The Kingdom Movement

A Literary & Pastoral Study Guide to the Gospel of Matthew

The Inspiration of Matthew,

by Caravaggio

On the King's Errand

Devotional Reflections on Matthew's Gospel

The Two Men Who Blocked the Way:  Mt.8:28 – 34

^8:28 When he came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way. ²⁹ And they cried out, saying, ‘What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?’ ³⁰ Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. ³¹ The demons began to entreat him, saying, ‘If you are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.’ ³² And he said to them, ‘Go!’ And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters. ³³ The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. ³⁴ And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they implored him to leave their region.

          The dramatic scene where Jesus calms the stormy sea is followed by another dramatic scene where Jesus calms two men terrorized by demonic evil.  The whole situation would have made the disciples feel very uncomfortable.  Everything about it was unclean because of its association with death:  Gentile occupied lands; demons; tombs (8:28); swine (8:30).  They must have shuddered.

          ‘No one could pass by that way’ (Mt.8:28).  Just like the stormy Galilean sea, the way was blocked.  But Jesus is about to clear the way for his mission to go forward.

          The two men Jesus and his disciples encounter are terrifying.  Possessed by demons, they were ‘extremely violent.’  I hesitate to even imagine what they must have looked like.  But with a word, ‘Go,’ Jesus sends them into the unclean flesh of the pigs.  He makes visible and public what was hidden within the men:  the unclean demons.  Then, out of control, the pigs rush to their death in the sea. 

          Back in the Exodus, God miraculously gave His people safe passage through the Red Sea and drowned their enemies in the waters.  Now, Jesus miraculously provides his people safe passage through the Sea and drowns the enemies of humanity in it.  The Jewish disciples would have surely understood this dramatic sequence as having deeper significance.  Jesus is bringing about a new Exodus deliverance.  He is freeing his people from the grip of spiritual evil.  He is conquering our oppressors.

          A young woman I know had opened herself up to spiritual oppression.  She did this by her lack of forgiveness for things that had happened to her long ago, her resistance to Jesus, her subsequent confusion about right and wrong, and perhaps some other things unique to her as a person.  She experienced her mind becoming cloudy, vague voices in her head, a very hard time making decisions, and even a lack of certainty that her life was real.  One night at a retreat, she prayed with a friend for a long time, asking Jesus to help her.  She sensed something leave her.  The two of them felt the presence of something very cold.  It soon departed.  That was a turning point in her journey of Jesus’ healing her.  Pray that Jesus would overcome obstacles – natural or supernatural – in others.