Matthew 8:28-34
Job 1:6-12
Jesus or pigs?
Humans are incredibly complex beings, aren’t we?
We can say one thing, but believe another?
We can believe one thing but live like we don’t believe it?
When I ask Kari what she would like for her birthday and she replies “nothing”, I am immediately put into a complex situation.
Based on past experience when I have literally got her nothing for her birthday, (husband of the year) as she had requested, but then seen the disappointment on her face with me after meeting her request, I am left wondering if she really wanted nothing for her birthday, or was she just saying that?
And what if I get her something for her birthday, after she told me not to get her anything, but then she really likes what I get, and she is in fact happy that I got something for her birthday.
Or what if I get something for her birthday after she told me not to and she gets upset?
I told you; we are complex beings.
We humans, sometimes believe something in our hearts, but live and act like we believe something else.
Like, for example, we believe that sex outside of marriage is a sin against God, and it just causes relationship problems, families are torn, unwanted pregnancies happen, diseases spread ……… and yet we carry on anyway- despite all the terrible consequences.
Sadly, and perhaps worse of all, we humans sometimes, not only know that something is wrong but we even know the consequences…… and yet we carry on doing those things anyway.
We know something that if we do something, it will end badly, but we do it anyway.
Like the smoker, who chews on his cigarette while at the same time declaring, I know this will probably kill me, but hey!
Today, as we look at this little passage from the book of Matthew, we will see some truths that are told about Jesus and witness the different reactions of different people, in fact different beings, who believed these truths.
Because friends, if there is one thing, I want to take home with you today, it is this:
There is knowing truth, and there is responding in the right way to that truth.
Friends, we can know the truth of Jesus, but if we don’t live out the truth of who Jesus is and what he has done for us in our lives, then knowing the truth about Jesus and not living that out, is like buying a brand-new pair of shoes and just leaving them on your shoe rack- “pointless”
Even the demons who met Jesus that day in the gentile country of Gadarenes, knew who Jesus was.
Look at verses 28-29 with me:
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?”
Those demons who lived in those men to make them violent, knew and believed three truths about Jesus.
1. They knew that Jesus had power over them.
When the demons came up against Jesus, the demons cried out in surrender.
Later on in the passage, it tells us that the demons begged Jesus, they begged Him, so that that they could go into the pigs. It is clear that the demons knew Jesus had the power to cast them out, he had the power to do whatever he liked with them- and the demons knew it!
2. They knew that Jesus was the Son of God
This should not surprise us that the demons knew that Jesus was the son of God since it tells us this in James 2:19 says this:
You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!
3. They knew that Jesus was eventually going to cast them into hell
Look at what Jesus said from Matthew 25:41
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels
The demons knew there was coming a time of judgement where satan and his demons would be thrown into the eternal fire, but they didn’t want to face that reality at that time, they didn’t want Jesus to torment them before their allotted time- instead they wanted to keep tormenting some-one or some animal before that final judgement came.
And so, the demons knew these three truths about Jesus
1. They knew He had power over them
2. They knew He was the son of God
3. They knew their day of judgment was coming
And yet knowing all of that……..their response was to just try and cause as much destruction and damage before their time was up, and so they begged Jesus for them to enter the pigs nearby.
Basically, they begged Jesus to allow them to keep doing their destructive things before the allotted time of judgement. They wanted to keep doing their own thing- they wanted to keep doing evil.
How sad it is when people know these truths about Jesus.
1. They know he is sovereign over all
2. They know He is the Son of God
3. They know he will one day judge the whole world,
And yet because of their love for sin, their love of self, their love for this world, they continue to walk their own way, knowing that Jesus will eventually judge them for it.
Now, one thing, we have to wrestle with theologically today, but more importantly to trust God with is this:
We know that Jesus has power over the demons, and yet he allows evil things to keep happening for a time- but why?
We cannot draw the conclusion that demons and satan have power over God, that simply isn’t true.
God and the devil are not on the same level, God is far superior.
In the book of Job, we see that God has satan on a leash. And we also see in the book of Job, that in the case of Job, God allowed those evil things to happen to Job, as a test of Job’s faith in God. In the book of Job, in the first chapter, we are blessed to be taken behind the scenes of the heavenly court and see the interaction that God had with satan.
