Jesus Makes the Foulest Clean, Matthew 8:28-34

In our sermon today we see that…

Jesus has the power and the authority to make even the foulest and most unclean sinner one of His followers.

Because most people read the Bible in spurts and in parts; and most sermons these days are topical and usually not a successive study of a book of Scripture, we miss the structural help that each of the writers gave to the books of the Bible.

2 Timothy 3:16 (CSB) says, “16 All Scripture is inspired by God, and is profitable for teaching, for rebuking, for correcting, for training in righteousness.”

This means that each book of the Bible was written by God through men that were led by the Holy Spirit. The structure of each book in the Bible is the result of God’s gracious and helpful design. When we look at the whole of Matthew’s Gospel, you see that there are multiple themes that are woven together to reveal Jesus to us.

In the first 8 chapters Matthew is telling the story of Jesus in a way that reveals to us who Jesus truly is so that we will believe in Him and then follow Him by faith and through faithful living.

Matthew reveals the authority of Christ in the way that He was teaching (5-7), through the healing of the sick and lame, by the calming of a storm, and now we see Jesus commanding His enemy. Jesus has authority over everything, including the soldiers in His enemies army. In the next chapter, chapter 9, we will see that Jesus even has the authority to forgive sins.

At the end of our passage today the people reject Jesus. This is also a theme in Matthew’s Gospel. Not everyone accepts the truth of who Jesus is. Just like then there are many who want things their own way and they refuse to submit to the authority and Lordship of Christ that he demands.

After Jesus told a storm to calm down in Matthew 8:23-27 the men in the boat asked themselves, “What kind of man is this?” In our verses today Jesus has freed two men from the bondage and possession of demons with a simple command. Rather than asking “who is this man?”, the Gentiles in the region of Gadarenes rejected Jesus out of fear rather than following Him by faith.

Matthew’s account places two demon possessed men in the path of Jesus. I have just mentioned that each book of the Bible is written by God through men who were led by the Holy Spirit. I don’t if you have noticed yet, but every now and then you find some of the same stories told in the gospels with subtle differences or from different angles. This is one of those moments.

The same moment is recorded in Mark 5:1-20 and Luke 8:26-39. Both Luke and Mark record this event as happening to one man, where Matthew records it happening to two men. This is not the only time where this happens in Matthew’s gospel. In Matthew 9:27 and in Matthew 20:30 Matthew refers to two men where Mark and Luke record the same moments as happening to one man.

I feel it is right to mention that neither Mark nor Luke say that there was only one man who was possessed. It’s likely that they had focused in on one primary person, likely the one who wanted to go with Jesus in the boat when everyone had rejected Him.

In both Mark and Luke one man wanted to go with Jesus when he was leaving. But, Jesus denied him the opportunity to go with Him and told him to stay. Jesus said in Mark 5:19, “Go home to your own people, and report to them how much the Lord has done for you and how he has had mercy on you.”

I believe that Mark and Luke focus on the one who responded with faith in Jesus. Whereas, Matthew was concerned with providing a truthful witness to the event. Matthew’s audience was Jewish, and as a result would have been familiar with Deuteronomy 19:15.

Deuteronomy 19:15 (CSB) says, “15 “One witness cannot establish any iniquity or sin against a person, whatever that person has done. A fact must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

Based on the audience, structure, and intent of Matthew’s gospel it makes sense that he would include two in situations where only one responded with faith. Matthew is making the case to Jews that you can trust the testimony of his gospel, which means you can trust in Jesus as the Messiah.

Looking at Matthew 8:28-24…

These men were as unclean as you could get. Where they lived was unclean, what they did was unclean, and even the farms around them were filled with animals that were considered to be unclean. But, these men were more just ceremonially unclean, they were possessed by a legion of demons. There is nothing more unclean than a man who lives among the bodies of the dead, in the vicinity of a pig farm, with thousands of demons residing in his body.

And yet, Jesus enters into the lives of these men, exercises His authority over His enemy, and frees the men of their bondage. In this moment we see that Jesus came to make even the foulest of men clean. We can learn a lot from this brief encounter… we learn about Satan, we learn about Jesus, and we even learn about ourselves.

What does this teach us about Satan?

Satan’s goal is death and destruction

The demons are doing the work of Satan in the lives of these two men. In Mark and Luke we see that they are harming themselves by cutting themselves with stones. Then, when they are set free from the bodies of the men the demons take over the herd of pigs and lead them to their death.

