A Picture of Power

We finish with one of the “some s” exhortations, ad this one fits perfectly with what we preached LAST WEEK and will serve as a good reminder, he calms the Storm (verse 29) he has been good to us, when life and trails and storms literal and figurative rage around us, we can look to him. He will raise up those who trust in him, he will keep us, let us praise the Lord. We should begin doing exactly what this psalm commands us to do in the last verse we should “attend to these things”.

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 40:21-26 (Alan)

Isaiah 40:21–26 ESV

Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness. Scarcely are they planted, scarcely sown, scarcely has their stem taken root in the earth, when he blows on them, and they wither, and the tempest carries them off like stubble. To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing.

Sermon

Good Morning Church! I was Glad when they said to me let us go and worship in the house of the Lord!

well today we turn our attention to Matthew 8:23-34. So the ed of chapter 8. but in this portion, this section of Scripture in particular, context becomes extraordinarily important. So I would like to remind us of what it is that we are in the middle of, and what that means.

Immediately after the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew gives us a series of six miracles with a quick interlude about the cost of following Jesus in the middle. If we remember back a few weeks ago the first three miracles we covered all together. Jesus cleansed the leper, he healed the centurions servant, and he healed Peters Mother in Law.

And the Idea that Matthew wanted us to see was that Jesus has Authority. That he can heal the sick, even from a distance. Authority was the central issue over and above even the healings. the people come before him and call him Lord. the centurion even specifically mentions authority.

Matthew 8:9 ESV

For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

The centurion proclaimed Jesus authority the Leper proclaimed it when he said “if you will you can heal me.” his ability to heal Peter’s Mother in Law just because he wants to shows his authority that was the main point. And he used that Authority to challenge those who would follow him to give up everything. To not have a place to lay their head, like he has no place to lay his head. To follow him forsaking all other affections and claims on our lives. Then last week we saw Jesus calming the storm, that was the fourth miracle. and in that there was one very important question. Matthew was driving us to look to Jesus and ask a very pointed and important question. We are called to ask: what sort of man is this. When we see Jesus performing these miracles we should ask: what sort of man can do these things.

And we know because we have the benefit of theological reflection and knowing who Jesus was in general. We know the answer to what sort of man is this, we know that he is God, but in the flow of the narrative, we don’t fully know that yet. And that thought, that Jesus is God, is what Matthew is building up to. And when we left last week the disciples were wondering, but this week we turn our attention to the fifth miracle, Jesus casting out demons from two men. And in this we see that though the disciples are not sure, there is a rumbling, PEOPLE may not know, but in the spiritual realm it is clear. And so what we see in the overarching flow of all these miracles is the ushering in of spiritual realities, spiritual truths are being seen now by all people.

So Matthew 8:28-34 is our text today and we will just read it all at once.

READ

These are the words of the Lord for us this morning, Lets Pray

PRAY

SO in this narrative, Jesus casting out these demons, which is a story that all the synoptic gospels relate to us and therefore is an important story. What we begin to see is that Matthew is driving us to realize over and over again, and this is why context is so important. Matthew wants us to see that Jesus is different. Jesus has authority. Jesus can calm the wind and the sea. he has authority over the natural realm. And here we see hat Jesus has authority over even the spiritual realm, but the point that Matthew is trying to get across to us is actually bigger and more all encompassing than that. He wants us to understand just exactly WHO jesus is. and in this, and in the narrative we are talking about next week he lays it all bare. We are confronted in these passages with Jesus, and who he truly is. and the question that lies before us is what will be your response? Once you truly see and understand who this Jesus is.

And so he starts by telling us, and starts is probably not the right way to approach this, I want us to see rather a few lessons that we can take from this that paint the broad picture of Who Jesus is. and so we have to first ascertain, WHAT IS THE NATURE OF JESUS’ AUTHORITY? What is Jesus authority like? is it an authority that is over just certain realms or certain things? No! the nature of Jesus Authority i that he is over all things!

