea you have nowhere to hide and your life depends on the integrity of your vessel.
There are few places on the planet where you’ll feel more alone than when you’re stranded at sea. But even in the vast openness of the ocean Jesus is right there alongside you. His omnipresence is no less real in these places. We have a colloquialism we use for people who are extremely lonely as we say, “they’re out on an island.” At the loneliest moments in your life you still have a Savior you can trust in and pray to and that is a truth you should always reflect on.
The disciples who were with Jesus in the boat when they crossed the sea were career fishermen — they had spent most of their lives on the water. Even these professional mariners were scared to death of being caught in a bad storm. The God we serve faced this terrifying circumstance with unflinching peace and sobriety. In fact He would have slept through it if His disciples had no woken Him up. It wasn’t like they were protected by a state-of-the-art ship either. They would have been in a very average boat afforded by the humble income of fishermen.
You’ll notice how the twelve disciples stuck close enough to Jesus to follow Him into a boat crossing a sea which may or may not have shown signs of an impending storm. This made His inner circle distinct from the many followers who chose to stay on land where there was more certain, more solid ground to stand on. In our walk with Jesus we should be ready to follow Him into uncertainty and even into dangerous places. I don’t think there is virtue in pointless suffering, I don’t think flagellating yourself makes you more holy. But I do think comfort presents the danger of complacency.
An important truth about the life of a Christian is that the path Jesus is calling you to walk is by definition the best path you can walk. God may be calling you onto dangerous roads or into circumstances of privation — but disobeying this call will lead you into territory much worse. It’s better to live with unfavorable circumstances while maintaining the favor of God than it is to enrich yourself at the expense of godliness. The most certain way to guarantee eternal peace with Jesus is to start following Him now in the present moment. Whether into a prison or into a palace, God’s path is always the correct path.
Jesus warned His disciples that if they choose to follow Him they can count on suffering through difficulties and challenges. The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. As they boarded the ship and accompanied Him into the sea, they began to see this warning come to life.
A very great storm arose while Christ and His disciples were aboard the boat. What’s immediately interesting about this storm is that Christ could have easily prevented it and ensured safe, relaxing travel for his disciples. But so often in scripture the miracles of God and the challenges He allows His people to walk through have an underlying purpose. If Christ had prevented the storm altogether there would have been no opportunity to glorify Himself and confirm their faith in Him. I don’t know how many of your difficulties are given to you by God with the express purpose of confirming your faith — but I do know it’s within God’s character to do that. Jesus said, “In this world you will have difficulties, but take heart because I have overcome the world.”
There’s a reason we’re not all just floating easily through life into the kingdom of heaven, and that reason originates in God. It’s not like our misconduct has spun up a storm which God cannot contain. On the boat we will see Jesus calm the storm with a single word. We know perfectly well He is able to prevent the storm altogether and that He is choosing not to. The same is likely true in your situation and you should search the scriptures to find out why. On a very practical dimension we understand how resistance causes the body to grow stronger. That’s the entire premise behind working out. We also know that psychologically traumatized people become braver with voluntary exposure to the thing which triggers them. So it’s no surprise that spiritual difficulties would be given to us with the purpose of causing us to mature and be further sanctified.
The next curiosity about this storm is how we see Jesus sleeping through it. The scripture reports Jesus commonly staying up into the night in prayer to God — so to see Him fast asleep here is unique. What adds to the curiosity is the fact that He’s sleeping in the midst of a storm so violent it caused several lifelong mariners to fear for their lives. He is sleeping with a serenity best described by the psalmist when he says, “In peace I will both lie down and sleep, For You alone, O LORD, make me to dwell in safety.”
Trusting God enough to feel safe during an actual weather-related storm is certainly one element to this passage. God is the one who upholds our lives and our well-being, no matter how much we trick ourselves into thinking we uphold it ourselves. But another equally important way of understanding this is to see what it’s like to sleep with a clear conscience before God. Jesus, being without sin, had a clear conscience before His Father and so was able to sleep in the midst of His storms.
