Lovers of God

Jesus casts demons into a herd of pigs

Mt 8:28-33 28 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. 29 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?" 30 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding at a distance from them. 31 The demons began to entreat Him, saying, "If You are going to cast us out, send us into the herd of swine." 32 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. 33 The herdsmen ran away, and went to the city and reported everything, including what had happened to the demoniacs. 34 And behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw Him, they implored Him to leave their region.

Mk 5:1-20 1 They came to the other side of the sea, into the country of the Gerasenes. 2 When He got out of the boat, immediately a man from the tombs with an unclean spirit met Him, 3 and he had his dwelling among the tombs. And no one was able to bind him anymore, even with a chain; 4 because he had often been bound with shackles and chains, and the chains had been torn apart by him and the shackles broken in pieces, and no one was strong enough to subdue him. 5 Constantly, night and day, he was screaming among the tombs and in the mountains, and gashing himself with stones. 6 Seeing Jesus from a distance, he ran up and bowed down before Him; 7 and shouting with a loud voice, he said, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God, do not torment me!" 8 For He had been saying to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!" 9 And He was asking him, "What is your name?" And he said to Him, "My name is Legion; for we are many." 10 And he began to implore Him earnestly not to send them out of the country. 11 Now there was a large herd of swine feeding nearby on the mountain. 12 The demons implored Him, saying, "Send us into the swine so that we may enter them." 13 Jesus gave them permission. And coming out, the unclean spirits entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea, about two thousand of them; and they were drowned in the sea. 14 Their herdsmen ran away and reported it in the city and in the country. And the people came to see what it was that had happened. 15 They came to Jesus and observed the man who had been demon-possessed sitting down, clothed and in his right mind, the very man who had had the "legion"; and they became frightened. 16 Those who had seen it described to them how it had happened to the demon-possessed man, and all about the swine. 17 And they began to implore Him to leave their region. 18 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. 19 And He did not let him, but He said to him, "Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you." 20 And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed.

Lk 8:26-39 26 Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. 27 And when He came out onto the land, He was met by a man from the city who was possessed with demons; and who had not put on any clothing for a long time, and was not living in a house, but in the tombs. 28 Seeing Jesus, he cried out and fell before Him, and said in a loud voice, "What business do we have with each other, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You, do not torment me." 29 For He had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For it had seized him many times; and he was bound with chains and shackles and kept under guard, and yet he would break his bonds and be driven by the demon into the desert. 30 And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion"; for many demons had entered him. 31 They were imploring Him not to command them to go away into the abyss. 32 Now there was a herd of many swine feeding there on the mountain; and the demons implored Him to permit them to enter the swine. And He gave them permission. 33 And the demons came out of the man and entered the swine; and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned. 34 When the herdsmen saw what had happened, they ran away and reported it in the city and out in the country. 35 The people went out to see what had happened; and they came to Jesus, and found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting down at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind; and they became frightened. 36 Those who had seen it reported to them how the man who was demon-possessed had been made well. 37 And all the people of the country of the Gerasenes and the surrounding district asked Him to leave them, for they were gripped with great fear; and He got into a boat and returned. 38 But the man from whom the demons had gone out was begging Him that he might accompany Him; but He sent him away, saying, 39 "Return to your house and describe what great things God has done for you." So he went away, proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.

These passages give us a lot of information about demons; let’s examine that information…

We see that demons can possess not just men, but animals too. They do not possess trees and vegetation, because they want to be able to move in the physical world. Demons prefer to possess some moving thing rather than not. Without a body they are limited in what they can do on earth.

Demon possessed people are unusually strong. Even chains and shackles cannot hold them.

Demons harm the people and animals they possess. Demon possessed people are not in their right mind. They are self-destructive. They live differently from normal human beings.

More than one demon can possess the same living thing. In this particular situation, many demons resided in one man.

Demons recognize people by the spirit within them, and not primarily by their external appearance. They were able to immediately recognize who Jesus was. They also recognized His authority. God is described by the demons as the ‘Most High God’. The demons recognized many authorities, but they knew who the highest authority of all was, and they also knew who His Son was.

We are the children of the Most High God – what a great privilege! Let us therefore not be enamored by the trinkets of this temporal world.

Demons are painfully aware that they are destined for torment in the end. They are aware of the abyss – the place where demons are bound.

The abyss (or bottomless pit) is the place where demons are bound. It is mentioned in Rev 20:1-3 where Satan is bound during the millennium. IT is also mentioned in Rev 9:1-11 when describing how during the fifth trumpet demons will be allowed to come out of the abyss and possess men.

Jesus valued one human life more than the lives of ~2000 pigs, and the loss of money to the herdsman when those ~2000 pigs drowned.

We saw earlier that the winds and the water submit to God. Now we see that every demon also submits to God. Therefore, as long as we are walking with God, we don’t need to fear any demon.

We see in this situation that when some people see the power of God in action, instead of making God their friend, they ask God to depart from them. That is so not sensible – they would have greatly benefited if they had asked Jesus come and spend time with them!

Were two men healed, or just one? Matthew’s account speaks of two men being healed, whereas Mark and Luke speak of just one man being healed. Perhaps the second man kept silent during the entire interaction and was therefore not focused on in the accounts of Mark and Luke. There is no contradiction when two objects are on a table and one person describing the scene only mentions one of them whereas another mentions both.