Matthew 8:28 - Meaning and Application

Here we have the story of Christ casting devils out of two possessed men. The whole chapter shows Christ’s divine power. He rules over bodily diseases, which seem hard enough for us to face. He rules over wind and waves, which feel even less controllable. And he rules over devils, who are the most frightening of all.

Christ has all power in heaven and earth, and even in the depths below. He also holds the keys of hell. Powers and rulers were made subject to him even while he was in his humble, earthly life, as a promise of what would be shown fully when he entered his glory (Ephesians 1:21). He stripped them of their power and triumphed over them (Colossians 2:15). Earlier, we were told in general that Christ cast out spirits with his word (Matthew 8:16). Here we get a specific example, and some of its details are especially striking.

This miracle happened in the region of the Gergesenes, whom some think were descendants of the old Girgashites (Deuteronomy 7:1). Christ was sent mainly to the lost sheep of Israel, but he did make some visits to the border regions. In this way, he won a victory over Satan that previewed the defeat of Satan’s forces among the Gentiles.

This story not only shows Christ’s power over Satan and his plan to strip Satan of his power. It also shows us how evil spirits act in their hostility toward people. We should notice what damage they caused where they lived, and where they went. First, we see what work they made where they were. That is clear in the miserable condition of the two people who were possessed. Some think these two were husband and wife, because the other Evangelists speak of only one.

They lived among the tombs, and that is where they came from when they met Christ. The devil, who has power over death, not as a judge but as an executioner, likes to dwell among the signs of his victories, the dead bodies of men. Yet there, where he seemed to be at the height of triumph, Christ met him and defeated him, just as he later did at Golgotha, the place of a skull. Living among graves made these poor people more gloomy and more disturbed in mind. It also made the devil’s hold on them stronger through their bodily disorder. And it made them more frightening to other people, since most people shrink back from anything moving among tombs.

They were also extremely fierce. They were not only unable to control themselves, but also harmful to others. They frightened many, and they had hurt some, so that no one dared pass that way. The devil hates mankind, and he shows that hatred by making people cruel and destructive toward one another. Mutual hatred, where there should be love and help, is one sign of Satan’s hostility to the whole human race. He turns one person into a wolf, a bear, even a devil, to another. Where Satan rules a person’s heart through sinful desires like pride, envy, malice, and revenge, that person becomes unfit for human fellowship and a danger to it.

They also defied Jesus Christ and denied any interest in him (Matthew 8:29). This shows God’s power over the devils. Even though they tried to do their evil work through these poor men, they still could not keep them from meeting Jesus Christ, who arranged it that way. Christ’s overpowering hand brought those unclean spirits into his presence, which they feared more than anything. His chains could hold them, even when the chains men used on them could not.

But once they stood before him, they protested against his authority and flew into a rage, saying, “What have we to do with you, Jesus, Son of God?” One word they spoke was like a saint. They addressed Christ as Jesus, the Son of God. That was a true statement, and at this point it was still being proved openly, as Peter later learned by revelation, not by human flesh and blood (Matthew 16:17). Even the devils know, believe, and confess that Christ is the Son of God, yet they remain devils. That makes their hatred of Christ even worse, and it is torture for them, because they must oppose one they know is the Son of God.

So knowledge alone does not set saints apart from devils. Love does. The one who knows Christ and still hates him, and refuses to submit to him and his law, is like the firstborn of hell. We may remember that not long before, the devil had tried to make Christ doubt whether he was the Son of God (Matthew 4:3). Now he openly admits it. In the same way, God’s children may be deeply troubled for a time when Satan attacks them with doubts about whether God is truly their Father, yet the Spirit of adoption will at last make that truth so clear to them that even the devil cannot overturn it.

They also spoke like devils in two other ways. First, they spoke words of defiance: “What have we to do with you?” It is true that devils have nothing to do with Christ as Savior. He did not take on the nature of fallen angels, and he did not come to rescue them (Hebrews 2:16). They are not in any relationship with him, and they have no share in his saving work. What a deep wonder of divine love it is that fallen human beings have so much to do with Christ, while fallen angels have nothing to do with him.