We find the apostle Peter demonstrating a similar clarity of conscience when he is bound in chains sleeping between two soldiers in prison. He had been arrested by Herod who executed James shortly before. Peter was to be brought forward before the people that night — undoubtedly to be executed — but this didn’t seem to disturb his ability to sleep. Keeping a clear conscience before God is important because being able to sleep during difficult life circumstances is important. No matter what you’re going through, you can be certain sleep deprivation will make it worse. Sleep deprivation elevates the stress-inducing hormone cortisol. It also results in a breakdown of your ability to make rational decisions. Sleep deprivation is dangerous and it’s also universally destructive — there’s not a single human being on the planet who can resist its effects. Clarity of conscience is one of the primary keys to experiencing good sleep and good sleep is a necessary prerequisite for navigating life well.
We mentioned how four of the disciples were veteran fishermen who spent a significant portion of their life on the water. Even those who weren’t fishermen were probably used to the sea. The storm caused them great fright and in their fear they turned to Jesus. We can view their awakening appeal as a desperate cry for help, and it is that, but it’s also a prayer for salvation: “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” Often we discount trials as a resource for learning how to pray. Christians who want to learn how to pray will seek out a pastor and ask to be taught. That’s a fine thing to do, but it’s also important to remember the utility of suffering to reveal authentic prayers. Imminent, palpable danger has a way of driving people to God.
At the time of this writing it’s been almost a week since former President Trump survived what should have been a successful assassination. When I say “should have” this is what I mean here: The attempt was not foiled at any level, it just happened that Trump turned his head to look at a screen graphic in the fraction of a second before the assassin’s bullet hit him — grazing his ear instead of instead of hitting its mark perfectly. It was such an awful spectacle and made so many people, including Trump himself, become so thoroughly helpless that the overwhelming consensus attributed his survival entirely to the grace of God. Helplessness is a powerful motivator for turning one’s attention toward God. When you’re experiencing a dangerous and helpless season of life, never neglect this season’s opportunity to become a resource for learning how to pray.
The disciples’ prayer was a prayer Christians have been uttering for thousands of years after Jesus calmed that storm on the boat: “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” That is the prayer of salvation. That is the prayer of recognition that you are completely helpless and hopeless without Jesus. Scripture says that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. The disciples knew Jesus could save them and they begged His willingness to do so. All of us as Christians should make this appeal to Jesus for our eternity — but it’s also the case we should seek Him for temporal salvations as well. The temporal salvation of former President Trump was one such example I’ve cited here.
It’s important to note the disciple’s cry for salvation is also prefaced by their calling him Lord. Jesus saves those who receive Him as their Lord. A prayer to be saved alongside a rejection of Jesus as Lord of your life is ineffectual. I want to be careful here: I do believe it’s possible (and in some instances common) for a person to have a distorted misunderstanding of who Jesus is. So they reject the misunderstanding while believing in the actual Christ. On the surface these people can appear to be rejecting Jesus as Lord — but it’s merely that they’re confused about who Jesus is and they’re dispensing with the mischaracterization.
The disciples viewed their circumstance as desperate and hopeless. They had received a death sentence within themselves and sought out Jesus as their final effort. Those who turn to Jesus as their last chance will still be saved — but it’s unnecessary to put yourself through the rigors of a life founded on your own merit. God is on your side and He hears your prayers. The scripture has transcendental power to renew your mind, purify your heart, and transform your inner being. It contains the ageless wisdom of almighty God and you can use it to evade otherwise misery-inducing mistakes all throughout your life. The disciples were fervent as they appealed for the salvation of Christ on the boat that day. In the same way we should work out our own salvation with fear and trembling.
