14. Storms and Swine [Matthew] - Tim Mackie (The Bible Project)

good to have you guys here I'm going to invite our scripture reader up and if you wouldn't mind turning in your Bibles or turning on your Bible whatever you do to Matthew chapter 8 verse 23 we're going to just read the stories about Jesus that we're going to look at today verse 23 and when he got into the boat his disciples followed him and behold there arose a great storm on the sea so that the boat was swamped by the waves but he was asleep they went and woke him saying save us Lord we are perishing he said to them why are you afraid o you of little faith then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea and there was a great calm and the men marvelled saying what sort of man is this that even winds and c-e-o Bay him when he came and to the other side came to the other side to the country of the gadarenes two demon-possessed men met him coming out of the tomb so fierce that no one could pass that way and behold they cried out what have you to do with us o son of God have you come here to torment us before the time now heard of many pigs was feeding at some distance from them and the demons begged him saying if you cast us out send us away into the herd of pigs and he said to them go so they came out and went into the pigs and behold the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the waters the herdsmen fled and going into the city they told everything especially what had happened to the demon-possessed men and behold all the City came out to meet Jesus they saw him and when they saw him they begged him to leave their region well then storms and pigs that's what we'll call the message today I guess storms and pigs yeah we're we're going through the Gospel according to Matthew as a community and we're just going right through it story by story teaching by teaching which means that we don't just get to pick the flowery parts that we like we also come across these stories about Jesus that are strange and where the story ends new on what just happened and that's very odd and bizarre because it is and that's okay you know not every story has to end like films that Americans make you know it is with some sort of happy resolved ending so but these are two you may be familiar with these stories Jesus calming the sea Jesus healing these two men who were terrorized by spiritual evil these stories may not be familiar to you I don't know what I want to do is what I often do is these are simple stories they're not hard to grasp is Jesus weak or powerful powerful I mean that's basically what you need to get from stories and so we could end there but we're not going to of course but you get the basic idea but there's always layers to these stories in the Gospel accounts about Jesus and so what I want to do is kind of back up and give us a framework for what's happening in these two stories they go together you might not think that they do but they actually Matthews put them next to each other intentionally I think the first story ends with people asking a question about who Jesus is the next story provides a clear although disturbing answer to that question the stories go together and they all revolve around water all right this incredible event that takes place on the water in the boat and then a story that comes to a disturbing end with pigs drowning in the water crisis bizarre and estranged but they're they're meant to go together so let's let's back up and let's just think about something else for a sec so we just learned I was a I was sick most of the week if I miss staff meeting where apparently the sunrise service was planned so I found out about it just like you have to write just a few a few minutes ago I was like oh I guess there we go I know what I'm doing that day I'm going to be here really early so so there you go so Easter Easter Sunday is coming April 5th how many weeks is that three four weeks from from today it's the high point really a Christmas kind of has become that in American culture but in the historic Christian calendar it's actually Easter Resurrection Sunday I think it more accurately it should be called that's what it's about the resurrection of Jesus and so that whole weekend I mean it's the highlight of the Christian calendar if you're a follower of Jesus the most important weekend of the year is coming in just three weeks we're gonna and we're going to celebrate it there's also another major world religious tradition as always shares its most important holiday with Easter and Resurrection Sunday and that's within Judaism no worries it's okay that's what the Judaism and what what Jewish holiday always falls on the same weekend as Resurrection Sunday Passover Passover and it's not random or incidental right because Jesus was Jewish right and Christianity is a Jewish messianic movement and what was Jesus doing in Jerusalem the weekend that he got crucified what was he doing there he was celebrating Passover in Jerusalem like tens of thousands of other Jews would come flock in in Jerusalem and so on and so and actually the story of Passover and what happens in the memories and the stories around Passover are helpful immensely helpful I think for helping grasp new layers of significance about these stories that take place in near near the water so think of the story what are what are Jewish families doing as they celebrate the Passover which starts on the Friday always on the Friday night that coincides with Good Friday for Christians so that's we're retelling what famous Bible story at Passover so the Exodus story right so the Israelites have been an enslaved people group for centuries to the big bad Pharaoh the