Jesus and his disciples took a trip to Syria. Overall it was a quick trip, but on the way a storm arose that scared all of the experienced sailors. Jesus and the disciples got off the ship but it seems like they were only in that area for about an hour. The people of the region of the Gadarenes were so afraid at what they saw that they asked Jesus and his disciples to leave, and so they did. What we generally do is make doctrines based on some of these events and how they were explained by three different gospel writers. Mark gives us the most detail. Matthew adds an interesting bit of information. Luke who was not present has a nearly identical account as Mark, meaning Lukes account was given by someone who was also there. Why did Jesus go to Syria? What was his purpose there? Why didn’t he stay for dinner or get invited to someone’s house for tea? Perhaps there is a bigger story here than we have recognized and it is not about the “scary” event but it is about a man.
In this recount of what took place when Jesus healed the man or men who lived in tombs there are different names for the same region in Syria on the eastern side of Galilee. Gergesa (called Kersa today) was a small town in the county called Gadarenes. Gadarenes had a large city named Gadara. It was a well known place in the Roman age. Depending on who one was telling these events to would make a difference as to what that area was called. In the first century, no matter who one was speaking to they would have recognized that it was a place in Syria, Gadarenes. The Syrians would have known the village Gergesa. The Romans may have only known of the large city Gadara, near Gergesa. Everyone else, including Jews would have known of the county Gadarenes, but maybe not the cities or towns in the county.
Mark gives us the most detail on this story. Why was Jesus there? Why did he go to a county in Syria by boat. There was a storm the evening before. Jesus said to the disciples:
Mrk 4:35 And the same day, when the even was come, he saith unto them, Let us pass over unto the other side.
They got in the boat and Jesus went to sleep. Mark says that there were small boats that went as well. A storm came and the disciples thought they were going to die as water filled the boat. Jesus calmed the storm and they were amazed how the wind and the water obeyed him.
When they got to the Gadarenes a man came out of the tombs. The man ran to Jesus.
Mark 5:1 G2532 And G2064 they came G1519 unto G3588 the G4008 other side G3588 of the G2281 sea, G1519 into G3588 the G5561 place G3588 of the G* Gadarenes.
2 G2532 And G1831 on his having come forth G1473 G1537 from out of G3588 the G4143 boat, G2112 immediately G528 there met G1473 him G1537 from out of G3588 the G3419 tombs G444 a man G1722 with G4151 [2spirit G169 1an unclean],
3 G3739 who G3588 G2731 [2 his dwelling G2192 1had] G1722 in G3588 the G3419 tombs; G2532 and G3777 neither G254 with chains G3762 no one G1410 was able G1473 to bind him; G1210
4 G1223 for the reason G3588 G1473 he G4178 often G3976 with shackles G2532 and G254 chains G1210 had been bound, G2532 and G1288 [3had been pulled apart G5259 4by G1473 5him G3588 1the G254 2chains], G2532 and G3588 the G3976 shackles G4937 had been broken, G2532 and G3762 no one G1473 [3him G2480 1was strong enough G1150 2to tame].
5 G2532 And G1275 always, G3571 night G2532 and G2250 day, G1722 in G3588 the G3735 mountains, G2532 and G1722 in G3588 the G3418 tombs, G1510.7.3 he was G2896 crying out, G2532 and G2629 cutting G1438 himself G3037 with stones.
6 G1492 And beholding G1161 G3588 G* Jesus G575 from G3113 far off, G5143 he ran G2532 and G4352 did obeisance to G1473 him.
Chains and shackles did not bind this man because the unclean spirits made him very strong. The man shrieked every night. He cut himself, mangling his body with sharp stones. We often wonder why people cut themselves, and while there may be many reasons, the base act of cutting is an attempt to feel alive. Not by the human being, but by the demons. The blood letting is a ritual sacrifice, the pain is the testament to life.
Matthew 8:28 G2532 And G2064 in his coming G1473 G1519 unto G3588 the G4008 other side, G1519 unto G3588 the G5561 place G3588 of the G* Gergesenes, G5221 there encountered G1473 to him G1417 two G1139 demon-possessed, G1537 [2from out of G3588 3the G3419 4sepulchres G1831 1coming forth], G5467 [2ill-tempered G3029 1exceedingly], G5620 so that G3361 not G2480 were able G5100 any G3928 to go G1223 by G3588 G3598 that way. G1565
As we read here, Matthew says that there are “two”, duo, demon possessed. The word here for possessed is daimonizomai meaning “under the power of a demon or demonized”. The idea is that these two were exercised by a demon. Matthew is the only one who points out two while Mark and Luke imply there was one man. The discrepancy should alert us to something we are missing. There may be a reason for this which we will explore a bit later.
