Jesus' Power Over Demons

Biblical Text

Matthew 8:24–34 ESV

And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?” 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.” 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. And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.

INTRODUCTION

By now if you have been with us you should know Matthew has been showing us the credentials of the King

God had determined to redeem the earth from the curse of sin---Reverse the curse---In order to do that Jesus came into the world in human flesh to take back humanity himself.

-First time he came to redeem man second time he comes to redeem earth and universe

IT IS MATTHEWS CONCERN TO SHOW US JESUS IS THE ONE WHO HAS THE POWER TO DO THAT.

TEXTUAL INTRODUCTION

One of the major factors in proving Jesus is Just that and has the power to redeem all is showing his power of the supernatural real: Demons

If Jesus is going to reverse the curse and take back the fallen universe he must show his power over that force that currently holds the earth, namely Satan and his demons.

That is why we are constantly seeing Jesus cast out demons in the Gospels: Instantly, Authoritatively, with a single word and with ease. Which gives clear proof the he has power over the kingdom of darkness.

EXPLANATION

We have already seen in Matthew 4 Jesus perfectly resist satan who came to tempt him with 3 specific temptation and in each one Jesus was victorious.

So we know Jesus has the power to resist Satan, we know Satan confronted him and he never gave in, and caused Satans hosts to give in to him.

So there is RESISTING POWER

There is OVERCOMING POWER

Jesus proved with both that he had power over the kingdom of Darkness.

BTW If you don’t know how important this is: 1 John 3:8 “the reason the son of God came…(Pay attention) was to destroy the works of the devil” The Lord came to destroy the works of the Devil and that is exactly what will happen permanently.

We see previews of that in the text: Luke 11 “If I truly cast out demons than the Kingdom of God has come.”

WHY? Because that was one of the marks of the Kingdom of God

So Jesus came into the world to destroy the works of the Devil and Matthew wants us to see that Jesus has the power to do just that by recording it.

2. Now don’t take this lightly like it is no big deal; this was no easy thing. THE DISCIPLES AND EVERYBODY ELSE CERTAINLY KNEW THIS.

Matthew 17:19 Even though they were commissioned to do this very thing they found themselves unable to. “We can’t do it Jesus”

So we certainly shouldn’t think because of the ease with which Jesus does it that it so for anybody else.

There are people running around today trying to cast out demons with formulas and rituals and they are delusional---not so.

The Jews were involved in exorcisms and were at this time trying to cast out demons with rituals and formulas…with little to no success.

Luke “By whom do your sons cast out demons?”

Acts - 7 Sons of Sciva trying to cast out demons being beat naked...

They tried and when they tried they did it with apprehension, fear, dread and with almost total failure.

So when Jesus comes along and cast out demons they literally marvelled that he could cast out demons in such a fashion...

Mark 1:27

27 And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.”

What is this? A new formula? Never seen anything like this.

You see it wasn’t just that he cast them out, It was they way he did it, the ease, IT WAS THE POWER THAT SHOCKED THEM.

In fact he did it so amazingly and with such power that they concluded he must be one of them. The only way he could cast out demons with a word is if he is in cahoots with them.

Luke 11 “He casts out demons with by the power of the prince of demons”

-Phony he is with the devil---BC that is the only way this is possible.

So it wasn’t just that he did it, it was that it was instantly, absolute, with total authority. beyond what they had ever experienced or even imagined---Shocked---scared.

TEXTUAL SEGMENT

Remember Matthew in Chapters 8-9 give us 9 miracles that are samples of his power:

-The one who brings in the kingdom of God MUST:

Do away with sickness---Jesus did that

Handle the forces of nature---Jesus did that

Deal with the sin problem---Chapter 9 we will see he does

Overturn death---Ch. 9

Handle the forces of Evil---We will see he most certainly can

Jesus has left Capurnuam after a busy day of healing everybody on a boat in the sea of Galilee where he calmed a massive storm in night, and now its dawn and they have reached their destination on the eastern shore and are immediately confronted.

Matthew 8:28 “the country of Gadarenes...” General area…Luke and mark more specific…villages...

“Demon possessed men...”

What does it mean to be “Possessed with demons?” ---

Under the control of demons

They can Tempt/ bring disease/ attack (physical, spiritual, mental)

Satan works diff in sophisticated areas...

Matthew 8:28

coming out of the tombs, so fierce that no one could pass that way.

Mark/Luke= Naked, screaming, wild, strong fierce, cutting themselves, running toward JC… “Fresh meat”

stopped in tracks by JC “Fell at his feet worshipped, why?” BC they know exactly who He is. “son of the living God”

DEMONS ARE FALLEN ANGELS---THEY KNOW WHO HE IS

Phil. 2:10

also “The time..”

They know his power, who he is, timetable ...

“GO” —one word absolute power---that is what freaked them out

Demons are: Smarter ,stronger, faster, experienced, not limited by time or form …only JC could do this!

Sending the demons into pigs was DEMONSTRATION of what he did so everyone could see something supernatural had happened. 2 Men were clothed in their right minds having convo with JC.

“Begged him to leave...” AFRAID LAST WEEK

—WHAT SCARIER THAN DEMON POSSESSED MAD MEN? BEING IN THE PRESENCE OF THE SON OF GOD.

MIRACLES DON’T MAKE PEOPLE BELIEVE...

JC leaves these unbelieving people missionaries...