The disciples’ desperate cry for salvation also had an element of struggle within it. It’s as if they would have shaken Jesus awake had He not responded to the initial awakening. There was urgency in it. The quality of our prayers often takes on this sense of urgency when we’re going through the storms our own lives. In a way we demand that God do something about it. This wrestling with God is not unusual and is in fact well-attested to in scripture. God’s chosen people are called Israel and the name Israel means, “They who wrestle with God.” It’s useful for Christians to know they’ll never really cease wrestling with God in this life. That won’t happen until they enter eternity. Even if your life is wonderful, you must still contend with death, with the problem of suffering and evil, and with seemingly arbitrary tragedies. There are excellent arguments which explain the problem of suffering and evil — and these are called theodicies. But at the level of your heart you’re always going to have questions for the rest of your life until you get to heaven. You’re always going to have areas in which you wrestle with God.
You have to imagine the disciples’ relief once Jesus woke up. The most difficult storms are the ones in which we feel alone. They are the storms which seem to be absent the presence of God. Individuals as well as the Church itself can experience entire dark ages of time where it appears as though God isn’t doing anything to help. The Hebrews were enslaved in Egypt for 400 years. That’s 400 years of unanswered, seemingly unheard prayers for liberation. But God was watching and working the entire time. God has promised us that His church will not fall and that its durability is enough to withstand even the gates of Hell.
The relief of Jesus waking up likely turned to a sense of conviction once Christ rebuked them for their lack of faith. Jesus wasn’t correcting them for disturbing His sleep, He was pointing out their weakness of faith allowing fear to take hold of them. Throughout scripture God holds to a pattern of preparing His people for grace and then extending it to them. So in this instance Christ prepares His disciples for mercy by first correcting their mistaken judgment. Humanity would do well to learn from this pattern.
In our culture any kind of correction at all is considered oppressive. We seem to want grace without correction. But there’s nothing godly about ceasing to correct sin. The biblical pattern for individual and social preservation is this: you correct the sin, the person repents, and then you extend grace. That’s how Jesus does it. If we want our culture to survive we best begin putting this pattern into practice. The godless among us seek not only approval of sin — but affirmation that sin is good.
The first part of Christ’s correction is to question the source of the disciples’ fear. He said, “Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?” Christians need not be afraid in the same way as the godless. Notice I’m not saying they should be fearless — just that their fear should be tempered by their faith in almighty God. Heathen sailors may not have anyone to save them in the midst of the storm, but the disciples had Jesus Christ on their boat. When we read about this today we should take comfort in the knowledge that even the 12 disciples felt fear despite the presence of God. How we react to the fear is often more important than whether we feel the fear.
Imagine for a moment if the disciples reacted to their fear of the storm by reassuring each other’s faith that Jesus is with them and they’re going to be okay. In that scenario it’s not that they don’t feel fear, but rather it’s that their faith overcomes their fear. We are called to be the same way today. Weak faith does little in the face of fear, but strong faith drives out almost all fear. Faith also prevents us from spiraling off into the darkness of inappropriate pessimism.
By inappropriate pessimism I mean saying something like, “Well the entire world is against me so why should I try? Nothing going to work out anyway.” You might wonder why anyone would want to think such things, but this is the mainstream narrative taught to our children and young adults today: you live in a society predicated on empowering straight white males and if you don’t fit that category then you’re oppressed. This pessimism is inappropriate because it doesn’t correspond to reality. It’s just not true. In the same way the disciples’ fear on the boat was predicated on the falsehood that Christ could be overcome by a storm. He is the Creator God and as we will see — even the wind and the seas obey His command. False narratives are dangerous because they filter the way you perceive reality and make you vulnerable to deeper deceptions. Faith in God and faith in the value of self-sacrifice dispels such false narratives.
Faith in God is an anchor to your soul, and allows you to see through the violence of the storm to the peace and serenity on the other side. Lack of faith dishonors God and causes spiritual disturbances in you. When first reading this passage about Jesus calming the storm it’s easy to miss the truth that He calmed two storms. The first storm was a tumult of fear in the hearts of His disciples. He calmed this fear as the sovereign God of grace who can do what He pleases in us. The second storm is the more famous one and is the storm of nature which the disciples were petitioning Him about. He calmed this storm as the sovereign God of nature who can do what He pleases for us.
