On the other side of the sea, they arrived in the region of the Gerasenes. As soon as Jesus got out of the boat, He was met by a man with an unclean spirit, who was coming from the tombs. This man had been living in the tombs and could no longer be restrained, even with chains. Though he was often bound with chains and shackles, he had broken the chains and shattered the shackles. Now there was no one with the strength to subdue him. Night and day in the tombs and in the mountains he kept crying out and cutting himself with stones.
When the man saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees before Him. And he shouted in a loud voice, “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God not to torture me!” For Jesus had already declared, “Come out of this man, you unclean spirit!”
“What is your name?” Jesus asked.
“My name is Legion,” he replied, “for we are many.” And he begged Jesus repeatedly not to send them out of that region.
There on the nearby hillside a large herd of pigs was feeding. So the demons begged Jesus, “Send us to the pigs, so that we may enter them.”
He gave them permission, and the unclean spirits came out and went into the pigs, and the herd of about two thousand rushed down the steep bank into the sea and drowned in the water.
Those tending the pigs ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they saw the man who had been possessed by the legion of demons sitting there, clothed and in his right mind; and they were afraid.
Those who had seen it described what had happened to the demon-possessed man and also to the pigs. And the people began to beg Jesus to leave their region.
As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been possessed by the demons begged to go with Him. But Jesus would not allow him. “Go home to your own people,” He said, “and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy He has shown you.”
So the man went away and began to proclaim throughout the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And everyone was amazed.
Mark 5:1—20
Jesus came with his disciples to the southeastern shore of the Sea of Galilee. To the east of the Sea of Galilee were a number of Hellenistic cities which were built by Alexander the Great and his descendants. This area was called “The Decapolis”. These cities were primarily inhabited by Gentiles, which explains the presence of swine in the area. The Decapolis was a center of Hellenistic culture and a meeting place between the Hellenistic and Jewish worlds.
In the foothills of the Golan Heights Jesus and his disciples met a man possessed by an unclean spirit who lived in an unclean place, a cemetery, and among unclean animals, swine. The man was completely enslaved to Satan who had granted him super-human powers, through which he injured himself and others. Every attempt by residents of the area to subdue this man and restrain him had failed miserably. The man’s violent behavior was the work of Satan. Jesus taught that Satan’s mission is to destroy, but that he came to give life:
“Truly, truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before Me were thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness.”
John 10:7—10
When the man possessed of an unclean spirit saw Jesus, he cried out: “What do You want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg You before God not to torture me!” The spirit recognized the presence of the Son of God. The Hebrew Bible teaches that God is our Father, and that the Messiah is his Son. The title “Son of the Most High God” is a unique title which belongs to the Messiah alone. In the book of Psalms King David speaks about the Messiah and describes him as the Son of God:
“The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, against the LORD and against His Messiah, […] I will proclaim the decree spoken to Me by the LORD: ‘You are My Son; today I have become Your Father. Ask Me, and I will make the nations Your inheritance, the ends of the earth Your possession.’ […] Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in your rebellion, when His wrath ignites in an instant. Blessed are all who take refuge in Him.”
Psalms 2:2, 7—8, 12
Isaiah also prophesied the coming of the Messiah:
“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulders. And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
Isaiah 9:6
Isaiah described the Messiah as a “son” who has lofty titles like “Mighty God”. These titles express the divine identity of Jesus as the Son of God. He existed together with God before the creation of the world. When Jesus came to this world he laid aside his glory, the glory of God which was his from all eternity, and became a man:
“Let this mind be in you which was also in Messiah Jesus: Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name above all names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Messiah is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Philippians 2:5—11
The unclean spirit recognized Jesus as the Son of God, and even knew that Jesus would cast Satan and his demons into everlasting fire on the day of judgment: “I beg You before God not to torture me!” Jesus is the Son of God who has been given the authority to judge the world. Jesus taught:
“Furthermore, the Father judges no one, but has assigned all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.”
John 5:22—24
Jesus asked the spirit what its name was and it answered: “My name is Legion, for we are many.” A legion is a unit in the Roman army which numbered about 5000 soldiers; that is, this man was possessed by thousands of demons. Our world is a spiritual battlefield between two forces — the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan. Invisible battles are constantly taking place between these two kingdoms. On the southeastern shore of the Galilee this spiritual war appeared in the physical realm. Jesus cast out the legion of demons and thus freed the man from the power of Satan.
Purification from sin and the casting out of unclean spirits are a sign of the coming of the Messiah, as it is written:
“On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the people of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity. […] I will also remove the [false] prophets and the spirit of impurity from the land.”
Zechariah 13:1, 2
Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Son of God, who has come to forgive sins in his atoning death and to cast out unclean spirits. When a person trusts in Jesus as his savior, Jesus frees him from slavery to Satan and cleanses him from his sins. The change we undergo when we trust in Jesus is so radical that we become a new creation:
“Therefore if anyone is in Messiah, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Messiah and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Messiah, not counting men’s trespasses against them.”
2 Corinthians 5:17—19
After the man was freed from Legion, the people of the Decapolis begged Jesus to depart from them. They had already suffered tremendous financial loss through the drowning of about two thousand swine, and perhaps they feared further losses if Jesus remained in the area. Consider this: Jesus did not impose himself on the people of that area. Although he cast out the demons with authority, he never forces anyone to accept him or his authority in their lives. There is no greater privilege in this world than to belong to Jesus, but he will never impose himself on us. Each individual must choose if he desires the presence of Jesus in his life.
Jesus commanded the man whom he had freed from the chains of Satan: “Go home to your own people, and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and what mercy He has shown you.” And the man went out “and began to proclaim throughout the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him.”
Consider this: This man recognized that the authority of the Lord and the authority of Jesus are one and the same.
