why did the demons ask Jesus for the pigs the fascinating story of Jesus casting the Legion of demons into a herd of pigs is found in Luke The Story begins as Jesus travels in the hilly region east of the Jordan River this is the mostly Gentile area of the decapolis the Gentile cities of the broader region then they sailed to the country of the garrisons which is east of Galilee now when Jesus stepped out on land he was met by a man from the city of garissa who was possessed with demons for a long time
he had worn no clothes and was not living in a house but among the tombs seeing Jesus he cried out with a terrible voice from the depths of his throat and fell down before him in dread and Terror and shouted loudly what business do we have in common with each other Jesus Son of the most high God I beg you do not torment me before the appointed time of judgment now he was already commanding the unclean Spirit to come out to the man for it has seized him violently many times and 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 desert Luke 8 26-29 Amplified Bible this is the most in-depth depiction of a man who is under the control of a demon that we find in the Bible it is the classic profile of demonic possession for a long time the man had been possessed by a demon the man wore no clothes and lived more like a wild animal than a human nor did he live in a house he was driven into the Wilderness by the
demon contrary to Jewish law and natural human inclination the men continued to live amid the decaying and the dead in the tombs the man possessed unnatural levels of power as he broke his bonds the man was tormented to the point where he was destroying himself Mark 5 5 night and day he was constantly screaming and shrieking among the tombs and on the mountains and cutting himself with sharp stones the man had uncontrollable contact Mark 5 4 Amplified Bible for he had often been bound with shackles for the feet and with chains and he tore apart
the chains and broke the shackles into pieces and no one was strong enough to subdue and tame him this individual was once a resident to the Village together with the other villagers but because of his own erratic and wild Behavior the people came to the conclusion that a demon possessed him they chained him up to prevent him from hurting other people but he managed to break free of the chains on multiple occasions in the end they were able to run him out of town and he ended up living in the local Cemetery hurting the only
person he could himself the Bible describes being driven by the demons in the same way that it describes a horse being driven by his rider or a ship being rowed by its crew we also read that there met him a certain man this suggests that Jesus did not directly seek out this man but that the man was drawn to Jesus the man was unable to deliver himself but Jesus had complete authority over the impure spirit what have I to do with you I beg you do not torment me this was the Demonic Spirit within the
possessed man not the man himself the demon did not want to leave the body he inhabited demonic possession occurs when a demonic Spirit resides in a human body and at times will exhibit its own personality through the personality of the host body although demonic possession is a reality in today's world we must exercise caution to avoid either ignoring the issue or placing an excessive amount of emphasis on supposed demonic activity we are not told how a person becomes demon-possessed Superstition supposedly harmless occult games and practices spiritism New Age deception magic and other practices open the
door to deception for the believer and real demonic danger for the unbeliever people frequently become involved in the occult or demonic things because there is something there that appears to work unfortunately it is a someone at work a demonic spirit demons want to inhabit bodies for the same reason that a vandal wants a spray can a body is a weapon that can be used in their attack against God demons also attack men because they despise the image of God and so they try to debase and grotesque him demons have the same goal in Christians to
rank the image of God but their tactics are restricted in regards to Christians demonic spirits were disarmed by Jesus's work on the cross though they can both deceive and imitate Christians binding them with fear and unbelief Colossians 2 15 Amplified Bible when he had disarmed the ruler and authorities those Supernatural forces of evil operating against us he made a public example of them exhibiting them as captives in his triumphal procession having triumphed over them through the cross we read I beg you do not torment me this was an ironic remark because the man was frequently
plagued by the demons overpowering him in body mind and soul yet he thought that Jesus might torment him Luke 8 30 to 33 Amplified Bible then Jesus asked him what is your name and he answered Legion because many demons had entered him they continually begged him not to command them to go into the abyss now a large herd of pigs was feeding there at the mountain the demon begged Jesus to allow them to enter the pigs and he gave them permission then the demons came out of the man and entered the Pigs and The Herd
rushed down the Steep Bank into the lake and was drowned what is your name to gain authority over the demon and deliver the demon-possessed person Jewish exorcists of the time required knowledge of the Demon's name however Jesus did not use the name he learned in this exchange he had authority over demons that far exceeded current superstitions Jesus most likely asked the name of the demon so that he could understand the full scope of the problem knowing that the man was filled with many demons not only one a Roman legion usually consisted of six thousand men
this implies that the man was possessed by a large number of them They begged him that he would not command them to go out into the abyss the demons who inhabited this man did not want to be imprisoned in the abyss which is the bottomless pit described in Revelations 9 11. apparently it is some place of imprisonment for certain demonic spirits Revelation 9 11 Amplified Bible they have a king over them the angel of the Abyss the bottomless pit in Hebrew his name is Abaddon destruction and in Greek he is called apollyon Destroyer King these
