Introduction

‘When he arrived at the other side in the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men coming from the tombs met him. They were so violent that no one could pass that way. “What do you want with us, Son of God?” they shouted. “Have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?” Some distance from them a large herd of pigs was feeding. The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” He said to them, “Go!” So, they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water. Those tending the pigs ran off, went into the town, and reported all this, including what had happened to the demon-possessed men. Then the whole town went out to meet Jesus. And when they saw him, they pleaded with him to leave their region.’ Matthew 8:28-34

Jesus and His disciples went to the eastern shore of Galilee, a place called Gerasenes, Mark 5:1 / Matthew 8:28 / Luke 8:26, this must have been a Gentile area as there were many pigs around and we know that the Jews saw pigs as unclean animals. And it’s here Jesus meets two men who are demon-possessed who lived in tombs, Mark 5:3 / Luke 8:27.

Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.

‘Mark and Luke mention only one of these people, Mark 5:2 / Luke 8:27, the principal one. Note that neither Mark nor Luke states that there was ‘only one’ of these men. The fact of demon possession is plain here. These were possessed not merely with one, but with many, demons.’

Gill, in his commentary, says the following.

‘Mark and Luke mention only one demoniac, probably the fiercer of the two.’

There are many views today concerning demonic possession, some argue that it still exists whilst others don’t. It’s generally supposed that no such thing as demon possession exists on earth today and if that supposition is correct, it would simply mean that the power of Jesus Christ in destroying the works of the devil, which was His purpose in coming into this world, 1 John 3:8, was effective and that Satan’s demonic followers are not able to work the havoc upon the human personality in this age, as formerly.

The multiplication of such disorders in the times of Christ should, in such a view, have been expected as the demons recognised the holy Saviour and His purpose of destroying them.

Mark stressed the unnatural strength of this caveman, using two entire verses to stress it, Mark 5:3-4, but Matthew supplied the significant fact that his wildness had closed the area to human traffic, Matthew 8:28, and Luke the equally significant fact that he was naked, Luke 8:27.

Luke also adds that the man was seized by the demons many times despite being chained and guarded, Luke 8:29. Such a person had no doubt cast a terror over the entire village, Zechariah 13:1-2.

Night and day, he would cut himself, which shows us how much self-harm this demon was causing him, Mark 5:5. The demon-possessed seem always to have been able to recognise Christ and the man’s worshipping Jesus is a reference to his falling down before Him, Mark 5:6, and, in view of the man’s behaviour, after he was healed, it must also have included, on the man’s part, if not the demon’s, an adoration of the Lord spiritually.

The effect of his possession was that of splitting the personality, making it impossible, in each instance, to distinguish between what was done by the demon and what was done by the man.

The demon-possessed men seem always to have been able to recognise Christ as the Son of God and so, they ask, ‘What do you want with us, Son of God?’ Matthew 8:29 / Mark 5:7 / Luke 8:28. He asks Jesus a question but in doing so, revealed He knew Jesus and His power and authority.

This name of God, ‘Most High’, Mark 5:7, is very ancient, appearing in connection with Melchizedek, Genesis 14:18, Balaam, Numbers 24:16, and in the Song of Moses, Deuteronomy 32:8. The Hebrews didn’t invent or evolve monotheism, that being the original view of the Father, even prior to Abraham.

Notice the word, ‘us’ which implies there is more than one demon addressing Jesus. This is seen when Jesus asks their name and they reply ‘legion’, for there were many demons who went into the man, Mark 5:9 / Luke 8:30, after Jesus commanded the impure spirit to come out of the man, Mark 5:8.

Notice ‘My’ is singular and ‘we’ is plural. This is a further indication of the separation that the demon had inflicted upon the man. A legion was four or five thousand men and, although no truth may be certain in such a reply from such a source, it’s at least in harmony with the idea of multiple possessions in some cases, Mary Magdalene being another example, Mark 16:9.

Christ asked, ‘the man’ his name, not because the Lord didn’t know it, but because He sought to bring the man back to a sense of his own identity, and the identity the demon had taken as shown in the reply.

Notice again in Mark 5:10 the confusion with the words, ‘he’ and ‘them’. It’s as if he cannot make up his mind where he is one or a Legion!

It has been suggested that the speaker was the leading demon speaking for all the rest, but the view is precarious. Of course, we don’t have the exact words of the petition, only Mark’s account which gives it indefinitely.

Notice also that these demons appear to know their destiny, ‘have you come here to torture us before the appointed time?’ Matthew 8:29 / Luke 8:28 / Matthew 25:41 / Acts 16:16-17 / James 2:19 / 2 Peter 2:4 / Jude 6.

They knew that Jesus had absolute power over them, and they are well aware that their destiny is destruction, Matthew 25:41 / Luke 8:32.

The demons were fearful of having to depart the dwelling they had seized in the poor man before the Lord, and they pleaded not to be sent away. They begged Jesus repeatedly to send them away but not into the Abyss, Mark 5:10 / Luke 8:31.