Christ’s miraculous display of authority over nature was distinct from the miracles of the prophets because of how easy it was for Him to do it. He did it merely by speaking. Moses commanded the waters with a rod, Joshua used the ark of the covenant, Elisha wielded the prophet’s mantle against the waters, but Jesus Christ calmed the tempest with a word. Observing Christ’s all-encompassing dominion over nature should result in two things. First it speaks of the honor due to Him as God. Second it relieves the faithful who have Him on their side.
Notice the process of the storm being calmed as well. As soon as Jesus commands it, immediately the storm settles and so do the effects of it. When a storm on the sea settles by nature, normally it takes a while for the waters to calm down. But in this case the storm ceased and the waters calmed immediately. It was the first time any of the disciples had witnessed such a miracle in all their lives. Some of these men spent their careers on the water, so it was obvious to them that Jesus wielded the power of the hand of God. Jesus has the same kind of immediate authority over the storms inside your soul today. An effectual word from the Spirit of God is able to rebuke your storm and calm your waters immediately. Much like the disciples, your loved ones and the people around you will have a similar awe-struck reaction to the transformation of your soul when you are adopted into the kingdom of God.
Christ’s singular authority over nature itself was one of the many things which set Him apart from the charlatans of His time. False prophets pretended to cure diseases and work miracles — but no one could feign a command over nature. Psalm 135 is just one scripture which speaks of God’s authority over nature when it says, “He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; Who makes lightnings for the rain, Who brings forth the wind from His treasuries.”
As human beings we have an instinct for admiration that leads us to the archetype which Christ represents. Let me explain. Imagine you have ten human kings each of whom possess an admirable trait. One is wise, another courageous, another charismatic. When I say the archetype of Christ I’m pointing to how Jesus represents the best of each of these kings in a single form. Every part of Jesus is admirable because He is the distillation of the set of things we find admirable. That’s why our instinct for admiration points us to Jesus. We admire people who act like Christ in some way — and often the admiration holds even if they have major shortcomings in other ways. The disciples’ reaction to Jesus calming the storm was to marvel in admiration.
Isaiah 26:4 says, “”Trust in the LORD forever, For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.” Even during the most violent storms we can maintain confidence and comfort in Jesus. When we were going through the COVID-19 pandemic one of the things which struck me was how even though the world had gone crazy — nature itself seemed utterly undisturbed. It was like humanity existed in a space driven to chaos and nature knew nothing about it. God’s power and authority are the same way. The glory of God and His sovereignty over the universe is totally unimpeachable by the actions and designs of humanity. We could all lose our minds and Jesus Christ is exactly the same as He’s always been. That’s important to keep in mind as we proceed into the unknown future. Whatever happens and whatever takes us by surprise — we can be certain that Jesus is King over all of it. Let’s continue with verses 28-34:
Mat 8:28 When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.
Mat 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?”
Mat 8:30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them.
Mat 8:31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.”
Mat 8:32 And He 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.
Mat 8:33 The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs.
Mat 8:34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.
The landscape of Matthew chapter 8 has given us a survey of the divine power of Christ. First we saw Him cure diseases which would have been irresistible to us. Next He rebukes nature itself which to us is even more uncontrollable. And now we watch Him take on perhaps our greatest threat of all — demonic possession. The dominion of Jesus is comprehensive and omnipresent. This means He has all power on Heaven and Earth. In the deepest, most remote parts of our world Jesus is present and in control. His sovereignty goes even further than that because He also holds the keys to Hell itself.
When scripture refers to the forces of Hell it sometimes calls them principalities and powers. These principalities and powers were always made subject to Jesus — even when He was incarnate on Earth as the humble form of a man. The name of Jesus is far above all rule, authority, power, and dominion. His name is above every name that is named, not only in this age but in the age to come. Earlier in the chapter we were given general instances of Jesus casting out demons with a word. This passage sharpens the point and shows us a much more particular example. This example is also much more remarkable than the others. The other demon-possessed people were brought to Jesus by the sober-minded so He might heal them. But these two possessed men were so violent that no person could go anywhere near them.
