JESUS’ POWER OVER ALL
Opening Prayer
God of all the years, no circumstances are beyond Your control. We place our journeys in Your hands. May we always know Your presence.
Read MATTHEW 8:28–34
28 When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. 29 “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?”
30 Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. 31 The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.”
32 He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. 33 Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
“Out of my bondage, sorrow, and night, / Jesus, I come! Jesus, I come! / Into thy freedom, gladness, and light, / Jesus, I come to thee!” (William Sleeper, 1819–1904).
Think Further
Having shown his authority in the natural world, Jesus now shows his authority in the human world. Jesus and his disciples cross both a geographical and a cultural barrier. To the Jews, a herd of pigs was a powerful symbol of defilement. In this strange place they encounter not a sophisticated Hellenistic life, but a cemetery inhabited by deranged and homeless men. Theirs was a life of hopeless bondage to evil and uncontrollable forces.
I know someone suffering dissociative identity disorder. He hears voices that manipulate him. Another friend suffers from epileptic seizures. In Jesus’ time their suffering would have been called demon possession, but today both respond to responsible medication. While we must never dismiss the demonic, we should not resort to exorcism to treat conditions for which effective medication exists. Victims of mental disorders and victims of demon possession are all suffering from forces beyond their control. Such suffering is part of the awful degradation of the natural world and will not ultimately be defeated until God intervenes to inaugurate the new heaven and earth where such suffering and pain will be no more (Rev. 21:4).
Matthew greatly compresses Mark’s account. Far more than a dramatic and sensational account of Jesus’ power, this represents to Matthew the cosmic conflict between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of evil, of Satan (M.E. Boring, “The Gospel of Matthew,” The New Interpreters Bible, Vol. VIII). In Matthew’s stark account there is no conversation, no bargaining, just the one word, “Go!” The healed men see their terrible ordeal literally disappear with the pigs. The deep significance of this event is that no form of evil disorder can endure forever—whether physical, mental, social, political or religious. The healing power of God in Christ will confront and ultimately destroy all the forces of chaos, frenzy, illness and death.
Apply
Think about all the misery that afflicts our planet. Then think about its total erasure at the Lord’s return.
Closing prayer
Lord, You are clearly the master of the supernatural. Your people stand back in wonderment and amazement at Your unlimited power.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.