There And Back Again
Notes
Transcript
Jesus Drives Out Demons into Pigs
Jesus Drives Out Demons into Pigs
When he had come to the other side, to the region of the Gadarenes, two demon-possessed men met him as they came out of the tombs. They were so violent that no one could pass that way.
After Jesus had rebuked the storm on the sea, causing the chaos to become calm, they reached the other side.
It is here, in “the region of the Gadarenes,” that this takes place.
This region is difficult to define with precision, but it was on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee.
The tombs out of which the demons came to meet Jesus were dark caves carved into the landscape and were ritually unclean because they are a place for the dead.
So by being kept in the tombs the men were made perpetually unclean and thus the demons’ hold over them was cemented.
The sense of violence here is horrible and animalistic, not just the sort you see in a burglary or brawl, but rather something from a horror film.
Suddenly they shouted, “What do you have to do with us, Son of God? Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
Suddenly the demons, emerging from their cave-dwellings, cried out to Jesus.
The sense of the “cry” here is likened to that of a shriek or something unpleasant to hear—again, something one might see in a horror film.
They recognized Jesus and called Him the “Son of God,” yet they had not met Him before—or had they?
It was the demons speaking through the men, those same demons who were with Jesus in Heaven before the Devil’s rebellion.
“Have you come here to torment us before the time?”
Where is “here” that Jesus has come?—it is not the tombs, but rather the earth!
They are referring to His becoming mortal and coming down to earth.
“The time” here is the time of the Great Judgement whereupon the demons will be cast into an everlasting Hell.
A long way off from them, a large herd of pigs was feeding. “If you drive us out,” the demons begged him, “send us into the herd of pigs.”
“Go!” he told them. So when they had come out, they entered the pigs, and the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water.
Knowing that the time was indeed upon them, and that Jesus had indeed come, they began to beg and grovel.
These evil, false gods who had manipulated and tormented humanity for so long were now on their knees begging before the Son of Man.
Jewish readers would have seen their request to be fitting, since pigs were unclean like the tombs—the demons went from one unclean dwelling to another.
And upon entering the pigs, “the whole herd rushed down the steep bank into the sea and perished in the water.”
What happened here? Why did the pigs rush off the precipice, and who died—the pigs, the demons, or both? Can demons even die by drowning since they are spiritual beings?
In the OT the Pagans and even the Hebrew people believed that rivers led down into Hell if you followed them long enough or got swept away.
In fact, if someone was accused of a crime the Pagans would send that person through a raging river—if they made it out the other side, they were not guilty, but if they were swept away then they were guilty.
This is the background context of cosmic judgements like Noah’s Flood when God washed away the guilty but the innocent and the righteous were preserved.
In the NT times the people of Jesus’ day wrote about evil spirits being trapped under/in bodies of water—they also wrote about demons and evil spirits liking unclean places like tombs—so people would avoid those places and ritually wash themselves to keep themselves clean ritually and spiritually.
Then the men who tended them fled. They went into the city and reported everything, especially what had happened to those who were demon-possessed. At that, the whole town went out to meet Jesus. When they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.
The men saw that Jesus was a holy, powerful man and that He had killed their livestock, so they were afraid.
So the whole town begged Him to leave.
Jesus saved these two men from evil spirits, but in so doing cost the local people some wealth.
Because Jesus costed them some money, they begged God to leave.
If you want Jesus to change your life, it may cost you.
Don’t be afraid to let Jesus work just because you don’t want to lose privileges or comforts.
Your soul is worth so much more than your wealth, health, or even your happiness.
If you reject Jesus, He will not force His way in, rather He will accept your decision.
So he got into a boat, crossed over, and came to his own town.
When you see Jesus don’t let Him leave—hold on to Him and make Him the Lord of your life.