It’s likely these two men were Gentiles and not Jews. Christ taking the time to help them foreshadows His plan to expand the kingdom of God beyond the house of Israel. This passage also shows us that Satan already had his legions in the Gentile world. Jesus healing the two demoniacs gives us a clear look at His supremacy over the power of Satan. It also reveals His intention to disarm and dispossess him. But the story of the demoniacs also gives us important insight into the nature of evil spirits and their enmity toward man. Let’s examine their manner of work both inside the possessed men as well as in the herd of swine where Jesus sent them.
The first thing we should mention is that Luke and Mark tell this story as if there was only one demon-possessed man instead of two men. Matthew notes two men, although the King James Bible doesn’t identify both of them as men — it just says, “two who were demon possessed.” The fact that both of these two were men is only added in the more recent translations of scripture. So if you consider the King James reading, and then couple it with the fact that Mark and Luke only mention one man — it’s possible to conclude the demoniacs were a man and his wife. For our purposes this detail is irrelevant, but since we’re studying out of the NASB we’ll elect to remain consistent and call them two men.
The condition of these men was miserable when Jesus found them. Scripture says the demoniacs dwelt among the tombs. Satan has the power of death. I’m being careful here not to say he has power over death and he certainly does not have power as a judge over who dies and when. But he has the power of death in terms of an executioner. It makes sense the demoniacs would dwell among the tombs because there they would be surrounded by death and loss — things in which Satan relishes. No doubt Satan also savored Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified, but in both locations Jesus conquered and subdued him. The demoniacs living among the graves added to the terror of them and no doubt reinforced the possession which held them. Most people would be too scared to venture near the tombs to help these poor creatures — but not Jesus.
If you’re careful to observe it, you can notice how a person’s spiritual maladies tend to be reflected in their environment. Walk into the home of a depressed person who is full of bitterness and resentment — the quality of the living space will be much different than that of someone who is filled with love, joy, peace, and the rest of the fruits of the Spirit. If you’re struggling with a kind of cyclical misery I would urge you to start by cleaning your house and rearranging your rooms so that they promote the kind of life you wish to live — not the kind of life you feel like you’re living. Surrounding yourself with Christian community and a stable, wholesome environment will have great effect on transforming the condition of your spirit. It will also remove the potential disincentives for others who might want to help you. You’ll find that people are much more likely to want to be around you if you live in a warm, welcoming home than if you live among the graves.
The possessed men were so extremely violent that not only were they unapproachable, but travelers would reroute simply to avoid going anywhere near them. They had hurt some and frightened many. Satan’s malicious intent toward humanity is evident in the outcome of demonic possession: human beings are overcome with mutual enmity against each other. We know this enmity is satanic because it’s the reverse of one of Christ’s greatest commandments: to love your neighbor as you love yourself.
A person possessed by the satanic spirit is one characterized by pride, envy, malice and revenge. This kind of person is unfit for and unworthy of polite society. They are avoided much the same way these possessed men were. Clinical researchers call this spirit a dark tetrad. A person represented by the dark tetrad is a sadistic, narcissistic, psychopathic Machiavellian. Before you comfort yourself into believing you don’t know anyone like this — bear in mind that dark tetrad personalities often present themselves as victims. They use the socially perceived innocence of victimhood to mask their psychopathy. There is no doubt we live amidst a culture of victimhood in the western world, so the dark tetrad satanic types might be much more common than you wish to admit.
One of the most important things to note about Christ’s interaction with the demoniacs is that He had the interaction to begin with. Despite these poor souls being totally possessed by demons, the demons themselves were unable to prevent Jesus meeting with them. Sometimes we slip into thinking God is not powerful enough to save especially evil individuals. But in His meeting the demoniacs we see the demons being brought forward into His presence against their will. There was nothing the demons dreaded more than the presence of Jesus Christ.