king of Egypt and he really is in the precise sense of the term enacting a genocide against the Israelites but within his own territory he's killing off all of the males and the rest of the Israelites he's just grinding them into the dirt through harsh slave labor and he just wants to use them and kill him kill him off he's building pyramids and this kind of thing and so God raises up a deliverer right Moses and Aaron's brother and through them God addresses Pharaoh right and you know you may know the story 10 10 different times through Moses God commands Pharaoh to let the people go he gives Pharaoh a chance right to stop his horrible evil and to let the people go and he refuses all of those times actually three of the times he lets he does let them go but then changes his mind about 10 minutes later right so interesting how the stories work and so the after the ninth time that he refused God decides to send the tenth act of justice right the acts of the ten plagues and so on and so just like Pharaoh had been killing off all of the male's of the Israelites God announces that a plague is going to sweep through and killed the firstborn of every family and then this is where the Passover Feast comes in right so so Israelite families were commanded to to have a lamb for dinner but instead of normally just draining the blood and getting rid of it they take the blood of the lamb and they paint it on their door as this symbol of a life being given in place of the life of the first born inside that house and so when the plague comes at night this story it passes over those houses with the blood of lamb on it that's where the name comes from now what happens next is that Pharaoh he's totally finally compelled by this act of God's justice to let the Israelites go and so they flee so this is what here where the story gets relevant for us they're fleeing they flee out of Egypt and they're not they don't have are me they don't have infrastructures or a huge band of escaped slaves right and they're fleeing out to the desert to go back to their ant land of their ancestors and they come through the desert and they clearly don't know where they're going because they end up facing a huge body of water right and Pharaohs changed his mind again and so he after they all leave he builds up a huge army of chariots he starts chasing after them you guys know the story so and here's the key moment of the store we're just going to read it here from Exodus chapter 14 this is the famous Exodus story the Israelites they fled Egypt and they camped by the sea knee near P ha he drew opposite ball of the zone you know those places right right so as Pharaoh's army approached the Israelites looked up and there are the Egyptians marching after them so huge body of water huge army here to annihilate you a bad day and they're terrified and they cry out to the Lord they said to Moses was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us out here into the desert to die why on earth did you bring us out of Egypt and Moses answered the people don't be afraid stand firm and today you will see the salvation of Yahweh the Egyptian today that you see you will never see again Yahweh will fight for you you just need to sit still Moses stretch out his hand over the sea and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind he turned it into dry land the waters were divided and the Israelites went through the sea on the dry ground wall of water on their right and on their left I mean it's an epic scene that's one of the most well known difficult stories and this is a very vivid epic scene of Yahweh's power over the waters variety creates a path in the waters for his people to pass through which is the salvation of Yahweh saving his people and then go on to read it but if you know that how the story goes then Pharaoh's armies chase after them and the Israelites pass to the other side and what happens the waters cave back in and wipe out the army of Pharaoh and so on and so that's the story this is the story celebrated at Passover you guys the Jewish people have been telling and retelling this story every single year for a whole weekend and a week following after it every year for over 3,000 years this is one of the most oldest one most old or one of the oldest religious holidays that humans still observe today this is of incredible significance and just stop and think about that this Jesus is people right this is the culture the Jesus grew up in every year you dedicate a whole week and then a whole weekend specifically to retelling this story and where's a story about it's about how the people of Israel who had no identity except as the children of Abraham and they're enslaved in Egypt and then Yahweh delivers his people through the waters and Yahweh their God tames the sea right the wild sea that was just as much of an opponent as the armies of Pharaoh and they're trapped between the two absolutely helpless they're going to be destroyed and the salvation of Yahweh is about God taming the sea and creating a path for his people to be saved in every year for over 3,000 years they retell the story have meals celebrate sing about it and so on this story is of immense significance if it's sort of for Judaism this story is what the death and resurrection of Jesus is to Christianity it's our foundation story and within Judaism this is their foundation story it gives them their identity of who they are as a people and it has to do with God taming the waters to save his people so you can imagine as the millennia go by right within the story within the history of Israel this story affected how they think about the world and so on so in Israelite poet wants to talk