Jesus The Son Of God

Jesus the Son of God
Text: Matthew 8:28-34
C. S. Lewis writes in his book ‘The Screwtape Letters’ There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. Let us keep this warning in mind. Though this passage in Matthew 8 speaks of demons, our focus will be on Jesus.

Alleged discrepancies explained: When the accounts in Matthew, Mark, and Luke are compared, we may encounter two difficulties.
The first difficulty is to do with whether the location is the country of the Gadarenes or that of the Gerasenes.
None of the gospel writers claim that the miracle happened in the city of Gadara or in the city of Gerasa. It is possible that the geographical boundaries of these two regions overlapped, and the incident happened in a place where the boundaries overlapped. The gospel writers are not interested in providing precise postal addresses. They were giving enough details for their audiences to be able to corroborate their accounts. Incidentally, Gadara was closer to the Lake of Galilee than Gerasa. But Gerasa was more well-known. It could be that Matthew names the region nearer the lake, while Mark and Luke used the name of the more prominent city to identify the general location where the miracle took place.
The second difficulty is that Matthew mentions two demon possessed men, while Mark and Luke only mention one.
There were actually two demon possessed men who came to Jesus. Perhaps Mark and Luke mentioned the one who was more noticeable or prominent for some reason. Authors have the independence to choose the material they want to include in their work, based on which aspects of the story they want to emphasize.

All of grace: Jews would avoid gentile areas, but Jesus went to a gentile region and near an area with tombs and pigs to meet the demoniacs. Jesus had an appointment to keep, an assignment from His Father. Every merciful encounter our Lord ever had with a human being was written down from eternity past.

Demon possession described: The demoniac was described by Mark as having been reduced to a number— Legion—a tragic hopeless figure, reduced essentially to the level of an animal. But this is an illustration of the human condition without God. Eph 2:1-3, Col 1:13, 21. But by nature, we were all under the power of dark forces. We were all under the power of evil. We were enslaved to sin.

The confrontation: The demons confess that Jesus is the unique Son of God and they want to be left alone until the time of their appointed judgment. How sad it is when we see men and women behave like this and want to be left alone without Jesus.

The dramatic deliverance: Matthew records only one word of Jesus in the whole incident. That is the word, “Go.” “The prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for him; his rage we can endure, for lo! his doom is sure; / one little word shall fell him.” The demons rush into the pigs and the pigs rush into the lake.
Some people have mourned the loss of the lives of the pigs. Our God who owns the cattle on a thousand hill and owns everything can do whatever He wants to do with His world. Everything we own has been given by Him and He can take them away too.

The reaction of the crowd: The sight of the demoniac sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind, instead of making the public amazed and joyful caused them to beg Jesus to leave their region. Men and women by nature do not seek God. We run away from God. Jesus clothes us in His righteousness when we came to Him in faith, just as the demoniac who had been naked sat fully clothed at Jesus’ feet. The demons believe that Jesus is the Son of God. James 2:19 The demons believe and shudder because their faith makes them realise the consequence of rejecting God. If I acknowledge that Jesus is the Son of God, then I need to love Him, serve Him, and walk in His ways; otherwise I will be no different from the demons.

Jesus the Son of God has all authority in heaven and on earth. He has authority over sickness; He has authority over nature and has authority over the domain of darkness. Those who have trusted in Him have been delivered from the domain of darkness and have been transferred to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son Jesus. His deliverance is an act of His sovereign mercy. Do not tarry!