The demoniacs are something of a boundary condition for allowing us to picture God’s power in relation to man’s power. There was nothing man could do to contain the demoniacs. Men even attempted to bind them in chains but to no avail. Even people who are so thoroughly possessed by evil they cannot be approached or imprisoned are still subject to the will of God. Jesus is able to restrain even those who break free from the chains of man. All the demons could do is protest the presence of Jesus and fly into a rage upon seeing Him. They asked Him, “Why now? Why here?” in such a manner as to reveal their helplessness against Him.
It’s fascinating how the demons which possessed these men addressed Jesus as the Son of God. Remember the reality of who Christ is had not yet been revealed even to His closest disciples like Peter. A common misconception about Satan, demons, and the powers of Hell is that they don’t believe Jesus is God. The truth of their perspective is actually worse than this. They know who Jesus is, they understand and accept that He is God, and yet they remain at enmity with Him nonetheless. Seeing the demonic relationship with Jesus helps add a more precise dimension to who a real Christ-follower is. A person who belongs to Jesus, a person whose faith is in Jesus, is a person who not only knows Jesus but who loves Jesus. It’s not the knowledge of Jesus by itself which distinguishes saints from demons, rather it’s the love of Jesus.
Those who inhabit Hell hate Jesus and will not be subject to His law. As a genuine follower of Christ it’s possible to have passing moments where you feel this way. Sometimes you’ll feel like God has hurt you or betrayed you. Sometimes you’ll wonder if your temptation to sin is an indication that you don’t belong to Jesus at all. But God gives you the Spirit of adoption which, in the final analysis, will clear away these confusions.
In a single statement the demons both address Jesus as the Son of God and express their defiance of Him. They say, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God?” Later in the New Testament, specifically 2 Corinthians 6, the apostle Paul instructs the Church that saints should not be bound together with unbelievers. He says, “For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness.” The demons are asking the same question of Jesus in this passage. What business does their darkness have with His holy light?
For so much of Church history many Christians have had a kind of anxiety as to whether or not they truly belong to Jesus. It’s as if they assume they could love Jesus and yet be mistaken about this love and somehow be cast out from Him. That’s not how the love of Jesus works at all. Look at the demons who possessed the men in this chapter. They hate Jesus Christ. Without mistake and without hesitation they hate God. They are filled with enmity and rage against Him. When He walks into their presence they lash out at Him in open rebellion to His crown and His dignity. If that’s not you then you have nothing to be worried about. The line of division between believer and unbeliever is much clearer than we tend to imagine. The only relationship demons and unbelievers have with God which cannot be denied is His relationship to them as their Judge.
It’s hard for us to wrap our minds around the truth of evil. We don’t want to believe there exists people consumed by a spirit of evil whose comfort and satisfaction come from inflicting misery and destruction. Jesus called Satan a thief whose purpose is to kill, steal, and destroy. A person ensconced in a Luciferian spirit will share these aims. But followers of Christ should be the opposite insofar as their comfort and satisfaction come from loving God and loving one’s neighbor. The demons considered it a great torment to be restrained from doing wicked things. Christians should hold similar consternation in the face of that which inhibits us from doing good things.
When the demons speak of their own torment at the hands of Jesus they also reference a fixed point in the future. It’s not merely the annoyance of being held back from evil in the moment, but they’re also pointing to the day of judgment. They know the day is coming when Satan and his angels will be cast into pits of deep darkness and eternal fire. Notice how none of the demons petition Christ for a total salvation from torment — they simply ask if He’s come to start it early. Repentance and salvation are not even a consideration for the demonic. All they want is power.
Their eternal desire to be their own gods separates them from the love of Jesus and causes them to look on Him with a combination of fear and rage. James says the demons believe that God is one and they tremble at Him. And that is, of course, exactly what we see these especially violent demons do on this day in the country of the Gadarenes.
As I said earlier it’s probable the demoniacs were Gentiles. We see a herd of swine in this story and while the herd was far away, the Jews would have had no reason to keep herds of swine. Pigs were considered unclean and it was forbidden for the Jews to eat them. Gentiles would have maintained herds of swine both for consumption and to barter with the Romans.
