What Demons Proclaim & Men Resist | Matthew 8:28-34

Scripture

• Matthew 8:28–34

About this sermon

Introduction: When Jesus calmed the winds and the sea with a command, His disciples marveled with a question. “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey Him?” The next scene in Matthew’s account provides the answer in the clearest terms yet. But the answer comes from an unlikely source. We hear it from the domain of darkness. For the first time Jesus is positively identified as the Son of God (Satan alludes to it, but in a doubtful tone in Matthew 4) but it isn’t from anyone who loves Him. His disciples have not yet said it. Those who have been healed by Him or delivered by Him have not said it. BUT NOW, OUT OF THE MOUTHS OF TWO DEMONIZED MEN COMES THE TRUTH THAT JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD. Isn’t it interesting that the first time Jesus is identified as the Son of God in the gospel of Matthew, it comes from the realm of Satan? It is also interesting that after Jesus delivers in a way that makes His identity unmistakable to men, the people who see it want Jesus to leave. Tonight, we think about what demons proclaim and men resist. Or to say it another, what demons must admit, but lost humanity refuses to admit. We examine this encounter under four headings. • THE DEMONIC MANIFESTATION (vs.28) Why does our Lord go to the location that He does? To the country of the Gadarenes? That must certainly be a regional reference. If you look at a map, the city of Gadara wouldn’t allow for the events that are described here. So, this is just a way to identify the general area where Jesus stepped on to the land. D.A. Carson does a good job of summarizing the location. The locale seems to have been in the district controlled by the town of Gadara, near the village of Gerasa (see Notes), which lay about midpoint on the lake’s eastern shore. On the adjacent hillside are ancient tombs. Probably small antechambers or caves provided some protection from the weather, and a graveyard would, apparently, prove a congenial environment for demons and render the man ceremonially defiled. This region lay in the predominantly Gentile territory of the Decapolis (see comments at 4:25). The presence of the pigs (v. 30), inconceivable in a Jewish milieu, points to its Gentile background. James Montgomery Boice — “The Gospels have different names at this point, and the manuscripts of even a single Gospel vary. The best reading in Matthew is Gadarenes, Gadara being a town about six miles from the lake. The best reading in both Mark and Luke is Gerasenes, Gerasa being a town about thirty miles southeast of the lake. Gergesenes, which crept into the Greek manuscripts later, seems to be due to the influence of Origen, who was sure that neither Gadara nor Gerasa satisfied the requirements of the story. The explanation of these variants is probably, as Josephus reports, that Gadara was the regional capital and that it had smaller villages related to it on the border of the lake, one of which would have been Gerasa. Coins of Gadara sometimes display a ship.” Now, think about this: This is the King of the Jews. This is the promised one of Israel. This is the one who tells His own disciples that their starting place in ministry is to the Jewish people. Yet Jesus leaves Capernaum and makes his way to an area on the sea of Galilee that was predominately Gentile. WHY DOES JESUS GO THERE? Perhaps people are right who say that He is looking for some rest, but what happens here makes plain that He was there on assignment. HE GOES THERE BECAUSE HE HAS AN APPOINTMENT. JESUS GOES WHERE GOD HAS DETERMINED TO SHOW MERCY. JESUS GOES WHERE GOD HAS DETERMINED TO REVEAL HIS GLORY. Our Lord was always about His Father’s business. He MUST make His way through Samaria. ESV John 4:4 And he had to pass through Samaria. That was not a geographical necessity. That was a ministry necessity. He MUST also make His way to these two men. These men are on His sovereign calendar. You and I were on Christ’s calendar also. I want you to think about your own story. I want you to think about how your own conversion took place. Realize that your salvation is the result of sovereign DETERMINATION — CHOICE. God planned our salvation from all eternity, and He brought it about in the very way that He designed. He designed how we would be prepared for the gospel. He designed how we would receive the gospel. He chose the time He chose the messengers He chose the models He chose the circumstances He chose the means AND, ON THIS OCCASION, JESUS HAD A MERCIFUL APPOINTMENT WITH TWO TORMENTED MEN. BEFORE WE LOOK AT THESE TWO MEN, LET ME DECLARE GOOD NEWS. ANYONE HEARING ME WHO IS TORMENTED. ANYONE HEARING ME WHO LOVES SOMEONE WHO IS TORMENTED. JESUS IS ABLE TO SAVE. JESUS IS ABLE TO DELIVER. Jesus can take someone who is out of his or her mind — who is past helping from the standpoint of the people who know about them — and put those people in their right mind. That will be the outcome of this encounter.

Topics

• Spiritual Warfare