Satan’s intention for you is always death, and he will never be satisfied with anything else. Everything he does is aimed at death. He seeks to kill the church through division and destruction.

He strives to render the mission of the church ineffective by discrediting those God is using.

Satan uses whatever he can to distract from Jesus and lead people away from faith. This is what he does with the pigs. Instead of a town coming out to Christ because he had set the men free, the people ask Jesus to leave out of fear. (The pigs were destroyed, which caused everyone to fear Jesus.)

Jesus did not kill the pigs, the demons killed the pigs.

However, what Satan meant for bad is ultimately for good because the death of the whole heard of pigs serves to prove the claims of the men who were free.

Satan relishes in and rules over the unclean

The men were living among the unclean bodies and tombs of the dead.

The pigs were unclean

This is where Satan is at home because he is unclean. Satan wants you to unclean. It is his desire to keep you in the filth and in the dirt. You can look around you at the ways of the world and see that he doesn’t have to attack the gospel to hurt the church. He only has to keep the members of the church in the muck of sin… (head, heart, body- eyes, mind, ears, etc)

Satan is the pig that enjoys the mud… you will not beat him by wrestling with him in the mud… you will lose because you both get muddy and its what he wants. You must fight Satan by following the Word and fleeing from sin and removing yourself from the moment of temptation.

Satan’s time is limited

“Have you come here to torment us before the time?”

This is massive. Even the demons understand that the time is coming where they will be tormented forever. They know their sentence and they know that the time will come when they are done. They have an urgency… do you?

It is true that we have victory in Jesus Christ now and in the end of days. But it is also true that Satan and his minions are prowling the earth seeking to devour and destroy as many as possible before their time is up.

1 Peter 5:8 (CSB) “8 Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.”

Satan’s time is limited, so don’t give in to his urgency… stay faithful and on guard against his attacks.

What does this teach us about Jesus?

Jesus is the Son of God

All of the sermons, miracles, signs, and wonders of Jesus are the evidence of His claims to be the Son of God.

Jesus is the Messiah

The demons acknowledged who Jesus is

The pigs are evidence of the work of Christ

Jesus is Lord

Jesus has authority over His enemies

The demons obeyed when Jesus said “Go”

I find myself asking the question, “Are we as obedient to the authority of Christ as the legion of demons in this story?” They are his enemies, they know that there is an eternity of torment that waits for them… and yet, because of who Jesus is they do what he says when He says to do it.

They have already sinned against him in their rebellion with Satan/Lucifer… but their disobedience has limits, because Jesus’ authority has no limits.

Jesus has an appointed time

This is a cause for hope in the life of a Christian. Jesus has come to save, and He is coming back to recover and redeem all those who are His.

This will all come to an end when Jesus comes back. It will not always be this way. That is a comfort and a hope for us. But, it is also a motivator and source of urgency for us. There is a time when the opportunity to know Christ will be gone. When Jesus returns there is no more hope for the world, there will only be judgement.

The appointed time of Christ is not known, but we do know that every day we have is an opportunity to live for Him and make the most of the days He has given us.

What does this mean for you?

Accept Jesus as Lord

There is no middle ground

Putting Him off is the same thing as rejecting. I believe it is best to confess your unbelief… and if you want to believe you can ask God for help in believing. (Scripture reference)

Be a witness of what Christ has done

Where the demons asked for Jesus to send them into pigs, we are to trust Him and go where He sends us

Mark 5 records the same moment in the ministry of Jesus. In Mark’s gospel he records that Jesus sends the man home to bear witness to what Christ has done.

When Jesus changes your life, God uses the change Jesus makes as evidence or testimony of the gospel. Rather than following Jesus and traveling, the men were sent home to demonstrate the truthfulness of what Christ had done.

Not only are you to do this as an individual, but this is true for the whole church as well.

The gathered church on a Sunday morning is a testimony itself of the power and truth of the gospel. You demonstrate it as a church by gathering with others around Christ. The world is filled with people who get together because they have things in common. But, only in the church do you find people who have nothing worldly in common fellowshipping together.

Be pure to be used by the Lord

Satan has truly blinded us into thinking that because we are saved by grace we can live by sin. Think on that… Did you know that the ongoing and unrepentant sin in your life hinders God from using you. It’s not that God can’t use you, He doesn’t use you. In 2 Timothy 2:2-24 Paul teaches that purity is required of those who want to be used by the Lord.