about how amazing and great Yahweh the God of Israel is well as you can bet they're going to be talking about this story turn to the Book of Psalms and you'll find the biblical poet what an example at random I could show you 12 others Psalm 106 Yahweh saved his people for his namesake to make his mighty power known he rebuked the sea not interesting poetic image he rebuked the sea and dried it up he led them through the depths as through a desert so the poets constantly retell this story to in their own poetry but they do more this is really interesting the biblical poets if you go on and read through the Psalms and the prophets which is where most of the poetry in the Bible is 40 cent 40% of the Bible is poetry and if you go through and read the poetry here's another thing you'll find is that when biblical poets wants to talk about danger or a situation where they're expressing fear there's things going horribly wrong or whatever they will very often use the image of dangerous waters threatening them just one example at random I could show you a dozen but here's from Psalm 69 save me O God for the waters have come up to my neck i sink in the mire II depths where there's no foothold I have come into deep waters the floods engulfing I'm worn out by calling for help my throat is parched my eyes fail I'm looking for my God deliver me from those who hate me from the deep waters do not let the floodwaters engulf me or the depths swallow me up now this is this is such a great example what's actually happening to the poet like day-to-day life is the poet actually drowning you were telling a story about how he's almost drowned no it's a poem alright so but he does give you one small clue as to what's actually happening and what is it people hate people hate him or her it is anonymous so people hate the poet and so what's the the person writing the poem is is he has enemies we don't know we don't know what the story is people don't like about their persecuting them and so on but look at this whole elaborate description the only adequate thing that the poet can turn his mind to is to recall the stories about the threatening dangerous roiling raging waters right and that who what kind of God is the God of Israel is the God who delivers the whole nation but a God is also attentive to the cries of individual people and so being delivered from people who don't like you you can talk about it as being delivered from raging from raging waters if a biblical poet wants to talk about how amazing the God of Israel and how he's one and only unique the one true God and the creator will do it like this Psalm 89 this last example I'll show you who is like you Yahweh God Almighty you Yahweh you are mighty your faithfulness around you you rule over the surging sea when its waves mount up you still then why am i showing all this to you I'm showing this to you is first for us to understand how important the story of the Exodus is for understanding the whole Bible because the difficult authors that come later are going to always be referring back to it using images or language that are grounded in that foundation story and so whether they want to talk about their own personal experience of being delivered or if you want to talk about how unique and amazing God is you use elements from the foundation story who alone is the one true creator gods you can still the surging ocean what what image is greater than a surging roiling ocean you know who wants to be out there in the middle of a storm for all that human beings are like powerful and you know here in the city we're just surrounded by human ingenuity you know what I mean like we're the main event here in the city because we've designed all this and we build homes and streets and we run around here focusing on our careers and families and stories away we're the main event but you go stand at this where the surf breaks try it on the beach and you're nothing yeah that's the thing like your puny human that's what you are right and as a universal human experience the raging waters of the sea just put us in our place and so whoo there's only one the author of all of creation the one who redeems his people only Yahweh the God the one true God rules over the surging sea hey you guys done you with me this is just a given in biblical thought so so when when Matthew and the disciples right when they want to they recount and experience a strange very powerful experience that they had with Jesus out out in the waters out in the deep waters and as they tell us this story the Matthew is going to be using language to the vote all of these poems and stories here and so let's come back in the story and I think you'll you'll see the brilliance of what Matthew is doing is he tells us the story let's jump back let's come back to chapter 8 and we'll kind of work through it let's look at verse 23 we're told that Jesus got into the boats and that his disciples followed him laughter let's stop we just got started that I'm making a stop again sorry so what's happening right now it's in this storyline right here in Matthew chapter 8 remember Jesus was up on a hillside announcing the kingdom of God that's his whole deal and then he comes down off the hillside to actually bring the kingdom and the rule and the reign of God into reality in day-to-day life and these fishing towns and villages along the lake of Galilee and so he's been like there's crowds if you've been around with us through the series you know there's huge crowds the people all the time around Jesus and they're following him around and he'll go to a town and teach and then people flock to him and he's healing sick people teaching constantly answering