Matthew 8:28-9:8

Matthew

Discuss various responses to things that cause Awe

Garcia grand slam

Nuggets parade

9/11

Here in this section of Matthew, we see that there are two miracles that Jesus performs, and really in those there are two different responses for when Jesus moves.

Jesus demands a response

Matthew 8:28–31 ESV

And when he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him, coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way. And behold, they cried out, “What have you to do with us, O Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.”

Jesus had just finished doing what He was doing on the boat with the waves. He had just finished with that miracle, and now He is on the other side to continue His work and ministry

We are in Gentile territory which we know this because of the fact that there are pigs near by.

Pigs were considered unholy and not allowed to the Jews at this time

This starts to foreshadow Jesus’ ministry to the gentiles. That He not only came for the Jews, but for the gentiles as well.

Demons know who Jesus is. (v.29a)

1. They knew who Jesus was, and they referred to Him as “O Son of God” which is a big deal because not many people knew that at this time. The disciples believed Him to be, and some that heard Him speak thought it, but the demons knew it and were terrified because of it.

Demons know who Jesus is. (v.29a)

They know that He has power over them. (v.29)

2. They are scared because they know that He has power over them, and they know that ultimately they will lose and be tormented at the appointed time.

The word “here” can refer to time or place, so specific time, or the fact that they were in Gentile territory.

They knew what their fate was, and yet they were afraid of being tormented. Because Jesus has power over them and they know that He has victory, why do we fear anything that resembles demons or things from Satan. Especially when Jesus says things like this in Acts 1:7-8

Acts 1:7–8 ESV

He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Demons know who Jesus is. (v.29a)

They know that He has power over them. (v.29)

They know that there is a time for them. (v.29b)

3. Even Jesus says it there, that no one knows the time, but there is an appointed time when our Lord and Savior is going to come back and destroy Satan and His demons once and for all. There is an appointed time when He is going to call His children home, and take His church home, and I tell you what, when demons tremble at the thought of where they’re going, I can only imagine how bad it is.

It is not a question of if, but when, and when demons do not want to experience it then why would we? Better yet, why would we be ok with letting the people we know and love experience that kind of torment?

Demons know who Jesus is. (v.29a)

They know that He has power over them. (v.29)

They know that there is a time for them. (v.29b)

They plead with Jesus to go into the pigs. (v.31)

4. Kind of has a Job 1 and 2 feel to it right? This goes back to the power aspect, that God has power over all things. Satan had to get permission from God before he even touched Job. Now the demons are asking Jesus for permission to enter into a heard of pigs, but do you see why this is such a big deal? They knew that they had to go to God for permission, so by them asking Jesus for permission, they just confirmed that He is both God and man. That He has is who He says He is. Jesus has the authority.

Matthew 8:32–33 ESV

And he said to them, “Go.” So they came out and went into the pigs, and behold, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters. The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men.

Now Jesus, having all power an authority over everything, including demons, tells them to simply go. They come out of the man and rush into the herd of pigs. The thing is the pigs were clearly not big fans of it, because they rushed down into a river drowning. Not an ideal situation for anyone right now.

I can only imagine being the people watching this happen. Here you have two demon possessed men. They are living in the tombs, and they are so crazy that it says that people could not even walk by, that is how violent they are. They see this visitor come up and these men then throw themselves down before Him begging with him.

If I am taking the perspective of the farmer, I may not be able to hear everything that is being said, but I know that I do not see these guys throw themselves down before someone ever. They usually scare people away, and this man doesn’t even seem phased.

So, here are these guys who have thrown themselves down before Jesus, and when He speaks, the demons leave, but they go into the heard of pigs that I have, and then I watch my heard of pigs go off and drown.

Yeah, you better believe that if I saw that I am running to tell people. That would easily be one of the wildest things to happen to me, or anyone else for that matter. So, the farmer runs and leaves to tell people, and most everyone would expect that his and the towns peoples responses would be that of excitement. That these two men are healed and well after being lost and destroyed.

In my head, and there isn’t scripture that shows this, but these were men from the community that had lives prior to this that were destroyed from the demon possession, and now they are restored, and the farmers run to tell all the towns people, and what do you think their response was?

Matthew 8:34 ESV

And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

They begged Jesus to leave the land. In fact, the same greek word that is used when it says that the demons begged Jesus to let them go into the pigs is the same word that is used here. It wasn’t just a light “oh please leave...” but an earnest desire that He leave immediately. As fast as He could and not come back.

