Casting Out Legion into the Swine
Primary Reference: Mark 5:1-20
On the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Gerasenes, Jesus encountered the most extreme case of demonic possession recorded in the Gospels. A man lived among the tombs, naked, cutting himself with stones, and screaming day and night. He had been bound with chains and shackles many times, but he broke them apart with superhuman strength. No one could subdue him. He was the picture of total human destruction under demonic power.
When Jesus arrived, the man ran to Him and fell down before Him. The demons within him cried out, "What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of the most high God? I adjure thee by God, that thou torment me not." When Jesus asked his name, the response was chilling: "My name is Legion: for we are many." A Roman legion consisted of up to six thousand soldiers — this man was inhabited by a vast army of evil spirits. The demons begged not to be sent out of the country but into a nearby herd of about two thousand pigs. Jesus gave permission, and the swine rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned.
When the people from the surrounding area came to see what had happened, they found the formerly possessed man sitting at Jesus' feet, clothed and in his right mind — and they were afraid. They begged Jesus to leave their region, valuing their economic loss above the man's liberation. But Jesus sent the healed man home to his people with a commission: "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee." The man became the first evangelist to the Decapolis, proclaiming throughout ten cities what Jesus had done. Where a legion of demons once ruled, a testimony of God's power now rang out.
Scripture References
Mark 5:1-20
The primary account of Jesus casting Legion out of the Gerasene demoniac.
Matthew 8:28-34
Matthew's account, mentioning two demoniacs.
Luke 8:26-39
Luke's detailed account of the exorcism and the man's commissioning as a witness.
Isaiah 65:1-4
Those dwelling among the graves and eating swine's flesh — imagery of spiritual desolation in Israel.
Psalm 107:10-14
"Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, being bound in affliction and iron" — God breaks the chains.
Isaiah 49:25
"Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away" — God's power to deliver from the strongest bondage.
Luke 10:17
"Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name" — authority over demons given to believers.
Revelation 20:10
The final defeat of Satan and his forces — the ultimate end of the demonic kingdom.
2 Corinthians 5:17
"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature" — the transformation from demoniac to disciple.
Psalm 40:2-3
"He brought me up also out of an horrible pit" — deliverance from the deepest spiritual darkness.