The NATURE of Jesus’ Authority: OVER ALL THINGS

One of the biggest takeaways when we read this is to see that Matthew goes out of his ways to push us out of the realm of normal, outside of what we might expect to see that Jesus has authority even there.

We start with just the location. They come to the other side, they come to the country of the Gadarenes. And there is some debate as to the EXACT location of this getting super technical, but what there is no debate on is that this is Jesus moving out of Jewish country, out of Jewish lands and into the realm of the Gentiles. He has gone outside of the area of Jerusalem and Judea and Nazareth and capernum and has now gone to a place that is foreign. And we know it is foreign because of the name, but also because there are herds of pigs which would NEVER happen in Jewish territory. And so Jesus goes to this place that is outside the realm of where we might expect the Jewish Messiah to have authority and guess what? He rules there too! he commands authority ever there. It doesn't matter where you go in the World, Jesus has authority there.

Not Just is it a Gentile region, but he is going into a graveyard. He is going to a place, these men are coming out of tombs (verse 28). And even if we just stop and think about the way that people think they way the world operates. You don’t go into graveyards after dark because, to use Willows word, that's the realm of the spooky. And that’s the place of the scary and dark and dangerous. You don't go there because… well I don’t know why we don’t go there because here’s the point, Jesu has authority even there at the tombs. He has authority over even the places where we think, oh tats where demons ad ghosts and these other things (ghosts don't exist… but these are the things we say). Even there Jesus has authority.

Then we look to whom Jesus has authority over. The demons come to him, these demon possessed men come to Jesus and this is what they say: Verse 29 they cry out: what have you to do with us oh Son of God”. Here it is. the disciples last week wondered what sort of man is this that even the winds and the seas obey him. the Demons, they know. The demons see Jesus and they know, this is him, this is the one that we have been fearing, this is the oe w ho has all authority. We know that the demons know who Jesus us because the demons know who God is.

James 2:19 ESV

You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!

The demons understand who God is, that doest quell their rebellion, but the KNOW, and when they see jesus they realize: this is him. these demons understand “here is a man with authority over all things, even us.” Here is a man who comes to have authority over us, and even, the demons say, he can torment us. Continuing

Matthew 8:29 ESV

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?”

So absolute is Jesus authority over all things that the demons are forced, their only recourse is to BEG jesus. these demons, we know from Luke’s telling of this story that their name is legion because there are so many of them. They are seen here, verse 31

Matthew 8:31 ESV

And the demons begged him, saying, “If you cast us out, send us away into the herd of pigs.”

the Demons are forced, they see Jesus in all of his authority and are left to do nothing but beg. they have no authority, they have no bargaining chips they have nothing they can say, no leg to stand on, they see Jesus in his true and vast authority over all things and they say: maybe he will send us into these pigs. maybe he won’t judge us finally and ultimately and totally. Maybe he will just send us into these pigs, maybe our torment is not full and complete, maybe if we BEG him enough, just maybe this one with authority will let us by.

In this entire story, Jesus authority is shown. there is no realm where he does not rule. We have really done it all now, if we add up all the stories up to this one. He has shown his authority over all realms. he has authority over sickness he has authority over disease he has authority over everything from leprosy to paralysis to fever and everything in between. He has authority over the wind and the waves and the sea. Even nature. So he has authority over disease, he has authority over nature and now here he has all authority in the spiritual realm. There is NOTHING except for NOTHING that lies outside of Jesus’ sphere of authority.

Who else can say that? No one! Only God. and this is what the demons proclaim,.. “What have you to do with us oh son of God. To put it differently: what is the nature of Jesus’ authority. he is Sovereign. period. he is the sovereign God Lord over all, over ll things he has authority. But then we ask: what is the extent. what does this tell us.

OK he can have authority over all things, but how far does that authority go? Well, the EXTENT IS THAT HE HAS AUTHORITY OVER ALL THINGS FOR ALL TIME.