He just did something amazing, why would they ask that? Why would they want Jesus to leave after having just watched this? It was because their possessions were just destroyed.

These people cared more about what they had than the life of freedom that Jesus gives. These people cared more about things than seeing people healed and set free from the bondage that they were in

We are not much different:

We want Jesus to set us free

but we don’t want to give up our things

1 Like these men, there are things that we feel held captive by. Sin that has taken over our lives and we know the hurt, destruction, and isolation that is just pulling us in over and over again. We wake up each day and say “today will be better” but we do not cut out the very things that lead us to sin.

We keep social media when we know it leads to wondering eyes. We spend time with people that we know will ask us to do thing that are not of the Lord because we do not want to “seem different”

It all comes from the same place…Our selfish desire to keep our lives uninterrupted from the miracle that Christ has done on the cross

We want the salvation, but we don’t want the change. We want the miracle, but we don’t want to put in the work. We want Jesus, but we don’t want Jesus.

We want Jesus to set us free

but we don’t want to give up our things

We want Lives restored

but we don’t want our lives messed with

2 I can only imagine that these people that lived in this town wanted these people to be changed and not possessed. They were so violent that others could not walk on that road. It was probably something that just kept coming up over and over again “man I really wish we could do something about those demon possessed guys.” No one there was able to do anything, but Jesus was, but He did it in a way that moved those people livelihood. They were pig farmers, and now their pigs were dead.

Yes that is a large loss, but now there are two men who have been set free from the bondage that they were in. They were by all means dead unless Jesus stepped in, and He was. They were completely captive, and now set free, they are new because of Jesus!!

But these people are upset because their lives have been turned around and that is not what they want. So much so that they beg Him to leave.

They asked Jesus to leave

So, Jesus left and went on to the next city, which was His own city, and this is where we pick up in Chapter 9 verse1

Matthew 9:1-2

Matthew 9:1–2 ESV

And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. And behold, some people brought to him a paralytic, lying on a bed. And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”

Jesus continues the miracles that He is doing, but in this case, there is something different here in this miracle.

They brought their friend to Jesus (v.2a)

1 The friends of the paralytic man looked at him and knew that in his state, there was only one man that could do anything. In fact, when we read about this account in other gospels it tells us that the friends not only took this man there, but they climbed on top of a house, cut a hole in the roof, and lowered him to see Jesus.

Why would they do that? Because they believed with everything that they had that Jesus was the answer. To say you have faith, or to say you believe that Jesus can do amazing things, but then to not act on it makes no sense. That then means that you don’t believe, you understand.

Belief vs. Understanding analogy

This idea is all throughout scripture. James 2:18-26

James 2:18–26 ESV

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.

Let me be clear…You cannot work your way to salvation, that is not what scripture says. Works are evidence of your faith, works are a tangible fruit of what Christ has done in your life.

These men let their fruit be known and evident here in this moment. They looked at their broken friend and said “the only way that he will get better is Jesus” and so they took him straight there. Nothing was going to stop them either. I picture a line a people lined up outside the house to see Jesus, and they looked at that line and made sure that they got their friend in front of Jesus, why? BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED!!!

How much do you believe that Jesus can save your lost friends? If you say a lot, but you have never shared the gospel with them, then I would say that you really do not believe that. There are people that are broken and lost that need Jesus that have been put in your circle so that you can look at them the same way these friends looked at the paralytic and say “I know you need Jesus, there is nothing going to get in the way of me introducing you to Him.”

Billy Graham even says “The greatest form of praise is the sound of consecrated feet seeking out the lost and helpless.” - Billy Graham

This is all pre miracle work. So there’s a sub lesson here of If you want Jesus to move and perform miracles, you have to bring the people that need the miracle to Him, and I believe that we serve a Lord that is in the miracle business, so why are we not bringing everyone we know to Him.

They brought their friend to Jesus (v.2a)

Jesus deals with the heart first (v.2b)

2 Now we start to look at what Jesus did in this time. When he saw the man, he knew that he was paralyzed, He saw the outside of the mans condition, but still looked and chose to tell the man that his sins were forgiven. This is also a time where they thought that if someone was paralyzed, or any other form a disease, it was because of a sin, or their fathers sins that have been passed down to them. This man probably thought the same thing. So, for Jesus to say this is a big deal because it was more than just the forgiveness of sins, but also Jesus revealing who He was.

