When Evil Trembles
July 2, 2025 - Wednesday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Matthew 8:28-34
The country of the Gadarenes lies in Gentile territory. After calming the storm, Jesus now confronts a more terrifying storm—one inside the human soul. Two possessed men rush out from the tombs, but it’s not really their voices we hear. The demons speak through them: “What do you want with us, Son of God? Have you come here before the appointed time to torment us?” (Matt 8:29).
Strikingly, the demons know who Jesus is. Unlike the disciples, who had just asked, “What kind of man is this?” (Matt 8:27), the demons recognize Him as the Son of God. Their language—“What to us and to Thee?”—is an ancient idiom of protest, as if to say: “Leave us alone!” But it matters who is being bothered. When the Son of God speaks, even evil must listen.
They accuse Jesus of arriving too early, before the final judgment. But their complaint rings hollow. The hour of judgment is not theirs to determine—it belongs to the Father alone (Matt 24:36). Besides, they know deep down that “their time is short” (Rev 12:12). The Judge is already standing before them.
Then comes the incident with the pigs—strange, unsettling, and yet deeply symbolic. The demons beg Jesus to send them into a herd of swine, which rush into the sea and drown. The scene calls to mind another drowning: Pharaoh’s army swallowed by the waters of the Red Sea (Ex 14:28). Once again, we see the pattern—Christ, like Moses, delivers His people and destroys the forces of oppression. What was said then holds true now: “The Egyptians you see today, you will never see again” (Ex 14:13). And what is true of Egypt will one day be true of all evil (Rev 20:10,14).
But what happens next is perhaps the most surprising part. The townspeople, upon hearing what happened, beg Jesus to leave. Were they angry about losing their pigs? Afraid of His power? Or simply overwhelmed by a holiness they couldn’t comprehend? Whatever the reason, they send away the One who had brought freedom.
Yet there may be a deeper reason behind their reaction. The time for the Gentiles had not yet come. As Jesus later says, His mission was first “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt 15:24). The full mission to the nations will begin only after Easter. The Risen Christ will send His apostles out to every land—beginning with Galilee, but ending at the ends of the earth.
Sometimes, like the townspeople, we resist the One who comes to set us free. But Christ is not put off by fear or rejection. He comes again—at the right time—with authority, with power, and with mercy.