Notice again in Mark 5:11-12, ‘he’ begged the Lord in Mark 5:10, but it’s ‘they’ who do the pleading here, making it sure that the demons were the ones pleading.

The request of the demon seems here to have been predicated upon God’s prior promise that the demonic world would be vanquished at some time certain in the future, hence, his invoking God’s name in the request.

A glimpse of God’s ultimate plan of destroying evil surfaces here in the demonic knowledge that such destruction is in store for them and that an appointed time, Matthew 8:29, for it has already been determined, Acts 17:31 / Zechariah 13:1-2.

There was a large herd of pigs were feeding, Matthew 8:30. Around two thousand pigs were feeding on the side of the mountain according to Mark 5:11-13, and so, after requesting permission to embody the pigs, Matthew 8:31 / Mark 5:12 / Luke 8:32, Jesus send them into the herd of pigs, Matthew 8:32 / Mark 5:13 / Luke 8:33.

Of all the lower creation, only the serpent and swine are revealed in Scripture as possessed of an evil spirit. The serpent is a symbol of intellectual cunning and the pigs of gross uncleanness, suggesting that in both categories there is a great temptation to the human family.

Coffman, in his commentary, says the following.

‘This shows that the emissaries of Satan are restricted and may not enter even a herd of swine without the Lord’s permission. Other restrictions of Satan are given in 1 Corinthians 10:13 and Matthew 13:25.’

The pigs then rushed into the sea and drowned, Matthew 8:32 / Mark 5:13 / Luke 8:33 / Job 1:12-22. Notice that Christ didn’t destroy the pigs, the demons did. Christ’s permission of such a thing is no more than God’s permission of all-natural disorders like earthquakes, volcanoes, floods, droughts, tornadoes, etc., which kill millions of people, not pigs alone and yet all thoughtful persons find no difficulty reconciling this with God’s love and justice.

The pigs roamed the countryside as the result of a great multitude of people who gathered around the Lord, His disciples, and the man from whom the legion of demons was cast out and notice the contrast in the man.

He was naked, bleeding, furtive, dwelling in tombs, constantly crying out, etc. but notice the change, he is now clothed and in his right mind, sitting at the feet of Jesus! Mark 5:15. This shows what Christianity does, it really can transform lives.

Despite Jesus healing the man and finding him, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind and despite these two men’s lives being transformed, the crowd seem to be scared, Matthew 8:33 / Mark 5:14-15 / Luke 8:34-35.

Why were they scared? Possibly because they did not want Jesus’ kind of power in their midst. Possibly because they thought Jesus was going to wipe out every pig in the region which would mean a loss of property and revenue.

At first, it may seem incredible that the people of the town did not want Jesus to stay, Matthew 8:34 / Luke 8:37. But think about what they had just lost two thousand pigs. Some people owned them, some folks were planning to make money slaughtering, processing, and selling them.

He had hurt the town’s economy. They evidently loved material possessions more than they loved Jesus, and because of that, they missed out on the supreme privilege. They asked Him to leave, Mark 5:16-17 / Luke 8:37.

Whatever the reason, it’s clear they were so blinded by their physical loss, that they ask Jesus to leave the area. Jesus listened to them and left and would never set foot in the area again, how sad to see Jesus being rejected once again, despite doing a wonderful thing, not only for the men who were possessed but for those who lived in the area.

One can appreciate the feelings of the man whose life had been so distraught by the powers of darkness, and whose feelings of love and gratitude toward Jesus caused him to desire constant fellowship with the Lord. Those who have tasted the blessing of the Lord desire to be ever in His company and partakers of His companionship.

Luke and Mark record, that one of the men who was possessed was commanded by Jesus to tell others what God had done for him, which he proceeded to do, Mark 5:18-20 / Luke 8:38-39.

On some occasions, Jesus prohibited the beneficiaries of His miracles to speak of them, Mark 1:40-45, but here it was commanded, why?

Simply because this was a Gentile area, He was on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. Jesus didn’t want to be crowded by spectators in the Capernaum area, west of the Sea, but in this wicked town, He was in no danger of becoming too popular.

The people in this place needed someone to report the miracle. It’s of the greatest significance that Jesus here referred to Himself as ‘the Lord’ who had done for the man ‘great things’ and ‘had mercy upon’ him, Mark 5:19. Attempts to get rid of Jesus in all ages have generally been as futile and ineffective as were those of the village of the Gerasenes.

‘Decapolis’, Mark 5:20, means ‘the ten cities’ which lay in the area, nine of them east of lake Galilee and it must have been a very effective witness indeed which was provided by that previous terror of the tombs who went up and down the area extolling the power and mercy of Jesus, whom he also, no doubt, identified as ‘Lord’. No wonder it is said that ‘all the people were amazed,’ Mark 5:20.

Do we ever invite the Lord to leave our lives because we love material things more than we love Him? Luke 8:36-37.

Whatever the reason, it is clear they were so blinded by their physical loss, that they ask Jesus to leave the area. Jesus listened to them and left and would never set foot in the area again, how sad to see Jesus being rejected once again, despite doing a wonderful thing, not only for the men who were possessed but for those who lived in the area.