Continuing a study of the Gospels:
(Matthew 8:18) Now when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave commandment to depart to the other side.
In the first part of chapter 8, in the last post, Jesus had healed many people; all who came to Him, He healed. Obviously, His fame had grown so much that He was thronged by crowds of followers and curious people everywhere He went. Jesus was in Capernaum, a city on the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee. He commanded His disciples that they go with Him to the other side of the sea. Although fully God, He was also fully man, and He was probably wearied and needed rest and time for prayer; but there was also a purpose in that He would have opportunity to teach His disciples something. Jesus did not seek applause and adoration from the crowds. His teaching was from the heart and had purpose.
(19) And a certain scribe came and said to Him, "Master, I will follow You wherever You go."
This same account in Luke says that as they went their way to the other side of the sea, a scribe came to Jesus. This man probably desired to be one of Jesus's disciples and wished to follow Him to the other side. He told Jesus he would follow Him wherever He went.
(20) And Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head."
Jesus here called Himself the Son of Man, a name He often gave Himself. Jesus was God, yet He had humbled Himself to come in the form of man, and was born of a woman. He said to this scribe that even the lowly creatures of the earth had homes, but He had nowhere to lay His head. Imagine that! The Messiah did not have a home of His own to which He could withdraw. 2 Corinthians 8:9 tells us that He, though He was rich, became poor for our sakes. Christ humbled Himself and submitted to this lowly state to teach us dependence on God for all our needs, and to show the vanity of worldly wealth. 2 Corinthians 8:9 continues to state that through His poverty, we might become rich. He taught people what true riches were. If He had had even a modest house, those poorer than He might not believe that they could achieve the riches about which He taught. In telling the scribe this, He was testing the man's motives, or perhaps proving them to the scribe himself. Following Jesus would not be a journey filled with worldly grandeur, but quite the opposite. If the man had any notions of any temporary advantage, Jesus warned him that would not be the case.
(21) And another of His disciples said to Him, "Lord, let me first go and bury my father."
At this point in time, Jesus still had many followers, or disciples, not just the twelve. One of these said he was ready to follow Him, but first wanted to go and bury his father.
(22) But Jesus said to him, "Follow Me, and let the dead bury their dead."
Jesus told the disciple to follow Him at that time, and leave others to bury their dead. He called the others "the dead" because they were spiritually dead, having not yet received the gift of life through Christ. It's not that Jesus had any objection to proper burials of relations, but He was calling this disciple to a much greater purpose than the business of the world. Besides, it's possible the disciple's father was not dead yet, but possibly at a very old age, and the disciple wished to wait until he buried his father before he followed Jesus. That would certainly explain why Jesus wouldn't allow him the time to do that if he truly wanted to be a disciple of Jesus. However, even if the father was dead, he was indeed dead and had no knowledge of whether or not this disciple buried him. There were others to bury him, and the disciple was called to see that many more people did not spiritually die.
(23) And when He had entered into a ship, His disciples followed Him.
This account in Mark states that Jesus and His disciples had sent away the multitudes, and had boarded the ship to separate themselves, and to go to the other side of the sea. It also says there were with Him other little ships, so these probably had onboard his many disciples following Him.
(24) And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, so that the ship was covered with the waves; but He was asleep.
Again, the account in Mark expounds on this, and explains Jesus was in the back part of the ship asleep, when a great storm arose and whipped the ship with waves causing it to fill with water.
(25) And His disciples came to Him and woke Him, saying, "Lord, save us! We are perishing!"
The disciples woke up Jesus crying for Him to save them because they were in danger of drowning. This demonstrates that His disciples knew where their help would come from. This is the advantage of trials in that we know our weaknesses and that we rely on God to save us.
(26) And He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?" Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm.
Although the disciples had some faith in Jesus by coming to Him to save them, they still had fear and some measure of disbelief, and that is why Jesus rebuked them. In the account in Luke, He asked them, "Where is your faith?" He then arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, calming them. The account in Mark states he rebuked the winds, and spoke to the sea, "Peace, be still."
(27) But the men marveled, saying, "What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?"
Mark and Luke said the men were afraid at this as they wondered what sort of man this could be that the winds and the sea obeyed him. Dr. John Gill, in his Exposition of the Bible, pointed out that the original word translated as "what manner of man" was "potapos," and actually did not include the word "man" at all. It meant simply "what manner of" or "what possible sort," demonstrating that the disciples now realized Jesus was no ordinary man at all. There was no man ever who could have commanded the winds and the sea and have them obey him; only God could do this, and that had these disciples marveling.
