When God Orders Chaos

Psalm 97:1 says "The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice". But looking around we could conclude that chaos reigns. Sin and its effects wreak havoc on mankind. Life is chaotic but there is reason for hope. Romans 5:20 says “where sin increased, grace abounded all the more”. God is not the instigator of chaos; not the author of confusion. Sometimes He allows it to bring about His good and perfect purposes and plans. God does not cause chaos, He brings order in the midst of chaos caused by sin.

What a chaotic scene it must have been when Jesus freed the two men from demon-possession and 2000 newly demon-inhabited pigs ran over a cliff (Matthew 8:28-34). In Matt, Mark and Luke this miracle follows Jesus calming the storm. These 2 stories belong together, examples of Jesus’ authority over the chaos in nature and man. Back-to-back verses in Psalm 89 summarize these back-to-back miracles in the Gospels: Psalm 89:9 “You rule the raging of the sea; when its waves rise, you still them” (the storm) and Psalm 89:10 “…You scatter your enemies with your mighty arm” (the demoniacs).

It happened in the country of the Gadarenes, the district controlled by the town of Gadara, near the village of Gergesa; about midpoint on the Sea of Galilee’s eastern shore. [Josephus says Gadara had territory and villages on the border of the lake, including the little village of Gergesa. Gadarene coins sometimes had ships on them]. It was Gentile territory. To Jews in that day unclean (the people and pigs). On a nearby hillside were ancient tombs, small caves where the men lived. No one wanted to come nearby. The 2 men were demon-possessed and dangerous.

The demons believe and shudder.
As they were crossing the lake the disciples were asking: Who is this man? When they got to the other side the demons came out of the tombs to tell them. They approach Jesus only to insult Him; more assault than request. They used His name as Son of God as a defensive put-off, a verbal shield to defend themselves. D.A. Carson says, “The question the demoniacs hurled at Jesus…is hateful and tinged with fear. They scream instead of speaking, revealing their imbalance. They acknowledged Jesus’ character, power and authority. They believed more truth about Jesus than many who claim to be His followers. What did they believe about Jesus? Jesus is God, the Son who eternally exists with the Father and the Spirit – fully and equally God in eternal relation with each other. They believed that as God Jesus is Judge; there will come a day of reckoning, a time for demonic hosts to be tortured and rejected forever (Jude 6, Rev. 20:10). They know Jesus is the One who will Judge at the appointed time. They believed that as God Jesus is Sovereign He has authority over all. They presuppose Jesus’ preexistence by their use of the word “here”, meaning ‘here and now on earth’, where they had been given some freedom to trouble men before the end. Jerome said, “in the presence of the Savior the demons are tormented”. The word tremble in James 2:19 is best translated shudder. Have you ever been so scared it made cold chills run up your back and your hair stood on end? This is the thought here. When the demons think about God and the judgment awaiting them due to their sin, they shudder from fear. If people could see what awaits them because of their sin and rejection of Christ, they would shudder, too.

Why would the demons have plead with Jesus to let them go into the pigs; an innocent herd of 2000 pigs minding their own business (Mark 5:13 numbers them around 2000)? Two possible reasons are hatred of God’s creatures and a desire to stir up animosity towards Jesus. Elsewhere in the gospels evil spirits being cast out sometimes express their rage by visible acts of violence or mischief.

The Lord sets the prisoners free (Ps. 146:7).
That’s what Jesus does here. Jesus sent the demons away; but why would He allow them to destroy pigs that belonged to others and represented their owner’s livelihood? Sometimes God allows some puzzling things. Why are humans possessed or diseased, and why do we suffer? The answer isn’t given here but can only be answered in a larger context of who God is and what He does and why. The context does give us a few hints. Jesus is the Master of nature (Matt. 8:23-27) and its ultimate owner (Matt. 8:28-34; Ps. 50:10). The appointed time (Matt. 8:29) for complete destruction of demons’ power has not yet arrived. The stampede proves the men had been freed (Matt. 8:33). God always has a good purpose in what He allows. Probably the biggest answer lies in the response of the people. The loss of the herd became a way of exposing the people’s real values. They preferred pigs to people, swine to a Savior. As a result people told on Jesus and those who heard rejected Jesus. The whole town said “Would you mind just leaving town?” Jesus’ ministry was not limited to Jews only and not only Jews rejected Him. People’s response matters.

Some implications and applications for our lives today:

1. God’s Word is powerful all by itself. Jesus only says one word in Matt. 8:28-34: “Go”. Do not underestimate the pure, sheer power of God’s Word. 2 Tim. 3:15-17; 2 Tim. 2:15; John 17:17; Heb. 4:12; Rom. 1:16. As Savior Jesus will save according to His Word. As Judge He will judge according to His Word. As Sovereign King of the universe He rules over all according to His Word. He always acts consistent with His Word. He is faithful.

2. There is always hope. Two demon-possessed men driven to the edge of town, marginalized, ostracized, forsaken; Hopeless, right? Wrong. People needed help badly – there is this missionary emphasis in Matt. 8, dealing with cultural outsiders of one sort or another: lepers, Gentiles, women, weak disciples, and now demon-possessed pagans. The Gadarene formerly demon-possessed men turned into Jesus freaks! Jesus says, therefore "GO" - He points the demons in the direction of hell (the fate of the pigs foreshadowing what would someday happen to them in hell) and the two men to a ministry of reconciliation, pointing others to Jesus. We too are to go ands tell our people what God has done. As Eph. 1:6 says "to the praise of His glorious grace". We exist to enhance the glory of God. He is using everything including sin to ultimately praise Him.

3. Jesus can save from anything. He is the Sovereign Lord and Savior. If you want what He wants more than what your sin demands (sin is an enslaving tyrant) then you will know the freedom of the children of God born of His Spirit washed in His blood. Everywhere you look there are people in need. Real people with real needs that only Jesus can meet. People with addictions, compulsions, obsessions. Notice Jesus lived what He preached in the Sermon on the Mount. He did not return evil with evil. Questions as confused as the demoniacs cannot be answered. Remember that when you deal with difficult irrational people: Keep your cool, there is a person underneath all that chaos!

In Matthew 8:28-34 we see real people enslaved by sin and humanity's enemy. We see by this passage that demon possession is a real, serious thing. Remember that demons cannot possess Christians (we are indwelt by the Spirit of God and possessed by God) but they can harass Christians. Luther’s famous hymn A Mighty Fortress points this out: “and though this world with devils filled, should threaten to undo us, we will not fear for God has willed His truth to triumph through us, the prince of darkness grim, we tremble not for Him, his rage we can endure, for lo his doom is sure, one little word shall fell him”. A God-indwelt believer’s primary defense against our enemy the devil is the Word of God. Do not live in fear of evil. 1 John 4:4 says “greater is He who is in you than He who is in the world”. [Read 1 Pet. 5:8-9 and John 8:43-44.]