This man was very volatile, people were scared of him and didn’t want to go near him. Yet this man ran to Jesus. The disciples were probably woozy from the boat ride in the storm in which they thought they were going to die, and then this demon possessed man runs to them. Being a disciple of Jesus was obviously an adventurous journey in more ways than one.
Luk 8:26 And they arrived at the country of the Gadarenes, which is over against Galilee.
Luke 8:27 G1831 [3coming forth G1161 1And G1473 2in his] G1909 unto G3588 the G1093 land, G5221 [2encountered G1473 3him G435 1a certain man] G5100 G1537 from out of G3588 the G4172 city, G3739 who G2192 had G1140 demons G1537 for G5550 [2of time G2425 1a fit amount], G2532 and G2440 [3a garment G3756 1he was not G1737 2dressed in], G2532 and G1722 [2in G3614 3a house G3756 1he abided not], G3306 G235 but G1722 in G3588 the G3418 tombs.
So far we see Mark using the word “unclean spirit”, while Matthew says “demon possessed”, and Luke says “demons”, daimonion, translated as devils. The man didn’t wear clothes and he didn’t live in a house. What led to the man being filled with demons? Was it sexual abuse? Was it idol worship? Was it practicing magic arts? Somehow the man had become this way.
Mark 5:7 G2532 And G2896 having cried out G5456 [2voice G3173 1with a great] G2036 he said, G5100 What is it G1473 to me G2532 and G1473 to you, G* Jesus, G5207 O son G3588 of the G2316 [2God G3588 G5310 1highest]? G3726 I adjure G1473 you G3588 G2316 by God G3361 that you should not G1473 torment me. G928
8 G3004 For he said G1063 G1473 to him, G1831 Come forth, G3588 O G4151 [2spirit G3588 G169 1unclean] G1537 from out of G3588 the G444 man!
The demon says that Jesus is the son of the Highest Elohim. How does he know that? The demon is asking Jesus to swear not to basanizō, “torture” him. Jesus told the unclean spirit to “come out”, but the demon thinks that he may be tortured. This tells us that Jesus has the power to torture demons.
Mat 8:29 And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before the time?
Here Matthew uses the plural “us” for the demon speaking. This account gives added insight. The demon asks if Jesus is here to torment them “before the time”. The words here are pro kairos meaning “ahead of a set time”. The demons know that they have a set time when they are going to be tortured. Jesus also knows they have a set time when they will be tortured. There is a time for them to be tortured, but it is not this day.
Luk 8:28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out, and fell down before him, and with a loud voice said, What have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God most high? I beseech thee, torment me not.
Luk 8:29 (For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. For oftentimes it had caught him: and he was kept bound with chains and in fetters; and he brake the bands, and was driven of the devil into the wilderness.)
Luke adds the parenthetical phrase for our understanding that the demon was asking not to be tormented because Jesus had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Mark says Jesus just said, “come forth”. People have built entire doctrines over these two slightly different ideas. Some people say that we command demons to come out, while others say just tell them to come out. It is not either or, it is both and.
Mark 5:9 G2532 And G1905 he asked G1473 him, G5100 What G1473 is your G3686 name? G2532 And G611 he answered, G3004 saying, G3003 Legion G3686 is my name, G1473 G3754 for G4183 we are many. G1510.2.4
10 G2532 And G3870 he appealed to G1473 him G4183 much, G2443 that G3361 [2not G1473 4them G649 1he should 3send] G1854 outside G3588 the G5561 place.
Legion is a Latin or Roman word for a “regiment”. Typically a legion had 6826 men, 6100 foot soldiers and 726 horsemen. That is a lot of people. There may not have been that many demons in that man or the two men, but there were more than most people would have.
Mark records Legion as asking not to exō, “go out”, chōra “empty expanse” or “territory” while Luke uses the word “abyss”.
Luk 8:30 And Jesus asked him, saying, What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him.
Luk 8:31 And they besought him that he would not command them to go out into the deep.
