Matthew 8: ²³ And when (Jesus) got into the boat, his disciples followed him. ²⁴ A windstorm arose on the sea, so great that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. ²⁵ And they went and woke him up, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!” ²⁶ And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, you of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a dead calm. ²⁷ They were amazed, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” 

²⁸ When he came to the other side, to the country of the Gadarenes, two demoniacs coming out of the tombs met him. They were so fierce that no one could pass that way. ²⁹ Suddenly they shouted, “What have you to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?” ³⁰ Now a large herd of swine was feeding at some distance from them. ³¹ The demons begged him, “If you cast us out, send us into the herd of swine.” ³² And he said to them, “Go!” So they came out and entered the swine; and suddenly, the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water.

We have two stories here: Jesus stills a storm and then Jesus casts out demons into a herd of pigs. What’s interesting to me today is the difference in discernment between Jesus’ disciples and the demons. You’ll note Jesus “rebuked the winds and the sea” resulting in “dead calm”. How did the disciples respond? “What sort of man is this?”

Compare this to the demons in the second story. Jesus doesn’t have to perform any miracles for the demons to recognize who Jesus is, “What have you to do with us, Son of God?” Why is this?

Honestly, I’m not sure. I know this sort of thing happens a lot in the gospel passages. People who should recognize Jesus (his disciples, the religious authorities, and so on) do not. People who you wouldn’t expect to know who Jesus is (Gentiles, demons, blind persons) recognize him as the Son of God.

I’m probably more like the ones who should know things of God, but perhaps don’t. I’m asking the Lord to open my eyes today to spiritual realities I may be missing. Lord let it be so. Amen.