Authority over Evil

If you have a copy of God’s Word please open it up to Matthew 8 and 9. I have titled the message this morning. Authority over Evil.

Pray with me. So we have seen since the end of the sermon on the mount in Chapter 7 this idea that Jesus has a unique authority remember what that passage said. Matthew 7:28-29

Matthew 7:28–29 ESV

28 And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, 29 for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

now his authority extends beyond the brilliant teachings in the sermon on the mount. Jesus has this authority over the unclean, the unseen, the weather, and that all shows us that he is the messiah and he deserves to be followed. Now as we study the text today we are going to see verse 27 more magnified of chapter 8 which if you remember said. Matthew 8:27

Matthew 8:27 ESV

27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

Now with that verse in mind let give you the main idea today upfront.

Jesus has authority over all evil and he and he alone can help you escape it.

The sermon will be read in two parts today. Follow along we me as I read the first part starting in verse 28. Matthew 8:28-34

Matthew 8:28–34 ESV

28 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. 29 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?” 30 Now a herd of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them. 31 And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.” 32 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. 33 The herdsmen fled, and going into the city they told everything, especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

1st point this morning is this..

Jesus has authority over demons.

This point is important to us, because demons are terrifying they come around and torcher us, and in the case of this text they possessing two men. Now this text is quite different from the other parallel texts in the gospel of Mark, and Luke. Its alot shorter, and that is because Matthew is making the point of Jesus authorityhere.

Now in those other passages we see some more details that make this passage come alive. In Mark 5 he highlights only one man does not mean there is not two right this is something you need to always understand when people are trying to debunk the bible. I could say Joel was at church today, and not mention Megan but that does not mean she is not there I just chose to highlight the fact that Joel is here and in Mark there is this focus on a man with an unclean spirit. Saying he lived in the tombs just like the gospel of Matthew here. But Mark highlights the fact that no-one could bind him anymore, not even with a chain so this demon was quite powerful. In mark it says that he would break these chains and no-one had the strength to subdue him. And in Mark it says this demon would cry out day and night cutting himself with stones he was a real problem… In Luke the details are much like Mark but we see this demon did not wear clothes and again verified he lived among tombs.

The demon or demons in every gospel single gospel say something that you cannot miss. IN Matthew 8:29

Matthew 8:29 ESV

29 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?”

in Luke’s gospel. Luke 8:28

Luke 8:28 ESV

28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell down before him and said with a loud voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.”

In Mark 5:7

Mark 5:7 ESV

7 And crying out with a loud voice, he said, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure you by God, do not torment me.”

I think by now we can understand that these demons knew something that even the people who had been walking side by side with Jesus did not know. Jesus is not just some ordinary man. He is the Son of God, God himself and he can put those demons in there place with just a word. They recognized something the men did not recognize in the boat. That Jesus is the Son of God, and he has all authority. And the disciples are now about to see it with their own eyes again.

So going back to Matthew we see the demons beg Jesus If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs. In this gospel there was pigs around the area they were in. In mark during this interaction we see that these men or one of the men who is possessed named Legion for they are many, and they beg first to not be send into the country so he said send us to the pigs and so Jesus gives them permission to enter into those pigs. He has authority over even the demons.

So what happens when they go into those pigs well every gospel with this story tells us they rushed down the bank and drowned, and why did he cause that to happen…

One Scholar D.A. Carson says.. I think that Jesus' answer to their question, "Have you come here to torment us before the time?" is actually, "Yes." (Here we have some realized eschatology.) While it might look like an act of mercy, it is truly an act of judgment. They ask to be sent into those dirty pigs, and Jesus allows it. But notice what happens. The pigs don't just go about their business, doing what pigs do. Rather, they stampede off the cliff into the sea! Yes, that same sea that almost swallowed up Jesus and his disciples. But unlike the disciples, these demons go into the sea and disappear into the depths.25 I see this drowning in the sea to be Jesus' present judgment of them. Jesus' one word -"Go" —stands out, especially if you have a red-lettered Bible. With one little word, the demons are judged by God's Son.)