The EXTENT of Jesus’ Authority: FOR ALL TIME

There is a beautiful thought here. and we take this from just the first part of what the demons say. they come and say: Matthew 8:29

Matthew 8:29 ESV

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?”

If you were to dive into the commentaries on this portion of Scripture you would find a lot of ink spilled over this thought of: what are the demons exactly saying with the phrase “before the time”. is this said in boldness like: “Jesus you cant be here yet its not time for you to be here yet” or are they saying this is fear” Jesus, um, is it really that time, have you really already come was our time really that short.” And I think that it is best to not looses sight of the big picture here wondering whether the demons were right or wrong depending on how you look at it and instead realize how this thoughts could be both. so instead lets look ath what this could mean, this idea of tormenting before the time?

And I would say that if we look at it we can come from both angles, one, if they are saying it’s not time yet. Then they are proclaiming the truth of what it is that they are dreading and we all look forward too. There will be a day when Jesus comes in all glory and power and there will be a reckoning. This is Revelation 19, 20, 21 thoughts. When Jesu comes riding on a white horse, with an army arrayed behind him coming to rule with a rod of Iron. Coming in power to tread out the winepress of the wrath of God almighty. If we want to belabor the thought of what is “THE time” well then they are looking forward to the Second coming of Jesus.

And part of the thought of Jesus having authority for all time means that he has authority even to the end. and we look forward to the time when his authority is seen arrayed before all creation, we look forward to the day, this is all revelation language, when every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. We look forward to the day when his authority is seen and fully realized here on earth. and so from this angle the demons are right, they are saying “hey Jesus it’s not that time YET” even the demons knew what the disciples and NO ONE through Mathew till the very end will understand, and that is that Jesus is coming once to save and sanctify, coming once as the servant then coming again as the Lord to rule and reign forever. So in one sense they are a little right because it is not that time yet BUT they are woefully incredibly wrong.

If we think they are just saying “its not that time yet you CANT do that Jesus” then they have completely misunderstood the extent of Jesus authority. Jesus obviously has the authority to torment them because he does. He casts them out into pigs where they then run off to their untimely demise. What is seems to me, as I read it, the feeling I get, that I think Matthew is communicating is that the demons in on sense hope (if we ca use that word for demons) but the demons hope that: Maybe Jesus doest have that full authority yet. maybe it is that that time is coming but right now he is not there yet. There is probably a sense that like in this place, were are in the gentile land, we have these two demon possessed men, we have driven them out of town, this is our area, no one else can come here. the might think they have it safe. Maybe Jesus can’t deal with us yet.

It is almost like a child misbehaving for the mom and she says: “just wait till your father gets home”. and so they think there in this time of like “we are definitely in trouble but dad’s not home yet” sort of timing. But they are wrong. For Jesus authority stands for all time. Because he is God he is ever existing. He was there before. Scripture teaches that Before the foundations of the earth he was there (because he created it) he was eternally before and he is eternally after seated on the throne. Jesus stand for all time.

So eve here now, though this isn't the quote-unquote “THE” time that we think of where his justice and wrath and judgement are poured out on creation, he still has authority. and so then here now is the lesson for us.

Even NOW when things seem to be going wrong,when the world seems to be in turmoil, just think about the world right now. We come out of a global pandemic that was supposed to last for two weeks and lasted for two full years and now there are wars and rumors of wars and things are going crazy Russia is invading Ukraine, what is going on? Here is the promise that I have for you today: Jesus still has authority. Nothing is occuring outside the realm of him saying that it can and will so that his ultimate sovereign plan for his creation will come to pass. he is not unaware, he is not unable he has all authority over all things for all time. That is the picture that Matthew is painting for us of Jesus.

He casts the demons out with but a word. If you have a red letter Bible in this whole section Jesus performing this mighty miracle, casting out over 2000 (we know this from Marks version o f the story) over 2000 demons cast out with one word: GO! And they must! And then this great scene, the demons are cast out, they move to the pigs and the pigs flee to their own death, that's how tormented they were by the heinous demons and yet Jesus stands with authority.

