An Irresistible Encounter with Christ

The framing of the encounter between Jesus and two demon-possessed men in Matthew 8 is curious. Grammatically, the main verb, translated as “met” but likely with the connotation “opposed,” stands in the middle of the sentence between Jesus’ arrival and the description of the two men. That is to say, even the structure of the sentence seems to set these two parties in opposition. What’s more, Matthew describes this confrontation as one initiated by the demon-possessed men. While we might think that these men, possessed by unclean spirits, would flee at the sight of Jesus, given what the spirits say about Jesus in Matt 8:29, instead they seem to be magnetically drawn to Jesus. Leading up to Jesus’ very brief conflict with these demons, Matthew’s narrative points us in the direction of unavoidable conflict or an irresistible encounter. It is as though the very presence of Jesus poses such an existential threat to these demons that they cannot resist opposing him openly. So, J.H. Bavinck says, “They are afraid of Jesus and yet they approach him. They shudder at him and they seek him.”[1] Like ripping off a Band-Aid, you may not like it, but it has to happen at some point.

Now, in his commentary on Matthew, Bavinck ascribes this simultaneous search for and flight from Jesus to the two powers at work in the demon-possessed men: “the demonic power flees from Jesus, and their own souls seek Him and beg for deliverance.”[2] Elsewhere, Bavinck notes the more general point that each individual, on account of indwelling sin, consists of a conflict of motivations, of loves toward self, neighbor, and God. To the extent that these are balanced appropriately, the soul is at rest. When these loves are imbalanced, the soul is fractured and cannot be at rest.[3] But, especially in the case of the love for God, because it is not completely escapable, it gives rise to a tension within each person when one encounters the revelation of God. That is to say, even apart from the demonic possession described in Matthew 8, there is a constant, often unconscious, tension, a fearful approach and a shuddering search, in every person, because every person constantly encounters the revelation of God (cf. Rom 1:18-23).

And yet, consistent with the overall picture of Matt 8:28-34, while the encounter with God’s revelation is irresistible and inevitable, the consequence is not uniform. Faced with the power of God in Christ, the townsfolk of the region of Gadara flee from the consequences for their own lives by asking Jesus to leave. Bavinck describes such a response in a helpful way. Though humanity has the capacity to know and love God, to receive and to accept the revelation of God, sin exerts a strong magnetic pull away from the truth. This means that “man can still receive deep impressions of God’s power, but he can no longer grasp the relationship of creation that binds him to God. … from the impression that comes to him of divinity, there never crystalizes a proper image of God’s divinity or of the relationship in which he stands to God. That is why the underlying inclination of his heart to hold God at a distance, to flee from Him or master [Him] is always illegible from the image of God that he forms for himself.”[4] All kinds of impediments may be raised against the truth that is revealed as the one who encounters the revelation of God, even in Christ, simultaneously flees from it and attempts to grapple with it. In fact, apart from the grace of God, such an encounter will be (mis)interpreted within the totalitarian nature of one’s worldview, assimilated into preconceived thoughts and opinions.[5]

There is, then, in every person, though illustrated most overtly in these two demon-possessed men, two factors at work in the revelation of God: “The powerful activity of God [to reveal his greatness] and the hidden, continual impulse to “suppress,” which is inherent in [fallen] human nature.”[6] What Matt 8:28-34 points us to in particular, and Bavinck discusses more generally, is the need for an absolutely decisive encounter, which happens in redemptive history at the cross and in our own personal histories when the Holy Spirit regenerates our hearts. May we, then, recognize the powerful magnetic field of sin, but also give thanks for the even greater power of God’s saving love, which we encounter in Christ by the Holy Spirit.

[1] J. H. Bavinck, Geschiedenis der Godsopenbaring: Handboek voor de Kennis van de Bijbelsche Geschiedenis (J. H. Kok, 1938), 2:219.

[2] Bavinck, Geschiedenis, 2:219.

[3] J. H. Bavinck, Personality and Worldview, trans. James Eglinton (Crossway, 2023), 54; cf. J. H. Bavinck, Inleiding in de Zielkunde, ed. A Kuypers, 2nd ed. (J. H. Kok, 1935), 26–27.

[4] J. H. Bavinck, “Het Probleem van de Pseudo-Religie En de Algemeene Openbaring,” Publicaties van de Reunisten-Organisatie van de N.D.D.D. 12 (1940): 16.

[5] Bavinck, “Het Probleem,” 17–18.

[6] Bavinck, “Het Probleem,” 18.