questions and so actually back up why is Jesus getting into a boat so put your stomach go back just up to verse 18 and we're jumping around a lot look in chapter 8 verse 18 when Jesus saw the crowd around him he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake the seasons ever get tired tired of people crowding around him I think so I think he's escaping the people right now and not because he doesn't like people I mean he clearly has been healing and teaching and with but he needs some rest you know he would often retreat up into the mountains at night to pray and to rest here he's like I got to get on a boat get out of here you know and so he's there you go and even then he gets interrupted on his way to the boat right please people come up to him and asking him all these questions so here we go finally he makes it to the boat in verse 23 he got into the boat and his disciples followed him suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake so that the waves swept over the boat now let me just look out again here let me show you a picture of the lake this is helpful I think so Capernaum which is where he just was it's where the stories in chapter eight take place it was kind of Jesus's home base and then he would travel around other towns and so on and so there's the the Sea of Galilee or it's called the lake of Galilee the lake of Knesset - Lake it's a like if you if I have a little mile saying or whatever I'll just tell you top to bottom about 13 and a half miles and at its widest point there in the middle about seven and a half eight eight miles or so so that's a big body of water is that big it's big it's not a pond it's not an ocean but you can see the other side but if it is really big it's the biggest body of water in that whole in that whole region and I don't know if you can see on the satellite picture this is a Google Earth image which is why the lion is there it's actually two photos to use together you know Google Earth you guys are playing on Google Earth want to waste an hour just go and what's cool is you can you know we're looking straight down but then you can angle your view of the horizon and back out and just fly around planet Earth and you stuff it's awesome so anyway if you angle it here's what you'll see on this the right side is the east side steep hills go up from the lake like really steep it climbs about 1,500 feet right up from the water up to a plateau and that's called the Golan Heights and you can just go straight from there right into the desert of Syria and the rock if you go to the west to the left of it here it's also steep hills 1,500 feet will climb up and then it goes into the hill country reduces grew up and then it goes down again to the coast and the Mediterranean Sea and so here it's a unique kind of place in the region because you get this hot the hot air that comes from the desert right and then they come this way and you get these cool movements of air coming from the Mediterranean Sea they all that air those pressure movements move down and they meet right there on the lake and when that happens what takes place big storms correct big storms and it's remarkable it's the same there today it can be a sunny day but a some movement of clouds will come in you know within a couple hours and then there's raging storms in the afternoon and then you'll get a nice sunset in the evening it's calm and clear is remarkable and it still happens today and so that's what happened right there on the boat the crossing here they're going to be going to this region here you know roughly to that area we're not quite sure Ghidorah look down at verse 28 when he gets to the other side he comes to the region of the gadarenes so it's about a six mile trip right through the heart the deepest part of the lake and and there's this storm that comes up suddenly they didn't didn't see it coming it would have taken too many hours to make the trip it wasn't there when they started they get out into the middle well it's there what Jesus doing he's good he's sleeping that's weird right as you're supposed to I don't if you're supposed to chuckle if you're supposed to that odd now why why is he sleeping so he's likely exhausted yeah I mean he's been turning right he's been turning since Jeff before you know man needs a break we're not we're not told why I think we're supposed to infer from the stories he's sleeping he's at peace he's at rest right he's away from the crowds and he's at rest but then it evokes this very powerful image if you look at the history of Christian art of this scene the storm on the lake very powerful because it's this image of you know these boats weren't big 25-foot fishing boats waves crashing in and Jesus is sleeping under the stern of the boat or something he's like what on earth that's crazy image so Jesus is peaceful rest contrast the storm it also contrasts the disciples right because what are they doing freaking out look at the disciples they went and they're waking in there saying lord save us we're going to drown or some of you have different translation not drown but what perish perish literally they say we're dead we're going to die I'll just drowned we're going to die so you get this powerful scene here of this surprising storm that has come on the disciples of Jesus Jesus is sleeping and then the disciples are so afraid their instinct is right isn't it their instinct is right go to Jesus but well then what did they say to Jesus they asked him for help and then they inform him of the endgame like where this is all going to end right we're dead Jesus do you see that here save us we're dead and so Jesus so it's an interesting story Jesus replies oh you