demons did not want to become inactive though it is another hell to the devil to be idle or otherwise an evil occupied the demons went out of the man and entered the swine the idea that demons May inhabit the bodies of animals seem strange but the idea is also shown in Genesis 3. it was also appropriate that these demons be cast into swine being non-kosher animals notice that the demons can't even afflict pigs without the permission of God since a demon cannot enter even into swine without being sent by God himself how little is the
power of the malice of them to be dreaded by those who have God for their protection and protector Satan would rather Vex swine than do no Mischief at all he is so fond of evil that he would work it upon animals if he cannot work it upon men Jesus allowed this because the time of the total demonstration of his authority over demons had not yet come it would come at the cross coliseums 2 15 tells us at the cross Jesus disarmed demons in their attack on Believers he made a public spectacle of their defeat and
he triumphed over them in his work on the cross Colossians 2 15 Amplified Bible when he had disarmed the ruler and authorities those Supernatural forces of evil operating against us he made a public example of them exhibiting them as captives in his triumphal procession having triumphed over them through the cross demonic spirits caused the herd of pigs to act erratically causing them to run wild down the steep slopes into the lake where they eventually drowned this demonstrated the destructive power of the spirits they were just like their Commander Satan whose goal is to steal and
destroy everything in their path John 10 10 Amplified Bible the thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy I came that they may have and enjoy life and have it in abundance to the full till it overflows this showed the real intention of these demons was they wanted to destroy the man just as they destroyed the pigs some believe this was unfair to the pig owner but the swine owners lost their property yes and learned from this how Jesus valued the life of the man more than a herd Spurgeon made several wise
observations about how the demon affected the swine preferred death to devilry and if men were not worse than swine they would be of the same opinion they run hard whom the devil drives the devil drives his Hogs to a bad Market Luke 8 34-37 Amplified Bible when the herdsmen saw what had happened they ran away and told it to the city and out in the country the people came out to see what had happened they came to Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at Jesus's feet clothed in his
right mind mentally healthy and they were frightened those who had seen it told them the man who had been demon-possessed had been healed then all the people of the country of the kerosenes and the surrounding District asked him to leave them because they were overwhelmed with fear so Jesus got into the boat and returned to the west side of the Sea of Galilee they were afraid and they were seized with great fear they were more afraid of a free man than a possessed man they were terrified when they saw the man in his right mind
sitting at Jesus's feet they were unsure what to make of it at all the demon should have had the upper hand over Jesus according to their superstitions but they didn't they had a difficult time accepting this then the whole multitude asked him to depart they didn't seem to mind having this demon-possessed tormented man in their midst but they did mind having Jesus around so they asked him to leave and he did the work that Jesus did had brought together the entire crowd and they had all gathered together to talk and to meet with Jesus however
this was not a positive development in any manner here was a whole city at a prayer meeting praying against their own blessing horrible was their prayer but it was heard and Jesus departed out of their coasts when people are more afraid of what Jesus will do in their lives than of what Satan is doing right now they often push Jesus away and he may leave if asked Luke 8 38-39 Amplified Bible but the man from whom the demons had gone out kept begging him pleading to go with him but Jesus sent him away saying return
home and tell about all the great things God has done for you so the man went away proclaiming throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him the man from whom the demons had departed that is a wonderful name perhaps for the rest of his life this man would be known by a name that recalled Jesus's great work for him at first this formerly demon-possessed man sat at Jesus's feet but then he just wanted to be with Jesus following him as a disciple Luke 8 35 Amplified Bible and people came out to
see what had happened they came to see Jesus and found the man from whom the demons had gone out sitting at Jesus's feet clothed and in his right mind mentally healthy and they were frightened this man's yearning for Jesus is an illustration of the change that took place in his heart before he was only interested in what Jesus could do for him but after his encounter with God he won Jesus himself Jesus however rebuked him and told him to go away despite the fact that the guy had a good motive in wanting to follow Jesus
Jesus did not allow him to do so Jesus was well aware that the ministry he was doing for his own family in the community was of much greater significance than any other work he was doing it can be challenging for us to comprehend the way that God operates at times Jesus granted the ill request of the residents of the city who prayed for him to leave them and depart from their midst and he did so the man from whom the demons departed made a Godly request that he might be with him and Jesus said no
to that prayer naturally the reasons for this was due to the fact that this man could be a light among the people living in these Gentile cities in a way that Jesus and his disciples were unable to be if he did fear and I feel morally certain that he did that the Devils would return then of course he longed to be with Christ but Christ takes that fear from him and as good as says to him you do not need to be near me I have so healed that you will never be sick again Spurgeon
he went this way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him this was a great message to tell and a message that every follower of Jesus should be able to preach his story showed the value of One Life To Jesus because this was the only reason why Jesus came to this side of the Sea of Galilee his story also showed that with Jesus no one is beyond hope because if this man could be changed then anyone can Jesus told him to tell what great things God has done and the
man spoke to others of what great things Jesus had done there was no contradiction because Jesus is God foreign
