INTRODUCTION

A number of people have asked me during the past three years, since I became a pastor, "So what do you do all day?" Most people only see me when we are together on Sunday morning and so most think of my job only in terms of what I do here. So it is not a surprising question. I have thought a great deal about my job and what my purpose is in relationship to you. You see, you are my job. There are so many different ways it is said in the New Testament. "Keep watch over…all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood." "Preach the word. Be prepared in season and out of season. Correct, rebuke and encourage with great patience and careful instruction for the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine." Or consider this command to you in Hebrews 13:17, "Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you." Over and over again I am told to keep watch over each of you so that you escape hell and gain heaven.

There are many helpful metaphors the Bible uses to describe the job. One metaphor that often helps me as I think about my work is that of the doctor. It is my job to convince you that you have a terminal disease that is going to kill you. It is the worst of all possible diseases and there is nothing you can do to cure it. The only cure for your disease is to submit to the care of the greatest of all doctors, Jesus Christ. You see, your disease is the same disease that every human being has. It is called sin. You and I, like every human being, do not really believe it is a serious or terminal disease. We have developed all sorts of ways of medicating the symptoms so that we do not have to face the reality of the disease. My job is twofold. First I am to display this disease in all its horror so that you will despair of using all the things you have devised over the years to cover up the symptoms. Second, I am to display how great is the person of Jesus and his cure for your disease. That means that sometimes I’m going to make you feel really bad about your condition, maybe even hopeless. But it also means that sometimes I’m going to give you reason for great rejoicing. My constant prayer is that both of those things are happening in you every time I preach and every time I talk with you personally. You ought to ask God to use me in this way in your life.

As I have studied and meditated on this passage I believe that is admirably suited to the work of convincing us of our disease and of the greatness of Jesus as our doctor. The emphasis is on the greatness of Jesus but there are more than a few pointed reminders of the reason we need him as our doctor.

MAIN POINT

As Matthew has been telling us the story of Jesus he has repeatedly made reference to the large crowds that accompanied Jesus and the amazement of the people at Jesus’ teaching and his miracles. Jesus has achieved rock star status. He is a celebrity as thousands of people follow him wherever he goes in order to be healed, to witness these works of power and to hear him teach.

When you consider that Jesus’ mission was not limited to just the Jewish nation but that he had the whole world in view, you cannot help but be encouraged at the great start that he has made in mobilizing the masses. When you see how impressed the people of Israel are it is not hard to imagine this enthusiasm for Jesus spreading into the non-Jewish world. This is why verse 18 is so puzzling. Jesus sees all the people and he "gives orders to cross to the other side of the lake." When I first became a Christian and read through the 4 biographies of Jesus in the New Testament, this was one of the most puzzling things to me. Jesus constantly told people not to say anything about the miracles he performed. He constantly was leaving the crowds behind. Most of the time it looks as if he is trying to avoid stirring up enthusiasm rather than increase it.

Look at what he does in vv.20-22. One of the religious leaders comes and declares his intention to follow Jesus and what does Jesus do? Does he encourage him? Is he glad for the endorsement and happy to have such a prestigious person among his followers? No. It looks as though he is trying to discourage the man. He tells him that he should plan on being homeless. Then look at what he tells one of his current followers whose father has died and who comes to ask permission to attend to his father’s burial. He says, "Follow me. Let the dead bury their own dead." That’s pretty harsh. Imagine you had signed up to go to this seminar in Madison next weekend and on Friday you told me that your dad died and that you needed to help your mom on Saturday and so you couldn’t come along. What if I told you, "Let the dead bury their own dead, you follow me." How would you respond? How would others respond when you told them what I said? This is not the way to win friends and influence people.

What is Jesus doing? The main thing I want you to see is that Jesus doesn’t need anyone or anything to accomplish God’s will. He’s on a mission for God and he doesn’t need crowds of people to accomplish it. He doesn’t need the endorsement of human authorities or celebrities to accomplish it. He doesn’t need you or me. He is infinitely powerful and self-sufficient. He didn’t come to earth and die on a cross to recruit people because God needs help taking care of his world. I’m so sick of Christian leaders, who ought to know better, appealing for help to do "ministry" as if God is in heaven wringing his hands and worried about whether or not his work will ever get done.