of little faith why are you so afraid now let's just stop right there this is even more comic Jesus think this is a good moment to give a little lecture on on faith you know and yes then why are you afraid and you're like well you know what shut up is it quite evident Jesus why we're freaking out so you might think Jesus is being a little hard on them right and I can understand that but so there's a few things happening first of all there's a story just right before this from some of you might even be on the same exact page we covered it two weeks ago earlier in the chapter it was a story about that Roman soldier remember and the Roman soldier came to Jesus and he had a servant who was paralyzed thought he was dying and suffering it so he comes to Jesus and says we we heal them and Jesus says yes and then the soldier you remember soldier says to Jesus he says no you don't even need to come to my house I said your Jesus just say a word and it's done and then remember Jesus marveled he's like this guy holy cow you know he's like this guy get this guy actually perceives Who I am Jesus says he actually has such faith that's what he says I haven't found this kind of faith and enry Israelite fellow Jewish person that I've met Jesus s so somehow this this Roman soldier is desperate circumstances but this this Roman soldier is so convinced that Jesus is who he says he is he trusts all that needs to be said is a word and it's taken care of it meant faith and trust in Jesus contrasts the disciples who are also in utterly helpless circumstances and what they do is come to Jesus which is a right instinct but then they inform Jesus of what's about to happen right and it shows a lack of trust this would Jesus is pointing out why are you so afraid and it's a it's a bold call I mean I'm not going to say I'm not I am sympathetic with the disciples right you have a way of splashing your face in the middle of a huge storm like that but Jesus he's called these disciples to a group high level date of accountability and they're watching Jesus do these amazing things and so he he kind of he kind of sizes them and gets into them a little bit look what he does next after the lecture in the storm he gets up and he rebuked the wind and the waves and it became completely calm he gets up and he rebukes the wind and the waves can you think of any other stories or poems about Yahweh the God of Israel rebuking the stormy waters right why did Matthew phrase it that way right so the we were like engulfed in the story and in the events and so on but we forget like Matthew's composed the Gospel according to Matthew after the fact right the Matthew is sitting post crucifixion and resurrection and he's convinced about who Jesus is and he wants you to believe in him right and so as he retells the story he describes what Jesus did right he has this memory because this is what we're listening to the memories eyewitness memories of the disciple and as he retells the story he uses language from the great biblical poems about the Exodus about God's people being an utterly helpless circumstances before the raging waters and he describes Jesus getting up and doing flashes for stop and think about this so in the story who's crying out to God for help and deliverance in the Exodus story people of Israel write the people of God and they and who is it who is the one with unique power to calm the raging sea in the story of Exodus she always a God in Israel in fact that experience was so powerful and so marked the Jewish people that let's go back to Psalm 89 here if you if I'm Israelite and I want to talk about who's the only one true God is sorry could we get Psalm 89 back on the screen here if I'm if I'm a poet I want to talk about who's the only true God is what do I do i retell the story of the exodus i say it's the one true creator god the only one who's able to column the surging roiling sea and still the ways that have mounted the mount to death what is matthew doing here look at how the disciples respond the men were amazed amazed any other translations been amazed the marvel yeah this is I mean amazed is almost too light right there they're dumbfounded they're awestruck right their categories are it's almost slight terror because look at what they say they don't say like that was awesome do it again Jesus they don't say that right their categories are blown and they ask you for their what kind of human is this they don't even say who is this who are you Jesus they say what kind of human is this even the wind and the waves obey Him now what Matthew if Matthew was like a boring 21st century academic theologian he could have just written one sentence Jesus is the one true God become a human right that would be very simple sentence though it is also boring fortunately 21st century academic theologians didn't write the Bible huh so what the Bible was written by it's birthed out of the Jewish people in their story and it's written out of the experience and an eyewitness recollections of these Jewish fisherman in this case a tax collector and as he retells the story of Jesus he puts Jesus in the place of Yahweh the one true God of Israel if I'm an Israelite who is the one who who is the one God who can rule the surging sea and still it's ways it's Yahweh God Almighty and he tells the story they start on this memory and he puts Jesus precisely in that place and instead of making a statement Jesus is the one true God become human he tells this powerful story or this experience that he had and then he ends it with a question who is this human and that's the end of the story wonderful where's the Bible but it's so much more interesting Rison than you would ever