26 Then they arrived at the country of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. Luke's account emphasizes that Jesus has moved into foreign territory. 27 As he stepped out on land, on the Gentile side of the lake, a man of the city who had demons met him. The man is likely a Gentile as well. Even if not, his demon-possession has rendered him unclean. For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he did not live in a house but in the tombs. He lives like an animal -- unclothed and outside. He chooses to locate in the tombs -- a ritually unclean place for Jews. So thoroughly polluted is this man and this environment that some commentators have suggested the entire story serves as a midrash on Isaiah 65:1-4, which portrays Gentiles as performing any number of unclean acts, such as offering incense to demons, sleeping among tombs, etc. 28 When he saw Jesus, he fell down before him and shouted at the top of his voice, “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Healer/Messiah, Son of the Most High God? The title was technically correct, but when used by Gentile hands in Gentile lands did not necessarily suggest the one God of the Jews. "Most High God" was a catchall title among the pagans applicable to any local deity. I beg you, do not torment me”— 29 for Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. (For many times it had seized him; he was kept under guard and bound with chains and shackles, but he would break the bonds and be driven by the demon into the wilds.) Jesus is hanging out with the wrong type (a demoniac), in the wrong place (the Gentile lands "opposite Galilee"), at the wrong time (before any Gentile mission was established). 30 Jesus then asked him, “What is your name?” He said, “Legion”; for many demons had entered him. Jesus quickly overpowers the sarcastic, sadistic spirit speaking from the possessed man by commanding the creature to give up its name. In ancient Near Eastern tradition, when one named any entity one gained power over it. Yet Jesus has this demon at his mercy even before knowing its name. Legion knew immediately of their impending doom. 31 They begged him not to order them to go back into the abyss. This "abyss" was the designated place of punishment and imprisonment for demons (Revelation 20:1-3).
32 Now there on the hillside a large herd of swine was feeding. The presence of a nearby herd once again reminds us that Jesus is amid Gentile territory. Further, the demons begged Jesus to let them enter these. As an unclean spirit it was only natural that Legion request relocation into one of the most familiar unclean symbols. So, surprisingly, he gave them permission. 33 Then 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. When the beasts go mad and plunge headlong into the depths of the lake, however, Legion’s strategy has backfired. In the Septuagint, the Hebrew "tehom," the flood, or watery deep, also translates it as "the abyss." Legion ended up in "the abyss.”
34 When the swineherds, as firsthand witnesses to this exorcism, saw what had happened, they ran off and told it in the city and in the country. 35 Then people came out to see what had happened, and when they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 36 Those who had seen it told them how the one who had been possessed by demons had been healed. 37 Then all the people of the surrounding country of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them; for they were seized with great fear. The reaction of the populace is hardly gratifying. Why the fear? Was it uncertainty over the demons' complete and permanent demise in the lake? Was it anger over the loss of a large and valuable herd of livestock? Jesus' own reaction to the request that he leave reveals the most about the situation. So he got into the boat and returned. Everyone has the right to choose. They choose fear over faith. 38 The man from whom the demons had gone begged that he might be with him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.” Luke ends the story by returning to a private dialogue shared between Jesus and the man he has healed. While Jesus refuses to allow the Gerasene to stay with him, he completes the man's rehabilitation. Jesus orders the Gerasene to return to his former home. Jesus calls him to a new vocation, giving purpose and point to this man's now unfettered mind and unfurled spirit. Under Jesus' direct instruction, the Gerasene demoniac becomes the first missionary to the Gentiles. So he went away, proclaiming throughout the city how much Jesus had done for him. Amid all the social and religious "wrongs," Jesus does everything "right." He heals, he banishes evil, he shakes up the local population, he changes the landscape, and he leaves an enduring visible and vocal sign of his work.
There is an element of the grotesque. Is Jesus not cruel to animals? Economic loss to owners? At the same time, the story depicts Jesus as using his power to restore an unfortunate human being to health, even doing this for a pagan. It foreshadows the missionary concern of Jesus. The story of the Gerasene demoniac wields terrific and terrifying spiritual and psychological power as it touches on such issues as the Gentile mission, Jesus' messianic identity, discipleship, and even homiletics itself.
T. H. Huxley and William Gladstone argued about this text. Both agreed that private property was so sacred that Jesus would not require its destruction. Huxley declared that the faithful had a real problem with this story since either the evangelist fabricated this story when they spoke of Jesus casting out devils, permitting them to enter a herd of pigs, who plunged into the sea, or that Jesus had irresponsibly and wantonly destroyed the property of others. Gladstone was indignant at the suggestion that Jesus might have undermined the fundamental principle of the sacredness of private property. He declared that this accusation against Jesus was intolerable. Gladstone replied that in this case, the destruction of swine was permissible because the Law of Moses forbade Jews to keep pigs. Huxley replied at length, citing that, based on well-informed modern authorities, this was a gentile town and therefore these people were probably Gentiles who had a right to keep pigs. Since we can assume Jesus would never hurt anyone who was merely exercising legal rights, then we can dismiss the story as false.
The "demons" Jesus confronts have three things in common: they cause self-destructive behavior in the victim, the victim feels trapped in that condition, and they separate the victim from normal living in the family circle. Sound familiar? Do not many of us suffer from the same kind of snares and burdens? We rightly reflect upon the demons that possess us today. What are those demons? What damage do they do? How can Jesus free us from them?
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