Everything is going according to plan. Jesus knows this. So he’s not impressed with crowds of people or eager volunteers. I love the line in the first verse of the great hymn, "Immortal, Invisible" that says God is "unresting and unhasting". God is always at work, accomplishing his will but he’s never frantic or in a hurry or rushing to meet a deadline. That’s Jesus. He was always doing God’s work but never in a hurry. He didn’t need the approval of others to be happy. In fact he spurned the shallow enthusiasm of the crowds and challenged the pretentious eagerness of those more interested in sharing his popularity than in knowing God.

Rather than pandering to human whims and desires, Jesus calls men to abandon all other hopes and allegiances and find all their happiness in him. It is because he is the eternally happy and sovereign God that his invitation is not just empty promises but the only way to be truly happy. He doesn’t need us to do something for him. We need him to be everything for us. That’s the point he makes to these two men. The teacher of the law is impressed with Jesus and eager to be a follower, but why? Is he eager to follow Jesus because of what he will get out of it, a share in this popularity, or because he delights in Jesus himself? Jesus gives him a way to know what he is really after. He asks him, "Are you eager to follow me because you know who I am and you love me or because you love what I do and want a piece of the action? The way to know is this, are you willing to be homeless in order to be with me? If you love me, being homeless will be as nothing to you. But if what you really love is the crowds and the popularity then being homeless will be too great of a price to pay." Then he says to the man who wants permission to go bury his father. "Let’s see, you’re willing to be my follower as long as I don’t interfere with the relationships that are important to you. Is that right? Do you really believe that I am the source of all life or are you one of my ‘disciples’ for some other reason? Here’s how you can tell. Are you willing to suffer the rejection and anger of your family in order to be with me? Is being in my company better to you than maintaining family connections and loyalties?"

Jesus presents himself here as completely superior to everyone and everything else because he is self-sufficient. He challenges us to consider if we are true disciples or not. Am I willing to suffer anything in order to be with Jesus? Am I willing to be homeless, to be hated by my family, to not get married, to live in a painful marriage, to give up a high paying job, to keep a difficult job if that’s what Jesus requires of me? I am not talking in the abstract here. There isn’t a week that goes by that I don’t have to say to someone, what matters more to you, getting out of this painful situation by disobeying Christ or staying in it because you love him and to have him is better than everything else? Can you be happy in suffering because you are happy to have Jesus? Or is the only way you are willing to follow Jesus is if you get to have no suffering and the things of this world that make you happy?

Jesus has given orders that he and his disciples are to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. So he gets into a boat and a group of his disciples follow him. He is exhausted from his work that day and immediately goes to sleep in the back of the boat under some kind of shelter. The disciples begin to row the boat across the lake. Then, without any warning, a furious wind comes upon the lake and waves cover the boat. The disciples, many of whom are fishermen, are terrified. The storm doesn’t wake Jesus up but the disciples do and say to him, "Lord, save us, we’re going to perish". Now notice what Jesus does. While the storm is raging around them he rebukes his disciples for their lack of faith. He asks them, while the waves crash over the sides of the boat, "Why are you afraid, you of little faith?" Then he rebukes the winds and the sea and the wind stops and the sea becomes as smooth as glass instantly. This causes the disciples to ask the most important question anyone can ever ask. They are amazed and ask, "What sort of a man is this?"

There are three things that demonstrate the superiority of Jesus in this passage. First, Jesus clearly is a man. Whatever else he might be, any description of Jesus that does not affirm his humanity is not true. He was tired and he had to sleep. Only men act like this, not supernatural, spiritual beings. Those closest to him, his disciples, knew he was a man. But second, he is obviously more than a man. It’s one thing to heal human illness, it’s an entirely different thing to command the winds and the sea. One of the most repeated works of God in the Old Testament is his control over the winds and seas. David says in Psalm 135: 5-7, "I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is greater than all gods. The Lord does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. He makes the clouds rise from the ends of the earth, he sends lightening with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouse." Clearly, Jesus is manifesting his divinity in this powerful act. He is physically weak like men are weak yet he is powerful, as God is powerful.

