Daily Devo w/ Pastor Eric September
23, 2021
Jesus and the Demons
Matthew 8:28-34, NRSV - When he came to the other side, to the country of the
Gadarenes, two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so fierce
that no one could pass that way. Suddenly they shouted, “What have you to do
with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some
distance from them. The demons begged
him, “If you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” And he said to them, “Go!” So they came out
and entered the swine; and suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank
into the sea and perished in the water. The swineherds ran off, and on going into the
town, they told the whole story about what had happened to the demoniacs. Then the whole town came out to meet Jesus;
and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their neighborhood.
This
is a story that seems very strange to 21st century folks for many
reasons. First, other than in the horror
genre of tv/movies, we don’t talk much about demons anymore. When most scholars do so, they often downplay
them as mental illness and misunderstood afflictions that are better explained
by modern science. And of course, even over
the last century as medical science and psychology have made enormous strides
in explaining bizarre behavior that people used to describe as demonic. However, I would caution us to listen to this
story from the perspective of first-century folks, who were more convinced that
there were real evil powers at work in the world than we moderns often
are. To the extent we can do that, we
will be able to see the power of this story. So let’s pay attention to some of
the details here.
First,
immediately upon getting out of the boat, the demons recognize Jesus. This is very significant. The people following Jesus around are still
trying to wrap their mind around who Jesus is.
This is evident in yesterday’s story when they ask, “who is this that
the wind and waves obey him?” However,
the demons know without question that Jesus is the Son of God and they address
him as such. Furthermore, they know that
Jesus has complete authority over them.
Let’s not gloss over that. The
demons have completely taken control of the two men and are reeking havoc. They have caused so much violence and
destruction that the people of the region deemed the road where they lingered
as unsafe for travel. Yet, the demons
readily concede that their fate is in Jesus’s hands. They assume they will no longer be able to torment
the men they inhabit, so they plead with Jesus to allow them to inhabit the
nearby herd of pigs. Jesus obliges with
a simple command, Go!.”
Throughout
the last few stories, Matthew is trying to help us see clearly that Jesus is
the Son of God who holds complete authority.
Diseases like leprosy, violent storms, and demons obey His command. He doesn’t even have to be physically present
to heal (ie… the Roman Captain’s servant).
His word (Go!) and His touch (Peter’s mother-in-law) make things right
again. In Jesus, the God of the Universe
walks among mortals and all are under his authority. Matthew wants you to hear that above
everything else. There is nothing in
your life outside the authority of Jesus.
Matthew wants you to acknowledge that at least as much as the demons
do. Take a few moments to ponder that
before continuing to read.
Back
to the pigs. Upon being inhabited by the
demons, they are destroyed. We need to
note here that Jews hearing this story would not have worried about the loss of
the pigs at all. They were considered
unclean animals and Jews were forbidden from eating them and raising them. The very presence of the pigs tells us Jesus
is in non-Jewish/gentile country, for only gentiles raise pigs. This sheds some light on why the townspeople were
upset about the affair because the pigs WERE valuable to them for eating and
livelihood.
I have to
admit that I see their point. Matthew
doesn’t say how many pigs there were, but Mark, who tells the same story in his
Gospel (Mark 5:13), says there were two thousand pigs. I hear that and I think, “that’s a lot of expensive
bacon and pork chops!” I’m not upset
with Jesus about it, but I do wonder why Jesus allows them to possess the herd
of pigs knowing that the pigs will be lost.
Perhaps it was to prevent them from torturing other people. Maybe being cast into the sea accomplishes
something we are not aware of that Jesus is.
The bottom line is that we don’t know and also, Matthew doesn’t tell
us. Rather, Matthew wraps up the story
with Jesus being driven out of town after He has driven out demons. The town folk don’t want miracle-worker
around if He’s going to mess with their economy. The town folk are more okay with two men
being eternally tortured by demons outside of town than they are with losing
precious bacon and pork chops.
They are
not the only folk to prioritize commodities over the suffering of human beings.
Sadly, the same priority is seen even
today. Matthew would have us see
that. Jesus would have us see that. We should ask ourselves, “do we see that?” And even more than that, we should always ask
ourselves, are we those folks with ill-conceived priorities?
Questions: Two different questions today: (1) Do we have the at least the same level of
confidence in Jesus’s authority over the demons that plague us that the demons
in today’s story have? (2) Where do you see wealth being prioritized
over the alleviation of suffering even today?
Prayer: God, deliver us from the demons that torture
us, even if that deliverance is costly.
Help us never place wealth over people.
Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray for people who seem mired in and tortured
by real evil forces in this world.
Song:
Zach Williams – Song of Deliverance
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