(28) And when He had come to the other side to the country of the Gergesenes, there met Him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceedingly fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
Jesus had gone to the other side of the sea to the country of the Gergesenes or the Gadarenes, as Mark called them in his account. Gergesa and Gadara were towns near each other; therefore the inhabitants of the country between them were called by either or both names. There Jesus met two people who were demon possessed. They came out from among the tombs, in the burying place which would have been a good distance outside the city. They were exceedingly fierce so that no one could pass by that way safely.
(29) And behold, they cried out, saying, "What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?"
Isn't it amazing that the demonic spirits that possessed these two recognized Jesus right away? Those spirits that were so exceedingly fierce to mere men seemed to be in some fear of Jesus, asking why He should concern Himself with them, and whether He had come to torment them before the time. I find that fascinating, as well, that the demons seemed to know that there was a time in the future when they would be condemned to everlasting punishment.
(30) And there was a good way off from them a herd of many swine feeding.
A good distance from them was a herd of swine, about 2000 of them, the account in Mark states. It was not lawful for Jews to keep swine as they were unclean animals.
(31) So the devils besought Him, saying, "If you cast us out, permit us to go away into the herd of swine."
The demons pleaded with Jesus, that if He cast them out of these men, to send them into the herd of swine. Isn't it amazing to consider that the demons realized Jesus's authority over them and had to ask His permission to be sent into lowly swine? May we realize how little is their power to be dreaded by anyone who has Christ as his protector!
(32) And He said to them, "Go." And when they had come out, they went into the herd of swine; and behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
With a mere one word, Jesus cast the demons out of the men's bodies and allowed them to go into the herd of swine. If it seems strange that Jesus would give the demons what they asked, we must consider that it was not lawful for Jews to raise swine anyway, so it would seem just to allow them to be destroyed. Perhaps a greater purpose was that it was a visual demonstration of the rage and violent destruction these demons would do if allowed to continue their possession of a man. Why would the demons ask to be sent to the herd of swine knowing they would be destroyed? Just as they knew of their eventual demise in the end, they knew they would be destroyed, but they desired to destroy as much as they could on their way out. Even now, Satan and his demons know their end, but they desire to take as many souls as they can with them! They destroyed someone's herd; I'm sure their hope was that it might in someway set the people against Jesus and diminish His usefulness among them. Satan's purpose is to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10).
(33) And those who kept them fled, and went their way into the city, and told everything, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.
Those who had kept the swine fled into the city and told everything they had witnessed. They had witnessed the casting out of demons; they had seen them cast into their herd of swine and their huge herd of 2000 destroyed. I'm sure they told all of this.
(34) And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they besought Him to depart out of their coasts.
The entire city came out to meet Jesus. One would think the casting out of demons would be of their utmost interest and awe, but it seems they were more disturbed about the loss of property than the salvation of souls. They asked Him to leave their country. Therefore, it seems the demons got their desired result in that the people did blame Jesus for the destruction of the herd and asked Him to leave, which would indeed diminish His usefulness among them. So why did Jesus do this? I believe Jesus always gives us a choice. People have to take some responsibility for their souls. God gave us this free gift of salvation, but we do have to accept it. It is not forced upon us. This incident surely demonstrated the hearts of men who would value property more than men's souls. Unfortunately, it is no uncommon thing for people to love the world and property so much. Romans 1:25 describes how people love and worship the created things more than the Creator.
In his thoughts on this chapter in his Notes on the Bible, Albert Barnes commented on Jesus's poverty as He told the scribe in verse 20 that He had no place to lay His head, no home. I think of those, especially in the Word of Faith movement, who would say that to be one of God's children, would have to mean to be blessed by Him, and sadly, to so many, that means blessed by worldly riches. Mr. Barnes reflected that is was no disgrace to be poor, as the Son of God was poor on this earth. If our Maker brought us into this world in poverty, or if He allowed worldly possessions to be taken away by sickness or some other means, "let us remember that the Redeemer of mankind trod the same humble path, and that it can be no dishonor to be likened to Him who was the beloved Son of God." The lesson of the scribe was that we should embrace the gospel without any hope of earthly reward. The lesson of the man who wanted to bury his father was that we must forsake all for the sake of the gospel. Our first duty is to God.
Jesus preserves us in time of danger, as demonstrated in the calming of the storm. All things that can injure or destroy us are under the authority of Jesus Christ. Even Satan and his demons are bound and cannot destroy us! What a comforting thought is that! However, these are all gifts of Jesus that must be accepted; He would never force us to accept Him against our wills. If we wish Him to depart from us, as the Gergesenes did, because we value the world and its riches more than we do Him or our own souls, then He will give us over to our worldly pursuits (Romans 1:26, 28). How awful to hear those words, "Depart from Me, ye cursed..." (Matthew 25:41), because we have said to our Savior, "Depart from us."
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