We don’t see those heavenly scenes now when evil happens- like it happened on October 7 this year, and so we can’t boldly say that all evil is a test of someone’s faith, like it was for Job.
We simply don’t know why God allows certain evil to happen for a time, but we do know that He does allow those things to happen since he has power over all, and we do know that one day, all the evil acts of men will be brought under God’s true justice.
In the scriptures, it tells us that evil often recoils on itself, as it did with the demons that day, look at verses 30-32 with me:
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.
Jesus, the Son of God, God in the flesh, just said one word to the demons, “Go” and they left the men, and entered the unclean animals of the pigs.
And it wasn’t just one demon, it was many demons, perhaps thousands of demons, as the demon’s name was legion. And these demons left the men, entered the pigs – which were unclean animals to the Jews and they ran off the edge of the cliff and drowned in the sea.
Jesus granted the demons their request and they drowned.
How sad will that day of judgement be for some.
To those who have rejected Jesus all of their lives and wanted to live their own way, separate from God, on that day of judgement, Jesus will give them what they wanted for eternity, a life separated from God.
How sad it will be for people who deliberately continued walking in sin after knowing the truth and grace of Jesus.
For the men who were healed on that day, and saw Jesus cast the demons out of them, and saw the pigs run off the edge of the cliff and drown in the waters, it must have been a great day of celebration for them, knowing that Jesus had dealt with their problem once and for all. As they saw those demon who had tormented them day after day, drown to the bottom of the sea.
Friends, when Jesus died on the cross and rose again, he dealt with our sin problem once and for all. He paid for all our sins, past, present and future, he sealed us into his family for good. We never have to be separated from God- let us not waist the freedom that Jesus has given us. Jesus gave us all that we need when he died and rose again.
Sadly, for other people of the town that day, for the pig farmers who had witnessed the power of Jesus, they waisted what they had just witnessed.
They had witnessed the transforming power of Jesus, they saw two men who were so notorious for being violent that no one dared walked on their path, they saw these same men, now clothed and in their right mind sitting at the feet of Jesus. They had seen Jesus transform lives dramatically in front of their very eyes.
They had witnessed many demons enter many pigs and a whole herd run off the cliff and drown. They had seen the power of Jesus that day- there was simply no denying it, and yet sadly, for many of the people of that town that day, they still chose to push Jesus away and instead embrace their own way
They put their security in their money rather than Jesus.
Look at verses 33-34 with me:
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.
To be fair to these farmers, they were keen to tell the town what had happened particularly to the demon possessed men, but unfortunately all the people of the town could focus on was the destruction of the pigs. The loss of the pigs was a huge economic loss.
Heaven was rejoicing that a sinner had come to put their trust in Jesus and yet the people of Gadarenes were upset that pigs had drowned.
The economy of God is opposite to the economy of this world.
Heaven rejoices when one sinner repents and it transformed and yet the world grumbles that it came at too much of a cost.
We are complicated beings, us humans, aren’t we?
The town was sacred of these men, so much so that no-one would approach them. These men were violent and dangerous, but as soon as Jesus healed them, and they were no longer a violent threat, the town worried more about their pigs and they wanted Jesus gone.
Friends, having the Holy Spirit, having the spirit of Jesus is the best gift that anyone can have. And the scriptures tell us that if we confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, we do in fact have his Holy Spirit with us. We have life now and life to come.
And as God gives us his spirit, he opens our eyes to his Glory, his majesty and he gives us a thirst for Him and His word, and we start to lose our taste for sin.
When we have God’s Holy Spirit, it can be confronting, because as it tells us in John 16, the Holy Spirit, not only convicts us of the truth of who Jesus is, but He also convicts us of sin.
And so, when we sin, His spirit brings us to a godly sorrow which leads us to repentance.
And as painful as that godly sorrow may be at times, as God exposes our hearts, the worse thing we can do is run away from Jesus and keep living in our sin.
The worse thing we can do is to ask Jesus to leave, leave because we don’t want to face our demons, leave because we think we are comfortable in our sin.
Friends if you believe that
1. Jesus has power over all
2. Jesus is the son of God
3. Jesus will judge all people
Then the only response we are left with is to repent, turn from our sins and turn towards Jesus, and ask Him, Lord what do want to do with us?
Let us pray.