think and so the question is just pitched right to us like who who is this human right because we've in the Gospel of Matthew so far we've seen merciful Jesus pronouncing these blessings on the poor and the spiritual zeroes and we've seen Jesus of compassion who moves towards the people with skin disease and the outsiders and so on we see authoritative teaching Jesus and then here is this new this new revelation of Jesus's identity and and they're not they're not pleasantly surprised by this their minds are and they're actually scared I mean today you know you can make light of it the analogy that came to mind is like growing up and you're in your 40s and then you find out your dad a Superman something like that you know and you all of a sudden you have to like rethink your whole childhood experiences like he was away on a business trip for something like really no actually was fighting you know the powers of evil or something so but so all of a sudden you have you realize who this person is and then you have to rethink every moment you've spent with them and see it in light of this and that's exactly what's happening right now they're disturbed right slightly terrified even and so they asked the question who is this Matthew doesn't answer it for us instead he tells us the next story verse 28 so when he arrived at the other side of the lake in the region of the gadarenes two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him they were so violent that nobody could pass by that way they shouted what do you want with us son of God have you come here to torture us before the appointed time let's so let's pause for quick here do you see what Matthew's done instead of answering the question what kind of human is this he tells you the next story right the recollection of what happened next which is they reach the other side these two crazy people come storming out of a graveyard that must be near the coast in some way it's totally isolated because these guys are they've lost it they're terrorized by evil and then they shout right we find out that that actually it's the voice of the spiritual evil that's terrorizing these men it speaks to Jesus and who is Jesus what do they call him I'm gonna cut right so who is what kind of man is this Jesus is the closest followers still don't grasp booyah but who does know who Jesus is very very interest very profound right and they not only know who Jesus is they know that what know they know what time it is and they know what Jesus is here for he's come to destroy evil means to destroy them and that their time is short because Jesus is here announcing the kingdom of God okay so let's pause real quick here and I want to address some things that probably hang up for some of us and then we'll come back and we'll finish finish the story this is the first story we it's been mentioned twice in Matthew so far that Jesus cast out demons or cast out evil spirits from people but this is the first story of like that gets into the details of one of those experiences the first time Jesus performs an exorcism or casts out demons and so here's what's happening in the room right now I know this is what's happening in the room is that there's a half of us who you see the world in a way very similar to the story and you're like yeah Jesus did that this is because it's real and then there's another half of the room who's like this is weird and this is a part of Christianity that I've always had a difficult time with right and maybe these are the mr. drew people and you're not Christians at all and you're like to see primitive silly superstitious or whatever so let's go with that let's go with that for at least just a couple minutes because it's important to think it through so I mean an American culture is has a contradiction within it culturally right because there's the very secular reality is only molecules and atoms and cells and so on and so if it can't be detected the five senses or microscopes or math it's not real the very predominant view in our culture but then there's the opposite which is the spiritual but not religious category huge huge number of people in our culture and for them the idea of negative or evil spiritual energy or positive spiritual energy and that we interact with spiritual beings or spiritual energy all the time there's a lot especially in Portland right Boyle is actually an interesting Nick both of those in interesting ways and so and so the Bible doesn't actually talk and either of those languages the Bible is trying to tell us something I think more profound and just about evil should stick with evil so the by within the worldview of the Bible evil is is more than just stupid horrible things that humans do to each other in the Bible there is something mysterious that's at work in and through the stupid horrible things that we do to each other and behind them something that's transcendent and that's real the evil has some reality that is personal and that that work stirring up all kinds of horrible death and destruction of relationships in the Bible evil is is about whatever whatever beings are anti life anti humans made in God's image to reflect God's glorious image anti relationships and and these beings the spiritual reality is at work to distort our thinking to distort culture and to destroy human being and help the human relationships that's what these beings do and they're not detectable to the five senses it's a claim that the Bible makes about evil and you just need to sit with it right to sit with it but ask yourself this question and because I think the Bible is actually putting its thumb on an experience that we all have with evil the Bible's claim is