The abyss or abussos is the bottomless pit. There is an abyss in Revelation 9, 17, and 20. Why are demons asking not to go there? Are some already there? Again this is one of those ideas where many doctrines were created in the church. There is no Biblical instruction that tells us to send demons to the abyss, there is simply this Legions request not to go there. This means that Jesus has the power to send them there, at a set time. The demons are begging Jesus because they know who he is and what their own future is.
Mark 5:11 G1510.7.3 And was G1161 G1563 there G4314 by G3588 the G3735 mountains G34 [2herd G5519 3of swine G3173 1a great] G1006 grazing.
12 G2532 And G3870 [4appealed to G1473 5him G3956 1all G3588 2the G1142 3demons], G3004 saying, G3992 Send us forth G1473 G1519 into G3588 the G5519 swine! G2443 that G1519 into G1473 them G1525 we should enter.
13 G2532 And G2010 [2committed G1473 3them G2112 4immediately G3588 G* 1Jesus]. G2532 And G1831 having come forth, G3588 the G4151 [2spirits G3588 G169 1unclean] G1525 entered G1519 into G3588 the G5519 swine. G2532 And G3729 [3advanced G3588 1the G34 2herd] G2596 down G3588 the G2911 precipice G1519 into G3588 the G2281 sea, G1510.7.6 (and there were G1161 G5613 about G1367 two thousand;) G2532 and G4155 they drowned G1722 in G3588 the G2281 sea
There were two thousand swine that ran off a cliff and drowned when the legion entered into them. It sounds like quite an episode. This means that each pig had approximately 3.413 demons enter into them. If three and a half demons enter into one pig and it commits suicide, what does six thousand demons entering into one human look like?
Legion asked to go into the pigs. Jesus said “go”. Legion and his crew did not want to go to the dry places. They did not want to be wandering around without a home. They would rather be in pigs than wandering around without a body. However they ended up in dry places anyway. Jesus agreed to let Legion and the gang go into the pigs because he knew they would not be in those pigs very long. We are never told to send demons into animals. In this one situation they did not live in the pigs for very long, only a few minutes.
This man was a demon collector. He was like a receptacle for displaced demons. The demons kept “inviting in their friends”. This gives us a clue that this man was involved in some type of idol worship. The man himself was allowing demons to enter in. Moses calls mediums and soothsayers “ventriloquists” because demons speak through the person. Those demons themselves are known as familiar spirits. They can tell people about their past or the past of their relatives because they were there at those times. Demons have been around since the flood, so they know everything about us and our families. There is something else about this man we will consider shortly which will help this story make sense.
Mat 8:30 And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
Mat 8:31 So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
Mat 8:32 And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
Luk 8:32 And there was there an herd of many swine feeding on the mountain: and they besought him that he would suffer them to enter into them. And he suffered them.
Luk 8:33 Then went the devils out of the man, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the lake, and were choked.
People claim that there were not supposed to be pigs in the Gadarenes because they are not kosher. However this was Syria, under Roman occupation, not Israel. Usually pigs were brought to a field to clean the area because pigs eat the other animals feces. While other nations ate pigs for food, the Jews were not supposed to. That doesn’t mean that Jews didn’t live in the region and use the pigs to clean their fields. They did. They just didn’t eat their meat. However we do not know anything about the swine herder if he was a Jew, a Greek, a Roman, or an Assyrian.
Mark 5:14 G3588 And the ones G1161 G1006 grazing G3588 the G5519 swine G5343 fled, G2532 and G312 they announced G1519 in G3588 the G4172 city, G2532 and G1519 in G3588 the G68 fields. G2532 And G1831 they came forth G1492 to behold G5100 what G1510.2.3 it is -- G3588 the thing G1096 taking place.
15 G2532 And G2064 they came G4314 to G3588 G* Jesus; G2532 and G2334 viewing G3588 the G1139 demon-possessed G2521 sitting down G2532 and G2439 being dressed G2532 and G4993 being of a sound mind, G3588 the one G2192 having G3588 the G3003 legion; G2532 that G5399 they feared.
16 G2532 And G1334 [3described G1473 4to them G3588 1the ones G1492 2beholding] G4459 how G1096 it happened G3588 to the one G1139 being demon-possessed, G2532 and G4012 concerning G3588 the G5519 swine.
