Current news headlines suggest that we have a lot to be afraid of. A spreading virus, a falling economy, government overreach, climate change, creeping totalitarianism, the disintegration of the family, attacks on freedom of speech, and accusations of hate speech. It’s like we’re in a house of mirrors that, instead of seeing our own reflection everywhere we turn, we see the reflection of something that could kill us, hurt us, or take something from us. We’re surrounded!

Yet, at the same time, fearful Christians are bad advertisement for the God of all comfort and peace. In other words, Christ-followers should respond differently than others to all the fearful happenings around us. But how? Matthew’s helps us answer that question and encourages us in taking small steps away from fear and toward faith.

Manuscript

Current news headlines suggest that we have a lot to be afraid of. A spreading virus, a falling economy, government overreach, climate change, creeping totalitarianism, the disintegration of the family, attacks on freedom of speech, and accusations of hate speech.

It’s like we’re in a house of mirrors that, instead of seeing our own reflection everywhere we turn, we see the reflection of something that could kill us, hurt us, or take something from us. We’re surrounded. Anyone else feel that? It’s suffocating, exhausting, and joy-stealing.

It’s been said that fearful Christians are bad advertisement for the God of all comfort and peace. In other words, Christ-followers should respond differently than others to all the fearful happenings around us, not because we’re immune, but because we’re in Christ. But how?

Matthew’s going to help us answer that question and take small steps away from fear and toward faith. As I mentioned a number of weeks ago, Matthew 8 and 9 have a very distinct structure—three miracles, a lesson on discipleship, three miracles, a lesson on discipleship, three miracles. As a whole, Matthew uses these two chapters to demonstrate the authority Jesus has to make the claims he’s been making and give what he’s been offering: The kingdom.

Our text this morning, Matthew 8:23–9:8, lands us in the second set of three miracles and as we study we’re going to see, first, evidence of the fallenness of our world; second, the fear that fallenness can produce, and, finally, the fix for the fear we encounter. The fallenness, the fear, and the fix. This text contains three demonstrations of supernatural authority in three different settings before three different groups. However, there are common threads that run through the whole.

The Fallenness

The first thread we’re going to pull on is with the fallenness in this passage. The effects of sin in this world to which Jesus responds. 

In the first scene Jesus demonstrates his authority over fallen creation. Jesus and his disciples encounter a storm so severe that even the disciples who were formerly fishermen panic. They had no-doubt spent long hours on the sea and endured many storms but, even they are terrified. Why?

I think we get a clue in verse 26 when we’re told Jesus “got up and rebuked the winds and the sea.” To rebuke is to express strong disapproval and, in the Bible, it’s always used to call out a perceived evil. Jesus rebukes demons, illnesses, his disciples, and here, the Lord is rebuking a creation that, in its fallenness, rages and thrashes about.

Paul writes in Romans 8 that “the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth ….” Creation itself is fallen, corrupted under the curse of sin and, in Matthew 8, we see it at work.

In the second scene we find Jesus confronting fallen angels.

When He came to the other side into the country of the Gadarenes, two men who were demon-possessed met Him as they were coming out of the tombs. They were so extremely violent that no one could pass by that way.

Matthew 8:28

After the storm, the group arrives in a new area and the welcoming party is a pair of demon-possessed men who live among the tombs and enact extreme violence upon all who come near.

In the third scene Jesus interacts with fallen humanity.

Getting into a boat, Jesus crossed over the sea and came to His own city. And they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed.

Matthew 9:1–2a

We’re immediately confronted by the physical effects of the fall in this man’s paralysis but the fallenness goes much deeper than that. 

Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralytic, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven.”

Matthew 9:2b

The fallenness of humanity reaches through our skin, muscles, and bone and into our hearts. To sin is to fall short of the standard of holiness that God demands for fellowship with himself, a holy God. And, as Romans makes clear, none are exempt and, because of that, all are separated from God and needing forgiveness. The physical evidences of humanity’s fallenness are symptoms of the spiritual reality.

We see the thread of fallenness weaving its way through our passage: Fallen creation, fallen angels, and fallen humanity. It’s all touched, marred, and broken by sin. It’s all less than what it was created to be because of the cancerous presence of sin.

Sometimes I’m not sure we appreciate just how extensive and totally pervasive the effects of sin are in our world. Creation groans under its weight. Demonic powers actively strategize and scheme against the Good Creator and his people. Humanity, as individuals and as a whole, are destitute, broken, condemned, and in bondage. 

The Fear

Like the people living in the first century, you and I are living in a fallen world full of fallen people. And what does fallenness typically and often produce? Fear. And that’s the second thread running through our passage we’re going to pull on now: The fear fallenness produces.

It’s hard not to notice the contrast between Jesus and the disciples when the storm hits. Jesus sleeps while his followers panic. Once awake, Jesus asks them explicitly, “Why are you afraid?” They were scared for their lives!

Fear can cause us to do and say silly things and I think we see that with the disciples. “Save us, Lord; we are perishing!” (8:25b).

Overwhelmed by fear and forgetting they had a God-given mission to accomplish, forgetting the power of their Rabbi, and ignoring how calm he seemed to be, the disciples accuse Jesus of being indifferent. “Jesus, don’t you care that we’re dying here?” It’s an accusation of indifference.

Have you ever felt that way? Because of a health struggle that won’t relent, a marriage that won’t mend, a heartbreak that won’t heal, you’re tempted to, out of fear, wonder if God simply doesn’t care. Sure, he may have saved you, but now he seems indifferent. You want to scream (and maybe you literally have!): “Save me, Lord! I’m perishing! I’m hurting! Don’t you care?”