This sight, we know, was crazy. Imagine being one of the shepherds, the herdsman. It is probably for the most part a rather uneventful job. You sit there you watch the eat or sleep and you hope that no wolves come, no thieves come. you kinda just sit under some tree and writ some songs, that's what David did a lot of when he was a shepherd. then all of the sudden you see a commotion among your pigs and they begin to stampede, they are all running. But instead of what you would expect, your herd of pigs running to safety because of some danger, instead they are running off a cliff and into the water to drown. So understandably the herdsmen think: what in the world has just happened and they skedaddle. This is a terrifying thought and vision. So they go to the city and they tell everything. We were there and we were looking around. We saw the demon guys, I mean, we were not going there because no one goes there (see verse 28). No one goes there but we were close, we could see the crazy guys and Jesus is talking to the crazy guys, so already this story is getting good. and Then all of the sudden all our pigs are running off a cliff and these dudes who were once throwing rocks and doing all sorts of crazy stuff making impossible to pass, well they are just hanging out with Jesus.

And so the people, all of the city is like what has just happened, and they go to Jesus. but here is what we need to see. the response that these people have to Jesus authority. It is not welcoming him. it is not gratitude “you saved these men and made our graveyard better”. It is not humble awe and reverence bowing down in wonder because this man can do that! it is not even what we read about a lot in Matthew thus far: coming to Jesus like: hey if jesus can do that lets go get my miracle. No, their RESPONSE IS FEAR AND REJECTION.

The RESPONSE to Jesus’ Authority: FEAR AND REJECTION

They look to Jesus, the one who has cast out demons, he has healed these two men. We overlook these two men sometimes. he has given them their lives back. they were outcasts form society, living in the tombs, unable to have any semblance of normal life. He gave them life, set them free, and the world looks at that and says to Jesus, you gotta get out of here. you can’t be here. you cost us 2000 pigs, that was not an inexpensive loss for the herdsmen. you cost the town a lot of their food supply for a while. you cost us Jesus we can’t have that, get out of here. Or there is a thought, we read this elsewhere in scripture, this man can control those demons, what can he send against us, and thus completely misunderstanding the nature of Jesus and his authority. And so they fearfully say “Jesus we don’t want you here”. “Sure, you might be able to heal us, you might be able to cast our demons, GET OUT. the cost, the weight the terror that we feel is too great!” and so they reject Jesus.

If I may be so bold as to say, this response of fear and rejection is half right. When we see the authority of Jesus, fear is a right response. this is God. This is the one who is sovereign over all things. With but a word he can torment the demons. With but a word he can command, when we start adding these together, with but a word he can heal. With a word from a distance he can heal the centurions servant. With just a touch he can heal a fever. With just one rebuke the wind and the seas obey him. This is a terrifyingly powerful Man. So what are you going to do?

Your options are to reject him, like this town, which will lead to, much like the pigs, your untimely demise. Or love and trust. Worship and adoration. Reverence and devotion. These people, forfeited, in some sense, their access to the wondrous work and power of Jesus, because when they saw his authority they decided they didn’t want it. WE were living our lives just fine by ourselves.

The picture that is being painted as we add all this together. there is the cost of following Jesus, he is requiring everything from you. he demands full devotion, he demands full submission he demands that you surrender all to him. And he has the authority to do that. Will you accept or say: we were OK before. The town is thinking “well yeah, those demon guys there were a bothersome lot, we had to go around them when we wanted to go down to the sea, I mean, it was a problem, but ultimately that is really all it was, was a problem. in fact, thinking about it, it was just an inconvenience really. We could live with that, I mean it wasn;t THAT bad. Compared to the sort of life Jesus is calling us to… that is way to hard. I would rather deal with the inconvenience with the guys in the tombs then giving up everything to follow Jesus.

When we see Jesus authority clearly we must weigh our response. Will we seek to reject that, and live life our own way or will we follow his commands.