17 G2532 And G756 they began G3870 to appeal to G1473 him G565 to go forth G575 from G3588 G3725 their borders. G1473
Imagine “a good way off” you are herding swine, simply keeping them in the fields and you see a boat pull up to shore. You see some people get out. You see the demon possessed man run to those people. Then all of a sudden the herd of swine you are standing among, run downhill into the sea. They feared the demonized man, but from a distance it looks like he is sitting down. There is a period of time between the swine running down the cliff to the point where the herders could get to Jesus and the disciples. How long? Who knows, five or ten minutes, maybe longer. The distance was far enough away that they could see but not hear. The shock and the commotion would have been startling.
When the herders got to them the man was now dressed. How did that happen? One of the disciples must have had some extra clothes. The man was sōphroneō, “sound minded, sober, sane, and in self control”. This is shocking for the people of the region.
Mat 8:33 And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils.
Mat 8:34 And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.
Luk 8:34 When they that fed them saw what was done, they fled, and went and told it in the city and in the country.
Luk 8:35 Then they went out to see what was done; and came to Jesus, and found the man, out of whom the devils were departed, sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind: and they were afraid.
Luk 8:36 They also which saw it told them by what means he that was possessed of the devils was healed.
Luk 8:37 Then the whole multitude of the country of the Gadarenes round about besought him to depart from them; for they were taken with great fear: and he went up into the ship, and returned back again.
Jesus and the disciples leave. This seems like a quick trip. What was happening? Why just sail over to the Syrian region, cast out a legion of demons from someone and then turn around and go home? The people were all afraid and the people of that particular village wanted Jesus to leave. Notice what the man did before Jesus left.
Mark 5:18 G2532 And G1684 of his stepping G1473 G1519 into G3588 the G4143 boat, G3870 [3appealed to G1473 4him G3588 1the one G1139 2having been demon-possessed] G2443 that G1510.3 he might be G3326 with G1473 him.
19 G3588 But G1161 G* Jesus G3756 would not G863 allow G1473 him, G235 but G3004 says G1473 to him, G5217 Go G1519 unto G3588 G3624 your house G1473 G4314 to G3588 your own, G4674 G2532 and G312 announce G1473 to them G3745 as much as G1473 [4to you G3588 1the G2962 2Lord G4160 3did], G2532 and G1653 showed mercy G1473 on you!
20 G2532 And G565 he went forth G2532 and G756 began G2784 to proclaim G1722 in G3588 the G* Decapolis G3745 as much as G4160 [2did G1473 3for him G3588 G* 1Jesus]; G2532 and G3956 all G2296 marveled.
The man wanted to go with Jesus and the disciples to Israel. I imagine that many people would want to be with Jesus after such a dramatic healing. The man was no longer controlled by those demons. He was sound minded. Jesus wants him to do something, he wants the man to tell people what Jesus did for him. This would announce to others that Jesus is the Messiah. That this testimony is coming from a man who received healing is important but there is something else that is also important.
Luk 8:38 Now the man out of whom the devils were departed besought him that he might be with him: but Jesus sent him away, saying,
Luk 8:39 Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.
Decapolis is a region with a league of ten cities including Gadara, Scythopolis, Philadelphia, Gerasa, Dion, Canatha, Damascus, Raphana, Pella, and Hippos. Who lived in these cities? Greeks, Romans, Syrians/Assrians, and Jews. This would also include observant Jews, Assideans, Essenes, Nazarenes, Therapeutaes, as well as idol worshippers of Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. We have to de-compartmentalize our understanding of Israel. Just like Naomi and her family moved to Moab shortly after entering the promised land, Jews lived all over the place. At this very point in time Paul was living in Tarsus and studying in Pharisee school. Jews did not stay in Israel only. We may think that but it is not the case. Jewish people lived anywhere there was work for them.
This leads us to the understanding as to Matthew claiming there were two men with demons living in the tombs, while Mark and Luke only mention one of the men. There probably were two men. Mathew is very detailed. One was a Jew and one was a non-Jew. The one man who wanted to go with Jesus who Mark and Luke refer to was an Israelite. The other man was a beneficiary of Jesus’ visit to the Gadarenes and probably a non-Jew. It is not that the non-Jew wasn’t important in and of himself but he was not the reason that Jesus was there. The Israelite was the focus of Mark and Luke’s version. This is why Jesus went to the Gadarenes, he knew there was a man there, a Jew, who needed healing. Who was this man? We don’t know. But one thing we do know is that he was probably from an important lineage. He was not a random person that Jesus stumbled on by accident, he was someone who was of a heritage that had been important who had been tied up with occultic practices. There were occultic practices in the temple for over four hundred years from the time that the kingdom split to the the time of captivity in Babylon, there were many people practicing idolatry and booths for male and female prostitutes. Maybe he was from a king, a priest, or prophets’, lineage. This man was someone that Jesus knew was being controlled by demons. This is the only reason Jesus and the disciples went to the Gadarenes. They got in a boat, braved a storm that had the experienced fishermen in fear, in order to stop at a shoreline with tombs just to see an Israelite man who was demon possessed get healed and become of sound mind.