2 Timothy 2:20–24 (CSB)

“20 Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also those of wood and clay; some for honorable use and some for dishonorable., 21 So if anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. 22 Flee from youthful passions, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 But reject foolish and ignorant disputes, because you know that they breed quarrels. 24 The Lord’s servant must not quarrel, but must be gentle to everyone, able to teach, and patient.”

There is no one that God can’t use, but there are many that God will not use.

This isn’t to be discouraging, it’s meant to be motivating. Do you want God to use you? Then purify yourself. If you are a Christian, then you have been saved, forgiven, and declared righteous.

Preparation for the good work God has planned is the pursuit of purity and faithfulness

This includes:

Fleeing from ungodly passions, rejecting distracting and divisive disputesPursuing faithfulness, godliness, and unity in the gospel

The pursuit of purity and faithfulness is the opposite of relishing the unclean. Sinful passions, gospel distractions, and Christian divisions are like the tombs and graves the demon possessed men were living in- they are unclean. You cannot be faithful to Christ and stay in those places. You have been set free from them to run from them and run to godliness.

This is why we cry out to God for revival.

Revival isn’t about other people, it’s about you. Revival isn’t about bringing other people to hear the message, it’s about you surrendering to the message of Christ and getting right with God. If you spend the time you need to on yourself, you won’t have much time left to focus on others.

Be persevering

I mentioned earlier that there is a time coming when Jesus returns and brings all this to a close.

Friend, if you know Christ, then there is a day coming when

your suffering will come to an end.Your tears will cease to flowYour heart will no longer hurtYou will never feel lonelyYou will be completely healed Your pain will be gone

But, if you don’t know Christ then there is a time coming when your suffering, tears, hurt, loneliness, ailments, and pains will increase in the fires of hell.

As a Christian you are called to persevere through the fires of this world because through Jesus you have escaped the fires of hell. You can do it, He is with you, and He knows exactly where following Him has landed you… and He is right there with you. Remember, if He is in the boat, the boat is not going to capsize… don’t be like the disciples who had a small faith. I know I don’t want to be like them. I want to trust Him and rest in Him no matter how great the waves or how loud the wind. I want to be where He is, and I want to persevere. You can too if you trust in Him.

Be gracious and forgiving to others

If your testimony is that Jesus has set you free from sin and death, then you should be the first in line to show grace to others. You have received grace to show grace. People are not perfect, and as a Christian you should be quick to remind yourself of that. The church should never become a harsh place, it should be a place where there is grace.

Just like the home. When there is cause for discipline it is always for the purpose of turning hearts back to God. In the church, when we have cause for rebuking or correcting one another, it should always be to turn hearts back to the Lord.

As we close I want to reiterate the truth and testimony that

Jesus can make the foulest clean

O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing by Charles Wesley

O for a thousand tongues to sing my great Redeemer's praise, the glories of my God and King, the triumphs of his grace!

My gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim, to spread thro' all the earth abroad the honors of your name.

Jesus! the name that charms our fears, that bids our sorrows cease, 'tis music in the sinner's ears, 'tis life and health and peace.

He breaks the power of cancelled sin, he sets the prisoner free; his blood can make the foulest clean; his blood availed for me.

There is no one so dirty and sinful that Jesus can’t make them clean

You should always assume that you are the most sinful person you know.

You and I are not the judge of who is unclean or clean, God is the judge and Jesus is the standard. Unless you are as pure as Jesus…

Jesus is the standard of what is right and wrong morally and religiously. This means to impose any other standard on yourself or another person is hypocritical and deceitful. This is what Satan does. Satan takes the truth and he twists it until it is damaging an divisive- even with the gospel.

There is no one so far from God or consumed by sin that Jesus can’t reach them

Jesus came to the most sinful place in all of the galaxy- earth.

There is no place too far or too unclean for Jesus to go (He is not stained by the world, he came to undo the stain of sin on the mankind and the world) The world is stained by sin, to Christ there is no difference between the unclean graves and the temple- both are on a world that is stained with the curse of sin and waiting for His redemptive work.

Every Christian’s testimony is that Jesus set me free and now I follow Him

Is this your testimony?

Will you share this testimony?

Can others affirm your testimony?