The Gadarene Demoniac

["Click here for Matthew's account"]
["Click here for Mark's account"]
["Click here for Luke's account"]

This event in the life of Christ as well as the previous one were told to strengthen our faith by showing us the Divine power of Jesus Christ. In the previous event we saw His power over nature in the calming of the storm, this event shows us His power not only in Heaven and earth but in "deep places" as well, even to the depths of hell. So the importance of these two events is to show us the Divine power of Jesus Christ in whom there is hope.

Now lets look at the story. There are some differences in the three accounts, but the basic lesson is the same. In the last story, the 12 disciples and Jesus had left the shore of the Sea of Galilee and after sending the multitudes home, headed across the northern end of the Sea of Galilee in a boat. A storm arose and the faith of the Disciples was tested and the power of Jesus was demonstrated. After Jesus calmed the storm they headed on across the sea to the other shore to the town of Gergesa. Here they encounter at least one man possessed of Demons.

Notice the miserable conditions of these men.

  1. They dwelt among the tombs in a graveyard. This surly added to their dejected condition.
  2. They were exceedingly fierce. They were at times uncontrollable, frightening many, perhaps harming others. People were afraid to go around them. This is typical of the work of the Devil.

Notice how defiant the Demons became at the sight of Jesus. "What have you to do with us, Jesus, thou Son of God?" Even the Demons knew, believed and confessed that Jesus was the Son of God, yet they were still Demons. It is not knowledge but acceptance that distinguishes the Saints from the Demons. What did Jesus have to do with these Demons? They had already been judged and cast out of Heaven. They knew of His power over them and feared Him, so they begged Him not to torment them.

How could Jesus have tormented them? He could have kept them from doing any more harm by simply not allowing them to enter anything or anyone, this would have been utter torment to a Devil. Here we see even before the resurrection, His power over Satan. He had commanded them to leave the men but as yet had not determined their destination. He could have destined them to eternal emptiness in a void, where they would not have been able to function as Devils, and they knew this and so when they saw a herd of swine at a distance they asked Him to cast them into the swine. The people in this area, though out of Israel proper, were Jews. Jews were forbidden to eat swine (hogs). These people were not only keeping swine but they were eating them also. Christ may have commanded this as punishment to these people.

Now in the accounts of Mark and Luke, only one man is mentioned and his name is given as "Legion". There are interesting stories regarding this name:

  1. Legion meant, in Bible times, a large number of people.
  2. A Roman Legion was an army unit of 6,000 man.
  3. George Adam Smith, after touring the Holy Land and seeing the cemetery near the spot where this event occurred and noticing that a large number of tomb stones carried, after the man's name, the inscription, "member of the Lost 14th. Roman Legion", summarized that the Demon that said his name was Legion had wandered long among these tomb stones until he developed a fixation for that name.
  4. Matthew Henry believes that it simply means that the Devils that possessed him were many. This is indicated in Matthew and Mark's account for they say that the Devils entered into the swine that numbered approx. 2,000, and they ran down a steep cliff and perished in the sea.

Now how did the owners of the swine take this? Just like many business men do today. When they heard what had happened, they went out from the city to meet Him. Now obviously they could see what He had done for the man who had been possessed with the Devils. They certainly realized that Jesus was no ordinary man. Yet it appears that they were more concerned for their pigs than they were for their sick and lame not to mention their souls and salvation.

Certainly the knowledge that Jesus had power over the forces of evil should have strengthen the faith of the Disciples as well as us.


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