So when Jesus came he came to even judge those demons, now what happens next this is not the end of the story, I want you to notice the crowd for a moment. Now what I did not mention to you at first was Jesus was in a place that was mostly made up of gentiles, and what is so interesting here especially from a Christian view is the fact that these people want nothing to do with Jesus after this.

Which is crazy to me..My goodness right he calls demons out of men and people are like can you leave. One because he cost them money,… But this is what the power of Sin does it makes you want to get rid of Jesus right in front of you even though he can take away your own demons. How sinful are we. That we would rather have demons among us then Jesus in us..

Listen to Luke’s account of this.

Luke 8:34–39 (ESV)

34 When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they fled and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then people went out to see what had happened, and they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, and they were afraid. 36 And those who had seen it told them how the demon-possessed man had been healed. 37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked him to depart from them, for they were seized with great fear. So he got into the boat and returned. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” And he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

This man was healed from the demons clothed free, and the people rather than saying what can this son of man do for me says depart from us.

So Jesus goes..

Lets keep reading…

Matthew 9:1–8 ESV

1 And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city. 2 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.” 3 And behold, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? 5 For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 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.” 7 And he rose and went home. 8 When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.

Second point this morning is this…

Jesus has authority over sin.

So Jesus leaves the place where he heals the two men from demons he returns back to the city… And we see another man come.. people are beginning to flock to Jesus because they know this man can heal. This account of the story like the last account of the story is much shorter, but Matthew inspired by the Holy Spirit is again trying to teach us something here.

Now in Mark’s gospel in chapter 2 you see that Jesus is preaching bunched up with a whole lot of people wall to wall not even a door for someone to come into and these friends of this paralytic man are desperate for Jesus to heal their friend so much so they removed the roof to get to Jesus and Jesus like this text in Matthew loves the faith of these men, because they knew Jesus could heal and like I have discussed Jesus has authority to do so, and so he commends there faith for this act, but something is different happens here.. He said take heart your sins are forgiven.

This is different, because up until this point he said be healed and they are healed, He stoped the wind stoped the rain told the demons to go and now he tells this man your sin’s are forgiven and even though we can quickly see what happened Imagine this was quite the scene.

In fact listen to how one man put this… Imagine the shock!

Imagine the disappointment! Why didn't he heal the man physically? Imagine what people thought.

Many Christian leaders today tell us that the church and its message need to be relevant. We need to meet people where they are. We need to discover people's felt needs and use those needs to bring such people into a saving relationship with Jesus. Such talk makes some sense, and it certainly sounds kind and understanding. However, it does not reflect Jesus' philosophy of ministry here. His approach was quite different.

I'm sure this poor paralytic had more than a few felt needs. In ancient times the disabled were social outcasts. There were no mandatory building codes for wheelchair accessibility. There were no special care centers. There was no group therapy. In general, paralytics were lonely, helpless, and hurting people. So, can you imagine all his felt needs? Can you imagine all his real physical needs? This was a desperate man.

So here comes Jesus to the rescue. We can count on Christ's sympathy for this man, stuck to a mat, barely able to raise his head, longing for a cure, right? But what do we get? Our Lord has the apparent audacity and cruelty to gloss over the most obvious need. Jesus does not first say to him, "Rise. pick up your bed and go home" (v. 6). Rather he first says, "Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven" (v. 2). How irrelevant! How inappropriate! It is an outrageous statement but "a calculatedly outrageous statement," for which It is possible that what Jesus says to the paralytic reflects his knowledge of this man's particular sins and their relationship to his paralysis (it is not uncommon for Scripture to speak of illness and misfortunes as being the result of sin). This man's sin or sins may have brought about this sickness. Yet it's also possible (and I think this is the case) that Jesus addresses this man in this way because this man, like any naturally sinful human being, needed his sins to be forgiven." That's what he (like we) needed most.

Think of what our Lord says here in this way. Imagine being in a car accident and rushed to the ER. If the doctor there treated your broken toe before your internal brain hemorrhage, you would not think him to be especially compassionate or levelheaded. Here Jesus, the Great Physician, shows both his compassion and his levelheadedness by treating this man's greatest need first. Jesus stops the spiritual bleeding of the soul caused by sin. He does this because he knows that to cure this man's body would have been an immediate but impermanent solution. To restore his health would perhaps save him from decades of suffering, but to restore his soul would save him (whatever becomes of his body) from an eternity of suffering. So in verse 2 Jesus' authoritative declaration of the forgiveness of sins may not have been what the paralytic and his friends wanted to hear (it certainly wasn't what the scribes wanted to hear), but it was what they needed to hear. It is what we need to hear as well.