When Christ approached the men, the demons inside them asked permission to be cast out into the herd of swine. The herd was far away and seemingly out of danger, but we see here in this passage that distance didn’t matter and the demons has already selected them as their next target. The lesson to be learned here is that cloistering yourself off from the rest of the world is not a reliable prevention against being gripped by possession. Ideological possession is transnational because ideas are able to travel great distances quickly. The only real prophylactic against possession is to ground your entire worldview on holy scripture. That’s why Jesus counters Satan’s temptations with the question, “Have you not read?”
It’s almost as if the demons carry a tone of desperation as they entreat Jesus for permission to enter into the herd of swine. Proverbs chapter 4 speaks of the wicked when it says, “For they cannot sleep unless they do evil; And they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.” Again it’s hard for us to comprehend but there are actually people like this. There are actually people so poisoned by bitterness and resentment they cannot find rest unless they cause some kind of misery or mischief. The demons knew their time directly inhabiting the men was over, so they searched for some other way to hurt the local people. Invading the swine and causing them to storm off the bank into the sea was a way to sew discord between the city and Jesus.
Perhaps the most comforting element in this terrifying passage of scripture is found in the demons powerlessness to subvert the will of Christ. They openly acknowledge they can’t even harm a pig without the approval of Jesus. Satan and the demons are powerful and for those outside of Christ they are an indomitable force. But those who call Jesus their faithful friend and Savior have nothing to fear. The wind and the waves as well as the principalities and powers of Hell are all subject to His authority and to His rule. And it’s not because they willingly submit to His lordship, it’s because with a word He overpowers them and they have no other option but to obey.
You’ll often hear Christians say God doesn’t commit acts of evil. While in a sense this is true, it’s also true that God permits Satan and the demons to execute their own efforts. The more precise way of putting it is to say, “Nothing God does is evil because His ultimate purposes are not evil.” So while God can permit something like the Holocaust to happen, we can understand that by the light of His ultimate purposes in it, the permission of the Holocaust was not evil. It’s helpful to think of the sovereignty of God in this way:
Assume you have two options. Option 1 supposes nothing God does is evil because He simply doesn’t do those actions. Option 2 suggests nothing God does is evil because His ultimate purposes are not evil.
Both options give us a God who does not do evil, but option 2 provides for comprehensive sovereignty measured against the bloody backdrop of history. God does do things we consider evil but we are mistaken in our consideration because we don’t know the reason He did it and we can’t see how the ultimate purpose colors the entire action as in fact good and not evil.
Demons are subordinate to God both as captives and as servants. Satan was only able to destroy Job’s life because God sent him. Satan may have had his own desires and intentions, but it was always only God’s purposes that mattered. The powers of Hell are a lot less terrifying when we realize God has authority over them and whatever harm they cause remains within the scope of His dominion. God commanded Satan to spare Job’s life, and so even Satan himself could not kill Job. Jesus is able to restrain the wrath of the demons to His exact specifications and they can do no more than He allows.
You might ask why He allowed these two men to be so violently possessed by demons? One hypothesis is that it was for the conviction of the Sadducees. The Sadducees were a sect of Judaism who denied the existence of spirits and didn’t believe in the afterlife. One of the reasons the Sadducees didn’t believe in spirits was because they couldn’t see spirits. The spirits’ invisibility made their existence doubtful to this group of Jews. But Jesus casting the demons out of the demoniacs would have given the closest thing to a visible demonstration of the reality of evil spirits.
The ordeal would have also revealed the multitude, malice, and power of such spirits. The spirits themselves would have remained invisible, but the print and impact of the spirits would have been so evident at this point that investigating Sadducees would have had no excuse but to believe. It would have been similar to how we can’t see the wind itself but the effects of the wind are all around us.
The purpose of the possession may also have been to bring punishment on the Gadarenes. The Gadarenes were Jews and eating pigs was forbidden for them. We think the herdsmen of the swine in this passage were Gentiles, but if the Gadarenes themselves were also herding swine then they would have been bordering on sin. It’s possible Jesus wanted to show them how a terrifying collection of demons made up the Legion. Maybe He wanted them to know that without His own intervention, the multitude of demons in the demoniacs would have invaded them as well.