Finally, I want you to consider what his rebuking of his disciples tells us about his greatness. Is his rebuke of his disciples really justified? Sure they were afraid but did they have little faith? They asked Jesus to save them. That’s an amazing thing. They believed that Jesus could do something about their situation. Besides how in the world can he possibly expect men in a boat that is being swamped with water while it is out in the middle of a large lake to not be afraid? However, while these men did ask Jesus to save them, yet their fear shows that if that prayer is a prayer of faith it is a very inadequate faith. Jesus is claiming, by rebuking their fear, that if he is with them there is nothing to fear. That is an amazing claim. What he is saying to them is this. "You should know that if I am with you there is no need to fear anything. Nothing can harm you if you are with me. In fact, because you are afraid you show that you don’t know who I am and you show that you don’t really trust me." Don’t miss what he is saying. Fear cannot exist where faith exists and faith does not exist where fear exists. Jesus is saying it was morally wrong for them to be afraid. Their fear is sin. That is a hard thing for us to hear.

What could they have done to fight off fear? I think there are three things that they could have done and that we can do. First, based on all they have seen and heard they should know who Jesus is. They should know that he is in control of all that is happening and cannot be thrown off track, not even by a storm. Second, Jesus told them to get into the boat to go to the other side. Therefore, there was no way they were not going to make it to the other side. Third, Jesus was sleeping in the boat. He obviously was not concerned with the storm. They should have been moved by his example.

Fear is a great sin because it calls into question both God’s love and his power. When we are afraid we are declaring that God is not able to help and that he does not want to help. That is why the Bible is full of commands to not be afraid. The solution to fear is faith. Jesus is going to bring me safely home. When we are afraid, what should we do? First, confess our fear as sin. Second ask God to give us faith. Third, go to his word and find promises to hold fast to in order to strengthen faith. Fourth, meditate much on the love of Christ and the power of Christ over all evil. Fifth, meditate much on the horror of hell and the justice of God in sending sinners to hell so that you fear him and nothing else.

I know that fear is a very powerful and formidable emotion. I have wrestled against it on many occasions. As I have shared here before, we once had a neighbor who hated me for calling the police when he wouldn’t respond to my requests to not play his stereo full blast at midnight. I lived in fear of him as he did everything he could do to intimidate me. But I also did what I just told you to do. I confessed my fear as sin. I cried out to God for faith and I held fast to his word. I remember reading and then memorizing Psalm 118:5-9. Quote it. This passage was my constant companion for the months he sought to intimidate me. I can tell you that if you will do as I have suggested here you will be able to fight off fear and to live by faith.

We have recorded for us in vv. 28 and 29 one of the most ironic situations that could be imagined. The disciples, having followed Christ for some time and upon witnessing Christ’s power over creation wonder who he is. In the very next scene two men, possessed by demons, answer their question. Before we look at what they say look at how they must obey Jesus. These men are so controlled by demon forces that they exert a supernatural force upon the entire region where they live. They are so violent and malicious that people cannot even come near the place where they live. Yet, without a word from Jesus they come to him and bear testimony to who he is. Now look at what they say.

First, they know that Jesus is the Son of God. They know that God is a Trinity and that Jesus is the eternal Son who has taken on human flesh. Second, they know that they must obey Jesus. Like servants beckoned by their master they must ask, "what do you want with us?" Third, they know that Jesus has come from beyond this physical world. The "here" doesn’t refer simply to the region of the Gaderenes but to earth itself. They know that Jesus, unlike anyone else, existed prior to his birth. Fourth, they know that there is a day on which Jesus will torture them. In other words they know and acknowledge that Jesus is their judge and will one day consign them to eternal torture. Fifth, they know that the time for judgement is still to come. This is not the appointed time but a time before it.

Look at v. 30. The demons beg Jesus to send them into the herd of pigs. They know he is going to send them out of the men and that they have to do what he says. They also know that they cannot do anything else without Jesus’ permission. So they beg to be sent into the pigs. We are not told why they wanted to go there. What we do know is that they cannot do anything without Jesus’ command. Remember that as we look at what happens next.

Jesus commands them to go into the pigs. Immediately the whole herd rushes down the steep bank and into the sea and drowns. It is very important at this point that you remember that the demons can do nothing without Jesus’ command. That means that Jesus intended for the pigs to be destroyed. He freed these two men from the demons but destroyed the pigs and the therefore, the livelihood of the owners. Why did Jesus want the pigs to drown? The answer is in vv. 33 and 34.

