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Matthew 8:30-34
The two “exceedingly fierce” demon-possessed men (Matthew 8:28, NKJV) are now in fear of their existence as they now face the decision of Jesus of what He will do with them. In their fear of being the first to experience the events of Revelation 19-20, the two demon-possessed men “begged” Jesus to let them possess a large herd of pigs if He was going to cast them out of the men. This request in itself would have been considered the lowest of the lowest requests that someone could ever ask as pigs were considered the most unclean of all the animals that were considered unclean. These demons are experiencing their moment of judgment in the presence of Jesus; and they are fully aware of the consequences of their disobedience to God. They are so scared of what is about to happen, that they request the lowest of possibilities for their outcome and punishment for possessing these two men, and yet in their own eyes, escape the judgment that is to come.
Jesus gives no reasoning or acknowledgement that the demons understand that He is more powerful than them; it is obvious by their submission to Him in fear that they are, in being “exceedingly fierce” in the presence of humanity (Matthew 8:28), they are terrified in the presence of Jesus. Jesus simply gives them permission to go into the pigs. This is another very important fact that we take note of: that Jesus gave the demons permission to go into the pigs. This is verification for anyone who may question the authority of Jesus over the demons. He gave them permission, and until He did, they stood in agonizing fear of what Jesus may command of them.
When the demons entered the pigs, after leaving the two men, they ran as fast as they could to get away from the presence of Jesus, which to them represented their eternal punishment was near, so they wanted to get as far away from Him as fast as they could. So when they ran, and came to a nearby cliff which overlooked the sea, their fear drove them to their plummeting death over the cliff and into the sea where they all drowned.
This is an example that in the spiritual world there is no question of who is in control and of who is more powerful than all. It is the One and only true God of heaven!
How many people are running as fast as they can and as far away as they can get from God today? This is a disturbing question, but is one of the main reasons that we are commanded by Jesus to spread the gospel to all the world, so everyone can become aware of the way, the truth, and the life that is only found in Jesus through the salvation that only He can provide (John 14:6). The Apostle Paul teaches us in 2 Corinthians 5:16-6:2 (NIV), “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says,
‘In the time of my favor I heard you,
And in the day of salvation I helped you.’
I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”
Dear LORD,
We stand in awe of Your mighty power over all creation, be it physical or spiritual, You are God Almighty! We recognize Your power over Satan and all his demons. We ask and declare in the name of Jesus, salvation to all the world in being set free from the powers of darkness that we would all put and keep our faith in Jesus – the Savior of the world! In Jesus name I pray, amen.