that evil is actually not natural to humans that it's secondary to us that evil is a parasite on what is meant to be good and humans are created in God's good image but it's just all gone horribly wrong right by our own choices but not only by our own choices the Bible claims that there's another reality influencing us let's just think think about this think about a moment where you add a decision in front of an idea comes into your mind to say something to another person you know it's lame you know it's going to hurt them and you know you know it's wrong but you do it and then ten seconds a week a month later you look back on your own choice and behavior and you're like what was I thinking what was wrong with it I was so horrible you guys know what I'm talking about here nobody knows what I'm talking about you liar describe your liars we all know this right you know I had the idea comes into your mind no no no well actually yes yeah actually yes yeah and then you do it and then Amir's like oh my gosh no what's wrong with me there you go there you go it's you but it's not you there's something more at work and you can call people modern secular you call it superstition but the vast majority of humans throughout the vast majority of human history look at our experience of evil and say there's something more than just humans being stupid and chemicals interacting in our brain there's a reality of evil that's greater and is real even though it's not detected by math and microscope and so and so in the biblical there are circumstances and there's two across all cultures where an individual gets hijacked by evil so to speak a person becomes so irrational so self-destructive and destructive to others so consumed with a presence of evil and this is not just in the Bible this is a widespread phenomenon it's not common but it happens and in modern terms we might say well you know you can connect it to mental illness and chemical imbalances in the brain and there's actually quite probably a lot of those experiences or examples that fit into that category but there are also other examples where the doctors and psychiatrists are just like i/o and people were behaving just like this and we're the only thing that is effective in helping these people our prayers offered in the name of Jesus like you just got a that has to fit in your view of the world somewhere because it's that actually those things happen and I personally was skeptical about this this is one of those areas is a new creation around like I don't know what I think about this to be honest with you and so I had an experience with spiritual evil with someone behaving precisely this way the doctors and psychiatrists know and the only thing that healed this person in front of my eyes was prayers offered in the name of Jesus I can't prove it to you I can just tell you that there's more going on here than just primitive superstition this is actually a very profound view of the human experience in the people and in the Bible it's taken for granted in the Bible Jesus is here to confront evil and so just like when you lift up a rock and all the potato bugs you know like well I go like this when Jesus shows up it's like this heightened conflict with evil and all of a sudden the stuff is coming out of people that probably wouldn't come up if I were to show up in a room that Jesus shows up in a room and all right stuff happens and so here's how the here's how it goes and this whole story is marked by bizarre absurdity weirdness because that's what evil is it's horrible it's bizarre and it's absurd some distance from them with a large herd of pigs feeding I'm not trying to say any of this as normal this isn't straight the Dayman the demons begged Jesus if you drive us out send us into the herd of pigs so that these spiritual evil beings don't want to be without a host of some kind Jesus respect that offer right he said to them this is the only word Jesus says in the whole story go so they came out I went into the pigs then the whole herd rushed down into the steep bank into the lake and then drowned in the water it's just very strange and it's actually a very it's a violent disturbing image hundreds of pigs gasping a gurgling and drowning in the waters horrifying right not one one to clear up one thing did Jesus kill the pigs actually a miss reading of the stories that I've found is really coming here is Jesus responsible for the pigs dying with pig dying part of Jesus is deal with them so it was just go to the pig able to save these two humans here who destroys the pig these evil spiritual beings do and they die in the most horrifying way which is tip it's absurd and horrifying that's evil since it's in our world that's what evil does it's human life and God's good world being destroyed in the most tragic absurd ways those tending the pigs ran away you would - and they went into the town and it reported all of this including what happened to the two demon-possessed men then the whole town went out to meet Jesus thank you for delivering these men thank you for returning stability to our community thank you for now when they saw him they pleaded with him to leave and he doesn't ever go back and that's how the story end how you guys did by it's very strange the neither of these stories ties up nicely so that's the job I have in the next three minutes right but what are these stories about we know that Jesus is awesome we know that he's merciful that he's kind that he's wise brilliant right that's what the story so far have been developing for us now here's two experiences that the disciples have of Jesus and it just this is a new category shattering side of Jesus that they didn't