Matthew 8:16

Wednesday, 12 March 2025   When evening had come, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed. And He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were sick, Matthew 8:16   “And having become evening, they presented to Him many demon-possessings, and He ejected the spirits – a word. And all those being sickly, He healed” (CG).   In the previous verse, Jesus touched the hand of Peter’s mother and her fever left her. From there, she arose and served them. Now, the ongoing narrative of events continues with, “And having become evening.”   The word opsios, evening, is introduced here. It signifies late, afternoon, or nightfall, meaning evening. The context will provide an understanding of the proper meaning.   In this case, the reason for these words isn’t stated here in Matthew, but it becomes clear in Mark’s parallel account. In Mark 1:21, it notes that it was the Sabbath. In Mark 1:29-31, Jesus healed Peter’s mother. Only then in Mark 1:32 does it say, “At evening, when the sun had set, they brought to Him all who were sick and those who were demon-possessed.”   The same is true in Luke’s gospel where the sequence of events is confirmed to be on the Sabbath. In his narrative, the account now begins with, “When the sun was setting.” The reason for this is that the new day in Israel begins at evening. Once the sun is setting, the new day begins. So, to avoid any hint of breaking the Sabbath, the people brought their sick to Him only at this time. As it next says, “they presented to Him many demon-possessings.”   It is the same word found in Matthew 4:24, daimonizomai. It is a present participle, thus, “demon-possessings.” These people were brought forward, “and He ejected the spirits – a word.”   As with the healing of the servant, Jesus merely spoke a word, and the demons were ejected. There is no hint of argumentation from the demons, and no difficulty with the process where Jesus had to hold some type of ritual or cast holy water on the people. The thought is similar to that of Acts 16 –   “Now it happened, as we went to prayer, that a certain slave girl possessed with a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much profit by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and us, and cried out, saying, ‘These men are the servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us the way of salvation.’ 18 And this she did for many days. But Paul, greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, ‘I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.’ And he came out that very hour.” Acts 16:16-18   One can see how ridiculous the supposed casting out of demons has become in the Roman Catholic Church and elsewhere as people go through long shows, carrying on with rites, rituals, and formulas to supposedly cast out demons. Today, all that is needed for a person to be rid of demons is for them to accept the gospel. When Jesus moves in, all demons must move out.   Next, the narrative says, “And all those being sickly, He healed.” Jesus had a long day of teaching in the synagogue as indicated in the other gospels, and yet, He accommodated those who came by, filling the evening with their needs and desires to be met.   Life application: The reason why it says above that when Jesus moves in, all demons must move out, is because there is nothing in the New Testament epistles to explain demon-possessings nor how to cure them. The narratives in the gospels and Acts are not prescriptive for our time. They simply describe what occurred and are recorded for our understanding concerning Jesus’ work and authority, and concerning the establishment of the church under the authority of Christ.   As there is nothing directive in nature concerning demon-possessings, it tells us that we do not need to worry about them. If we did, it would mean –   That we have a spiritual event in the church that has no response to and, thus, We have a void in our dealing with matters that otherwise would affect the church and the salvation of those who interact with the church.   As this is so, and as God has done everything necessary to bring man to a state of salvation through the completed work of Christ, we can know that receiving Christ is sufficient to overcome any demon. This doesn’t mean that Satan or the demons cannot still afflict believers. The epistles indicate otherwise, but the power of God unto salvation has been realized in any person who has come to Him through Jesus. These are truths that are evident and certain as detailed in verses of the New Testament epistles. Therefore, all of the hoopla that people display concerning demon-possessings is unnecessary, untrue. It is a distraction from giving a person the gospel and allowing him to choose Jesus and receive the path to salvation.   Lord God, help us to always be about the business of sharing Your word. May we make it a point to be bold in our witness for the gospel. If all we can do in our interactions is leave a tract, may we do so, knowing that it may have an eternity-changing effect in the life of another. Give us the heart and desire to do these things, O God. Amen.