We Are Many 👹

• 

It’s one of the most fascinating stories in the Bible. ...So let’s talk demon possession!

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all recount the story of Jesus healing the “Gadarene demoniac.” Picture a naked man (bear with me…) living in the tombs outside of town. He’s constantly screaming and cutting himself with stones. He’s so violent that no one can pass by, and so supernaturally strong that he snaps the iron chains whenever townspeople are brave enough to bind him. Oh, and did you know he had a little demon-possessed friend with him? (Although Scripture doesn’t say much about him.)

Today, most people would call this mental illness. But when Jesus asks “What is your name?” his chilling, infamous reply is “My name is Legion, for we are many.”

Turns out the man is controlled by a vast army of demons (a standard Roman legion was 4,000 to 6,000 soldiers). Seeing Jesus arrive by boat, the terrified spirits instantly recognize the “Son of the Most High God.” Falling at His feet, they beg Him not to command them into “the Abyss” before the “appointed time” (they know their fate on the final Judgment Day).

Legion asks to go into a nearby herd of 2,000 pigs instead, and Jesus gives them permission. And everyone remembers the next part… the impure spirits go into the pigs, and the pigs immediately rush down the steep bank into the water and drown.

When the news hits the town, the locals rush out and find the man “clothed and in his right mind”. They are so overcome with fear at Jesus’ authority, they plead with Him to leave their region, which He does. And the man that Jesus restores becomes the first non-Jewish missionary, sharing what the Lord had done for him in the nearby Gentile cities.

Scripture doesn’t explain why the pigs took the plunge. Maybe the not-so-bright demons were bored one day and put it to a vote – a sort of “demon-ocracy.” Or maybe since demons are inherently destructive, they intentionally drove the swine to their death. Or maybe the pigs’ nervous system was so overwhelmed and they panicked, causing Legion’s plan of finding a new host to backfire. Whatever the reason, Jesus understood the visual impact would serve a purpose. The pigs provided undeniable proof that the powerful spiritual force that had terrorized one human being had left, when it immediately wiped out a herd of 2,000 animals.

Of course mental illness is real and serious – I just had no idea it was contagious to swine.

Matthew 8: 31-32

The demons begged Jesus, “If you drive us out, send us into the herd of pigs.” He said to them, “Go!” So they came out and went into the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and died in the water.