Matthew 9:3–6 ESV

And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic—“Rise, pick up your bed and go home.”

They brought their friend to Jesus (v.2a)

Jesus deals with the heart first (v.2b)

Jesus showed who He was to the people (v.3-6)

3 Unlike the demons in the past, there are those around Jesus that do not believe that He is the Son of God. That He is who He said He was. The fulfillment of prophecy, the messiah to come and set people free. So Jesus does this to show to the people that He is the Lord.

It is then that He goes to heal the mans physical ailments to show that He is the Son of God. That He has authority on earth and in Heaven. That He is the one who was prophesied about and who came to set the people free. To forgive the world of their sins, and, although sometimes not as physically literal as the paralytic, give new lives to those He sets free.

Think about the paralytic for a moment. This man has not been able to walk, probably thinking that it is because of some sin that he or his father made that he is paralyzed, and here comes Jesus. Jesus not only says that he is forgiven of his sins, but then allows him to walk. Jesus gave this man a new life both physically and spiritually all so that we could see and know that He really is who He says He is.

But the people response here was different than the people in the first town.

Matthew 9:7–8 ESV

And he rose and went home. When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

They brought their friend to Jesus (v.2a)

Jesus deals with the heart first (v.2b)

Jesus showed who He was to the people (v.3-6)

The people praised God (v.7-8)

4 The people praised God. In fact it says that they were afraid. The greek word here is often associated with the word fear, but like that of fearing God. That in that moment, they knew that they had just seen God move, and yes they were afraid, but it was because they got to see God do what only He can do and who He really is. He is in the miracle business. In that, they praised and glorified His name.

This is different than that first town. Instead of asking Jesus to leave, this would be like asking Him to stay and worshipping Him.

They Praised His Name

So now we get to the practical portion here. A lot of times we read things like this and think that they are really cool to see God do a miracle in someones life way back then, but think “he has not done a single miracle here in my life”. Well, lets look at a couple.

First, the odds of you being born. Dr. Ali Binazir who works at Harvard and has multiple degrees from Berekeley calculated the odds of your parents meeting and then having a child and said: “Imagine there was one life preserver thrown somewhere in some ocean and there is exactly one turtle in all of these oceans, swimming underwater somewhere. The probability that you came about and exist today is the same as that turtle sticking its head out of the water — in the middle of that life preserver. On one try.”

That is science, but God says

Jeremiah 1:5 ESV

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

or

Psalm 139:16 ESV

Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.

In Genesis it tells us that God formed man with His hands. So to start, for you to be alive is a miracle, but it is because God choose for you to be here.

Then we start to look at what He has done for us.

In Genesis, after we read about Him creating everything, we read that man chose sin and was permanently separated from God because of that sin. But because God loves you so much, He did not want there to be that separation, and so He made a way, even though we were enemies of God because of our sin. He sent His son Jesus, here on this earth to live a perfect life, and then to die on a cross for our sins. Our sins deserved a punishment, and that punishment was death, but Jesus took that death for us.

The cool part is that He did not stay dead. In fact, He rose again three days later, defeating death, hell, and the grave. He gives that new life freely to us, and all we have to do is believe that He is our Lord and savior, and ask Him to be the Lord of our lives. Then when God looks upon us, He no longer sees sinner, He see saint. He no longer sees enemy, He sees child.

That is the miracle of salvation. That is the miracle that Jesus has done in your life. and I said it at the beginning that Jesus, when He does miracles, He demands a response...

What is your response?

Maybe you know Him, but you have drifted and started to live for the world. Maybe your response is to come back to Him.

Maybe your response is to be like the friends that brought the paralytic to Jesus and to bring other to Him. So your response is to dedicate your life to ministry or missions, or even simply evangelizing to the lost more.

Maybe it is simple obedience in the way of baptism or repentance of sins.

Maybe that response for you is salvation, and I pray that it is!! If that is you, here is what I would ask…Please talk to one of the pastors here. I’ll be upfront, Bill will be here as well, we have some pastors in the back, but please talk to someone. Even if you are feeling that tug but not sure what it all means, talk to someone.

If you don’t want to step out and come up front or go to the back, that is fine. In the seat back in front of you is a card that is a decision card. Mark that and you can drop it in the black offering box on either side of the sanctuary doors and I promise you that a pastor will follow up with you to discuss more.

Jesus demands a response…what is yours.