THEY SAILED TO the region of the Gerasenes, which is across the lake from Galilee. 27When Jesus stepped ashore, he was met by a demon-possessed man from the town. For a long time this man had not worn clothes or lived in a house, but had lived in the tombs. 28When he saw Jesus, he cried out and fell at his feet, shouting at the top of his voice, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torture me!” 29For Jesus had commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was chained hand and foot and kept under guard, he had broken his chains and had been driven by the demon into solitary places.
30Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
“Legion,” he replied, because many demons had gone into him. 31And they begged him repeatedly not to order them to go into the Abyss.
32A large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside. The demons begged Jesus to let them go into them, and he gave them permission. 33When the demons came out of the man, they went into the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and was drowned.
34When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, 35and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. 36Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. 37Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
38The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39“Return home and tell how much God has done for you.” So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.
Original Meaning
JESUS HAS ALREADY performed exorcisms in this Gospel (4:31–36, 40–41; 6:18; 8:2), so why does Luke narrate yet another exorcism here? This one has unique characteristics that make it worthy of mention. (1) It is the first exorcism that occurs in Gentile territory, since Gerasa is located east of the Jordan.1 It shows how Jesus’ ministry is expanding in scope. (2) This exorcism involves multiple possession, so it is a more intense encounter than previous ones. (3) This account deals more fully with an array of responses to Jesus’ miracles, from the request of the locals for Jesus to depart to the transformation of the demon-possessed man into a witness for the Lord. (4) This miracle continues the sequence of four miracles in 8:22–56, where each one represents a different sphere of activity (nature to demons to disease to death). (5) Finally, this miracle is the only one where earthly creatures other than humans are involved. The pigs serve an important function, since their destruction pictures the kind of devastation inherent in demonic activity. Though demons themselves are unseen, the effect of their presence in the pigs illustrates just how dangerous they can be.
The account proceeds in a standard order for a miracle: setting, plea, exorcism, effect, reaction, and close.2 The detailed description of the demoniac shows the destructive power of the demons, for the man has totally withdrawn from society, living unclothed in tombs. We are told how he has been seized many times and bound with ropes, chains, or both. But he shattered them and could not be restrained.
The man falls before Jesus as the demons confess him to be the “Son of the Most High God,” and he asks Jesus not to torment him. The demon’s name is Legion, indicating that a whole battle division of demons inhabit the man. In the Roman world, legion referred to a company of thousands of soldiers.3 In other words, Jesus is engaging in a major battle here. He is outnumbered, but not overmatched.
The demons ask to be sent into a herd of pigs rather than into the abyss.4 This request has produced much speculation, none of which is answered by the text. What the incident involving the pigs does indicate is the real impact of demonic presence and influence, namely, the destruction of life. At Jesus’ command, the demons depart to enter the pigs. Their possession of them throws the herd into a panic that causes them to run over the edge of a steep bank and into the water, where they drown. The demons’ effort to continue their presence in the area apparently fails.
Word spreads fast as those tending the pigs flee into the city and country to report what has happened. Most amazing of all, when many people go out to the area, they see the new character that now inhabits the formerly possessed man. He is seated calmly at the feet of Jesus, restored, clothed, and of sound mind. Jesus has rescued him from life among the tombs and brought him into the real world again. The scene is a picture of new life.
The local people do not care for Jesus’ work, however. Luke does not tell us exactly why they ask him to leave other than their fear, but Mark 5:16 makes it clear that Jesus has had a negative economic impact on the region. They do not want to lose more livestock. Their fear has turned into rejection and a desire to have nothing more to do with the presence of divine authority.
The healed man wants to join Jesus’ traveling group of disciples, but Jesus has another calling in mind. Someone must be left behind to share what God has done in the area. That is the man’s task. He does that and more, preaching and proclaiming what Jesus has done for him. Those whose lives are most radically transformed often end up being the strongest witnesses for Jesus.
Bridging Contexts
THIS MIRACLE MAKES a wonderful collage of responses to Jesus, whether one considers the demons, the locals, or the man who benefits from Jesus’ work. The demons recognize Jesus’ power, but that does not stop them from trying to raise havoc with those around them. Even an army that knows it is losing a war can try to inflict as much damage as possible before going down. The locals see the power of Jesus and want little to do with it. They are too afraid of God’s power and presence. The healed man indicates how helpless one can be without Jesus, especially when one is shackled and stripped of sanity by forces more powerful than one’s own. But his turnaround indicates the startling contrast that emerges when one is freed from such enslavement. This miracle is not only about exorcism; it is especially about the liberation of a soul.
