Authority Over the Supernatural
When they arrived on the other side of the lake...two men with demons in them met him. They lived in a cemetery and were so dangerous that no one could go through that area. They began screaming at him....[They] begged, "If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs." "All right," Jesus told them. "Begone." Matt. 8:28-32, TLB.
Jesus has power not only over distance and the natural world, but also over the realm of the demonic, the supernatural. That is the next link in the chain of understanding that Matthew is unfolding regarding His identity.
With this miracle story we find Jesus' outreach ministry continuing to broaden. He is now in the Gentile territory of the Decapolis (a word meaning "ten cities") on the southeast shore of the Sea of Galilee. Two uncontrollable naked (Matt. 8:28) madmen rush at the startled disciples and Himself. Here we find Jesus face-to-face with the demonic for the first time since His confrontation with Satan in the Wilderness of Temptation. There He had established His supremacy, and these possessed men acknowledged that fact, addressing Him as the "Son of God" and asking why He has come to torment them (Matt. 8:29). Recognizing the helplessness of their situation in the face of Jesus' authority and the fact that they are on the losing side of the battle, the demons entreat Him to cast them into a herd of swine feeding nearby. Upon receiving their request, they stampede the herd into the sea, where it perishes (verse 32).
At that point, the pigs' herders head for the city to testify about what they had seen. Soon the whole population is on the scene, where they find the healed men sitting on the ground, clothed, and in their right mind (Mark 5:15).
That change is a remarkable part of the story but not its most surprising aspect. One would have expected the thronging crowd to be filled with joy that the naked madmen had become sane and sensible. We might even assume that they would have Jesus exercise additional power in healing their sick. But all they wanted Him to do was to get out of their territory as soon as possible (Matt. 8:34).
And why? Because even though an undeniable miracle had taken place, it had led to the destruction of their pigs. They had been hit in the most tender part of their anatomy--their pocketbook.
Here we have a real situation as we come to Jesus. How will we relate to His authority if He threatens our wallet or other idols of our life?
When they arrived on the other side of the lake...two men with demons in them met him. They lived in a cemetery and were so dangerous that no one could go through that area. They began screaming at him....[They] begged, "If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs." "All right," Jesus told them. "Begone." Matt. 8:28-32, TLB.
Jesus has power not only over distance and the natural world, but also over the realm of the demonic, the supernatural. That is the next link in the chain of understanding that Matthew is unfolding regarding His identity.
With this miracle story we find Jesus' outreach ministry continuing to broaden. He is now in the Gentile territory of the Decapolis (a word meaning "ten cities") on the southeast shore of the Sea of Galilee. Two uncontrollable naked (Matt. 8:28) madmen rush at the startled disciples and Himself. Here we find Jesus face-to-face with the demonic for the first time since His confrontation with Satan in the Wilderness of Temptation. There He had established His supremacy, and these possessed men acknowledged that fact, addressing Him as the "Son of God" and asking why He has come to torment them (Matt. 8:29). Recognizing the helplessness of their situation in the face of Jesus' authority and the fact that they are on the losing side of the battle, the demons entreat Him to cast them into a herd of swine feeding nearby. Upon receiving their request, they stampede the herd into the sea, where it perishes (verse 32).
At that point, the pigs' herders head for the city to testify about what they had seen. Soon the whole population is on the scene, where they find the healed men sitting on the ground, clothed, and in their right mind (Mark 5:15).
That change is a remarkable part of the story but not its most surprising aspect. One would have expected the thronging crowd to be filled with joy that the naked madmen had become sane and sensible. We might even assume that they would have Jesus exercise additional power in healing their sick. But all they wanted Him to do was to get out of their territory as soon as possible (Matt. 8:34).
And why? Because even though an undeniable miracle had taken place, it had led to the destruction of their pigs. They had been hit in the most tender part of their anatomy--their pocketbook.
Here we have a real situation as we come to Jesus. How will we relate to His authority if He threatens our wallet or other idols of our life?
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