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THE LURE OF BUSINESS And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time? And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding. So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts (Matt. 8:28-34).
The theocentric focus of this passage is God's ability to deliver men from demon possession. God is more powerful than devils. The message of the passage is that men do not want to pay the price of such deliverance.
Exorcism and Deliverance Jesus delivered the possessed man by exorcising the devils. The devils asked to be allowed to dwell in a nearby herd of swine. As soon as Jesus allowed the demons to enter the swine, the pigs ran into the sea and drowned.
The parallel passage in Mark throws additional light on these events: "And they that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city, and in the country. And they went out to see what it was that was done. And they come to Jesus, and see him that was possessed with the devil, and had the legion, sitting, and clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid. And they that saw it told them how it befell to him that was possessed with the devil, and also concerning the swine. And they began to pray him to depart out of their coasts" (Mark 5:14-17).
One of the two had remained behind with Jesus.(1) "And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee. And he departed, and began to publish in Decapolis how great things Jesus had done for him: and all men did marvel" (Mark 5:18-20).
The Demons Understood Their Victims Why did the demons request to be allowed to reside in the bodies of swine, only to direct their new hosts into a suicidal run into the sea? If the demons needed places to live, why did they destroy their new places of residence?
The demons did not want a place to live in the sense of a dwelling. They wanted a place to live in the sense of a region. They operated in a region in which herds of pigs were kept. This indicates that pork had a local market. The Mosaic dietary laws were not being honored by residents in the region. Was this a region filled with gentiles? The text does not say so, nor does any other text in the New Testament. What it says is that the townspeople were afraid and asked Jesus to leave.
What were they afraid of? Being delivered from demons? This seems unlikely. Demonic possession was a curse to be avoided. The fact that someone locally had been delivered caught their attention. They came out to see for themselves what had happened.
What had happened? Two men had been delivered. One remained behind to testify of his deliverance. But his deliverance had involved the destruction of a herd of swine. This was surely bad for the herd's owner. The swineherders had already told the townspeople the story of the drowned herd. In fact, the passage indicates that the news about the swine preceded the news about the delivered men. As soon as the townspeople received confirmation of the story from the formerly possessed victim, they asked Jesus to leave the region. He complied.
This left the demons behind, without Jesus to bother them until the time of His resurrection and ascension. The demons had asked Him, "art thou come hither to torment us before the time?" They knew the timetable for their demise.
Why would the townspeople not want to have Jesus living nearby, ready to cast out demons? The answer seems to be His mode of casting them out. He allowed them to enter into a herd of pigs that perished shortly thereafter. Jesus was seen as a kind of polluter. He allowed the overflow -- in this case, demons -- to destroy private property. The fact that Jews were prohibited from eating pigs and therefore from bidding up their market price made no difference to the townspeople. They were far more fearful about the economic effects of Jesus' action than they were about the threat of demonic possession. They preferred to share their environment with demons, who normally inhabited men, rather than risk another outbreak of "mad pig disease."
Swine were regarded as an economic asset in that region. If two men could house an entire legion of demons, this seemed a small price to pay for leaving pigs to roam the land and eventually grace the tables of many local residents. That two men would suffer the horrors of possession was, in the eyes of the townspeople, a small price to pay, since the townspeople were not paying it. There was risk of future possession, but they regarded this risk as less of a burden than the threat of the loss of herds of swine.
The demons had recognized the perversity of the local residents. They had planned their spiritual counter-attack well. They would let the townspeople be their spokesmen with Jesus. All it might take was a fast entrance into a herd of swine, and a mad dash down a hill into the water.
Luke added this important information regarding the event. "Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back again. Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him. And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him: for they were all waiting for him" (Luke 8:37-40).
Jesus usually instructed those whom He had healed to say nothing publicly. This was a major exception. The personal testimony of the healed man was so convincing that the townspeople subsequently reversed their opinion of Jesus and His ministry. But it took personal testimony of a local resident to accomplish this. Their initial reaction was negative.
Conclusion When men disobey God's law, they find it difficult to keep their priorities in conformity to God's priorities for them. They move from one violation to another. They substitute their priorities for God's. This is why it is important for men to keep the whole of the law. Law-breaking is a slippery slope to destruction (Ps. 73:18; Jer. 23:12).
The men in this region ignored the dietary law against pork. From this seemingly minor infraction came a perverse set of priorities. They valued the preservation of the local swine market more than they valued men's deliverance from spiritual oppression. They feared the risk to pigs more than they feared the risk of demonic forces. For them, men's lives were worth less than pigs' lives.
The townspeople were sensitive to business values. Private property had to be protected. Jesus was threatening business. This was an offense worse than demonic possession. They asked Him to leave. He left. Only the subsequent personal testimony of the healed man persuaded them to reverse their opinion of Jesus.
Footnote:
1. The accounts in Mark and Luke mention only one man.
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