The disciples, confronted with fallen creation, are afraid and they accuse Jesus of indifference. 

The second scene of our passage has fear all over it. You’ll remember that the demoniacs were so violent that nobody dared go near them. Interestingly, as we keep reading, the demons are actually scared as well, not of their fallenness, but of Jesus. 

And they cried out, saying, “What business do we have with each other, Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?”

Matthew 8:29

While Israel isn’t sure about Jesus yet, the demons are. They know exactly who he is and exactly the authority he has. 

While everyone’s scared of them, they’re scared of Jesus because they know there’s a time coming when they will be judged by him. They just don’t think that time is now. Like the fearful disciples accusing Jesus of being indifferent, these fearful demons accuse him of being inappropriate: “You’ve come too soon. It can’t be that time yet!” 

In the same way, when we’re afraid, we can sometimes accuse the Lord of being inappropriate, tempted to question or criticize his timing. God, how could you let this happen now? If you have the power and authority to deal with fallenness in this world, what are you waiting for? Today is the appropriate time, God! Today!

I wonder if we realize that when we question God on his divine timing, we’re in the company of demons?

Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. The demons began to entreat Him, saying, “If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” And He said to them, “Go!” And they came out and went into the swine, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the waters.

Matthew 8:30–32

Honestly, there’s much I don’t get here but what’s clear is that the demons know Jesus, as Messiah, has the authority to send them out of the men and so, they seek another host. When given permission we’re shown the catastrophic effect of demonization. The pigs go crazy and kill themselves.

Then, as the scene closes, we find even more fear.

The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.

Matthew 8:33–34

Fear, fear, fear, fear. In a fallen world, fear is always lurking.

Looking briefly at the third scene we find it again albeit more subtlety. Jesus is brought this paralytic and notice the first words he says to the man in 9:2b: “Take courage, son.” In other words, don’t fear. Don’t fear the fallenness that has riddled your body and don’t fear the fallenness that has separated you from God. Take courage. Don’t fear.

As in the other two cases, we have a fear-fuelled accusation levelled at Jesus, this time that of irreligiousness.

And some of the scribes said to themselves, “This fellow blasphemes.”

Matthew 9:3

These experts in the law knew exactly what Jesus’s claim meant. Only God forgives sins and dispels the fear of fallenness. So, if Jesus is claiming to have that authority, to heal fallen humanity, then he’s claiming to be God. That’s irreligious. That’s blasphemy! 

The Fix

Do you see the pattern? Fallenness can lead to fear and fear can lead us to accuse God of some terrible things. So, how do we move away from fear even in the midst of a fallen world? Well, let’s look at the fix that this passage provides.

And the fix for fear really comes down to rightly answering three questions.

First, who is Jesus? In the first scene, the disciples are afraid because they don’t quite know who Jesus is. In fact, they ask one another (8:27). In scene two, the demons announce who Jesus is—“Son of God”—but the people don’t get that and, instead, “they implored him to leave their region.” In the third scene, Jesus himself announces his identity (9:6). He’s the Messiah. The deliverer. The Son of God. 

If you want to deal with fear in your life, the first step is to understand who Jesus is, that’s he’s God Incarnate, come to save his people from their sins and from the fallenness of this world.

The second question is, what authority does Jesus have? In our passage today he rebuked the weather, sent demons away with a single word, and proved his authority over not just the physical symptoms of sin in humanity, but over what truly ails us—our spiritual separate from God. What authority does Jesus have? All authority.

The third question is, what promise has Jesus made? Remember, Jesus has come on the scene offering the promised kingdom to Israel. A number of weeks ago we studied the first set of three miracles and saw that, in addition to authenticating his claims, Jesus was also pulling back the curtain and giving Israel them a glimpse of the kingdom he was offering, one in which there will be no illness, no health problems, and physical ailments.

In our text today he’s doing the same thing. In addition to showing who he is and what authority he has, he’s also giving a preview of the promised kingdom. When the kingdom comes, creation will no longer groan under the weight of sin (see Joel 3:18). No more natural disasters, floods, famine, hard labour. Why? Because the King has authority over fallen creation.

When the kingdom comes, demons will be dealt with (Daniel 7:25–27). Demonic forces will be no more. Why? Because the King has authority over fallen angels.

When the kingdom comes, humanity will no longer struggle with sin (see Isaiah 33:24). The effects of sin in our lives, physical, yes, but also spiritual, will be removed forever. Why? Because the King has authority over fallen humanity.

So, what’s the fix for fear in this fallen world? It’s knowing who Jesus is, the authority he has, and the promise he’s made. The fix is, simply, faith (8:26; 9:2).

While we live in a sin-stained world, as Christians, those who are in Christ, we are invited to fear not but have faith! Don’t fear the fallenness of this world, but have faith in Christ, in his person, his power, and his promise. When we know who Jesus is, what he can do, and what he’s said he will do, fear loses its grip.

Think of one thing in particular that you fear right now more than anything else. COVID? Death? Loneliness? Helplessness? Purposelessness? Bankruptcy? Think of one fear.

What facet of fallenness does it represent?Is it a manifestation of a fallen creation? Fallen spiritual realm? Fallen humanity? 

How has God promised to eradicate that sin-caused issue in the future? 

Remember, Jesus is the Deliverer, with unending authority, and he’s promised that all that fallenness will be done away with.

This week, when you feel fear starting to creep in, don’t question God. Instead, have faith in what is to come, that Jesus has the authority to deal with what scares you, and he’s promised to do just that. The fix is in! Fear not the fallenness of this world. Have faith in Christ, he who has conquered all and will make all things right.