It is a kind of torment even before judgment to be forced to admit Christ’s greatness and yet have no share in him. A person may say that Jesus is the Son of God and still have nothing to do with him. It is also true that devils do not want anything to do with Christ as ruler. They hate him, resist him, and openly rebel against his crown and honor. That is the language spoken by all who refuse the gospel, reject his laws and ordinances, throw off his yoke, break his bonds, and will not let him rule over them. Those who say to the Almighty Jesus, “Leave us alone,” are showing the same spirit as the devil and doing the devil’s works.

But it is not true that devils have nothing to do with Christ as judge. They do have to do with him, and they know it. These devils could not say, “What have you to do with us?” They could not deny that the Son of God is the judge of devils. They are already under his judgment and bound in chains of darkness, and they would gladly throw off both the chains and the thought of them.

Second, they spoke with dread and fear: “Have you come here to torment us, to cast us out from these men, and to stop us from doing the harm we want to do?” To be driven out and prevented from doing evil is torment to the devil, because his comfort and pleasure are found in human misery and destruction.

Should we not count it our heaven to be doing well, and our torment, whether inside or outside, to be whatever keeps us from doing good?

“Now have you come to torment us before the time?” There is a time when demons will be tormented even more than they are now, and they know it. The final judgment is the fixed time for their full punishment, in that place of destruction prepared long ago for the king, the prince of demons, and his angels (Isaiah 30:33; Matthew 25:41). They are already reserved for judgment on that day (2 Peter 2:4). These evil spirits, who by God’s permission are like prisoners out on the loose, roaming the earth (Job 1:7), are already in a chain. Their power reaches only so far, and no farther. Then they will become locked-up prisoners. They have some relief now, but then they will suffer without any relief.

They take this as certain. They do not beg not to be tormented at all, because they know there is no escape for them. They only beg not to be tormented before the time. Though they did not know when the day of judgment would come, they knew it was not yet. Demons also feel a fearful expectation of judgment and fiery anger whenever Christ comes near and whenever he checks their power and rage. Even the sight of Christ and his command to come out of the man made them fear their coming torment. So even the demons believe, and tremble (James 2:19). Their own hatred of God and of people puts them on the rack and torments them before the time. Even the worst sinners, whose ruin is sure, cannot fully harden their hearts against sudden fear when they see the day drawing near.

Now let us see what happened where the demons were sent after they were driven out of the men, into a herd of pigs, which was some distance away (Matthew 8:30). These people from Gadara, though living on the other side of the Jordan, were Jews. What business did they have with pigs, since the law said pigs were unclean and were not to be eaten or touched? Most likely, because they lived near the edge of the land, many Gentiles lived among them, and the pigs belonged to them. Or they kept them to sell or trade to the Romans, with whom they now had much business, and who liked pork.

Notice how the demons attacked the pigs. Though the herd was a good way off, and seemed safe, the demons had their eye on it and wanted to cause harm. They go around seeking to destroy, looking for a chance, and they do not look long before they find one. First, they asked permission to go into the pigs (Matthew 8:31). They begged Jesus, with great eagerness, “If you cast us out, let us go away into the herd of pigs.” This showed, first, their own urge to do harm, and how much they enjoy it. People who cannot sleep unless they cause someone to fall are like them (Proverbs 4:16). “Let us go into the pigs, anywhere rather than into the place of torment, anywhere to do harm.” If they could not hurt people in their bodies, they would hurt them in their property, and even that would hurt their souls by making Christ seem like a burden to them. Such are the sly plans of that old serpent, the devil.

Second, they admitted Christ’s power over them. Without his permission, they could not even harm a pig. This is a comfort to all the Lord’s people. The devil’s power is very great, but it is limited, and it is not equal to his malice. What would become of us if it were? Especially comforting is this, that the devil is under the control of our Lord Jesus, our faithful, powerful friend and Savior. Satan and his servants can go no farther than Christ allows. Here their proud waves are stopped.