Once the demons were given permission to exit the men, they immediately transferred to the herd of swine and possessed them to their deaths. In the business of killing, stealing, and destroying, there is no creature more industrious than Satan. The demons wasted no time between the men and the swine, so desperate were they to cause misery wherever God allowed them.
And that’s exactly what they did in the swine. Scripture says there were two thousand pigs that were driven down a steep bank into the sea that day — killing all of them. Even disregarding the terror of the swine themselves, their demise would have represented a devastating economic loss to the herdsmen. The swift destruction of the swine shows us the nature of the demons as destroyers of that which they inhabit.
The same thing happens when an evil spirit indwells a person today. The evil spirit makes you rush to do sin. It makes you hurry toward the thing which you resolved never to do. Even when you know the sins will become a cause for shame and grief, the evil spirit seems to blind you to this reality and urges you onward despite it. This kind of spiritual possession can even make you defy proper reasoning. You don’t even have to be religious — they will still cause you to work in direct contradiction to your own interests in this world.
In Revelation we see an ancient demon named Apollyon and Abaddon, the great destroyer. He didn’t gain that monicker for no reason. Demonic possession destroys you by drowning you in your own lusts and perdition. Satan’s will is for you to be swallowed up and devoured. The pigs were led to their destruction in the sea, but the people taken captive by Satan will be led to their eternities in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.
Notice how the herdsmen only run to the city with a report after the swine are killed. Certainly the entire event took place quickly, but it’s interesting they didn’t choose to flee to the city when Jesus cast the demons out from the demoniacs. They waited until after the swine were dead. Maybe it’s because they didn’t want to leave the swine unguarded. Or maybe it’s because the economic loss was more salient to them and sparked a more severe reaction.
Jesus never went into the Gadarene city Himself, but news of His exorcism did. This news caused tremendous curiosity among the people and so many of them came out to meet Jesus. Scripture says the whole city came out and when they saw Him they implored Him to leave their region. So we see that being impressed by Jesus is not the same thing as having faith in Him and loving Him. These people were impressed enough to come out and see Him, yet their reaction to Him is hauntingly similar to the demons, “What have we to do with thee, Jesus thou Son of God?”
And this reaction from the people reveals how the demons got what they wanted from the entire project. The demons killed the swine and deceived the people into thinking Christ was the one who killed them. Satan has been deceiving humanity about the character of God since the very first instance in the Garden of Eden. The serpent poisoned Eve’s mind with hard thoughts of God just like the demons poisoned the collective mind of the Gadarenes to believe Jesus was an enemy. Or at the very least more trouble than good. By their perspective He healed two men yet killed two thousand swine.
Part of Satan’s multi-generational efforts is to sew seeds of discord within the Church itself. He aids in the corruption of children of disobedience. When the sons of perdition occupy high seats of spiritual authority, then Satan has a potent means of turning the people against the Church. When you’re hurt or betrayed by a pastor, it’s a tempting reflex to attribute this hurt to God Himself or to the Church. That’s what Satan wants because that’s how churches become divided and die.
The sin of the Gadarenes was that they valued the swine more than they valued Jesus. Clinging to your worldly assets can put you in a position where you may see Jesus as your enemy. The Spirit of God sanctifies a person through reading of the holy scriptures. But you may perceive this sanctification as a bad thing if you hold fast to your sinful, carnal desires. Like the demons and the Gadarenes, if you implore Christ to depart from you then He likely will. But our hope is founded on the truth that you need not be slaves to sin any longer. Jesus has the power to set you free just as He did with the demoniacs. Even if your plight is so difficult that others avoid you because of it — Jesus will not avoid you if you call on Him as your Savior. In the final analysis our Lord Jesus brings hope to the hopeless, grace to the weary, sustenance to the hungry, and life to the dead. He is our Holy Light in the darkness. He is our High Priest and Mediator with the Father. He is the Savior of man. And that truth is something we can be grateful for for the rest of this life and into the next.
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