have room for they could call him a prophet they could call him a teacher they could even call him the Messiah but now there's this Jesus as the human embodiment of the one true creator God who has the power to still the Seas right that's the story is making a claim about who Jesus is I don't know all of you super close I don't know what view you have of Jesus but that is the claim that the story is putting in front that might you might already believe that about Jesus you might not you might be still sorting through what you think about Jesus but at least you understand that's what the story is claiming that he's not just a teacher showing us away he's not just a powerful person he actually is claiming this is claiming to be the embodiment of the one true God come among us he is the way and he hasn't just you doesn't just have power he is power as the good wise author and creator of all that exists and and what if Jesus here could do he's here to confront evil and not just evil and like the corrupt Roman Empire who's being oppressive to his people he's here to meet and confront evil in what he believes is its source its spiritual source that is twisted and distorted human thinking on an individual level and on a corporate societal level and he's here and and that confrontation with evil makes people uncomfortable right it creates awkward situations where Jesus disturbs the status quo and Jesus confronts and challenges things that will make people uncomfortable and it might actually be so uncomfortable that people want nothing to do with Jesus once they begin to grasp the claims being made about him are you with me here I think that's where these stories are saying they're not meant to make us feel comfortable they're meant to show us that there's actually there's something terrifying about Jesus of who if you really wrap your mind around if this claim is true and what Jesus is here to do is terrifying and it would remain terrifying if you didn't have all of the other stories to tell you the character and the heart and the purpose of Jesus he's here to confront evil and he's here to confront evil out there he's also here to confront the evil that resides in all of us and that stains our own heart and that confrontation with evil is going to be messy it's going to make lots of people uncomfortable it will cause people to humbly bow before him in gratefulness for his love and His mercy and it will also cause other people to be like leaves and never come back and that's what Jesus evokes in people and we have to deal with that we have to deal with it and what this is the first story really of Jesus confronting evil and bringing his justice to bear on it and it points forward there's going to be a lot more tension and conflict going on in the story as we've moved forward into chapters 9 and 10 and so on and where is all this going where it's going is where Jesus fully and finally confronts evil right of source and for Jesus how does Jesus conquer evil in the story you can go finish the Gospel of Matthew you can probably read it you know in the next couple hours if you wanted to you can see how the story ends and it ends with Jesus's conflict Jesus wins over evil by loosing he actually he beats and conquers evil by letting it beat and conquer him right Jesus actually allows the the surging waves of spiritual evil and human evil to completely engulf him and take his life it's like he's allowing himself to be submerged under this whole human tragic mess but that we're in and it just didn't gulfs him and that is and that informs Jesus's teachings about how you become one of his followers if you actually win by losing and you gained your life by losing your lives because that's kind of that's the kind of victory that Jesus is here to bring and that's what Good Friday is about that we'll celebrate in a few weeks and then in three weeks from now Resurrection Sunday is where it all comes together where because Jesus is the embodiment of the author of all creation and he is he is dead set on redeeming and healing and rescuing his world because of his great love for his good world and people made in His image he will not allow evil to get the last word in his world and so his resurrection from the dead is Jesus's victory and conquering of evil and death and he offers his life to those of us who will wake up to him and wake up to who he is which is both the best news and the most disturbing news that we can respond to that's the best I can do for tying this up you guys and and so this is just the right moment for us to come to to reckon with who Jesus is and to meet we believe that he's here by the presence of his spirit we believe that that we're here to meet with him together as we take the bread in the cup to retell the story of his broken body and his shed blood that was for us and so here's I just encourage what I encourage you to do I know that there are a lot of us in the room right now whose lives feel like this the storms of evil or the storms of hardship and tragedy are sinking your boat and so this is a moment for you to meet Jesus and to call out to him there might be some of us here who we feel out just out totally hopeless with with the state of our own hearts how messed up we are inside of the state of people that we love and care about deeply and so I did let's just come to Jesus and recognize who he is and recognize that he's good and he's powerful and they've here to confront evil with his love and with his power amen amen let me close us in a word of Prayer you

Channel: Tim Mackie Archives

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Length: 52min 4sec (3124 seconds)

Published: Sat Aug 19 2017