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 Needed Liberation:  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.

         Sometimes Jesus takes us farther than we’re comfortable with in order to heal people.  The following reflection comes from a young man at Boston College, John Byun, who was a junior at the time:

‘Sometimes when we dive deep into a passage, we can’t help but ask ourselves, ‘Why would Jesus do something like this?’  Up to that point, Jesus was busy teaching his disciples and healed many people on the Jewish side of Galilee.   Isn’t there ‘enough’ to do on this side of the lake?  Why go to the other side?  Why would you go to the other side when you know that you will come into contact with ‘dirty things’ like pigs, tombs, gentiles, and evil spirits?  Why does Jesus give orders to get on the other side?  Shouldn’t people stay behind to take care of other business?

‘Yet Jesus still takes them to the other side of the lake.  He shows his disciples how to engage with God’s mission while transforming someone’s life.  What did Jesus gain on this trip?  According to the Gospel of Luke, the man who was demon possessed was appointed to be the first missionary to the Gentiles!  Wow.  Who would’ve guessed this would happen?  Not me.  Not you.  Not the disciples.  But Jesus did.

‘In the beginning of the year, we as the Asian Christian Fellowship talked a lot about how to better engage with the mission of God.  One of the solutions was to eliminate ACF Families and encourage people to go join other culture clubs and be available there.  As Core was explaining to the rest of the fellowship, it sounded pretty challenging but I decided not to let it challenge me.  It was just too hard of a task for me.  Besides, I was investing in a lot of people and I always thought I had ‘too much to do on this side of the lake.’  I needed to invest in others around me and help THEM to go out.  I thought I was missional enough.  But I quickly realized that I have never been so wrong in my life.

‘The Filipino club retreat was definitely one of the most eye opening experiences I ever had I learned a lot about Filipino culture but more importantly, I learned how much they needed and were looking for a relationship with Jesus.  Then I started to seriously question what I have done in my past 3 years at BC.  I thought I had done a lot and was doing a lot being active as ACF Core member but I came to realize that I have done almost nothing during that time because I was too stubborn and scared to give my all for God’s mission.  And in the process, I purposely decided not to be missional to people and in places where Jesus wanted to reach the most.  Yes, there is a lot to do on this side, and there are times to stay on this side, but neither is everything urgent.  So we need to go where people need Jesus the most, and that usually means us getting out of our comfort zones and reaching people in the Vietnamese Students Association, the Southeast Asian Students Association, etc. and being light in those places.

‘Will you be light in the darkness?  If you are willing, then please take your next step and come to a culture club event with me.’

This is exactly what the disciples learn here when Jesus takes them to the other side of the sea.