Immediately those who were watching over the herd of pigs ran into town to report what happened. Notice that Matthew is careful to let us know that their report included what happened to the two men. In other words they explained that Jesus had commanded the demons to leave the two men, that they were therefore healed and that Jesus had commanded the demons to go into the pigs and thus they were destroyed. When the townspeople come out and see Jesus they beg him to leave their region. So why did Jesus destroy the pigs? He did it to confront the sin of these people and offer to them salvation. But, as Dr. Don Carson says, they prefer pigs to people and swine to a Savior. Rather than begging Jesus to go they should be begging him to stay. But they love money more than they love salvation, more than they love people, more than they love Jesus and so they reject Christ and seal their doom. Jesus shows that now is not the appointed time of judgement because he quietly leaves these people in their sins to await that final day of judgement. How do you think these people are going to feel on that great day of judgement when they stand before Jesus and see the one they begged to leave their country because they were so mad that he destroyed their pigs? How will they feel when they see these two men from whom Jesus drove out the demons seated at God's banquet table while they themselves are thrown out into the outer darkness?

If you are a Christian you should never have an ounce of fear of Satan or of his demonic forces. They cannot do anything apart from what Jesus commands. They are entirely at his beck and call. They are his servants and have no authority or power beyond his will. I’m going to say something here that may confuse some of you and it will certainly make some of you angry and maybe cause you to question my faith. But I cannot avoid what this passage tells us about the relationship between God and evil in the world. I’m going to use the words of Augustine, who, next to the Apostle Paul, was the greatest theologian to ever live. As he wrestled with the sovereignty of God and the presence of evil in the world and with what the Bible says about this complex issue, he said this. "God wills with a good will what men and demons will with an evil will. So that God’s will is accomplished but he cannot be blamed for the evil." Consider the example before us. Did the demons want to enter the pigs and destroy them? Yes they did. Did Jesus want the pigs destroyed? Yes he did. Why did the demons want to destroy the pigs? While we don’t know the specific reason, we can be sure that it was an evil reason. It was morally wrong for them to want to destroy the pigs. Why did Jesus want to destroy the pigs? So he could expose the sin of these people and so offer them salvation. Is this a good reason? Yes. So Jesus willed with a good will what the demons willed with an evil will in such a way that Jesus’ will was done but he didn’t do evil, the demons did.

This is not just some kind of pie in the sky theological rambling. This has enormous practical benefit. If you know that every evil thing done to you has been willed by God for your good, then you never need to be afraid. You can always be confident and full of hope and happiness because no one, not even Satan, can ever do anything to harm you in any ultimate sense. Yes, we will suffer but all the suffering will be for our good. Is this not the promise of God in Romans 8:28? "God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose." If however, Satan and humans are able to do evil outside of God’s will, then you can have no certainty that you will not be overcome by evil. And you can have no certainty that evil will not ultimately overcome God’s purposes in the world. I plead with you to not reject what I am saying out of hand. I’m not just making this up. This is but one of hundreds of examples of how God rules over evil without ever being guilty of sin. John Calvin in his "Institutes of the Christian Religion" lists over 30 examples of this principle from the Scriptures. Then he says, "Those who are moderately versed in the Scriptures see that for the sake of brevity I have put forward only a few of many testimonies."

Joseph Tsan was a pastor in Romania during the time when the communists ruled that country. He was imprisoned several times for preaching the gospel and tortured each time. I heard him speak at a conference this past February. He described the first time he was arrested. He was taken before a panel of 6 military officers. The commanding officer read the charges and then lectured Pastor Tsan about how terrible it was for him to preach the gospel. In the course of his lecture he said something like this, "Don’t you know that in your own Bible you are commanded to obey us because we have been appointed by God as your ruler?" He referred to Paul’s assertion in Romans 13 that all authority is given by God and we are to submit to it. Pastor Tsan asked if he could explain how he understood Romans 13 in this situation and this is what he said. "You are indeed God’s instrument over me in this case. But what is happening here is not between you and I but rather between my God and I. You are his instruments to teach me something that he wants me to know. You cannot do a single thing to me that he has not determined that you should do. He is in charge of what you do to me, you are not in control." He went on to tell us that the officer did not like his interpretation very well. But do you see that the knowledge that evil is under the control of God’s sovereign pleasure is a source of great hope and strength when others do us wrong? If your husband or wife does wrong to you, you should know that God intends it for your good. If your boss doesn’t treat you fairly you should know that God is causing it, for your good. If you are falsely accused by a co-worker, you should know that God is causing it to happen for your good. Jesus wills with a good will what evil men and demons will with an evil will. He causes evil to serve his purposes.

© Copyright 2000 John Swanson.
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