What is the meaning of Matthew 8:29? What do You want with us, Son of God? • The demons immediately recognize Jesus’ divine identity. Earlier encounters show the same confession: “I know who You are—the Holy One of God!” (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34). • Even hostile spirits cannot deny His sonship. When the disciples later worship Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God” (Matthew 14:33), they echo what the demons already knew. • Their question means, “Why are You interfering with us?”—an admission that Christ’s presence threatens their hold on the region (compare Mark 5:10, where they beg not to be sent away). • James 2:19 reminds us, “Even the demons believe—and shudder!” Their belief is factual yet devoid of repentance, underscoring that mere acknowledgment of truth is not saving faith. they shouted. • The verb pictures a loud, panicked shriek. Unclean spirits never meet Jesus calmly; His holy authority provokes terror (Mark 3:11: “Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they fell down before Him and cried out”). • Their volume reveals desperation. Darkness must yield instantly to light (John 1:5), so the demons know resistance is futile. • This intense reaction previews the final scene where “every knee will bow” (Philippians 2:10). Even rebels must publicly concede Jesus’ supremacy. Have You come here to torture us before the appointed time? • “Appointed time” points to a fixed moment of judgment. Matthew 25:41 speaks of “the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels,” while Revelation 20:10 pictures their ultimate torment. • The demons admit God alone sets that timetable. Until then they roam, yet only within limits God permits (Job 1:12; Luke 8:31, where they beg Jesus not to send them into the abyss). • Their fear of “torture” (or torment) shows they already know the verdict. Second Peter 2:4 says God holds fallen angels “in gloomy dungeons,” and Jude 6 describes them as “kept in eternal chains.” • Jesus’ presence thus previews the final day when He will exercise full judgment authority (John 5:22). His casting the spirits into pigs moments later (Matthew 8:32) is a foretaste of that decisive defeat. summary Matthew 8:29 reveals that even demons: • Acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God. • Tremble at His immediate, sovereign authority. • Understand a fixed future judgment they cannot escape. The verse therefore magnifies Christ’s deity and power, assures believers of His ultimate victory over evil, and calls us to trust the One whom every spiritual force must obey. |
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