Sunday, 30 March 2025
And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus. And when they saw Him, they begged Him to depart from their region. Matthew 8:34
Note: You can listen to today’s commentary courtesy of our friends at “Bible in Ten” podcast. (Click Here to listen).
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“And, you behold! All the city, it went out to the Jesus meeting. And having seen Him, they begged that He might depart from their borders” (CG).
In the previous verse, Matthew noted that those who had kept the pigs went into the city and conveyed all the details of what happened to the demon-possessed men. He next continues with, “And, you behold! All the city.”
Like every car slowing down on the highway to see an accident, people are attracted to interesting events that enter into the normal daily activities of life. With news of what had happened, the people gathered together to participate in the matter which had been told to them.
Saying “all the city,” however, is a superlative that means “a great portion of the city.” As seen elsewhere, not every “every” means every and not all “alls” mean all. Despite that, the majority of the people would have been curious about the events and willing to take time off from whatever they were doing to check things out. And so, the population of the city, “it went out to the Jesus meeting.”
Almost all translations make this a verb, such as, “they went out to meet Jesus.” However, it is a new noun, hupantésis. It signifies an encounter or a meeting. They had been told what He had done and they formed together intent on a meeting with Him. Next, it says, “And having seen Him, they begged that He might depart from their borders.”
Matthew’s account doesn’t fill in the details like Mark and Luke do. Mark 5 says –
“Then they came to Jesus, and saw the one who had been demon-possessed and had the legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 16 And those who saw it told them how it happened to him who had been demon-possessed, and about the swine. 17 Then they began to plead with Him to depart from their region.” Mark 5:15-17
The comments of scholars concerning why they asked Jesus to depart are all over the place –
“It was characteristic of the wild, half-heathen population that they were led to look on the Prophet who had wrought so great a work as a Destroyer rather than a Saviour.” Ellicott
“The motive for the request was fear lest a greater disaster should follow.” Meyer
“These Gerasenes, vexed at the loss of wealth, felt, like the demoniacs, that there was nothing in common between themselves and Jesus, but, unlike them, showed no consciousness of sin. Without this he could do nothing for them, so he granted their request.” Pulpit Commentary
Albert Barnes says –
This shows:
- That the design of Satan is to prejudice people against the Saviour, and even to make what Christ does an occasion why they should desire him to leave them.
- The power of avarice. These people preferred their property to the Saviour. They loved it so much that they were blind to the evidence of the miracle, and to the good he had done to the miserable people whom he had healed.
Meyer is the only one who is close. Mark and Luke both say they were afraid. All the other commentary is nonsense. If the demon-possessed men were so powerful that they could scare people so badly that they wouldn’t even pass by that way, and if Jesus was able to cast out the demons that made the men so powerful, then Jesus obviously possessed power that was greater than the demons.
Further, by casting them into the pigs, it demonstrated that He had control over the demons to cause this to occur. He not only could cast out demons, but He could direct them once cast out. If He could do these things, what more could He do? This caused them to fear. Without further information to go on, everything else is speculation and presupposition.
Life application: Luke 5 says –
“But Simon answered and said to Him, ‘Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.’ 6 And when they had done this, they caught a great number of fish, and their net was breaking. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, ‘Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord!’” Luke 5:5-8
When Peter saw the miracle of Jesus, He asked Him to depart. His explanation was that he was a sinful man. Peter understood the position and power of Jesus and he measured his sin against what he saw and it affected him.
The people in the city saw the capability and power of Jesus, and it affected them. When we read the Bible, we should see the glory, power, authority, and capability of God and it should affect us. If we are left unaffected by the law when we read the law, we are not grasping the magnitude of our sin before God.
When we read about the cross of Jesus, we should understand our precarious state before God without a suitable Substitute to cover our sins. We should appreciate the grace that is displayed in what occurred there. We should feel the love of God for us as we contemplate the length He went to in order to restore us to Himself.
The Bible is a book that asks us to interact with the events in our hearts and minds, considering the majesty of what God has done for the people of the world.
Heavenly Father, how can we not be moved when we read the pages of the Bible. Each book is set forth to instruct us concerning our relationship with You. Help us to consider this as we enter into its pages each day. Amen.