Then Jesus gave them leave, saying, “Go” (Matthew 8:32), just as God did to Satan when he asked permission to afflict Job. God often, for wise and holy purposes, allows Satan’s rage to act and lets him do the harm he wants, while still using it for his own ends. The demons are not only Christ’s captives, they are also his servants. His rule over them is seen both in the harm they do and in the fact that they cannot do more. Even their anger is made to praise Christ, and what remains of it he restrains.

Christ allowed this, first, to convict the Sadducees, who were then among the Jews and denied that spirits existed. They would not admit there were such beings because they could not see them. By this act, Christ brought the reality, number, power, and malice of evil spirits as close as possible to plain proof. If they still would not believe, they would be left without excuse. We cannot see the wind, but it would be foolish to deny it when we see trees and houses blown down by it.

Second, he allowed it to punish the people of Gadara, who perhaps, though Jews, had taken the liberty of eating pork against the law. At the very least, keeping pigs came close to wrongdoing. Christ also showed them what kind of hellish company they had been delivered from. If he had allowed the demons to stay, they would soon have ruined them, just as they ruined the pigs. The demons obeyed Christ’s command and came out of the men. Then, as soon as they were out and had permission, they went into the herd of pigs at once. See how active Satan is, and how quickly he works. He wastes no time in doing evil.

Notice where they drove the pigs. The pigs were not told to save themselves, so they rushed violently down a steep bank into the sea, and all of them drowned, about two thousand in all (Mark 5:13). The devil’s possession always leads to destruction. In the same way, he drives people into sin, even when they have already decided against it and know it will bring them shame and grief. What power the evil spirit has in the children of disobedience, when he stirs them up through so many foolish and harmful desires to act directly against religion, common sense, and even their own best interests in this world. In the same way, he drives them toward ruin, for he is Apollyon and Abaddon, the great destroyer. By the sinful desires people follow, they sink into destruction and ruin. This is Satan’s will, to swallow up and devour. So miserable is the condition of those who are led captive by him to do his will. He drives them into a worse lake than this, a lake burning with fire and sulfur.

Notice, too, what effect this had on the owners. The report of it was quickly brought to them by the herdsmen, who seemed to care more about the loss of the pigs than anything else. They did not go to tell what had happened to the demon-possessed men until the pigs were gone (Matthew 8:33). Christ did not go into the city, but the news of his being there did. By that, he was willing to see how they responded and what effect it had on them, and then act accordingly.

Their curiosity had brought them out to see Jesus. The whole town came out to meet him so they could say they had seen a man who did amazing works. In the same way, many people go out to meet Christ in outward profession, just for company, while they have no real love for him and no desire to know him.

Their greed also made them glad to be rid of him. Instead of asking him into their town or bringing their sick to him for healing, they wanted him to leave their region. It was as if they had borrowed the devils’ own words, “What do we have to do with you, Jesus, Son of God?” Now the devils had gained what they wanted in the drowning of the swine. They did the harm, then made the people believe that Christ had done it, and so turned them against him.

The devil misled our first parents by filling them with hard thoughts about God. He kept the Gadarenes from Christ by making them think Jesus had come to ruin their property, and that he would do more harm than good. He had already used the loss of the two thousand swine, even though Christ had healed the two men. In this way, the devil sows weeds in God’s field, does harm in the Christian church, and then puts the blame on Christianity, stirring people up against it.

They begged him to leave, fearing he might bring another disaster, as Moses did in Egypt. Many people still prefer their swine to their Savior, and so they miss Christ and the salvation he gives. They want Christ to leave their hearts, and they will not let his word have a place in them, because he and his word would destroy their animal-like lusts, those swine they choose to feed. And rightly Christ will leave those who are tired of him, and one day say to them, “Depart, you cursed,” to those who now say to the Almighty, “Depart from us.”