My Walk Through the Book of Matthew by Annette Godtland

Two Demon-Possessed Men Healed (Matthew 8:28-34)

28When He had come to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two demon-possessed men, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no one could pass that way. 29And suddenly they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?"

30Now a good way off from them there was a herd of many swine feeding. 31So the demons begged Him, saying, "If You cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine."

32And He said to them, "Go." So when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine. And suddenly the whole herd of swine ran violently down the steep place into the sea, and perished in the water.

33Then those who kept them fled; and they went away into the city and told everything, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region.

It is obvious that it is the demons speaking and not the possessed men as they immediately recognized Jesus as the Son of God. Jesus often referred to himself as the Son of Man, never the Son of God. Even the disciples were just questioning who He must be because even the wind and the waves obeyed Him. But no man had yet recognized Jesus as the Son of God.

The demons ask if Jesus came to torment them. Every day the demons torment the ones God loves. Does Jesus torment them back when He gets the chance? He could very easily do so. But He doesn't. Can we follow this example of not seeking retaliation?

These demons were so fierce that no one could pass that way, but just the appearance of Jesus has them shaking in their boots. They immediately supplicate to Jesus. Knowing they are powerless if Jesus decides to cast them out, they beg for their fate. Our demons we face today are a lot more subtle but just as powerful and fierce. They tempt us and torment us with whispers of things we know we should not do. Sometimes they seem overwhelming. But a whole army of demons cannot stand against Jesus. Jesus can simply say "Go" and they will be gone.

This story is also a tribute to the strength of the human spirit. These two men had been tormented by these demons and yet they survived. When these same demons possessed an entire herd of swine, they went berserk and perished. You can survive the battles with the demons, do not give up. Invite Jesus in and he can win the battles for you.

It is interesting that the reaction of the people who heard of this miracle was to beg Jesus to depart from their region. I'm guessing they did this out of fear. Before them was a man who was even more powerful than the demons. With little knowledge and no faith, all that remained for them was fear. As in the last lesson, you need faith in order to remove fear.

This reaction of the people makes me wonder why Jesus wanted to cross to the other side. Commanding His disciples to make the trip was a big deal. You would think that something that required that much must have been for a very important purpose. Because of this trip, many of His disciples had to face the fact that they maybe weren't ready to be disciples. Along the way they faced a life threatening storm at sea and the disciples questioned who Jesus was. Once there, Jesus saved the lives of two men by casting out an army of demons. Yet the people there wanted nothing to do with Jesus and begged Him to leave. Was this worth the trip when all He did was save two men and leave? Jesus must have known what the outcome would be before He made the trip.

Sometimes it seems like the poor results we get from our various attempts hardly seem worth it. But I think Jesus even likes little results. I believe that to Jesus, saving two men is worth a lot of trouble. I can be thankful for that as I consider what I would like Jesus to do for me. I believe that to Jesus, even just exposing others to His care and power whether they are ready to receive it or not is worth a lot of trouble. We don't need results from what we do, but we should do what we can anyway. And even times when there are no results, even the attempt helps us to understand Jesus better too. We may have some pretty rough rides as we attempt to do what is right, but in the process we will hopefully be drawn closer to Jesus, which even without results, is worth a lot of trouble.