Our felt needs or physical needs may be great, but they will never be as great as our need for forgiveness.

That is powerful… And what we see in this text is outrage because of it. I think the scribes were intrigued up until this point because Jesus was teaching these incredible things and doing these incredible miracles. And now they are like wait a min.. You are blaspheming… Because of what they know from the Old Testament is only God can forgive sin. Now they are like who does this guy think he is..

They know they have to go to the temple sacrifice something in order to have forgiveness. In their mind this man cannot forgive sin. he might be able to teach, to do miracles, but no way this man can forgive sin. This was total blasphemy and according to Lev chapter 24 in their minds Jesus should be put to death over saying something like this.

And Jesus knew how outraged they were because in verse 4 we see that Jesus knew their own thoughts in fact he tells them why do you think evil in your hearts…

I wonder if that statement alone caused them to pause, and says you know what which is easier to say.. Your sins are forgiven or to say, rise and walk.. Jesus is the master of talking to people and we see that here and its obvious that it’s easier to just go down and tell someone your sins are forgiven. We can say thing after thing all we want, but Jesus is making a point here that we cannot miss the son of man can forgive sins but even though those scribes can’t test that in the moment, so what does he do he shows his authority yet again to forgive sins by doing this miracle.

Jesus miracles show us his authority even when it comes to sin. We don’t know long this exchange was but this man laying on the mat is like what is going on here, but when Jesus says Rise and pick up your bed and go home the man does that very thing. Jesus has authority over sin. And this is good news… Because nothing can rid you from your sin except Jesus Christ himself.

And again like the previous passage I am floored at the response of these people… Again they have this fear, but its turns into glorifying God but this crowd still misses the point it does not run to Jesus and say forgive me forgive me, you can be amazed at Jesus and what he does and still miss the point of this text and the point of why he came you and I need forgiveness for our sins.

See we may have diseases, ailments and all kinds of problems, but the biggest problem we have is sin. There is no greater issue.

Listen to this one man.. [it's not that Jesus can't deal with whatever physical issues with which you and I are dealing. He certainly has the power and at times the willingness, as clearly shown in Matthew 8, 9. It's not that Jesus can't or won't deal with all that ails us on the outside. Rather, it's that his priority is dealing with what ails us on the inside. For you see, "forgiveness is our deepest need" —this world needs forgiveness more than we need a cure for cancer, and such forgiveness is what God offers to us in the gospel, which is truly his "highest achieve-ment" —the forgiveness of sins through the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The miracle of the resurrection shows us he has the authority over life and death.

One last point this real quite this morning and its this..

Forgiven people do something with their forgiveness.

Lets think for just a moment over the two stories I covered One man we saw in the gospel of Luke who was freed from the demon wanted to stay with Jesus and he told him something I think we need to think about and that is when Jesus saves you you cannot just go home.. Remember what he said.. “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.”

God can heal us from so many things… But the greatest thing he can do in this life is save us..

Have you been saved, do you know the one who has authority over sin who went to the cross and died the death that you and I deserve if you do have you done something with it. Have you done something with it. God does not call all of us to be pastors to be church employees but he calls all of us to declare how much God has done for you, and if he saved you can you not declare of his glorious grace to others.

Don’t be like the scribes and question Jesus here he has authority over the higher matters of life we dont…

We have a problem in the church and that problem is simply saved people are not living out their calling. I say this to you all the time only you can live the life God has called you to, and he calls each and every one of us to share the good news about Jesus Christ. Every one of us who are born again have the story of forgiveness written on our hearts, and we all have a holy calling to live out.

No matter what that calling is forgiven people do something with their forgiveness.

I dont know where you may be at today I really dont, but know this the demons you have in your life you can take to Jesus and he will cast them out, and more than that you can run to him because of the cross and your sin’s can be forgiven. Church lets do something with our forgiveness so the world knows we are forgiven let us pray..