As we have noted in other sections, miracles are audiovisuals of spiritual activity. The swine incident indicates vividly, even tragically, how deadly the forces of evil are. The presence of evil and the demonic should not be taken lightly. Jesus probably performs this incident to demonstrate in a painful manner how the presence of evil results in death. This reminds us how presence of sin in the human race required his own death as payment.
Though we rarely deal with overt cases of demon-possession, that fact should not stop us from realizing the impact the demonic has on us daily. It is not entirely clear why demon-possession is so rare in the Western world. Those who work in other cultures where the demonic is more openly accepted speak openly about its presence and see more cases of demon-possession than we do. Do we underestimate its presence? Or does Satan have less need to manifest himself openly in a culture that denies his existence? I suspect a combination is at work. The Scripture makes it clear that a fallen world is still influenced by the presence of sin and Satan, and will be until the Lord’s return finishes what this healing represents (Rom. 8:18–39).
Thus the bridge into our context is the constant presence and threat of demonic influences in our world. It is not hard to spot its symptoms. Demons may not possess the soul as vividly as this example, but they do cause people to do destructive things and retain a power that is almost overwhelming. People in the grip of excessive drink, debilitating drugs, or destructive lust reflect a world where destructive indulgence inflicts not only pain on those possessed by such addictions, but also on others around them. Though the forces in view here are chemical or psychological, there can be little doubt that they are the remnants of a fallen world that Satan exploits (cf. Eph. 4:17–19). With this scriptural insight, it may be that Satan is much more active than we give him credit for today.
Contemporary Significance
OUR WORLD PLAYS with spiritual forces rather than taking them seriously. Attraction to the devil and the demonic has recently taken on an avant-garde air. Some of the music that permeates our culture is loaded with innuendo and suggestion about the spirit world. One senses that those who engage in this practice are having fun and trying to be cute. It is a way of expressing rebellion. But there is a serious side to this reality. I remember my shock when one of my relatives told me of going to a family home that was awaiting sale and finding that in the basement some people had obviously made it a temporary home, including some type of animal sacrifice. The news media occasionally inform us of accounts of violence, injury, and death in groups that engage in demonic ritual. The exorcism in Luke 8 is but one picture of the dangerous character of such activity. Encounter with demons is not a neutral undertaking.
One must be careful not to overreact, however. Some people see a demon behind every bush, while our culture, being enlightened, often makes the opposite error of dismissing such talk as reflecting a primitive worldview. Both approaches are a victory for the dark side. One never fights against what one does not believe is there. On the other hand, to be preoccupied with the demonic can produce a type of fixation that does not reflect spiritual balance and can deflect taking spiritual accountability. “The devil made me do it” can turn sinners into victims who have no control over whom they decide to ally themselves to. Jesus’ power over such forces should deliver us from any tendency to attribute too much to demonic power (Eph. 1:15–23).
Texts about demons are difficult for many modern people because they ask us to deal in categories that do not involve seeing or hearing. But when we see the horrific destructive character of our culture and how terribly we can treat one another, it is hard not to recognize the presence of diabolical evil in our world. It takes more than our own efforts to reverse its presence. That reality, too, is portrayed in this event. Our efforts are as successful as the attempts by the locals to chain this demoniac in order to restrain him. The power of Jesus is needed.
I am reminded of a close friend who grew up on drugs, was alienated from his family, had dropped out of school several times, and was sent to a psychiatrist for treatment. Nothing helped. Then he was led to the Lord. His life was cleaned up and his demeanor changed. His relationship to his family was restored. His psychiatrist was amazed, as were his parents. If you ask him what did it, he will tell you it was not religion, though that was the more culturally neutral term many of his unchurched relatives used. Neither was it “growing up,” another popular secular answer. It was Jesus, pure and simple. The grace of God gave him a new heart. He would tell you Satan had a solid grip on him until he came face to face with Jesus. He identifies with this story in Luke 8, for Jesus delivered him from the depths that were leading him to self-destruction.
A significant human quality appears in this text. The people who ask Jesus to leave their region recognize his power, but are afraid to be too close to him. Many fear divine accountability, preferring to be left on their own and to fend for themselves. They regard Christianity as a crutch, but I wonder if in fact there is a failure to recognize where real weakness resides. The locals were so concerned with their own affairs that they could not appreciate the deliverance that had taken place before their eyes. Perhaps the biggest tragedy of all is to see God at work and pretend nothing has really happened.
The delivered man gives us a final point of application. Not everyone is called to a ministry of traveling to share Jesus. That is, not everyone is called to a mission field far from home. Sometimes Jesus wants those who have experienced his goodness to tell those in their own hometown about him. Some are called to go; others are called to stay. This newly healed and transformed man did not need to raise support to find his mission field; he simply needed to start sharing—which, in fact, he did. He could not tell the story of God’s work in his life without discussing Jesus.