Commanding Demons

The Point of the Gospel

Commanding Demons

{Mark and Luke} A man came from the tombs to meet Jesus. No one could hold him, not even with chains. He often tore through them and broke the irons on his feet. He wandered the tombs night and day and cut himself with stones. He had not worn clothes or lived in a house for a long time. Meeting Jesus, he fell at his feet.

Jesus said, “Come out of this man, evil spirit.”

“What do you want of me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear not to torture me.”

“What is your name?”

“Legion, for we are many.”

A large herd of pigs fed some distance away. The demons pleaded with Jesus to send them into the herd. Jesus permitted them to go into the animals, about 2,000 of them. They ran past a steep bank, fell into a lake, and drowned.

The people from the town came out and saw the possessed man, clothed and in his right mind, sitting with Jesus. They were afraid and begged Jesus to leave. The healed man asked to go with Jesus. He said, “Go to your family and tell them of the Lord’s mercy on you.” The man spread the story throughout the region.

{Matthew} Two violent men possessed by demons blocked people’s passage to an area of tombs. They shouted at Jesus. “What do you want, Son of God, to torture us before the appointed time?” (Judgment Day? The rest of the story follows Mark and Luke’s account except the healed men didn’t ask to go with Jesus and Matthew said other men watching the pigs first brought the story to the townspeople.)