TEXT [Commentary]

4. Jesus exorcises demons (8:28-34)

28 When Jesus arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes,[*] two men who were possessed by demons met him. They came out of the tombs and were so violent that no one could go through that area.

29 They began screaming at him, “Why are you interfering with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torture us before God’s appointed time?”

30 There happened to be a large herd of pigs feeding in the distance. 31 So the demons begged, “If you cast us out, send us into that herd of pigs.”

32 “All right, go!” Jesus commanded them. So the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs, and the whole herd plunged down the steep hillside into the lake and drowned in the water.

33 The herdsmen fled to the nearby town, telling everyone what happened to the demon-possessed men. 34 Then the entire town came out to meet Jesus, but they begged him to go away and leave them alone.

NOTES

8:28-29 arrived on the other side of the lake, in the region of the Gadarenes. The group evidently crossed the Sea of Galilee from Capernaum on the northwest to some locale on the eastern shore. The town of Gadara was five or six miles from the Sea of Galilee, but according to Josephus (Life 9.42), the region of Gadara was adjacent to the sea. See Blomberg (1987:149-50) for discussion of the geographical and textual questions (some manuscripts read “Gerasenes” [TG1046A, ZG1170] and others read “Gergesenes” [TG1086, ZG1171]), which arise from a comparison of Matt 8:28 with Mark 5:1 and Luke 8:26.

Have you come here to torture us before God’s appointed time? The demons wondered whether Jesus had come to torture (cf. Rev 14:10; 20:10) them prematurely, before the appointed time of judgment (cf. 13:30; 16:3). Their awareness of Jesus’ identity as the Son of God, a key Matthean theme (1:23; 2:15; 3:17; 4:3, 6; 14:33; 16:16; 17:5; 27:54; cf. Jas 2:19), and of the future judgment of demons (25:41; cf. 1 Cor 4:5) is striking. Their question points up Matthew’s “inaugurated” eschatology, in which the future reign of God is already encroaching on Satan’s domain, even now (cf. 12:28).

8:30-32 the demons came out of the men and entered the pigs. The presence of a large herd of pigs nearby provided a way for the demons to escape Jesus’ presence. The demons themselves spoke, requesting to be sent into the pigs if Jesus cast them out of the men (cf. 12:43-45). It may be that the reader is to think of the pigs and the previous cemetery residence as ritually unclean for Jews. It is striking that the demoniacs have thus far done all the talking in this pericope, and that Jesus’ reply is only one word, “Go!” (NLT’s “all right” is based on the contextual notion of permission). Jesus granted them this wish, and they entered the pigs, precipitating a stampede of the entire herd down a steep hillside into the lake, where all the pigs were drowned. This dramatic result from a single word of Jesus underscores his authority. This authority, although genuine, is not yet exercised as universal, since Jesus freed the two men but permitted the demons to destroy the pigs and presumably to continue their devious activities elsewhere before their ultimate judgment. The herding of pigs (cf. Luke 15:15) and the eating of pork were of course forbidden to Jews (Lev 11:7; Deut 14:8; Isa 65:4; 66:3, 17; 1 Macc 1:47; 2 Macc 6:18-23; m. Bava Qamma 7:7). Evidently the reader is to think of Gadara as Gentile or mixed race territory, since it is east of the Sea of Galilee and supports pig herding. One wonders whether the demoniacs were Gentiles, since the mission to the Gentiles had not yet begun (10:5-6, 18), but this was a chance encounter, not a sustained mission.

8:33-34 the entire town came out to meet Jesus. The result of the exorcism was that those who herded the pigs observed their watery demise and spread the news to the people of the nearby town, who came to Jesus en masse to ask him to go away. Their reasoning is not made clear, but it is plausible that this region was populated by Gentiles whose livelihood depended upon the drowned pigs. If so, economics was more important to these people than the freeing of the demoniacs from Satan’s dominion. Matthew’s Christian Jewish readers would probably take the opposite view, that the destruction of a herd of unclean pigs was appropriate and even humorous. At any rate, this negative response to a miracle is quite a contrast to the responses to Jesus’ miracles preciously narrated by Matthew.

COMMENTARY [Text]

The story of the exorcism in the land of the Gadarenes (8:28-34; cf. Mark 5:1-20; Luke 8:26-39) is the second miracle story in the second set of three such stories in Matthew 8–9 (see the commentary on 8:1-17. Matthew 9 will conclude the second set with the story of the healing of the paralytic (9:1-8).

Demon possession appears frequently in Matthew (4:24; 7:22; 8:16, 28, 31, 33; 9:32-34; 10:8; 11:18; 12:22, 24, 27, 28; 15:22; 17:18), but the details of this particular incident are remarkable. Previously, Jesus had cast out demons, and he had just calmed a storm, but here his single word, “go,” demonstrates his authority over demons, animals, and the Sea of Galilee. The authority of Jesus’ words (7:28-29) and deeds (8:9; 9:6) is thus a key point of this story, as it is in all of Matthew 8–9. But this episode shows that the authority of Jesus operates alongside his mercy (Davies and Allison 1991:116). Jesus treated these dangerous demoniacs with the same compassion that has been implicit in his ministry since 4:23 and that will become explicit in 9:36 as a model for his disciples’ own mission in chapter 10.

Evidently, the country of the Gadarenes was Gentile country. The rejection of Jesus by the inhabitants may parallel 10:13-15, in which the disciples are warned that their mission trip will also result in rejection in some households and villages. The rejection of Jesus is exemplary for his disciples, who should not view themselves as above their Master. Rather, they must face rejection and persecution realistically, with faith instead of fear (10:24-33). All who minister for Jesus need to be reminded that, at times, their best intentions for unbelievers will be received in a negative way (cf. 7:6). Those who do not know Jesus often make it clear that they do not want to know about Jesus. But people who reject his authority exclude themselves from his mercy. Carson’s wry comment (1984:219) about the Gadarenes puts it well: “They preferred pigs to persons, swine to the Savior.” But the grace of God can still turn those who reject Jesus into his followers when the gospel is faithfully proclaimed in the words and deeds of Christians.