This is the point of the whole story. Not the conversation with the demons. Not the casting out of the demons. Not the demons going into the swine. Not the swine running off a cliff and drowning. The real story of the Gadarenes is that Jesus went to deliver an Israelite man who was controlled by demons. Then the man went and told others in ten cities in the region. The man was an Israelite, and now a Messiah believing Israelite, living in a different country who had fallen away from Judaism. He was now of sound mind and body. Jesus went to heal a lost sheep from the house of Israel.
If we remember, Jesus talked about going after the one sheep and leaving the ninety nine. The context is the one sheep who was abused by sinful people, which caused the one sheep to turn away from the Elohim. If this context is applied here, the man may have been ritually abused, or a sex slave for others at one time. In that context Jesus says that it is better for the abuser to have a millstone tied around his neck and to be thrown into the sea, than to cause a little one to turn away from the Elohim. While we do not know if those specifics apply here Jesus did leave the entire nation of Israel to go after the one sheep. Jesus didn’t even have to look very hard, he just got off a boat and the man found him. Jesus left all of Israel to go after the lost sheep who had been scandalized.
https://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2023/03/one-abused-sheep-victimized-and.html
https://musingsofawinsomeheart.blogspot.com/2021/05/entrapping-children-eternal-fires-of.html
Who did this man tell about Jesus? The ten cities were his mission field. There were Jews all over Assyria/Syria. That is who this man went to. He went to all the Jews in these ten cities. He preached ‘the Messiah is here’. This then would have brought Jews to all the northern regions of Israel to come and meet the Messiah. Jesus picked this man as an apostle.
When the disciples went out to each city to announce the kingdom of heaven, Jesus told them to go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Mat 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
Mat 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Mat 10:7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
This is the time that was given to Israel for their salvation by believing in Jesus as Messiah. They were supposed to be expecting him. They heard the prophecies and the rumors of the virgin birth. If they saw the healings and miracles would they believe? Many did. The religious leaders chose not to believe. However there were people from the nations that did believe on Jesus as Lord and Messiah, while he was on earth. Notice what Jesus says to this woman who’s daughter was demonized.
Mat 15:21 Then Jesus went thence, and departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon.
Mat 15:22 And, behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou Son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
Mat 15:23 But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth after us.
Mat 15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Mat 15:25 Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
Mat 15:26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs.
Mat 15:27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.
Mat 15:28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.
The Canaanite woman was willing to eat crumbs so to speak. The riches of healing were for the Israelites, but she believed Jesus was Yahweh, a son of David. Her faith, her belief on Jesus as Messiah and Lord, made her daughter whole. Jesus wasn’t opposed to healing the nations, but he was on the earth to redeem Israel first because they heard he was coming. It was written in their scrolls which they read in synagogues throughout Israel and beyond. Then, from Israelites who had the written information, the Messiah would be proclaimed and the nations would come into the sheepfold. Jesus actually did go to find one lost sheep. The man in the Gadarenes tombs.
Mat 18:10 Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost.
Mat 18:12 How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?
Mat 18:13 And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine which went not astray.
Mat 18:14 Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.
We do not know much about the man in the tombs, but we do know that he must have been an Israelite because Jesus came to earth to present himself as Messiah to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. It may be that this man had been trafficked or sold into occultic worship as a child from a prominent Israelite family. He may have allowed the demons to enter in either for his ability as a fortune teller or to mask the pain of his abuse. Either way Jesus came to his rescue. Jesus had that much compassion on someone who no one in Israel or Syria ultimately cared about. Yet the disciples saw Jesus get off a boat, tell demons to “go” and get back on the boat. We can now understand why there was such a strong storm attempting to keep Jesus and the disciples away from the man. The man became the first apostle to go out to the lost sheep and the nations on his own, witnessing the goodness of Jesus the Messiah. Emanuel had come to Israel.
